Hello: Joey Velazquez
Extremely blessed to say that I will be furthering my academic, football, and baseball career at THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN! 〽️ #GOBLUE pic.twitter.com/YoRs1oqh47
— Joey Velazquez (@JoeyV242) June 22, 2018
Congrats! Welcome, Joey. May you thrive under Don Brown's tutelage.
(This would've been a hell of a lot funnier if Bluey had posted the Hello)
He was 1st team All-Ohio and the Division 2 player of the year in baseball.
Also had scholarship offers from Yale, Harvard, Army, and the Air Force Academy. Looks like he came to play school as well.
Can the MODs just keep Bluey out of this thread and let us all enjoy it? Please and Thanks.
It's hard to put in to words how happy I am to read of the commitment by Joey Velazquez to both Michigan Football and Michigan Baseball.
While many top high school athletes do well in multiple sports, clearly Velazquez is the cream of the cream of the crop in at least two sports, the rare athlete who is exceptional enough to garner multiple scholarship offers to division 1 programs in each sport. And he did it while also excelling in the classroom, no easy feat in and of itself even for non athletes.
Welcome to Michigan, Joey---can't wait to watch you represent the Maize and Blue on both the diamond and the gridiron while you work towards earning one of the most coveted degrees of all, that of The University of Michigan!
Welcome to the family!
Football and baseball star? Did we just find the next Deion or Bo? Kidding...maybe.
It would not shock me at all if this was Jim and Don's mindset with this kid. I can totally picture that conversation happening between them.
To clarify, I do not think anyone expects this kid to be Deion, but I am sure the baseball/football hybrid definitely caused the stray thought to cross Jim's mind.
Actually his summer travel baseball team he plays for is Bo Jackson Elite
Congratulations to Velasquez.
Ayy que lo que que lo que
Que lo que , que lo que!
el queso es viejo y mohoso, ¿Dónde está el baño?
¿Dónde Estée Lauder?
Welcome! You will do just fine here!
Good for him and good for us... welcome, Joey.
(and a preemptive fuck-off to Bluey)
I hope the kid is great, but I watched his film and I don't see a star. Maybe as a LB? But what the hell do I know
I've comparisons to Khaleke Hudson... do not see that at all. Be very interested in Magnus' take.
Not sure what tapes you are looking at but all I could see was the 2nd coming of Khaleke Hudson - kid is everywhere on the field and never misses a tackle.
"Not sure what tapes you were looking at"
I know the common discourse on message boards always needs to start with some backhanded insult. But I'm sure they are the same tapes you are looking at. I was not looking at tape of the water polo team. If this was a genuine statement meaning I could have been looking at old film, I withdraw my comment.
People can look at tape and see entirely different things, even as experts. You and I are just joes have no idea what we're looking at, so this isn't a surprise.
I see a good high school athlete who makes plays when available. Doesn't seem twitchy, isn't very sudden, and a bit duck-footed. He's got good straight-line speed, but I'm not sure how well that translates to playing nearer to the line of scrimmage at Viper. He doesn't punish ballcarriers. But again, what the hell do I know.
Honestly, wasn't trying to start anything with you. I am just irrationally excited about this kid at Viper. I just have this overwhelming feeling that he is going to be a star. The last time I felt this way about a non-top 100 kid was Khaleke himself, and he is now my favorite player on the team.
I think he will be better than Matt Milano (now a starting LB for Buffalo Bills) and up there with Khaleke.
The problem is Khaleke Hudson is 0-2 vs Ohio State. Sometimes as Michigan fans I think we get so wrapped up in, "this guy is good, this guy was great, this guy outperformed his ranking." If they go 0-4 in the biggest rivalry in sports (and never win the Big Ten), does it really matter?
Over the past two years, our Vipers have 12 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception, and 1 pass breakup against Ohio State. Not great, but not too shabby, either. It's kind of odd to bring up the record vs. Ohio State in a thread discussing the Viper position, as if they're solely responsible for the losses. There are a bunch of players I would put higher on the list as deserving more blame for those losses.
Did you just say if a football player doesnt singlehandedly beat the rival over 2 years time, that they can't be good?
What is your deal? You are blaming Khaleke for being 0-2 against OSU?
Should Michigan and its fan base, not sure if you a Michigan fan or not, just give up on recruiting? on football? What the hell are you saying?
Khaleke is probably 2-0 vs the Nuts had he played QB the last two outings.
Did you just say if a football player doesnt singlehandedly beat the rival over 2 years time, that they can't be good?
Did you just say if a football player doesnt singlehandedly beat the rival over 2 years time, that they can't be good?
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7250245/5ab85ef5d45e5b0db41e5875
I'm not sure how you can NOT see a Viper in his film. He's practically playing the same role in his HS defense. He lines up in the slot, in the box, deep safety. Looks like he has excellent instincts and awareness, sure tackler, great hands, ball hawk, covers lots of ground. Great anticipation on some of his interceptions. Reads plays quickly, acts decisively
I am VERY excited for him in both baseball and FB
Here's what I think about him (LINK).
Thanks Magnus - I have been very happy with your content recently and checking the site more regularly.
Btw/ here is Matt Milano's recruiting rankings for those that care...
https://247sports.com/Player/Matt-Milano-17622//high-school-28699
No reason to doubt Don Brown recruiting at this position
Thanks for reading! Feel free to join the conversation over there.
Will do (either as Blue in Paradise or CaymanGoBlue). I LOVE MGoBlog and the Board, but I am getting tired of all the douchebags.
I never read comments on any website regardless of topic because I really don't care what random people have to say but I made an exception on MGoBlog because of the generally high quality of the posters.
While it is fun kicking around dirtbag incels like Maizen Bluey for a while, it is starting to get tiresome. And people $hitting on 17 year old kids' Hello posts is going too far for me. I am fine with people posting critiques of the coaches or even the recruiting class on general recruiting threads but why are people taking shots at individual kids that want to play for Michigan?
I would say that the mods need to clean that up or I am walking away from the board. I would continue reading MGoBlog content in either case.
Awesome, thanks
I think you should bend to the will of others and just start including a star rating with your evals. Seems like 82 would be a high 3* type, but you should just include that. Would help understand your rating relative to others to use the common scale.
I've thought about it, but I feel like it would be confusing in itself. Because I want to rate the players as how they'll fit in at Michigan, not their overall talent level.
Awesome! Welcome to the fold!
Welcome aboard Joey! Go Blue!
If the kid only pans out in baseball still a major win. I would love to see a full hello post that includes his baseball stats also
Lance Dixon would have been nice but after watching Joey's tape I see Jordan Kovacs which makes me smile and not understand why some folks are so disappointed.
Welcome aboard!! Go Blue!!
This kid is a phenomenal athlete. He seems underrated in football. Is it because he is a baseball player? His offer sheet doesn't make sense unless its because schools thought he was only interested in baseball.
Great get. Seems like a no brainer for viper.
Exactly, he is projected to be a top 3 round pick in the 2019 MLB draft so nobody thought he would play football. So there hasn't been a lot of scouting from schools or analysts.
presumably, with the Michigan offer and verbal, other teams will start to offer?
with Khaleke Hudson, its not like the kid was a complete... 386 nationally with 30 offers...
kid would have been a player at any school, not just the viper position
Nobody who watches his tapes will be disappointing. Now that he is committing to football, he will be a 4 star and all the Starz Douchebags will be happy.
More importantly, he is tailor made for the Viper spot (Dixon will end up at WILL and will (pun intended) be a great player at PSU, Wisconsin or UM).
Welcome Joey, way to GoBlue!
Awesome!!!
Out of Columbus no less. Let's get this guy good enough for at least a second round pick in 5 years.
I'll admit I'm a stargazer but this kids tape is nice. He's also jacked.
If the brain trust of Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown, and the rest of the defensive staff wants this guy...thats all you need to tell me. Welcome aboard! I love the added emphasis on recruiting ohio...star gazers can say what they want, but the number of under recruited guys from ohio that end up being studs is unreal. Michigan has had plenty of luck with players from there lets hope Velazquez is the next!
Exciting pick up, always great to get someone from the clutches of osu. I know he will be a football scholarship, but is he definitely going to play baseball as well?
Yes, definitely and if he get's drafted in the top 3 rounds next year he's probably gone, but we might as well give him a chance to see what happens.
Solid, thanks Matte.