Post-Commitment Spree Recruiting Overview: Offense
or HELLO: HELLOS
[pokes head up from under couch]
is it over?
...
i think it's over.
...
All right folks, the dust has settled years after the meteor impact. Fewer complaints echo through the forest. The recruiting class is radically different than it was a couple weeks ago. Mammals can get big now. Let's play the feud!
QUARTERBACK
STATUS: No change. Michigan has NV QB Cade McNamara, a mid four-star. McNamara did get invited to the Elite 11 finals, which naturally consists of 12 quarterbacks these days, and performed well, finishing third in 24/7's eyes on the first day:
...solid showing from start to finish with good ball placement. The Reno (Nev.) Damonte Ranch standout consistently spun a good ball, and might have been the surprise of the day of the quarterback group. We will see if the 6-foot-1, 206-pound McNamara can continue this good showing during seven-on-seven play.
The Elite 11 changes formats every year and had a period where it was absurd—Trent Dilfer was involved, they invited like 25 QBs and gave them all eight throws, that sort of thing—but IIRC it's now a three-stage process and McNamara has impressed at all three stages. So maybe it has some legitimacy?
MORE? No. No QBs are on the radar.
RUNNING BACK
Charbonnet's film is all right
STATUS: Michigan went from zero to stocked up by adding CA RB Zach Charbonnet [hello] and TN RB Eric Gray [hello]. Gray is the #1 all purpose back per 247 and a lock to be compared to Chris Evans in a year when his recruiting profile gets posted; Charbonnet is the "thunder" in this package but is more of a slashing jump cut guy who happens to be 215 already than a De'Veon Smith reprise.
Both guys can credibly claim to be underrated by the composite. Gray has a prima facie absurd ranking from Rivals, which asserts the kid with 3,000 rushing yards and a committable-ish Bama offer is the #21 prospect in Tennessee; Charbonnet has a boatload of top-end offers, killer film at Oaks Christian, skipped the camp scene, and is in line for a big bump up on 24/7 per Greg Biggins.
That is quite a recovery from a fairly grim outlook earlier in the year when Charbonnet was the only back of note listing Michigan. Usually it takes five touted out of state interests to get one guy; Michigan got two out of one.
MORE? Uh, maybe? Michigan is still hot on the heels of NC RB Quavaris Crouch. Er. NC ATH Quavaris Crouch. Per Lorenz, on his recent unofficial Michigan told him he could play whatever he wants and Crouch might be favoring linebacker—at 6'3", 240 he's a truly enormous running back.
Michigan does have offers out to another couple APB sorts. CA RB Giles Jackson told 24/7 that Michigan was in his top four a couple days ago, and he's taken two visits so he's serious and Michigan is serious about him. KY RB Wandale Robinson made his second visit to AA, has Michigan in his top seven, and provided a really interesting quote about the future of the offense that explains the sudden profusion of waterbug sorts in the class and on the radar:
“They are spreading out the offense. With Shea Patterson and Joe Milton as the quarterbacks, they are opening things up. I saw some film and what they staff did with them in the spring and with the RPOs. They really need a slot guy, who can play running back too. They don’t really have a true touchdown maker and I can be that guy."
Robinson has a bizarre crystal ball split almost equally amongst Duke, Kentucky, Ohio State, and "dunno."
Smart money is Michigan being done at RB unless Crouch comes in as a two way player.
[After THE JUMP: one wild google image search. Bring a fan.]
WIDE RECEIVER
STATUS: Michigan is taking FL ATH George Johnson III [hello] as a slot and they're no longer barren here. Johnson is a virtually unscouted dual-threat QB who picked up a couple of shiny but potentially uncommittable offers just before his Michigan commitment but remains in the low three star range everywhere. You can pick up productive slot receivers from deep in the three star ranks; Johnson's a wild card.
GIS for Cornelius Johnson is wild man
MORE? Certainly. Michigan took just one WR last year and he is solidly in the "flier" range; they should be looking for two or three outside WRs. The bad news from earlier—there was literally nobody on the board who even seemed like a strong possibility—has eased somewhat. Emphasis on "somewhat." The main positive here is the emergence of CT WR Cornelius Johnson, who's the kind of guy with Stanford, Michigan and ND high on his list. Johnson's gone from off recruiting radars to the the top 250 on the composite and is at the Opening; Steve Wiltfong just asserted he thought M and Stanford were his top two.
Other touted folk seem like pretty long shots. TX WR Dylan Wright says he'll take an official but is probably an instate battle; NC WR Khafre Brown has Michigan in his final four but probably just as a hat on the table; Top 50 and rising CA WR Kyle Ford will visit and is probably Michigan's best shot at a blue-chipper but USC lurks, as per usual.
Meanwhile in sleeper territory, 24/7's Bill Greene put in a Michigan crystal ball for OH WR Trevon Raphael after Raphael named Michigan his leader in the immediate aftermath of a visit. Like a few other guys in the class, Raphael is new to football and combines potential (6'3", sub-11 100m) with uncertainty. Raphael mentioned Michigan wanting to see some grades from summer classes, so that's additional uncertainty.
2020 BONUS: OH WR Kalil Branham [hello] was Michigan's first 2020 commit. He could be a big slot or an average-sized outside WR; with track speed and many many videos of his personal jugs machine he seems like a good bet to hit.
TIGHT END
STATUS: OH TE and potential headline MVP Erick All [hello] was part of the recent blitz; he's a consensus three star in the Big WR mold who will take a year or two to get up to mashing weight. A bad combine 40 held back his rankings but he did pick up some nice offers (FSU, Wisconsin, Notre Dame) before pulling the trigger for Michigan.
MORE? The only other TE on the radar is 4* CA TE Isaiah Foskey, who's been to a ton of schools over the past six months. Michigan was one of those schools and they are getting a return trip late this month. With a wide open field and a projected February decision Michigan will know if they've got a spot, which is good. After two TEs the past two years a second in this class would be a luxury if Michigan's actually recruiting slots in earnest.
And then there's the "find a large athletic guy in New England" route that Harbaugh's repeatedly used to good effect. This class's Luke Schoonmaker or Sean McKeon could be somewhere in rural Vermont, amiably looming over the townsfolk. Probably not. But maybe! But probably not.
OFFENSIVE LINE
STATUS: Even before the recent commit flood Michigan was close to set on the OL, with five commits. GA OL Trente Jones is the only guy who cracks 6'6" and is definitely a tackle; MI OL Karsen Barnhart and CT OL Jack Stewart are potential swing guys. OH OLs Nolan Rumler and Zach Carpenter are emphatically guards. Rumler's a solid four star and one of the best guards in the class; Barnhart and Jones are in the 3.5* range; the other guys are more generic three stars.
MORE? Apparently yes. Michigan does not have a ton of pure tackles yet and I think we're all agreed on the fact that they should get one to 18 of those. IL OL Trevor Keegan is the name most often mentioned; Michigan also has 100% of the ballz for MD OL William Harrod. Harrod recently backed off on his intention to commit at the end of this month, which might be a slow play from the presumed favorite. Harrod just went to UNC and has a bunch of other trips planned. Keegan just swung through M, PSU, and OSU, his supposed top three, and might come off the board pretty soon. Unusually, Michigan has most of the ballz but Steve Wiltfong has OSU.
OVERALL
Michigan will add another couple wide receivers and an OL; other than that they're probably done give or take a decommit who needs replacing or wild card like Foskey or Crouch. Cornelius Johnson and Ford are the most important guys left on the board, both because they're highly rated and because Michigan needs some outside wideouts badly.
If they can grab one of the two the class is... fine. Good. Good-ish? Good. It's more like a good Carr or a Hoke class than the "I wonder if we can catch Alabama" whirlwind of Harbaugh's first two full classes. That's still a nice recovery from last season's absurd drought. Hopefully whatever logistical/this-guy-needs-fired issues that led to that have been addressed.
Keegan and some WR help would be good for this class. If they can get one blue chip WR and more of a flyer type, this class looks really good.
I'll admit I'll be pissed if Keegan goes to OSU . Why we cannot land elute pure TACKLES is just incredible, given our storied history, and also now since we brought on Warinner. I figured the 5 stars would scramble to wanna be the LT for McCaffrey (and Milton). Especially McCaffrey who seems to have Brady's charisma...
the current recruits were like six-years-old when Jake Long was at Michigan. That history shouldn't have anything to do with an OL recruit's decision.
Not to mention it’s primarily the coaching staff that dictates particular historical position success, not a storied history. Now selecting Michigan generally based in history of success along with current, is logical.
I'm cracking up
"The Elite 11 changes formats every year and had a period where it was absurd—Trent Dilfer was involved"
That and the Google Image Search for Cornelius Johnson....Cured my shit day.
This is probably the best RB class of the 2000s. OL haul has volume and a high floor given volume, versatility and the lack of project guys. Good could turn to Pretty, Pretty Good IMO if they get Keegan and a top-flight WR.
2017 is giving rivals plenty of fuel for negative recruiting with WRs. C'mon DPJ and Black living up to the hype sooner than later.
Sadly, other than Chris Perry and Mike Hart, we haven't had anything resembling a great, game changing running back in the 2000s. Brandon Minor maybe if he hadn't been injured. Unless we want to put Denard in there.
Fitz was killing it for a minute there before his leg exploded
And before the OL decided to not block guys in front of their face.
I had to do a triple-take at the picture for this article. I've been shopping for sectionals online and figured there was a new-site-glitch and some great targeted advertising.
Ditto.
Though I've been looking at sectionals so I almost immediately ignored the ad and thought "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"
Brian is inching toward being back to his old self. This offensive recruiting class is very good.
I don't think until we win at ND will he be all the way back but he's getting close.
Personally I won't believe it until I see the results in his posts.
Too much speculation about Brian being "back" and no record to show for it.
But if one of his posts doesn't live up to its hype, I'd say we KaBluey his ass. Enough is enough. He's paid 7 million mgoblue points a year, he has no excuse for even missing on a single 5-star topic. Don't even get me started on these unresearched posts with a high upside and room to rise up the board...
I sense Brian shakes his head after a while and stops reading stupid comments like these. You girls cackle about him like you’re hoping to date him - - - if only “the old Brian” would show up.....and stop drinking and going out with the guys every nite.
Oh shit..... I've figured it out.... don't let your head explode, but...... Brian IS bluey! Makes sense, eh? Bluey comes around real heavy when Brian throws his fit, disappears and hides. All of a sudden, bluey been quiet, but Brian has started coming back......
Men get married thinking their woman won't change; but she does.
Women get married thinking their man will change; but he doesn't.
Be yourself, Brian. Don't ever change. We are all married to you.
I propose that Brian goes in for the entire makeover. Who is this “Brian” guy anyway?
This is real wisdom.
I love this recruting class so far. Another tackle, a WR, and Couch would be a fantastic finish to the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, I think we need another DT (Unless there are two other DTs committed after Mazi Smith; I genuinely don't remember, since the commit deluge wrecked my brain.
We are recruiting Crouch.
Brian is hiding under a Couch.
Your post made the picture choice click for me... It's been a long day lol
Damnit all.... take your upvote, sir.
DT is probably fine. Michigan has quite a few players on the roster who are able to slide inside, plus a guy like Hinton can play inside depending on how the DE class shapes up.
I wouldn’t mind a true DT, but I also wouldn’t put it in the category of a need
Actually it was more of a spree than a deluge.
I'd like to see the remaining offensive board fill up as:
OT - T. Keegan or D. Ike
WR1 - K. Ford or C. Johnson (in that order or both if room) or T. Raphael (if they miss on the others)
Slot/APB - G. Jackson or W. Robinson (whoever commits first)
It's hard not to get overly excited about this RB class. Hopefully they can hold onto both of them. Obvious and completely nonpartisan observation of the day... They really need to get the offense going this year if they want to start pulling better talent at OL and WR.
“Logistical/this-guy-needs-fired issues”
Hi Tim Drevno
I'm glad we are acknolwedging that this class is just good and not truly top tier but that is fine as long as they get Keegan and one of the wide receivers. If that WR is Ford and they manage to land Cine or Couch its a great class coming off the last year. Do that and have a 10+ win season this year and I bet Michigan is back to a legitimate top 5 class in 2020 (and if someone says we are top 5 now like that somehow matters just know that you are stupid so I don't have to reply to it)
We are top 5 now.
This reply is why I love this blog... Reply
I agree that being a top-5 class now won't stick by the end of the year, but based on average star rating Michigan is top-10/12, so it's not like this class is a volume deal like Ole Miss. So let's also not dismiss the talent they currently have coming in.
Right that is why its a good class and not an elite class. Its not like having a good class is a bad thing but lying about it being an elite class because every one of the 3 stars is criminally underrated according to this fanbase isn't helpful either.
How do you or anyone know if this is a good class or not?
We will only know in 3-5 years. If you mean by recruiting services, then this class doesn't look all that dissimilar to 2013 and 2014, ones that fans had high hopes for and ultimately was the basis for two straight 10+ win seasons, or even the 2016 class.
Recruiting rankings are pretty accurate. They predict the winner of most games in college football. If you don’t have more than 4 and 5 stars than 3 stars (which by the way this class currently does not meet the blue chip threshold as of right now) history says you won’t win a championship. Sure we won’t know for sure anything but we can make assumptions based off two decades of outcomes across the entire country, it’s a pretty large sample size.
As has been pointed out many times before: Alabama, LSU, Florida, etc. didn't win their first championships with tons of five stars. Florida's 2005 and 2006 classes were recruited by Ron Zook and do not seem impressive by the recruiting services. Neither were the 2005 and 2006 LSU classes, or the early Saban Bama classes. What about Oklahoma's 2015 and 2016 classes or Clemson's 2013 and 2014 classes?
If we are making assumptions based on this data, it's that teams under or over perform based on their perceived talent. Clemson was notorious for this. So was Georgia and FSU. Right now you may say Michigan is underperforming given its talent. Then again, it has been able to hang with OSU and its top five classes 4 out of the last 5 years. But when you look back on the classes, how many of Michigan's top-ranked recruits were responsible for that? Not Derrick Green and Shane Morris.
2015 MSU is a great example making it to the playoffs with virtually all 3 stars - but then getting curb stomped by Bama’s 4 and 5 Stars.
2015 MSU is a great example of a lucky team making it to the NCG despite almost losing to Oregon, Rutgers, Michigan, OSU, and Purdue.
Their 2013 team would have had a legitimate shot against FSU or Auburn.
I'm not gonna argue that all of our 3*s are underrated, but I'd say 1/4 to 1/3 of our 3*s will receive ratings boosts that will put them into 4* or close to 4* territory
I have to admire AK47, he is the only troll that didn’t run off into the forest when the commit barrage hit his trench.
He is even doing his best to throw shade on the class even as the barrage continues. He managed to forget about what is potentially an epic DLine haul and overall fantastic defensive recruit class.
Why is everyone who doesn't constantly say how wonderful everything is considered a troll?
Because everything is wonderful.
The glass is always more that 2/3 full.
Because I’m not a troll I’m a realist. Our d line haul is fantastic. Unfortunately having the best defensive line in college football doesn’t mean much if your offensive line has no tackles and your wide receivers can’t get open. Team construction matters too. If they get Ford and Keegan that’s great, if they don’t this class isn’t good enough to close any of the gap with osu and likely let’s psu continue to close the talent gap with us.
Lighten up Francis.
In all seriousness many of the playera are going to get a bump in ratings so it might be higher than you think.
I would like to see this class close out like so:
1. OT - Keegan
2. OT - Another OT
3. OT - Another OT
4. OT - Another OT
I want to see more OT than MGoBoard in May
If we win a national championship this year and suddenly find ourselves with dozens of 5 star recruits banging on the door, do we potentially let a bunch of these guys go?
Nope. Harbaugh has made it clear that you must continue to perform/improve to keep your offer, so some changes are certainly possible, but that seems unlikely barring injury.
Newburg, All, Ojabo, and Thomas should all outplay their rankings and keep their offers, and the only other guy that might be in question (especially if we get Cine) is Joey Velazquez, but his measurables are excellent and he'd be hard to pass up.
The scouting this year really does seem to be better than last year, and I think most everyone that's committed has a secure spot, assuming they continue their trajectory.
I know your post was a little tongue-in-cheek, but the more likely scenario is that a great season means we add guys like Crouch, Ford, and maybe even flip a couple others. There won't be wholesale changes to this class, nor should there be.
Let’s not shoot our wad before our partner unbuttons her blouse.
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