Hello: Kenneth Grant
Continuing with the catchup Hellos from the first half of the season, we arrive on the guy I’d given up hope on, because Michigan got in on his charge up the rankings, then Ohio State got in as he kept charging, and I figured it would be rude to get in the way of something Ohio State wants. But did they want, or did Grant rise just high enough to pique their interest, but not quite enough to send an entire expedition to dig him out of the Indiana ice?
It was quite the archaeological accomplishment. Grant isn’t just a DT. He’s not just a large DT. In fact, several recruiting reporters across the sites insisted that Grant ought to be classified in the Proboscidean order.
Mammoth 300-pound DT Kenneth Grant (@KennyGrant78) talks Michigan, push from @CoachNua, virtual visits and more #GoBlue. https://t.co/a8eUA7qGF3 pic.twitter.com/9qV8hH2Ema
— "EJ Holland" (@EJHolland_TW) April 20, 2021
Subtle, we are not. Neither is Kenneth Grant.
GURU RATINGS
Rivals: 6’5”/340 | ESPN: 6’4”/330 | 247: 6’4”/335 | 247 Comp |
---|---|---|---|
3*, 5.6, NR Ovr NR DT, #14 IN |
3*, 78, #62 MW #48 DT, #13 IN |
4*, 90, NR Ovr #44 DL, #9 IN |
3*, 0.8768, #526 Ovr, #80 DL, #12 IN |
3.51* ⬆ | 3.64 ➡ | 3.86* ⬆⬆ | 3.77 ⬆ |
Arrows show trend of recruiting rankings. An arrow is like a third of a star.
Following a theme of Michigan’s four recent commits, Grant rose up the rankings late, and where he ranks now depends on when the site last looked. Rivals classified him for the first time last June, shortly after he picked up a bunch of offers and Ohio State was showing interest, but they only went so far as a medium 3-star and the 14th player in Indiana. ESPN came in a couple weeks after, when the Ohio State offer did, and slightly higher.
By that time 247 had already ratcheted Grant up thrice, starting at an 83, going to 85 in March, 86 in late April (when Michigan and Wisconsin came in) and 88 in June. At the end of summer they moved him into the bottom of their four-star range, then included him in that same “guys who may crack the 247” article I referenced with fellow DT commit Mason Graham.
The difference here is nobody is questioning what Michigan is going to do with their elephantine lineman. He’s going to play nose, or else he’s going in a museum.
[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]
SCOUTING
Another difference is we have a full scouting report and a useful player comp from 247’s Allen Trieu:
Massive interior prospect. Looks like a classic nose guard but is not just a gap plugger in high school. Runs surprisingly well for a big guy, shows closing speed and will pursue plays. Nimble and can make offensive linemen miss their punch but can also drive them straight back with brute strength. Has to be more consistent play to play but has upside because size and ability to move at that size are rare.
Nimble! Closing speed! These themes were repeated:
"Coaches are pretty surprised by how athletic I am for my size," Grant said. "Most guys my size are just big and slow, but coaches like that I'm pretty quick and nimble for being this size."
Trieu’s comp is Johnathan Hankins, the humongous DT from Detroit Southeastern who blew up late because he finally got in shape as a senior. Michigan waited to offer because of that, but Archie Collins was at SE at the time brilliant at running interference on Michigan recruiting. Ohio State swooped in, and Michigan ended up starting Jibreel Bl…you know what, we don’t have to do that. Hankins was a massive dude who made the two-deep as a freshman, dominated the Big Ten for a few years, then went to the NFL, where he was a 2nd round pick. He has always been a “surprisingly” good pass rusher.
It’s a close comparison. Trieu:
There were some of the same questions about Grant. He has started to answer that this year as he plays both sides of the ball. He gets off the ball and shows some very real athleticism for a player of his size. Noses tend to be space eaters, but Grant shows the ability to penetrate and make plays in the backfield. He may have to embrace some of the block-tying-up he will be asked to do, but this is a massive player with base athleticism and power.
Trieu also got Chris Singletary, who now works for 247, to chime in, which resulted in a Michigan double-comp:
"I think, pairing him with Mason Graham, they're addressing a need in terms of getting bigger …. Kenny is kind of a cross between Terrence Taylor and Gabe Watson."
Grant just made 247’s 50-player freaks list:
50. DL Kenneth Grant – Grant qualified for the Indiana track and field championships in the shot put after a toss of 57-3 earlier in the season. He's a big, athletic gap-stuffer that looks to have his best football ahead of him, which is why he earned a fourth star from 247Sports on Wednesday.
They also admitted their reticence to bump Grant to a 4-star earlier was based on conditioning.
In the off-season, Grant looked like he got in better shape, which was obvious at Ohio State's camp where he looked lean and quick. It also showed up in the shot put where he went from 50-feet to 57. Now this season, he is playing both ways and actually looked good on offense last week.
Via Wiltfong, Grant’s coach thinks a college conditioning program is going to unleash hell:
At the high school level there is only so much we can do from the strength and conditioning standpoint and diet standpoint. When he gets to college he’s going to see his body transform and you can’t find guys with his size and explosiveness and athletic ability and you factor in the strength and conditioning component and diet standpoint I think he’s really going to take off.
EJ Holland emphatically did not agree with his site’s ranking:
I've said this many times, but Grant is one of the most underrated prospects in the country. In fact, I think he is THE most underrated prospect in the country. You see that headshot on his profile? That's mine. No other Rivals representative has gone out to see Grant live, which is a travesty. He is a monster recruit that should easily be in the Rivals250. Grant is powerful, quick and athletic for his size and a dominant force at the high school level.
He agrees with Michigan’s coaches (and this site) that Grant can play right away at Michigan, though his best football is a few years off.
Finally, a month ago NPR looked into whether the fact that we can clone mammoths now means that they should.
/glances at the size of the LB commits again.
I’m game.
OFFERS
Michigan got in on Grant (along with every other 330-pound 18-year-old who could move) when the new staff arrived in March, putting them ahead of the blow-up. Other suitors until midway through 2021 were a who’s who of 3-4 teams of the Midwest: Nebraska, Cincy, Purdue, that sort. Then Grant showed up in better shape at Ohio State’s camp and earned an offer and an official visit.
It ultimately came down to Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The Ohio State interest was real, but in a way where Grant was maybe 1B after two 1A candidates (Caden Curry, also of Indiana, and Hero Kanu, the late-rising German) and expendable.
Via TMI’s podcast, Grant was close to committing this summer, but Ohio State was telling him to let the season play out and see if Harbaugh’s program imploded. Visiting for the Washington game, and the play of Michigan’s line in that game, answered any questions.
HIGH SCHOOL
Merrillville is an Indiana heavyweight that sent a cornerback to Notre Dame last year, and OT Martes Lewis to Minnesota in 2020. There’s a power back and an offensive linemen with MAC offers in Grant’s class, and a 6’1”/190 athlete (RB/WR/DB) in the 2023 class named Phillip Roche whom I’m sure the Midwest programs are all keeping an eye on. Their only five-star was James Aldridge (ND) in 2006, but they had quite a few highly rated guys around then. The school completed its return to glory this year with an undefeated season, their first since the 1990s, and why are you looking at me like that?
…
Okay, I see the parallels now.
STATS
MaxPreps reports 28 tackles (23 solo), 5.5 sacks, 3 FFs and a recovery over 9 games. I don’t have to tell you that stats are not as important for a nose tackle.
FAKE 40 TIME
You have no idea how much time I spent looking for a forty, because THIS was what’s important. Yes, Alex, I’ll make your FFFF graphic now.
VIDEO
This is his 7-game reel from this season thus far. They point out which one is him, in case you couldn’t figure out which impossibly athletic box of beef running over, around, through, and down the human children was the 6’4”/340 recruit, though it’s helpful when your eyes are trying to say “No, that spin move can’t be real.”
More video, including his junior and sophomore highlights and single-game reels, can be found on his Hudl page.
ETC
Can’t be sure but if you’re looking for one paragraph to give you hope in a Michigan-Ohio State showdown, it’s probably this one?
As we have heard from prospects and from the staff, Ohio State crafts their presentations in a way that emphasizes what’s important for each individual visitor. So, for example, while some players may be fully invested in name, image and likeness, the topic of NIL will be a bigger focus for them than it will be for other recruits. The Buckeyes made it a point to focus heavily on education with Grant, who intends on studying forensic science in college.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
Though it’s been been an age since we’ve seen a guy like this in Michigan, we know an awful lot about Grant-types because they’ve been so important to various historical 3-4 ecosystems. We could use this space to talk tusk length or reach into the nose tackle bag of phrases. Or, I could post MAC’S BIG BEEF CHART from HTTV again:
One thing they’ve been without is a Juggernaut. Jordan Whittley’s eligibility does not extend to an 8th year, so that role is Grant’s for the taking. I also think he can pass Jess Speight, who’s on loan from the tackles depth chart, immediately as the 2nd team nose. I’m pretty sure Mazi Smith is going to reprise the 1st team role next year, with Hinton and Jenkins flanking him, and Michael Morris moonlighting between End and DT. The rest of the tackles are Donovan Jeter, Julius Welschof, Jack Stewart, Elijah Pierre, and this year’s freshmen: Ike Iwunnah, Rayshaun Benny, George Rooks, and Dominick Guidice. With the exception of Iwunnah, who’s a long-term prospect, nobody on that list is as Juggernaut-like as Kenneth Grant. He’s going to factor. And if he takes to that training regimen, he’s going to dominate the Big Ten then start for the Ravens for a decade. Really they don’t make many guys who can move like that at his size. Conditioning and technique will determine how far that goes.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
For the first time since the early Pleistocene (i.e. when I was in college), Michigan has a mammoth nose space-eater to keep its linebackers clean. They also have their first second DT in the class after a pair of firsts decommitted, and DT Mason Graham joined a few weeks prior to Grant.
Grant did stay with 5-star Walter Nolen for the Washington visit—and Nolen chose to remain with Grant instead of going to see his family in Detroit—and I was told after Grant’s Hello not to count Michigan out after they didn’t make Nolen’s top three, but I’m still not watching the film.
But I’m counting Michigan out. They are still very much after Cass Tech riser Deone Walker, who’s another guy in Grant’s size range, though Walker projects to an off-tackle role.
Note: I made some updates to the chart today after 247 released a new top 247 that includes Colston Loveland, Mason Graham, and Kevonte Henry. I noted changes of more than a tenth of a point with arrows.
OFFENSE | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Player | State | Stars | In a nutshell |
QB | Jayden Denegal | CA | 4.0⬇ | Navarre or Speight |
RB | CJ Stokes | SC | 3.7 | SC hesitated, Hart didn’t, Stokes doesn't. |
WR | Tyler Morris | IL | 4.5⬇ | Golden Tate smooth. |
WR | Tay'shawn Trent | MI | 4.0⬇ | Big, leapy. TE/LB? |
TE | Colston Loveland | ID | 3.8⬆ | Flex by own admission |
TE | Marlin Klein | GA | 3.7 | Grow-a-dude |
OT | Alessandro Lorenzetti | CT | 3.7 | Quebecois steal, if workouts are to be believed. |
OG | Connor Jones | CO | 3.4⬇ | Puts water in the harbor. |
DEFENSE | ||||
Pos | Player | State | Stars | In a nutshell |
NT | Kenneth Grant | IN | 3.7 | Mammoth. |
DT | Mason Graham | CA | 3.7⬆ | Wrestler, non-stop motor, late riser. |
EDGE | Micah Pollard | FL | 3.7 | Braylon nephew, Marcus son, Frank Clark clone. |
EDGE | Kevonte Henry | CA | 3.9⬆⬆ | Uche edgebacker. |
LB | Aaron Alexander | MI | 3.3 | Raw hybrid from Belleville. |
LB | Deuce Spurlock | AL | 3.5 | Grow-a-WILL. |
S | Damani Dent | FL | 3.5 | Rising cornerbackish safety. |
CB | Will Johnson | MI | 4.8 | Everything and tall. Deon's kid. |
CB | Kody Jones | TN | 4.0 | Nickel athlete, Walter Nolen's pal. |
CB | Myles Pollard | TN | 3.7 | Stribling. Loved you on Colson’s film! |
October 20th, 2021 at 3:01 PM ^
I recall missing out on Hankins....This feels similar. We also missed the Mone role when he graduated, and now he gets solid playing time for the Seahawks. I'm thinking Grant ends up making some unique plays in Ann Arbor.....
October 20th, 2021 at 4:06 PM ^
Maybe we would have lost Hankins eventually to OSU anyhow, but slow-playing him for conditioning reasons while he was still in high school is just one of the many terrible decisions RR made on the defensive side of the ball.
October 21st, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^
That was not a terrible decision.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:32 PM ^
I found it interesting that this write up completely left out Mone.
He would've been an instant nose in the defense. He was just paired with a DC who liked Mo Hurst types.
October 21st, 2021 at 8:42 AM ^
And lets be clear, having a DC prefer Mo Hurst types isn't a bad thing. A line of all Mo Hursts would likely tear a rift in space-time. . . and pursue you through it.
October 21st, 2021 at 2:20 AM ^
Still hate RR for this. Such tragic dereliction of duty on the defensive side of the ball.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:03 PM ^
I had to look up Proboscidean. ?
October 20th, 2021 at 3:04 PM ^
"He’s going to play nose, or else he’s going in a museum."
This got an audible chuckle out of me. Well done.
October 20th, 2021 at 4:28 PM ^
Except there is a third option. He could go on a journey to return a baby human to its tribe, accompanied by a hyperactive sloth and a sabre-toothed tiger which may or may not be trustworthy.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
YESSS THREE STAR MAFIA, MOUNT UP
Big fan of this young dude.
October 21st, 2021 at 2:14 AM ^
Not going to stay a 3-star for long.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:21 PM ^
Those poor RBs. Someone should check if they have PTSD after that.
October 20th, 2021 at 10:36 PM ^
You're assuming they still have a pulse.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
Huge missed opportunity to deploy the term "brobdingnagian" to describe Walker. Also would consider "planetary".
October 20th, 2021 at 5:48 PM ^
Side note: I think use of Brobdingnagian often amounts to a micro-wank, as it's often deployed by journalists with expensive educations (who feel obligated to flaunt those wherever possible).
October 20th, 2021 at 3:28 PM ^
Curious - any chance of adding links to previous hello posts for the rest of class chart? As I look at this there are a bunch of players whom I think I remember - or else definitely forgot about - so it would be amazing to have a way to refresh my memory on them. Hope that wouldn't create a ton of extra work for all of you?!
October 20th, 2021 at 6:08 PM ^
If you Google “mgoblog hello [recruit’s name]” it will pull up the post. I enjoy doing this for some of our veteran players
October 20th, 2021 at 3:37 PM ^
Hello, large person. Welcome.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:50 PM ^
I saw just the photo at first and thought 'wtf?'. Laughed out loud while reading all the headlines...
I love this site!
October 20th, 2021 at 4:46 PM ^
I had the same reaction. Very clever. Good stuff Seth.
October 20th, 2021 at 3:50 PM ^
I, for one, welcome our new mammoth overlord.
October 20th, 2021 at 4:04 PM ^
I feel like these should be titled “belated hello”
October 20th, 2021 at 4:11 PM ^
And people still think there isnt a conspiracy in the media??
October 20th, 2021 at 4:16 PM ^
Lol conspiracy? Laziness (and desire to show up alongside better material in Google hits) is the obvious and low-effort conclusion.
October 20th, 2021 at 4:30 PM ^
Hankins still plays regularly for the Raiders.
October 20th, 2021 at 4:37 PM ^
Nice work on all of these, Seth, but especially this one. I think this kid is gonna be good
October 20th, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
Dude needs a shave and a haircut. And a tusk trimming.
/ two bits
October 20th, 2021 at 4:46 PM ^
6'4", 330-340 and playing both ways would definitely suggest some pretty decent cardio
October 20th, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^
Are there any concerns about him being a Pat Massey type at his height?
October 20th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
He's not as tall as Massey and is built exactly nothing like him, either.
October 20th, 2021 at 5:39 PM ^
Zero. Massey was 6'8"
October 20th, 2021 at 5:43 PM ^
And like 280, 285 to boot.
For reference, current Georgia human eater Jordan Davis is 6'6" 330. Vita Vea is 6'4" and close to 350. This dude's height is a non-issue at his beefitude.
October 20th, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
And like 280, 285 to boot.
For reference, current Georgia human eater Jordan Davis is 6'6" 330. Vita Vea is 6'4" and close to 350. This dude's height is a non-issue at his beefitude.
October 20th, 2021 at 5:04 PM ^
God lord, Kenneth is wrecking everything on the field. I think I saw 4 blocked kicks and a blocked punt in that 3:00 min clip. And if that's not an Indiana HS record for single season total for blocked punts/kicks for a woolly mammoth, I'd be shocked...
October 20th, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
Lol I think I laughed the entire time at that highlight video. I've never seen that many blocked kicks by one person in a video before in my life. Especially if that's just the first half of one season.
October 20th, 2021 at 5:53 PM ^
Great pickup. We pooped some gold on picking up big Kenny.
October 20th, 2021 at 6:59 PM ^
Did it look to anyone else like the opposing linemen were a bit hesitant to block him from his film? Not like I’m judging or anything (who am I to stop a mammoth?) but it really looked like the guy on the other side asked himself if dying was worth it or not on this play
October 20th, 2021 at 7:15 PM ^
It's the same "business decision" defensive backs have to make when they've got a 1-on-1 vs. Derrick Henry.
Of course, Grant must be truly terrifying if high schoolers, who can be blasted apart like Mr Potato Head on Tuesday and get back to normal life Wednesday morning, are nope-ing out like that.
October 20th, 2021 at 7:25 PM ^
Forgot to mention in my last post some of the things this video made come out of my mouth:
”oh god that poor bastard!” - first play of the video, running back wishing for death
”oh god oh no no no HOLY ****” - the screen where he obliterated that tiny CB
“this guy across from him was considering his knee usage later in life, obviously” - third play of video, O-lineman decided to search for worms instead of block him
October 20th, 2021 at 7:50 PM ^
If his team runs into Carmel in the postseason, that would probably be some really good film to look at. I believe I saw that they've got multiple D1 OL on their team this year, so the competition level should be impressive.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:15 PM ^
A war daddy. Finally.
October 21st, 2021 at 12:08 AM ^
The only other man that size I’ve seen move that quickly was my great uncle if he had to get to the bathroom.
im so excited for this kid. Best case, he’s all world. Worst case is he eats double teams and doesn’t get moved. I’ll happily take either.
October 21st, 2021 at 1:40 AM ^
Brings his own gravity
October 21st, 2021 at 8:20 AM ^
He doesn't look particularly wooly...
October 21st, 2021 at 9:12 AM ^
Seth is an underrated writer.
And he's rated very highly.
October 21st, 2021 at 9:19 AM ^
Grant is even more fun to watch on OL.
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