Scouting Report: John Kelly
Several people had been asking about a scouting report on John Kelly, and since we know Harbaugh is recruiting him, I went ahead and wrote one up. I also thought it was interesting that Harbaugh reportedly told Kelly he's "the best athlete in the state," which may mean that he thinks Kelly is a better prospect than the early-enrolled Brian Cole. Anyway, here it is:
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2015/01/scouting-report-john-kelly.h…
January 15th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^
Who has a movie treatment that Fred Savage would be perfect for.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
Oh, did I frighten you? I'm not crazy.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:18 AM ^
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January 15th, 2015 at 8:22 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 8:29 AM ^
If you look at the Crystal Ball predictions, the last one in favor of Michigan State was on December 4. Since then there have been 13 predictions for either Michigan or Tennessee, and Tennessee has received the last few, including from an MSU "insider." There was also a recent article saying Tennessee and Minnesota are his top two, but I just have a hard time believing he would pass up the in-state schools and/or an SEC school for Minnesota. The Gophers are getting better, but they're just not on the same level as an overall program as those other potential landing spots.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:32 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^
At very least, His Dudeness is consistent. I'll never understand it.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
I think he lost a bunch of MGoPoints at one time for being kind of a jerk to lots of people (including me), so now he just negs me every chance he gets instead of actually instigating arguments.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
so you can't start threads.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
Passive aggressive SOB...
January 15th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
I'm not passive.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:25 AM ^
When do you give out your numerical grades for each player? After Feb 4?
Sounds like a 82 to me!
January 15th, 2015 at 8:30 AM ^
I give out numerical grades for players when each kid commits to the current class, but then I revamp the grades when the class finalizes. Senior film, other players who commit, coaching changes, etc. can change how I view them. So I won't give Kelly a grade unless/until he commits.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:36 AM ^
I appreciate your efforts and your accessibility especially when answering questions.
One of the reasons why this blog has become such a powerful media source. . .
January 15th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
Thank you!
January 15th, 2015 at 8:27 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
Too many Marky-Mark movies. John Kelly isn't a cawp from Bawston.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
I work with a guy named John Kelly. He's a scrappy white middle-aged software tester in Galway, Ireland.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:29 AM ^
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January 15th, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^
247 Sports has him listed as officially visiting Michigan on January 30.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
he hasn't even seen him face to face yet. Give him time. Kelly has yet to be Harbaughed.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:34 AM ^
Watching the first 2 min or so it didn't seem to me like he was that fast. Howeva, at about the 2:15 mark, he turns on the jets. Seems like a shifty back with pretty decent vision. I do think that he suffers from playing lower competition. It didn't seem like there were a lot of great tacklers on the other side of the ball. My incredibly amature opinion, obviously.
A solid pick up if we can make it happen.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^
That was my first reaction, too (not having great speed), but I think it just depends on whether he thinks the guy chasing him can catch him. When he's actually in an honest-to-God foot race, he turns on the jets, like you said.
As far as competition level, I think you're wrong, frankly. Oak Park plays Cass Tech, Southfield, Farmington Hills Harrison, Farmington, etc., all of whom have numerous FBS prospects. Cass Tech has probably 12 guys with FBS offers right now, and Southfield probably has about half a dozen.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:15 AM ^
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January 15th, 2015 at 10:10 AM ^
He doesn't have "great speed".
He isn't slow... but the guy runs track and isn't even Top 50 in Michigan in any sprint event.
His best event is the 200 - and he's never broken 23.
Drake Johnson ran 0.5 seconds faster.
Jabrill Peppers ran almost 1.5 seconds faster.
Denard Robinson ran 1.2 seconds faster.
Dennis Norfleet (you generally don't think he's "fast") has a faster 100m time than John Kelly has ever run.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
Some people run a lot faster when people are chasing them. There are obviously people who are fast on a track but don't run fast with pads on, and there are guys who run fast enough to stay away from/catch up to their opponents in football. I do think Kelly has good football speed, but I wouldn't call him a flat-out blazer.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:51 AM ^
I'm not saying the dude is slow... running a low 23s 200m is relatively fast compared to the average high school kid. He may have good "football speed". He just isn't even in the conversation as far as "great speed" go.
It isn't that "some people run a lot faster" - it's that LOTS AND LOTS of people run a lot faster. Michigan is a relatively "slow" state and he isn't even a top 50 speedster in Michigan. He is likely not even a "top 1000" guy as a sprinter nationwide.
I mean... I was a relatively slow white guy, wasn't a top 4 200m guy on my high school track team, my highschool wasn't especially good at track... and I ran almost that fast.
January 15th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^
I think that is something Magnus and Ace and all these guys who do the writeups on recruits should include - a data point about their school's place in that specific state's hierarchy. Watching a guy tear up 6A in Texas is different than a "3rd division" in say Indiana or Michigan. They usually do say something like "take into account quality of football in XX state" but even within each state there is a difference between playing in 1st v 4th division. Doesn't mean you can't find good players who just so happen to play in a small student body school but it helps to really know what sort of salt to ingest with the highlight film.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^
I don't make a separate category for it, but I do try to mention it somewhere if it's noteworthy. When De'Veon Smith had a hard time out-running the tiny white kids in high school, I mentioned that as a red flag. Kelly isn't tearing up the highest division of Texas football, but he's playing against some pretty good athletes.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 8:54 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
+1
Also, best athlete doesn't mean best prospect. Just because Brian Cole is often listen as an Athlete, doesn't mean that his value and his athletism are one in the same.
January 15th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^
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January 15th, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^
""He asked me a couple personal questions about my life and he actually brought my game up," Kelly said. "I guess coach (Chris) Singletary was telling him about me or showed him some film or something. They were telling me I'm the best overall player in the state, so that's why they really want to come after me so much."" (LINK)
January 15th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
Oh, and this is all from a kid who "guesses" what they told him base on "something" or other.....
I have no issues with the kid or you, I just think it's crazy how much stock some people put in alleged quotes. They are almost never even accurate to begin with.......
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January 15th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
Full disclosure: I read the quote elsewhere where, IIRC, Kelly reported the quote as having come from Harbaugh himself. It was almost immediately after Harbaugh was hired. The Freep quote above popped up when I googled it earlier this morning for you, and I can promise you that I didn't read it in the Freep before. I honestly believe this was the first Freep article I've clicked on in years. I think the original quote I read a couple weeks ago was on 247, but 247 is kind of a pain in the @$$ to look up old articles, so I gave up.
Regardless, they appear to have told him he's the best athlete in the state or at least something close to it, and my memory is that it came in a conversation with Harbaugh himself.
Take it FWIW.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^
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January 15th, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
I really don't think going back and forth about it is going to help much.
The bottom line is that, unless Kelly is a liar, Harbaugh is very high on Kelly's abilities as a football player.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
Calvin Johnson? I think it's *understood* that if the discussion is about Harbaugh + recruting = the audience knows we are talking about HS kids and not the Detroit Lions...
You're being rather pedantic in your rants on how quotes are quoted
January 15th, 2015 at 11:56 AM ^
....is another man's pedantry.
EDIT: I was also clearly just making a point with that example.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
He looks better than a 3 star to me. The staff seems to be doing a great job of unearthing underrated guys.
January 15th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
Thanks as always for the write up!
January 15th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
how would he fit in if Weber ends up recommitting? Would Michigan take both of them or is it an either/or. To me, he looks like a very good prospect and one who could turn into a top player with the right coaching. MSU has made a living finding guys like Kelly and turning them into All Big Ten players.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
I think Michigan would take both. I don't know that for sure, but Kelly at least could play safety, corner, or potentially at receiver. Even if you take both as running backs, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Michigan has 6-10 spots available (depending on attrition) and probably won't fill all those spots unless they "overload" on a couple positions.
January 15th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
I'd agree about taking both since Kelly looks like he'd be versatile position-wise. Also, RB always seems to have a high attrition rate. And with Drake's injury, there's more uncertainty.
January 15th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
January 15th, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
I don't believe you've completed a write-up because M never offered, but have you looked at Moorman at all?
Thanks Magnus, great work as always.
January 15th, 2015 at 1:49 PM ^
I have looked at Moorman. I just watched his senior highlights yesterday. I am not a huge fan. He's a little stiff, and I think he's slow off the ball. But Harbaugh (and his staff) did a good job of coaching up the guys at Stanford, so I wouldn't be too opposed if Harbaugh thinks he's got the chops...