Hallo: Julius Welschof
[Isaiah Hole/247]
When college football’s early signing period commences for the first time Wednesday morning, it will already be well past Julius Welschof’s scheduled lunch hour at the Krones manufacturing plant in Rosenheim, Germany. The 20-year-old has worked at the factory for more than a year, building machines that fill plastic bottles with water, but he hopes his boss will let him have some time off in the afternoon to celebrate perhaps the most important occasion of his life.
Bavarian defensive end Julius "Juice" Welschof is Michigan's latest 2018 commit, and now an early signee, only a few years after learning football from YouTube videos. Despite the rather sudden flip from his Georgia Tech commitment, Welschof has been on Michigan's radar for a while; he camped with the Wolverines over the summer as part of a two-week US tour, and he was even in Rome during the team's spring break trip, per 247's Steve Lorenz.
Welschof is Michigan's 19th commit in the 2018 class and the third in the last four days. He joins early signees Aiden Hutchinson and Taylor Upshaw (who's additionally a planned early enrollee) in the class at defensive end.
GURU RATINGS
Rivals | ESPN | 247 | 247 Comp |
3* SDE | 3*, 78, #64 DE |
4*, 90, #12 SDE, #323 Ovr |
3*, #25 SDE, #624 Ovr |
The only chances to evaluate Welschof have been at team camps or off his German league highlights, so it's not surprising there's a wide spread in his rankings. Rivals handed out a cursory 5.5 rating and hasn't given him a position ranking. On the other end, 247 liked his potential enough to make him a bona-fide four-star.
Welschof is listed at 6'6", 250 on Rivals; ESPN docks him an inch, 247 two pounds. He's probably ticketed for strongside defensive end.
[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]
SCOUTING
As mentioned above, Michigan's coaches got a chance got see Welschof in person at one of this summer's camps, and The Wolverine's Brandon Brown was in attendance:
A true German hailing from Bavaria, 2018 strongside defensive end Julius Welschof looked very impressive at 6-6, 245 pounds. He was long and athletic but also appeared to have solid power while working on the sleds.
His size and power also stood out to 247's Isaiah Hole:
As he participated in drills led by Rashan Gary, Aubrey Solomon, Carlo Kemp and Luiji Vilain, when he attacked the sled it didn't look too far off from the true freshmen who participated. He showed good poise and explosiveness -- and obviously has the size, which you can't teach.
Michigan hasn't offered Welschof -- yet. I spoke with some sources close to the program who said that they are very high on him, but that there could be some academic hurdles (since he's coming from Germany) and they just want to see more of him.
247's Barton Simmons praised his athleticism while noting its rather unlikely source:
Welschof hails from Germany and he's on a summer vacation of sorts. He's been hitting the camp circuit hard, making stops at Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and others and he's been turning heads. The German native is raw but freakishly athletic. At that size he clocked a 4.73 40 at Ohio State and has gone as fast as 4.5 back home with fresh legs. He's got great bend and flexibility. He's got a long, powerful frame.
His unique athleticism can be traced back to his first sport of downhill skiing. His ability as a freestyle mogul skier has developed his hip and ankle flexibility, his bend, coordination and body control. His backward flips on skis offers some additional flair.
Yes, there's video evidence:
I'm pretty sure a ski moguls video is a Hello post first.
Finally, Scout's Brian Dohn gave a detailed evaluation when Weischof committed to Georgia Tech in October:
In a lot of instances, he uses speed and an ability to dip his shoulder to get around the edge. At his size, his ability to get around the corner and remain balanced shows his flexibility and his body control.
He can pursue to the sideline and he runs well, especially given his size, but he needs to work on disengaging more quickly and also be faster with his hands.
There are times he pops up too straight and it costs him in the leverage battle, but much of that is coaching. He needs to be patient and fire out instead of up. He does a good job with his change of direction.
As Dohn concluded, most of what Welschof needs to work on is technique, and that will improve when he starts working with a college coaching staff. Meanwhile, there's a lot to work with; Dohn thought Welschof could be a defensive end, defensive tackle, or even potentially an offensive lineman.
While it's difficult to take too much away from Welschof's film given the competition, it's apparant Michigan got a big, athletic, talented prospect to mold. Since he's already 20 years old, Welschof could develop grown man strength in a hurry, too, and maintain that edge against his younger classmates through his career.
OFFERS
Welschof held offers from UConn, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Minnesota, Rutgers, Syracuse, UCF, Eastern Michigan, UMass, and Tulane, among a handful of others. He drew interest but no offer from the likes of Arkansas, Louisville, Maryland, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pitt, and Tennessee.
HIGH SCHOOL
Is in Germany. Welschof broke into the game with the club team Munich Cowboys. No, the competition level isn't great.
STATS
Couldn't find any.
FAKE 40 TIME
I've seen various times listed for Welschof, from 4.76 at OSU's camp (one FAKE) to a couple in the 4.5 range (five FAKEs), which would be completely bonkers for a player his size. That's not to knock his athleticism; 4.76 is a great time that would've ranked him just outside the top 15 among DL at the last NFL Combine. This unsourced quote from his coach in Germany whiffs of urban legend but also speaks to his explosiveness:
“Julius came to my home and stayed with me for 2 days and he was a great kid. I took him to a field and he performed in the snow. He was 6’6 250lbs and ran a 4.6 40 with a 10’3″ Broad Jump IN THE SNOW” after this day I knew we discovered something special.
His athleticism is apparent on film.
VIDEO
German league highlights posted this spring:
Summer camp tour highlights:
More workout highlights:
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
Man, I have no idea how a 20-year-old German league import is going to fare at the highest level of college football. Welschof looks the part; he's got an excellent combination of size and athleticism. That bend around the edge is hard to find in a player with his frame. I like his chances of developing into a contributor at SDE, and he appears to have a pretty high ceiling, too.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Brian covered the remaining targets in today's roundup. Eyabi Anoma just committed to Alabama, so it appears Michigan is finished at defensive end.
Michigan's 2018 class ranks 12th in the composite team rankings and third in the Big Ten. Here's the class as it currently stands:
December 20th, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
His on the field highlights show that he has a tendancy to stand upright as soon as the ball is snapped. I'd say he needs a couple of years of good coaching before he will be a factor.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:32 PM ^
Yeah that caught my eye as well. Concerning, but I am sure camp Mattison will start to solve that.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^
I wouldn't worry about it too much. He's definitely headed for a red shirt and with a few years repping techinique that should get fixed (especially with the great coaching he'll get, something I assume he's never had). That's a problem a lot of high school players have, so it's not something unique just to him.
December 20th, 2017 at 8:18 PM ^
Maybe but he might make an excellent KO/punt coverage guy where the nuances are often not so complicated.
December 20th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
Best case seems like he might end up as an older German Ziggy Ansah.
I'll take it
December 20th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^
the kid has obvious a ton of athletic ability. Give him a couple of years of good coaching and who knows, he could end up being a steal and one hell of a player for us in a couple of years.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:34 PM ^
a minimum, we have a "Juice" now. So we can check that box off.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^
This is what I am most excited about, at least until we find out what kind of player he is. Somebody needs to redeem the nickname "Juice."
December 24th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 2:35 PM ^
20 years old so maybe more developed. Hope he becomes our Sackalicious.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^
ein Michigan Wolverine zu sein
December 20th, 2017 at 2:47 PM ^
he's bayernisch - should be "servus"
December 20th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 4:56 PM ^
Very interesting indeed.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
Nice update, Ace. That moguls video demonstrates how incredible olympic level skiers are. Then again, olympic skiers aren't 6'6 250.
Also great to see a old-fashioned 5 FAKES 40 time.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^
I'm a pretty good skier (usually head to the black diamonds after a few warm up runs) but I tend to stay away from the moguls. It's incredibly difficult to get that quick change of direction, but man those Olympic skiers make it look so easy.
December 20th, 2017 at 5:14 PM ^
I would say I am an excellent skier and also 6'6'' but moguls just kill the knees. I am very impressed with that video.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
Used to be in the bottling industry where the OEM was Krones. I can't believe this guy was a factory worker at Krones... ho lee fuk
December 20th, 2017 at 3:01 PM ^
gotta be an interesting admissions case for a guy that's been out of whatever the German secondary school system is and has been working in a factory for the past year.
December 20th, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^
... he was never officially enrolled at Ole Munich. Credits from those southern schools rarely transfer.
December 21st, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^
At about Grade 4 German school kids are tested and tracked into one of three principal programs. The highest program, the Gymnasium, is a school building in Germany; the Sporthalle is where they play basketball. The Gymnasium comprises a university-prep curriculum that usually goes to grade 13. At grade 13, the educational attainment level is roughly equivalent to an U.S. community college associate's degree. The other two educational programs, the Hauptschule and Realschule, are geared more toward vocational and trade-school education.
Before graduation each Gymnasium student takes a series of oral and written examinations leading to a diploma-like certificate known as an Abitur, or colloquially as an "Abi." Traditionally --- I don't know if it's still true today --- the Abitur would admit the holder into any German university. The Gymnasium course of study --- in terms of science, math, language and literature courses, is so academically rigorous that Julius could gain admission into about any U.S. university. The only issue would be English proficiency, which from Julius's statements in his signing video is clearly not a problem. Note that other than Michigan, Julius was apparently admitted to Georgia Tech as well --- no mean accomplishment.
Bottom line: With his Gymnasium education, Julius shouldn't have any trouble handling the course work in Ann Arbor.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^
the last true German we took as a recruit is working out pretty well on the basketball court...
and in this case, we beat out our number one rival in Rutgers for his services, so it's all good!
December 20th, 2017 at 3:33 PM ^
Wagner will possibly be gone by the time he shows up, but I wonder if that helped him decide to come here?
December 20th, 2017 at 5:04 PM ^
is here.
December 20th, 2017 at 5:20 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^
Looks very athletic. Seems to be worth the risk.
However...
He's a terrible mogul skier. He's going painfully slow, and his knees are never together. He's honestly a worse mogul skier than a lot of people who don't compete in mogul skiing.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:48 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 2:57 PM ^
The highlights of him playing football on a German soccer field are epic. One of the most intriguing recruits I can remember. I definitely trust Harbaugh, Brown and Mattison on this. They must really have liked what they saw in camp last summer. Sehr gut!
December 20th, 2017 at 2:57 PM ^
can you imagine that frame in a college S&T program for 5 years at full manhood ? He would be 26 yrs old in his fifth year ! I mean good Lord ... he will need to change his nickname to "The Munich Monster" as he will be mid career NFL-size by then.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:05 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 3:10 PM ^
If my two years of German in the depressing Modern Languages Building mean anything, I'm guessing the pronunciation phonetically is VELL-shoff?
December 20th, 2017 at 3:18 PM ^
Does this kid look like Harbaugh or is it just me?
December 20th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
I'm sure there are more people than just you who look like Harbaugh.
#OldJoke
December 20th, 2017 at 3:27 PM ^
Good King Weischof looked out . . . on the feast of QBs.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:43 PM ^
But close enough, and also, it's one of my favorite carols. You can easily obnoxiously sing the heck of out it, with its sing-song melody.
December 20th, 2017 at 3:30 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 4:28 PM ^
All your fabrikarbeiterin are belong to us!
December 20th, 2017 at 3:48 PM ^
eine kleine poopenschteiner
December 20th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^
I know nothing. I see nothing. Schultz why didn't you tell me.
This is so cool. From one big German to this big German. All the best young fella.
December 20th, 2017 at 4:35 PM ^
Forget his 40 times, why not just post his slalom times? Wouldn't that help us extrapolate another dimension from this guy?
December 20th, 2017 at 4:41 PM ^
Ein Prosit!
December 20th, 2017 at 5:10 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 5:13 PM ^
I assume under the deNazification laws he was banned from going to Nebraska and becoming part of the Blackshirts
December 20th, 2017 at 6:30 PM ^
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