2009 Michigan Football Recruiting Board

Be sure to read the official mgoblog recruiting philosophy before committing suicide over anything you read here.

A Note on "Stars": These are my guesstimates. Players don't have stars associated with them yet. When the recruiting services add them I'll adjust my ratings. Half-stars appear to provide some additional accuracy. Generally a 4.5 star is a guy solidly in the top 100 on Scout/Rivals/ESPN and really highly rated by one. A 3.5 star is either a guy who is is a 3 on one site and a 4 on the other or a four-star that no one seems particularly excited about.

A Note on Premium Info: No illicit sharing of said material will appear on this site. Players are listed with interested schools in their profiles; this information is public. Commitments are by definition public. Any assertions as to schools in the mix, decision dates, or leaders I will back up with links to public information.

Projected Class Size:

As of right now: 14, with reasonable attrition bumping the number to 17 and a likely transfer or two plus a default level of knuckleheadedness getting Michigan to 20 or so. More detail on the scholarship situation can be found at the depth chart by class.

Total: 22-ish plus some additional attrition. Anything not in the "expired eligibility" is a wild-ass guess from me; read nothing into it.

Update 11/18: Linked to articles on MI DT Will Campbell, NJ DE commit Anthony Lalota, SC DE Sam Montgomery, IN LB Jordan Barnes, MI DT Will Campbell. Moved FL K Brendan Gibbons to committed.

Removed NC LB Hawatha Bell (dropped us), TN CB Marsalis Teague (hasn't mentioned us in months and probably should have been dropped some time ago).

Added GA WR Jamal Patterson, LA WR Kenny Bell, PA WR JeRon Stokes, FL CB Jayron Hosley.

2010 stuff: offer out to FL WR DeJoshua Johnson (Pahokee). MI LB Will Gholston is good. Trotwood-Madison is loaded in 2010 and 2011.

As always, some links from Varsity Blue.

The Board

Legend:

Icon	Name	Meaning
	Sad Josh	The genre of player with unrequited interest in Michigan. Unlikely to receive offers; most will eventually fade off the list and go to Duke or Michigan State or something.
	Nefarious Eduardo	Player is a longshot. Either they've declared someone else a leader publicly or popular opinion holds that they're likely to go to another school.
	Data	Either no opinion or Michigan is one of a fairly even group of chasing schools. Players in this category maintain no leader or change their leader frequently. The default category for players that we don't know much about yet.
	Happy Teeth	Players who have Michigan in a small leading group or have Michigan as a tenuous favorite. Should be regarded as a good shot, not a slam dunk.
	Mr. Blue	Player is either a verbal or is expected to be one sooner or later. Players with this designation are 65%+ to be Michigan commits.

Additional note: (EE) next to a Michigan commit indicates the player intends to enroll early.

Quarterback

Needs: Severe, desperate, desperately severe and desperate. David Cone apparently is not panning out, -- he was behind a walk-on last year -- which leaves Michigan with two freshmen and no one else. Michigan needs at least two dual-threat quarterbacks to run the Rodriguez system after picking up Justin Feagin last year, who's fast but may not be a QB.

Projected Commits: 2, with maybe another one or two guys being brought in at WR being promised a shot at QB. Update: Michigan has two strong prospects in the fold and is unlikely to reel in another, but given strong interest from a couple good prospects I've kept them on the board until we're officially dropped.

Quarterback

Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Shavodrick Beaver	TX	****	Michigan (EE)		Offer. ESPN note. MGoBlog on Beaver. Post-commit ESPN quote. Rivals AMP piece. Prep Ticket video. Will enroll early. #3 Dual threat to ESPN.
Tate Forcier	CA	****	Michigan (EE)		Brother of former UM QB Jason. Offer. Many impressive early offers. Personal site; stats. ESPN note. Rivals article. Encouraging note; another. Commit article from USA Today. MLive. Home schooling article. Highlights. #2 Dual Threat to ESPN.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Denard Robinson	VA	****	M, UF, UGA, others		Will visit officially. Offer. Article. Video.

Running Back / Fullback

Needs: Minor. With Shaw and McGuffie and Cox in the last class, Michigan can afford to go light this year. They'll probably take one RB (Cass Tech's Teric Jones turned in the fastest 40 of anyone at the Army All-America camp), with a second slot being reserved only for a can't miss sort. Fullbacks? Maybe one, actually. Michigan didn't take one a year ago and the Rodriguez system likes to have a pounding dive threat for its triple options a la Owen Schmitt. Ohioan Zach Boren, legendarily tearful at the idea his older brother Justin would go to Ohio State, is now a rising senior and probably fits best here, though he might have a place somewhere on D.

Projected Commits: 1-2 RB, 0-1 FB.

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Teric Jones	MI	***.5	Michigan		Cass Tech (Cissoko, Campbell.) Fastest kid at Army combine. Video. MGoBlog on Jones. ATH WR.
Fitzgerald Toussaint	OH	****	Michigan		Youngstown Liberty (Isaiah Bell). MGoBlog on Toussaint. Vindicator article. Video clips. Newspaper profile. Rivals video. Highlights.
Vincent Smith	FL	***	Michigan (EE)		Offer. Pahokee (Martavious Odoms) Herald article. Free Press. Video profile. Fluff. Scout article.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Tavon Austin	MD	****	M, WVU, UNC		Offer. Baltimore Sun article, second. Will visit officially? M trailing. Very probably UNC.

Wide Receiver

Needs: Moderate. Michigan did pick up four in the last class, including blue-chipper Darryl Stonum and a couple of exciting jitterbug sorts, but the spread demands at least three guys on the roster at all times and Rodriguez has shown a predilection for bringing in as many little speedy buggers as he can get his hands on no matter the situation.

Projected Commits: 3.

Wide Receiver

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Jeremy Gallon	FL	***.5	Michigan		Offer. Slot waterbug. Single wing QB in HS. Rivals article. Apopka preseason #1. Profile. MGoBlog on Gallon. Video versus Edgewater, Lake Brantley, and Eustis. Postgame interview. Video versus Seabreeze; he went for 300 yards. Local fluff. Scouting report. Army All-American.
Dewayne Peace	TX	***	Michigan (soft)		Camp offer. ATH DB. Commit article. Highlight-ish substance.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Jamal Patterson	GA	****	Stanford, M, others.		Michigan "coming on hard" for Stanford commit.
Rueben Randle	LA	*****	M, LSU, Miami, 'Bama, USC		Plans official visit. Teammate of LA DT commit DeQuinta Jones. Article. Profile.
JeRon Stokes	PA	****.5	Tenn, others		Tennesee commitment looking around in wake of Fulmer firing.
Kenny Bell	LA	****	LSU, Bama, M		LSU soft commit plans visits to Alabama, Michigan
Rueben Randle	LA	*****	M, LSU, Miami, 'Bama, USC		Plans official visit. Teammate of LA DT commit DeQuinta Jones. Article. Profile.
Dion Sims	MI	****	M, MSU, OSU.		Father an M employee. ATH TE, LB, DE... only tentatively here. Offer. Detnews article. Likes basketball.
Cameron Gordon	MI	****	M, MSU, Minn, Iowa		ATH S/LB. Rivals article, Scout interview. Detnews on Gordon. Detnews again.
Willie Haulstead	FL	***.5	FSU (soft verbal), M, others.		MSU visitor.

Tight End

Needs: Minimal. Michigan will enter 2008 with six tight ends on the roster, only one of whom is a senior, just in time for Rich Rodriguez to bring a TE de-emphasizing spread to Ann Arbor. While Rodriguez will probably take advantage of the athletic abilities possessed by Butler, Moore, et al, he's probably not going to bring in any new guys here unless there's a couple positions switches from the existing group or he brings in a guy like Sims who might outgrow wide receiver.

Projected Commits: 0.

Offensive Line

Needs: Moderate. You always want to take at least three, IMO, even when you took six the year before, and since the class of 2007 has just two players, one of whom was a real flier, Michigan will again be looking for a lot of bodies here. Fortunately, there are somewhere between 2-4 instate linemen who are Michigan caliber. Also lurking, at least as much as anyone his size can lurk, is Trotwood-Madison OL Chris Freeman. Michigan raided Trotwood for three players a year ago, of course, and might have the inside track on him. Freeman's very Michael Oher: enormous even for an OL (he's 6'9"!) and sushi raw, having played only four football games in his life.

Projected Commits: 3-4.

Offensive Line

Commitments
Mike Schofield	IL	****	Michigan		MGoBlog on Schofield. Sun-Times. Varsity Blue. Video. Article.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Chris Freeman	OH	****	open		Offer. Trotwood-Madison (Shaw, Moore, Roundtree). BP thread, Scouting Ohio video. Bucknuts article. Daily Mail article. Tiger Rag article. ESPN article.
Morgan Moses	VA	*****	open		Offer. RP Thread. Article. Crush blocks! Scout article. ESPN brief. Won’t qualify, apparently.
Michael Philipp	CA	****	Pac-10, M		Michigan interest; USC getting involved.
Taylor Lewan	AZ	***	M, Minn lead		Chaparral (Craig Roh). Blowing up after transfer and position switch from DT.
Travis Bond	NC	***	VT, M, UNC, NC State		Plans official visit; no others scheduled yet. Newspaper profile. Another one. ESPN article. Scout article.
Quinton Washington	SC	****	M, SoCar, Clemson, others		Plans official. Offer. Visited and was impressed.

Defensive Tackle

Needs: Moderate. Last year Michigan got a good prospect in Novi's Mike Martin and has three rising sophomores who saw playing time. An early commit from 2009 five-star Will Campbell helps a lot, but Campbell insists he's going to take all five official visits -- he's pretty soft. Michigan probably needs one more DT.

Projected Commits: 2.

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
DeQuinta Jones	LA	***.5	Michigan		MGoBlog on Jones; commit article from local paper. Wavering a bit now.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Will Campbell	MI	*****	M, USC, LSU, Miami		Committed at M summer camp during his junior year, then dominated the Army Combine. Currently #23 overall to Rivals. Video interview. Detnews article. He’s Thor, man. News article. Rivals article. ESPN article. Free press. Army Bowl Guy.
Pearlie Graves	OK	***	open		Offer.
Deantre Rhodes	VA	***	M, VT, others		Varina (Minor, Evans).

Defensive End

Needs: Severe. One commit in the last two classes at a position with two starters is asking for trouble. Even if a linebacker or tight end moves here, Michigan still needs quantity and quality. So the lack of names below? Scary.

Projected Commits: 3.

Defensive Ends

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Anthony LaLota	NJ	****.5	Michigan (EE)		Not recruiting much yet but seems interested. Scout article. Rivals article, Terry Bowden breaks down film(!). Scout article. Down to seven. Visited and was impressed. Michigan, PSU lead? No. MGoBlog on Lalota. Video interview.
Craig Roh	AZ	****	Michigan		USC lead; will visit. Article. M in top 3; USC still believed to be leading. Announced in top five. News article. Commit article. MGoBlog on Roh. First game as a commit.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Sam Montgomery	SC	****	M, USC, SoCar, Clemson, others		Offer. Originally from Detroit, sort of. ESPN article. Plans official; will narrow list soon. News article. Has visits set up. ESPN article. Will visit, yes.
Tank Carradine	OH	***	M, Ill, Tenn, Others		Cinci Enquirer. Weirdly under the radar… grades?
Jason Ankrah	MD	***	M, Tenn, VT, PSU		Offer. M in top seven. Apparently leaning to PSU but PSU might be full; M would be in a good spot otherwise. Update: dropped PSU, will visit Oct 3. Video interview. News article.

Linebacker

Needs: With four players, all of them highly rated by one service or another, in last year's class and a returning starter with three more years of eligibility Michigan can afford to take it a little easy here.

Projected Commits: 2.

Linebacker

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Jordan Barnes	IN	***.5	Michigan (soft), Bama, Purdue		Father played with ex-MSU HC Bobby Williams, now with 'Bama. Commit article. Local newspaper article.
Brandin Hawthorne	FL	***	Michigan (EE)		Offer? Pahokee (Odoms). Article. OMG! Shirtless! Will " decide" August 30th. Free Press. Scout article.
Isaiah Bell	OH	***.5	Michigan		Youngstown Liberty. MGoBlog on Bell. ATH OLB. Good combine performance. ESPN article; ESPN thinks others are sleeping on him. Rivals video.
Mike Jones	FL	***.5	Michigan (EE)		ATH OLB. Orlando Edgewater (Greg Mathews). Scout article. Commit article. Will enroll early.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Jelani Jenkins	MD	*****	M one of 15		WaPo article. Video. Newspaper profile. Detroit News. Video. WaPo article. Video interview. Article. ESPN article.
Devekeyan Lattimore	GA	****	M leads Clemson, Okie State, others		Offer. Takkle profile. AJC article. Scout article. AJC again. Plans official. Scout article. Video profile.
Barkevious Mingo	LA	****	open		Offer. Scout interview.
Mike Marry	FL	***	M, UCF, Ole Miss		Offer. M in top seven. Video. Leaning Ole Miss?

Cornerback

Needs: Major. This might be a slice of MGoBlog paranoia, but with college football moving ever more strongly to the passing game it seems like you should regard the corner spot as the realm of three starters. Michigan has Donovan Warren returning, Boubacar Cissoko incoming, and then things get dodgy. The two-star running back recruit who's also 6'4"? The guy who came in at WR and is bouncing back and forth between the two positions as we speak? The unheralded legacy recruit? JT Floyd? Man, that creeps me out.

Projected Commits: 2.

Cornerback

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Justin Turner	OH	****.5	Michigan		Massillon (Shawn Crable). ATH CB. BP thread. MGoBlog on Turner. Commit article.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Mike Edwards	OH	***	M, Wisc, Illinois, OSU		Cleveland Glenville, but no OSU offer and is unlikely to get one with 6 DBs already in the OSU class. Video.
Josh Robinson	FL	***	M, UCF, USF		Scout article. UCF/USF lead? Announces Nov 30. Scout again.
Mywan Jackson	FL	***	M, UNC, UL		Offer, will visit. ATH QB. Video. High school QB. Good offer list. Very impressed with Michigan unofficial, Michigan “stood out.” UNC lead? ESPN article.
Jayron Hosley	FL	***.5	M, OSU, UL, others		Offer.

Safety

Needs: Moderate. Jonas Mouton is an OLB and Jerimy Finch can't decide what he wants on his Big Mac, let alone which school he wants to go to, leaving Michigan with Steve Brown, Michael Williams, and Artis Chambers across the last two classes.

Projected Commits: 2.

Safety

Commitments
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Thomas Gordon	MI	***	Michigan		Cass Tech (Cissoko, Jones, Campbell). No offer yet; but "likely" to get one and commit. News article. Free Press article. Free Press again. Free Press again again.
Prospects
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Angelo Hadley	FL	***	M, UGA, UF, UNC.		Offer. Scout article; M in top seven. Now top five. TBO.com article. Scout article.  M in top four. Scout again.
Darren Myles	GA	****	open		Offer; AJC article; second, ESPN hype. VolsExtra article.
Jonathan Scott	FL	****	M, Miss, SoCar lead		Offer. Scout article. Now has a weird set of offers and schools. Florida State lead?
Vladimir Emilien	FL	****	M, UW, OSU		Offer. BP thread. Visiting for MSU game. Article. MGoBlog interview. ESPN article.
Dennis Thames	MS	***	M leads Miss St, LSU, others		Nephew of Detroit Tiger Marcus Thames. Scout article; second article. Offer. Free Press. Michigan lead. Detnews article. Interview.
Donovan Tate	GA	****	USC, UNC, M, baseball		Will visit. Interview.

Kickers

Needs: KC Lopata will be gone by the time this class arrives on campus and recruited K Bryan Wright has been relegated to kickoffs, so they might look for a kicker. Punter is covered by Zoltan Mesko for another two years.

Commits
Name	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Notes
Brendan Gibbons	FL	***	Michigan		MGoBlog on Gibbons. Rivals #7 K for 2009.

Projected Commits: 0, though if someone wants to walk on they'll take him.

A reminder: the Star Scale for Rumor Credibility.

• 0-star: incoherent ravings.
• 1-star: clearly biased speculation without backing.
• 2-star: Some guy saying something on some board that claims insider info due to a chance occurence.
• 3-star: Information from someone less established as an insider but a frequent poster who seems sane and useful.
• 4-star: recognized insider-type person with no ax to grind who has established his bonafides on past recruits.
• 5-star: actually verified by an article and a quote from the player, a family member, or a coach.

So. Cutoff is two stars... sometimes three. Played by feel. In the future there will be denotations as follows:

UV: the information in sum(star rating).

Links will be provided so you can judge for yourself; posts that will fall into the memory hole will be copied for posterity.

Update 3/31: Added NJ DE Anthony LaLota, OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint, AZ DE Craig Roh (offer, USC lead), CA OL Everett Benyard, CA WR Shaquelle Evans, SC QB Stephon Gilmore (article header), FL S Frankie Telfort. Linked to video of MN WR Bryce McNeal, article on McNeal, article on TN WR Marlon Brown, article on IL OL Chris Watt. Moved MI RB Teric Jones, OH S Isaiah Bell, OH CB Justin Turner to committed. Removed KS LB Jaydan Bird (OK), OH FB Zach Boren (just a feeling), TX S Craig Loston (dropped us). Linked to a couple Sam Webb pieces in the Detroit News.

Update 4/21: Added FL RB Jamaal Berry, FL DT Antwan Lowry, FL QB Eugene Smith, and FL RB Vincent Smith based on this Sam Webb article in the Detnews. Added MD CB David Givens (though I think he's a longshot), OK CB Gabe Lynn, PA DE Kadeem Custis, GA WR Braxton Lane, IN OL Zach Martin($), TX QB Shavodrick (hur) Beaver($), PA LB AJ Fenton, AZ DT Corey Adams, TN OL Alex Bullard. Removed FL WR Duron Carter, who we don't appear involved with, FL QB Aaron Murray (UGA), VA RB Damien Thigpen (Tenn), MD CB David Givens (OSU), PA RB Jordan Hall (OSU), PA LB Dorian Bell (uh... OSU). Stuff lifted from Varsity Blue : not getting OH OL Marcus Hall (Glenville, no surprise), mildly informative item on SC S Devonte Holloman, piece with quote from FL DT Antwan Lowery, VA QB Kevin Newsome's myspace page... encouraging! Linked to articles on MS S Rod Woodson (bump from red to yellow), MS S Dennis Thames. Moved OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint to committed.

Update 4/28: Various things on FL QB Eugene Smith, including a wild brawl and profile, 7-on-7 video. Linked to video of MI WR Hersey Jackson and OH OL Chris Freeman, articles on AZ DE Craig Roh (from VB), TX WR Josh Gordon, IN QB Morgan Newton, OK RB David Oku, MI WR James Jackson (plus OSU speculation), GA QB Donovan Tate, a couple interviews with MN WR Bryce McNeal, note on CA WR Shaquelle Evans. Moved VA QB Kevin Newsome to committed. Added NC WR Jheranie Boyd, SC DE Sam Montgomery (ESPN), NC OL Xavier Nixon, MI LB Jeremy Gainer. Apparently we just offered OH OL Corey Linsley, but I'm not adding him because I'd need to make some sort of super-nefarious Eduardo if I did; ticketed to OSU. (Update: he committed.) Removed LA DT Chris Davenport (dropped us), MN WR Fritz Rock (no mutual interest). There's also this ESPN article with notes on OK CB Gabe Lynn and TX QB Shavodrick Beaver, and a Free Press article on Spartan targets that references some Michigan targets.

Update 5/2: Moved TX QB Shavodrick Beaver to committed. Subsequently removed all QBs except for Tate Forcier and Eugene Smith, who are downgraded to red, and SC QB Stephen Gilmore, who was moved to safety. Linked to video of FL RB Jamaal Berry, interview of MI WR Cameron Gordon, articles on MI WR Cameron Gordon, MS S Rod Woodson($, downgrade to red), OH OL Chris Freeman, VA RB David Wilson, TX QB commit Shavodrick Beaver, note on FL WR Steadman Bailey (downgrade to gray). old articles on NJ DE Anthony Lalota. Added LA OL Chris Faulk, WI WR Kraig Appleton, FL S Vladimir Emilien. Linked to Sam Webb article on the QBs, and free Rivals AMP piece on them. Removed SC S Stephen Gilmore (dropped us). A couple old things on PA WR Todd Thomas: post-sophomore hype article, POW award with fluff article.

Update 5/12: Linked to articles on TN OL Alex Bullard (downgrade to red), TN OL Alex Bullard (upgrade to yellow... woo conflicting info), MD RB Tavon Austin (second, downgrade to red), GA S Darren Myles (second), MI WR Dion Sims, FL RB Mike Gillislee, LA WR Willie Haulstead, PA DE Tyrone Ezell, header on MN WR Bryce McNeal, NC OL Xavier Nixon. Roundup article from Kornblut has news on SC DE Chris Bonds, claim of offers for SC ATH David Sims and SC WR Alshon Jeffery. (Via Big House Blog.) Added Sims, Jeffery, FL WR Rantavious Wooten (video), MD DE Sean Stanley, OK CB David Gordon, GA LB DeDe Lattimore, MI QB Keith Nichol(?... I guess... more), OH S Isaiah Bell. Removed FL WR Nu'Keese Richardson (very probably dropped us), MS S Rod Woodson (owie it's cold hold me). Bumped CA QB Jason Forcier to yellow. Stuff via Varsity Blue: fluff on MN WR Bryce McNeal, WI WR Kraig Appleton. Clemson leads for NC WR Jheranie Boyd.

Update 5/19: Removed MI WR James Jackson (OSU), NC S Devonte Holloman (Clemson), PA OL Eric Shrive (PSU). Downgraded NJ WR Shawne Kersey to gray. Moved MN WR Bryce McNeal to committed. Again. Added GA WR Jamal Patterson (more), FL OT Andrew Carter, OH WR Patrick White, TX OL Nick Ash, IL OL Michael Schofield, FL QB(ATH?) Mywan Jackson, IN LB Jordan Barnes. Linked to articles on MS DE Fletcher Cox, MN WR Bryce McNeal, IL OL Chris Watt (via VB), LA OL Chris Faulk.

Update 5/26: Noted OSU lead for FL RB Jaamal Berry. Linked to articles on CA QB Tate Forcier, FL DT Antwan Lowery, MS S Dennis Thames, OH S commit Isaiah Bell, MN WR commit Bryce McNeal. Also linked a couple videos on OK RB David Oku and three on VA QB commit Kevin Newsome: Newsome, his track coaches, and his brother. (Via MSC.) Added VA OL Morgan Moses, FL LB Brandin Hawthorne, NC CB Terry Shankle, MI OL Charles Chapman. Removed MI QB