Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson, LB Deuce Spurlock, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE/LB Micah Pollard, DE Derrick Moore, DT Mason Graham, DT Kenneth Grant, DT Cam Goode, T Andrew Gentry, T/G Connor Jones, G Alessandro Lorenzetti, C Olu Oluwatimi, TE Marlin Klein, TE Colston Loveland, WR Amorion Walker, WR Tyler Morris, WR Darrius Clemons, RB CJ Stokes

Apple Valley, California – 6'5"/215
[Patrick Barron]		247: 6'4/215               3.96*	3*, 89, NR overall #19 QB, #37 CA
		Rivals: 6'4/215               3.79*	3*, 5.7, NR overall #24 QB-Pro, #39 CA
		ESPN: 6'5/230               3.87*	4*, 79, #71 West #21 QB-Pro, #36 CA
		On3: 6'4/215               3.83*	3*, 88, NR overall #28 QB, #32 CA
		Composite:               3.83*	3*, 0.8870, #454 ovr #30 QB, #35 CA
		Other Suitors	MSU, OreSt, UCLA
		YMRMFSPA	Wilton Speight
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello by me.
Notes	AA Bowl (late add). Twitter. IG. Sweet lil bro.
Film:
Senior Highlights: Hudl. AA Bowl Practice. More. By Loy! X-Mas Eve workout. vs rival. same game.

Typically when Michigan gets a five-star quarterback commit there's a shadow of 1-2 years when they struggle to recruit another. How dark the shadow and how long it lasts varies by the degree to which recruits assume the superstar is going to dominate the depth chart.

The other thing you may notice about the 5-star shadow is Navarre, Threet, Speight, Milton, McNamara, and all those guys had enormous opportunities to start by the time they had sophomore eligibility. The thing Ohio State managed to convince CJ Stroud but Michigan has yet to successfully get through any top teenager's skull is the best path to starting is coming in on the heels of a can't-miss quarterback. The guy you get after The Dude is a guy you'd better plan to start in a few years.

Fresh off J.J. McCarthy's class, with just as much eligibility left on Cade McNamara and Michigan telling everybody in sight that Dante Moore was their only choice for 2023, finding a man or two for 2022 was uphill sledding. Maalik Murphy became a rich man's game. Favorite target Cade Klubnik chose Clemson, second choice Drew Allar blew up and committed to Penn State, Tayven Jackson (brother of Trayce Jackson-Davis) drifted to Tennessee, and dual threat favorite Nate Johnson chose Utah. Michigan half-heartedly tried to pry Justyn Martin loose from UCLA. They did flip a guy higher on their board late, and we'll get to him.

But they also had to get creative, which led them to Denegal, a onetime four-star familiar to the camp circuit who dropped way down the rankings over the course of a cycle that had fewer chances to reevaluate that usual.

The highest indignity was being left off the Elite-11 roster after spending the first half of his high school career atop a banner California crop at his position. Along the way Denegal dropped most of the weight that was dragging him down. He played two junior seasons, winning championships in both, then changed his throwing motion. He went to the All-American Bowl. He's been shopped around by his famous trainer, been to so many camps, and up and down the rankings and scales so much you might think the only part of his story not yet written is the recriminating blog post.

But get this, Jayden Denegal is the youngest player in his class. And if you let your eyes cross that QB history chart above, you might find more than one 3.75-star from the West who won.

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Rocket man

When everybody's description of you is X plus Y, Z, W, A, or C, that probably means you have X. In this case X equals a big arm. As of November 2020 Denegal was a "big bodied signal caller who can get the ball down the field" and throws a good deep ball to 24/7's west guy Greg Biggins. UCLA observer Tracy Pierson credited Denegal with arm strength "on the higher end" plus touch. Midwest guy Allen Trieu described Denegal as a guy with "a strong arm and some mobility."

SI director of recruiting praised Denegal's "classic and modern traits" in his frame and "big right arm."

Intermediate velocity shined even brighter on occasion, showcasing tight window accuracy and drive in finding the holes in the middle of diverse defenses.

Marich noted a diversity of arm angles and throws to different parts of the field, plus some nice mobility. Charles Power called Dengal "a big pocket passer with the ability to make downfield throws off of play action and designed rollouts.” x

That was two years ago, when Power was still with 24/7 and Denegal was a top-250 player. Power's On3's cohort Gerry Hamilton at All-American Bowl week last winter said the kid still "certainly has the arm talent to play at the Power 5 level, but also the furthest to go technically."

QB trainer Danny Hernandez got to the big arm second or third depending on if you think size and "prototype NFL guy" are the same thing. Even ESPN's Craig Haubert woke from his year-long nap to opine Denegal is "a big, strong-armed passer who can throw the ball with velocity," which is just X and X but hey, ESPN said a thing (in the one article they said anything this year about Michigan's class). Touch the Banner loves one specific route that's all about zip:

I like Denegal’s ability to throw speed outs, as he gets himself lined up well and manages a strong, overhand delivery. On deep throws to the sideline, he puts a good arc on the ball and gives his receivers a chance to make a play.

Questions popped up about Denegal's arm from those who only saw tape. Rivals' staff on Signing Day wanted to see the dragon more on tape since "when he has to make a big throw it’s inconsistent." They also called him "Jordan Love without the arm" and no, YOU resist the temptation.

His OC had a believable explanation (video):

Definitely has a strong enough arm to throw it 65-70 yards if he needs to. We don't get a lot of those receivers around here, but he can do it.

Michigan apparently liked the arm so much Weiss went out to see it, then made sure Harbaugh and co. got to at a Michigan camp a week later, whence Denegal earned his offer.

Pocket man

The stats on MaxPreps show a pretty accurate passer with a lot of TDs and a low INT rate

…albeit not against the toughest competition. Until his ankle injury on 10/22 Apple Valley had won their last five games 59-0, 42-0, 47-13, 64-0, and 51-0, with Denegal mostly handing off or sitting through garbage time.

Long before the ankle, however, he was being characterized as a stand and survey type. Greg Biggins called Denegal "a pure pocket passer with a nice natural feel for the position.

He understands throwing with timing and anticipation. He’s able to change speeds, shows touch and is one of the more accurate quarterbacks in the region. He’s been one of the state’s most productive quarterbacks since his sophomore year … He’s a 4.0 student off the field and shows a cerebral nature between the lines as well. He’s someone we think can come in and pickup a complex playbook quicker then the majority of incoming quarterbacks. He’s a worker who spends a ton of time on his game and we have seen the improvements, even in the last few months.

Biggins doubled down on this take after catching Denegal at the same camp Weiss saw, crediting "a very consistent thrower, accurate down the field" who "threw one of the best deep balls in the camp."

That's not how you cock it, man

Denegal's trainer is Aaron Hernandez (NTAH), a lawyer turned QB guru who worked with Bryce Young, Maalik Murphy, DJ Uiagalelei, Jake Garcia, Tyler Buchner, Ryan Hilinski and others in just a few years in operation. You'd expect a guy getting that kind of coaching to have a pretty developed throwing motion, but our guy…well he doesn't.

On3's Hamilton really hated "the length and speed of the release" all through the AA Bowl camp, complaining "he has a bad habit of dropping the ball below the water" and suggesting Denegal stick to short throws because of it:

Denegal will be at his best when forced to get the ball out quickly in the short passing game. He had the longest release and slowest arm action of the quarterbacks in the game, and thus nearly three split seconds late releasing the ball as to what he was seeing with the eyes. That led to a few throws late and behind in the intermediate game. The ability to shorten the release and get the ball out will be paramount in Senegal’s development at the next level.

Video:

(As for the game, Jayden got in at the end and threw a pick.)

They weren't alone. Trevor Woods, then with MnB, admitted "Denegal’s mechanics will have to become more consistent." Touch the Banner was "not a fan of Denegal’s mechanics other than on his one-step speed out throws."

His footwork is inconsistent, and he’s very bouncy; rather than taking tiny steps and sliding in the pocket, he tends to just hop up and down going through his reads, which can lead to issues with timing and vision on spatial relationships. Too often he tends to drop his arm to a sidearm or three-quarters delivery, especially on deeper throws, which tends to take some speed off the ball. It can also lead to batted balls at the line of scrimmage and inaccuracy downfield.

UCLA site Bruins Report Online initializes themselves as BRO, which isn't relevant to Denegal, but you should be aware of this since being in a conference with them means we're going to encounter the BRO Staff of the BROCast who seem convinced we're mad about losing Zach Charbonnet. The BROs also got to see Denegal at a Bruins workout in May 2021 and after liking his Iowa QB-esque frame, found the throwing motion decidedly narsty.

He showed an inconsistent delivery throughout the day, and it was noticeable how far he would cock the ball behind his head as part of his elongated throwing motion. Denegal looked flat-footed at times during the footwork drills and when taking drops, and struggled to find his balance and throw off his front foot when on the move. This inconsistency continued during the one-on-ones, as he was able to connect on some shorter passes but nearly had one deep throw intercepted after underthrowing his receiver.

UCLA’s 24/7 guy Tracy Pierson said the throwing motion "is a longer one, with him taking the ball back pretty far and taking a little longer to come out of his hand":

It's not a quick release, while it is smooth and seamless. He throws a nice ball, spins it well, and showed nice accuracy Sunday and a catchability to his throws. He does tend to release the ball a little early his motion at times, which can make the ball sail a little once in a while. … His action from when he takes a snap and gets the ball off -- with the slightly slower feet and the long motion -- takes some time.

Biggins has since noticed the release has improved in shorter circumstances.

As mentioned, he has tightened his release but it can still get a little long on the deeper throws. We want to see him quicken up his drops, he’s very deliberate at times in how he sets up and throws. Sometimes it looks free and easy, other times he looks slow and methodical.

This wasn't a universal opinion. Garcia praised Denegal's "quick motion," but Jim Harbaugh noticed enough to feel the need to frame it as a 17-year-old still growing into his body.

“He’s 6-5, 6-4, 6-4 and 3/4, you just picture him at 13 — he was probably 5-11,” Harbaugh said. “15, he was 6-foot. The angles were changing in the legs, the torso, the arm. Just getting that dialed in. Once they get to their final height, they need a year or two at that. It really starts at about 6-3. More so at 6-4, more so at 6-5. They need to end the growth and have a year or so at that final height and get all the leverage dialed in.”

What's behind that eye socket, man?

Like most quarterbacks in the Harbaugh pantheon, natural intelligence is a highlight. His coach recalls implementing no-huddles and wristband plays in freshman ball, all which Denegal "picked it up instantly.” By his junior year they were running "a little bit of everything":

“We run double tight ends, we go spread, we’ll throw the ball out, we’ll run some RPO stuff. We mix it up.

The trainer also emphasized "Jayden is a super sharp kid." There's certainly plenty of Wilton Speight-like surveying on his highlight tapes. EJ Holland bought into the high IQ due to its associated upside. SI's Garcia noted a prominence of late-progression deep shots—the kind that '80s and '90s Michigan fans remember well—and thought Denegal's decisions on third-level throws "were incredibly quick for a prospect of his age." 24/7's Biggins tied the 4.0 student to "a cerebral nature between the lines"

He’s someone we think can come in and pickup a complex playbook quicker then the majority of incoming quarterbacks. He’s a worker who spends a ton of time on his game and we have seen the improvements, even in the last few months.

But out of the context of a guy throwing to 4th reads in a high school highlight reel, Denegal's tendency to go through his progressions was taken for a tendency to eat sacks, thought On3's Mike Singer at the AA Bowl practice, especially given how long it takes the ball to leave the pocket once Denegal decides to throw it. TTB was also in this camp:

I also like to see quarterbacks who are quick to make decisions based on pre-snap reads, and there are too few of those throws on his highlight film for my liking.

Denegal's not shy about saying it, especially if you consider what he and we both know what's the first thing about quarterbacking a Harbaughffense:

“I can’t wait to get in the depth of the game,” he said. “Understanding, pre-snap, post-snap and all that type of stuff. I feel like high school was just mainly post-snap. So really at Michigan, I want to learn pre-snap, and just just all that type of stuff. Just really learning the game so it’s next level.”

The OC noted a ton of mental growth (video) between the split junior season and the soon-shortened senior campaign.

He's managing the game very well, making minimal mistakes. The game is really slowing down for him. He's throwing it to the right spot. … Most growth in his pocket awareness. Past couple of years he would sit in the pocket and now he's finding his crease, knows what he wants to do with it. … Game management is his forte.

You must admit it worked

Denegal lost just two games (the first two of his senior season) over his entire high school career, including the "rouge" league he joined as a junior before playing the COVID-shortened five-game season. The guys who've coached him all mentioned the competitiveness.

His head coach came up with him since freshman ball, and even back then Jayden had a Bradyesque approach to not winning. Brich Marich and EJ Holland both went to California to see Denegal take on their rival Serrano and Denegal went 27/33 for 302 yards with five TDs to five different receivers. Said the OC, "Yeah, he doesn't like Serrano."

Dilithium level?

It does feel a bit odd to be taking a pocket passer when Weiss, who brought running quarterbacking back to the NFL, is taking over at OC. The comments on Denegal's mobility all seem to be arguing with a straw man who insists the guy is a half-carved statue carved from the top-down. Biggins said he's "a little better athlete then given credit for … not a super twitchy kid but isn’t a statue either."

He can still continue to improve as an athlete, he’s not a mobile quarterback and will need to work hard on his ability to escape pressure and extend plays when the pocket breaks down.

SI's Garcia called it "enough mobility for opposing high school defenses to remain honest in planning to stop him" but cautioned the long speed wasn't matched by acceleration, and "the QB-run element may not be a priority at the next level." The new Rivals staff hedged also:

Moves around well. Not fast but uses legs to extend plays, gain yardage.

…and were the only ones to note a lot of rollouts/misdirection in their scheme. Denegal refers to himself as "a pocket passer but I can take off." However UCLA’s 24/7 guy Tracy Pierson thought Denegal seemed more agile after slimming down to 215 pounds. Trevor Woods went so far as to suggest Denegal would be a "versatile dual-threat quarterback."

He showed flashes of his running prowess in high school, and if he gets stronger he can develop into a runner more along the lines of Josh Allen or Colin Kaepernick.

Some of the disparity, his coach thinks, is in whether you saw him play as a sophomore or after the COVID body change.

…he was working with a speed trainer trying to get that up, and that’s helped a lot. This year, we had specific designed runs with quarterback counters and some draws and things like that. He even had a couple escapes out of the pocket and got first downs for us.

This checks out in the stats; Denegal rushed for 14 yards on 23 carries (presumably including sacks) as a sophomore, then 80/16 (5 YPC) and 281/47 (6 YPC) as a senior, his TD totals progressing from 1 to 5 to 8. All of this is talk of a guy who can escape and run a bit, not a runner. TTB says "Denegal is not a mobile quarterback;"

he runs okay for a high schooler, but he will not be able to escape the pass rush very easily in college.

I'm guessing he's something like a "3" on the Dilithium Level Scale (1 [Navarre] to 10 [Denard]).

He's a big guy, was a too-big guy

Everyone mentions what The BRO Staff called "the frame of a prototypical pocket quarterback, with wide shoulders and a sturdy base." TTB even admired the way he was…

standing tall in the pocket. He’s thickly built and his weight is anywhere from 215-230 on various sites; there has been some talk that he shed weight after getting too big.

Indeed there has. Pierson said UCLA measured Denegal at a true 6'5" and 215 pounds in May 2021. That was a big change from when people saw him at a UCLA camp in the pandemic summer. EJ Holland got the story from Hernandez:

"He played this last season too heavy. He played at 227. At that weight, he lost his twitch and explosion. We've focused on slimming down. He's at 213 right now. His body looks good. His throws are cleaner. This offseason, a big focus will be getting more twitchy and sudden. He has a big arm and is smart, so we're trying to add athleticism while staying mechanically sound. That's the goal."

Even then Pierson said Denegal was "on the thicker side." By that point Biggins liked "where his body is trending," but cautioned the weight can't come back:

Getting in better shape is huge for him, he’s a naturally big kid and staying fluid athletically and clean mechanically is someone to watch and monitor.

Did the weight drop him in the rankings?

There were a lot of factors, some just those built into the nature of recruiting rankings over a long cycle. As a SoCal kid with a top trainer who made to a lot of camps, Denegal made radars early. Not as early as some—he played freshman ball when the first five-stars are usually brought up to varsity immediately—but he had an early Auburn offer and was definitely in that group who flew up the rankings when the sophomores came on the scene in February 2020. That plus his performance at the Pylon 7v7 championship (teamed with Cristian Dixon) got him into the top-250. He cracked the top-100 at 24/7, ranked 90th in September 2020, and Michigan State was involved.

Usually a guy ranked there will drop 50-70 spots as the junior film adds the bulk of the class by the following winter. Denegal's junior film, when he was in the rogue league and playing heavy, dropped him outside the top-250. He started dropping the weight over that winter, and showed up lighter, taller, and with mechanical issues that spring of 2021. Summer 2021 was when Michigan jumped in, but by that point MSU had cooled/shifted to another QB (Katin Houser), while UCLA was close to offering. The fourth star was still on Denegal when he committed to Michigan, but precariously, and he dropped into the 3-star range after. Holland admits Denegal “didn’t have many options to choose from outside of Michigan.”

His senior season was going fine until it ended early with an injury before he got to face the toughest parts (his team went to the state finals). Denegal was one of two late additions to the All-American Bowl, so late that he arrived a day after it started, and still playing on a bad ankle. He ranked a deep 6th/6 guys there after having to learn the offense they were running on the fly. By that point he was already on campus at Michigan, so whatever. The last re-rank managed to drop his composite into the 3-star range as the slower sites got around to it.

So that's got some negative signs in there. Usually an early 4.5-star who drops to the 4-star line should have dropped to like a 3.7, and a guy who drops under the 4-star line probably deserved to fall further. In this case there's apparently a growth spurt and an injury to explain things, but if Denegal hadn't started as a four-star I imagine he wouldn't have climbed far out of the bin of regular ol' 3-stars.

Put him at the bottom of the depth chart and watch him rise

For our purposes, that means he's a project, whether with a high floor because of his superb personality/work ethic/competitiveness/intelligence (EJ Holland) or a low one because what do you do with a pocket-style quarterback if his mechanics are so bad he can't pass (TTB)?

Denegal is a project. I’m of the mindset that Michigan should only really be taking projects if they’re athletic projects, guys who can either make plays in the running game or have the potential to play another position (WR, TE, etc.). Wilton Speight is the ceiling here – not the expectation, but the ceiling – but only after a few years of seasoning.

Everyone else wrote about Denegal, including myself, couldn't stop from pointing out a lot of his value is in the perception Denegal will wait patiently on the depth chart until he's needed. Brice Marich concluded his take with "brings another layer of depth to the quarterback room." Biggins thought Michigan's depth important for Denegal's future:

…he’s not someone we think is going to need to step in and play immediately and that’s a good thing. Best case for both party’s is Denegal red-shirts, learns the system, continues to work on his body and is able to compete by year three or so in the program.

Garcia of SI agreed "it may take some time at Michigan before the game completely comes together for the young passer" and this was time Michigan could afford. Trevor Woods was like there’s no rush to get him on the field.

It's de rigueur to sneer at this, but players today can jump in the portal without sitting out, and they were already itchier to get on the field before NIL added a financial component. Patience is suddenly at a premium, especially at positions that require a lot of development.

His participation in spring did nothing to deter us from calling a redshirt the most holy of holy locks. Harbaugh admitted Orji was "probably a little more ahead in throwing right now" than his fellow early enrollee. Orji featured in several series for Maize while Denegal, still sidelined from his fall injury, watched a walk-on wearing his number fill up the Blue stat sheet.

Etc. 4.0 student with Ivy League options, wants to be a lawyer. Has a baby tortoise that will outlive all of us. Cutest adoring little brother since Rob Gray. Dad quote:

He’s just a clean cut kid. You are not going to see him with the tattoos or ear rings.

If this class was the Umbrella Academy, Denegal is #1.

Why Wilton Speight? This is a pretty close comp. Big, not very agile quarterback with a good arm who sits in the pocket and works his progressions. This isn't a knock around these parts. I was all about Speight's ability to access fourth reads after 2016.

Guru Reliability: High. Lots of camps, 7v7s, high SoCal competition when not in league play, over a long period of time. Not exact because there was a pandemic and an injury in their way the last two years.

Variance: High. Clearly there are mechanical issues to work out, not to mention the question of offensive fit if Michigan's going to be using more QB runs in the JJ McCarthy+ era.

Ceiling: Medium. Underappreciated upperclassman starter who gets some love from the charters and a short NFL career. That arm doesn't give him a high floor but it definitely raises the roof. So does youth, and Denegal is almost a year younger than half the guys he's coming in with.

General Excitement Level: Meh-plus. You can find Tom Brady-like traits in a lot of quarterback recruits who never come close to being Tom Brady. What's harder to find these days is a quarterback who will be a decent backup/Plan B to your star, AND is willing to stick around long enough to be that.

Projection: Much of Denegal's value is predicated on the higher than normal likelihood that his development won't be derailed by impatience. Those mechanical issues have to get cleaned up, and then he has to learn everything about pre-snap reads, since that's where he's going to make his NIL in the future.

The receiving class he comes in with—and the two receivers in the 2023 class—are a great fit for what Denegal could become. Those whip routes, and the games you can play between deep outs and go routes are where a generation of quarterbacks set their schools' records. Harbaughffense, under whatever OC, is going to still be a passing game based on those pre-snap reads, and taking advantage of one-on-one matchups that have to leave one defender in bad leverage.

It's going to take years to get there. But get this: He's the youngest guy in the class.