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2020 recruiting
steve lorenz
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Everyone else bailed so Adam and I finished the season off. Strap in; it ran long.

MGoRadio 5.13: White Beard Talk-The Signing Day Podcast Comment Count

Seth December 18th, 2019 at 9:01 PM

Brian's out so this was hosted by David and me, wsg Steve Lorenz from 247Sports, and Adam Shnepp from MGoBlog

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[After THE JUMP: the player and what we said]

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1.Across the Crooked Blue Line, with Steve Lorenz: Offense

starts at 1:00

QB is a tough position for Michigan because of JD Johnson’s medical retirement. Tried CJ Stroud, but he picked OSU. Have offered Dan Villari instead, a hyper athletic bigger guy and only a three star. Should go to Michigan.

Michigan signed Blake Corum at RB, a borderline top 100 type who they had to hold off from OSU. Jay Harbaugh is the most underrated recruiter on the coaching staff. Corum is totally different than Haskins, Turner, and Charbonnet, built more like an OSU running back. RB has gone from the biggest question on the roster to maybe the deepest on the team. Gaige Garcia is nominally still in the class but on a wrestling scholarship, Tru Wilson might be best case scenario.

AJ Henning is an ideal slot receiver for Gattis. Will probably play next season in the Giles Jackson mold. Eamonn Dennis is one of the likely sleeper picks of the class, a lot of similarities to Sainristil, also a Massachusetts guy and could play CB. Michigan’s scouting has been pretty good recently. Roman Wilson was a spring bloomer, also very fast. This could be Michigan’s fastest class ever.

At TE, Matthew Hibner shot up the ranks but fell just short of 4* composite- 247 likes him a lot more. Hurt to lose Theo Johnson but Hibner makes it hurt less. Nick Patterson is probably not joining the class.

Not as big of an OL class as last year, this is more of a supplemental class. Michigan had to beat ND to get Reece Atteberry. Jeffery Persi is a Greg Frey type and is Seth’s sleeper of the class.

2. Across the Crooked Blue Line, with Steve Lorenz: Defense

starts at 25:20

Braiden McGregor was the crown jewel of this recruiting class, Michigan beat ND for him. Temper expectations for McGregor in year one because of a knee issue. McGregor often played all over the DL in HS. Aaron Lewis is a Kwitty Paye type DE.

Already a DE logjam going into next year, not a lot of rush for either to play. Kris Jenkins projects to DT as long as he puts on some weight. Michigan hasn’t neglected DT at recruiting, signed two top tier guys last year. Jaylen Harrell was a late pickup, a borderline top 300 edge with good bend in the Uche mold. Michigan chose Harrell over Van Filinger.

Kalel Mullings is a good MLB prospect who has comparisons to Anthony Solomon as a freshman, should play special teams. Osman Savage is a guy that Michigan loved from the first satellite camps. Mohan has a ton of athletic potential who could be the next heir to the Devin Bush/Cam McGrone throne. Senior film for a lot of the linebackers was terrific and reassured Lorenz about a lot of them. Versatility is a theme on defense now.

Jordan Morant has some Khaleke-type tape, Michigan fought hard to hang onto him. RJ Moten is more of a pure safety. Paige is a high floor guy, safe bet to be solid. Andre Seldon is a little short and has been playing both corner and safety, good athlete. If he was two inches taller, he’d be a 5 star, has great coverage instincts. Dorian Green-Warren will commit to a team (Michigan favored) at Army game, should enroll early.

3. Superlatives, with Adam Schnepp

starts at 52:25

Overall this is an underrated class, with not a ton of big names. Hard to talk recruiting with people that don’t know a lot this year. Adam, Seth, and David go through their picks for biggest whiff, biggest recruiting win, favorite prospect, and more.

4. Five Questions, Five Answers, with Adam Schnepp

starts at 1:19:22

David has to bail for this segment so it’s just Seth and Adam. Michigan seems to be more interested in converting strong side DE’s into DT’s than recruiting DT’s straight up. Michigan needs to beat OSU and make the playoffs to get top tier recruits. Coaching staff seems to be doing more scouting than going after five stars recently. Michigan will probably be okay at QB, may need to rely on a grad transfer at some point. Some great names in the 2021 recruiting class, and Michigan has a 5* QB leading it off.

MUSIC:

I've been waiting all year to do this: Ann Arbor native (and friend of the family) Andr Mayer Hawthorne!

  • "Mr. Blue Sky"
  • "The Ills"
  • "The Walk"
  • “Across 110th Street”

If you or a friend made some good tunes and don't have a label out scrubbing for them we'd be happy to feature you.

THE USUAL LINKS:

"That’s when Michigan’s been at their best the last few years, it’s been when they’ve had defensive linemen who were unblockable."

Comments

Partial.Derivatives

December 19th, 2019 at 8:16 AM ^

Imagine you were looking at this class without knowing the school these players were going to. All you had were the players measurables. If you had to guess, what program do you think these kids committed to? To me, it looks like Oregon.

Joined: 06/24/2018

MGoPoints: 207

MGoStrength

December 19th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^

Don't get me wrong, this class is not going to compete with OSU's #3 class that has two 5-star guys and 15 4-star guys.  But, after listening to this it sounds like we had a number of guys that weren't super high in the rankings, but were identified, recruited, committed, and kept.  I'm skeptical as anyone about our lack of DTs and CBs, but there are some good guys in this class and a bunch that seem to fit speed in space.  

Once you get past the top 5 classes (Clemson, Bama, OSU, UGA, & LSU) there is not a ton of separation of the next 10-15 classes.  For example Texas at #9 has 259 total points and Miami at #18 has 246 total points.  Those two teams are 9 spots apart in the rankings yet only 13 total points.  LSU at #5 however has 292 points and Auburn at #7 has 22 fewer total points at 270.  So, #5 is far and away better than #10.  But, #10 is not much different than #15.  Unfortunately this means UM falls in that good, but not elite status with a whole slew of other teams of which include ND and PSU (and Washington whom we play next year).  This ensures our spot to vie for 2nd in the conference with PSU and Wiscy, but also means it's unlikely we'll be cracking the OSU code anytime soon.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

Dizzy

December 19th, 2019 at 2:21 PM ^

Michigan recruits differently than a lot of other top football programs. 

There's not a lot of players that are talented enough to play at Michigan, handle the academic workload, and aren't looking to get paid. The number of 5*s in that pool is even fewer. 

Because of this reality, Michigan's coaching staff has to be more selective with who they recruit. IMO they're doing a damn good job.

"In the college coaching business, like every other business, the temptations are everywhere. You can break recruiting rules, give out cars, even fudge grades, but if you're honest, and you know what you believe, these things really aren't that tempting at all." -Bo Schembechler.

Joined: 08/29/2011

MGoPoints: 892

MGoStrength

December 19th, 2019 at 2:40 PM ^

There's not a lot of players that are talented enough to play at Michigan, handle the academic workload, and aren't looking to get paid. The number of 5*s in that pool is even fewer. 

Because of this reality, Michigan's coaching staff has to be more selective with who they recruit. IMO they're doing a damn good job.

That's either completely untrue, an excuse, or a really dumb strategy by the staff.  While they may look for slightly better academic guys, they're also not turning away a bunch of 5-stars and high 4-stars because of academics.  And, I don't get the feeling Ryan Day is paying a bunch of dudes or giving them cars.  I also highly doubt we are 100% clean.  I highly doubt Rashan Gary was any better of a HS student than Nick Bosa for example or got any less extra benefits.  We take the best players we can get and only rarely have to turn away kids.  UM is not as good at recruiting as teams like OSU because we don't win as much and because we have less in state talent and have competition for it.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

Kevin Holtsberry

December 19th, 2019 at 3:44 PM ^

We take the best players we can get and only rarely have to turn away kids.  UM is not as good at recruiting as teams like OSU because we don't win as much and because we have less in state talent and have competition for it.

I think is the truth we have to acknowledge.  Does money grease the wheels more in the south? Perhaps. But telling yourself that is why Michigan can't beat OSU is a comforting lie in my opinion.

Joined: 07/10/2008

MGoPoints: 325

MGoStrength

December 19th, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^

we are nowhere near the SEC level of OSU in regards to bagmen, look the other way, etc. We are not playing the same game with the same rules.

This is pure speculation.  While I get the sense that Saban's tree of coaches (Saban, Smart, Fisher, Pruitt, etc.) are not totally clean based on their teams recruiting rankings before they arrived at their respective schools and the bumps they received immediately upon their arrival at new schools (Saban at LSU and then Bama, Fisher at FSU and then A&M, and Smart at UGA), it also sounds like sour grapes with no proof and there is nothing suggest improprieties by Day.  I think you can chalk up OSU to 1) being in a state with more talent, 2) having no other P5 team in their state, 3) Day following one of the best recruiters of his era in Meyer, and 4) having very recent success.  

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

MGoStrength

December 20th, 2019 at 10:45 AM ^

One, there is nothing in there about OSU.  Two, this is the only quote I need to read from that article.  Until that narrative changes it's still speculation because as he says...no one is revealing anything and there is no evidence.

Technically, this conversation never happened, because I won’t reveal this man’s name or the player’s

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

outsidethebox

December 19th, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^

This afternoon I went through Sam Webb's interviews with each of the recruits and listened to snippets to get a feel for their character. Several connections were bad and Dan Vallari was not included...but I was so pleased. What a group of articulate, well-spoken, mature young men!!! Very, very impressive-every single one! 

Joined: 01/23/2017

MGoPoints: 18816

goblue2121

December 20th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^

I found Steve's comments about the 247 article spotlighting the nations fastest players in the 2020 class interesting. He seemed to be pushing for guys like Roman Wilson to be included considering he ran a laser timed 4.3 but was shot down. 

Joined: 06/06/2009

MGoPoints: 10965