Monday Recruitin' Opens Presents Early
Hello. I'm writing these for a bit since recruiting and basketball are going to be most of what goes on for the next month, and by splitting it up we can do a better job at both.
Early Christmas presents, or coal
A couple of recruits high on Michigan's radar are announcing this week. On the 16th, FL LB Devin Bush announces. He says he's already decided, but that didn't prevent Michigan and FSU from dropping in on him with in-home visits last week. Michigan has been supremely confident in Bush's recruitment for a long time, but the departure of DJ Durkin did throw a wrench into things:
"For us it was bittersweet. It was like, ‘dang! We didn’t get a chance to work underneath him,” if he (Bush Jr.) choose (Michigan). But my son hasn’t chosen a school yet. So we’re just happy for D.J. and we’ve had to sit back and see what else unfolds.”
That quote has an air of someone trying to put the cat back in the bag. Uncertainty at DC—every single one of Bush's finalists save FSU has seen their DC depart—has Michigan people a bit more doubtful. Meanwhile Josh Newberg, an FSU mod who is a person to pay attention to, just ballz'd Bush to FSU.
Michigan still thinks they're getting the guy, but significant doubts are cropping up. Allen Trieu has an article in the News quoting Webb heavily that offers the lay of the land.
NJ RB Kareem Walker announces on the 17th. Walker announced that date after an in-home with Harbaugh, and before his official visit to Arizona State this weekend. FSU and Auburn are regarded as the only real competition. The the 247 FSU mods are not at all optimistic($), the main Auburn guy ballz'd Walker to Michigan, and Wiltfong isn't wavering.
That is looking good, but it doesn't seem like it's the 100% lock it felt like a month ago. New Jersey-based recruiting guy Todderick Hunt feels like it'll be Florida State, FWIW, but I'm not sure how seriously to take that when he's commenting on his own article thusly:
Obviously Michigan is the overwhelming favorite and he could very well end up there, but the recent sequence of events has me thinking FSU.
Okay then.
Official visit weekend: commits
Michigan brought in a bunch of commitments: IN RB Chris Evans, NJ DE Ron Johnson, NJ WR Brad Hawkins, IN QB Brandon Peters, FL CB Antwaine Richardson, and TX DT Jordan Elliott. Commit visits are usually no-news events and these were no exception. The most newsworthy thing about any of those guys is that Richardson is no longer enrolling early.
Two of the visits should move a couple commitments from 98% to 99%. Evans had a slight waver as he announced visits to both in-state schools, but none of the three major sites have a report that indicates he actually went to either. Meanwhile Elliott returning with his mom two weeks after he came up for the Ohio State game should further solidify that commitment.
Elliott seems somewhat annoyed he has to keep telling people that Michigan is final answer. This is mostly because Texas folks keep saying there's a chance; in response Elliott's twitter feed is nonstop Michigan boosterism. He is not giving the appearance of a guy who is going to flip again.
Nate Johnson adds self to above list
[Shelley Mays/The Tennessean]
Michigan also had a handful of uncommitted prospects. TN WR Nate Johnson dropped for M about the instant he arrived. Ace's Hello post covers him in detail, including a couple of excellent explanations for why 247 is high on him while others aren't:
Then the season came and Johnson validated his camp performances and was just unstoppable. It was a crime that he didn't win Mr. Football. He played with a quarterback that he had been with for years and their offense was crazy good (undefeated with very few close contests) but Johnson made it tick. He's one of the best route-runners in the country, has great hands, fantastic body control and he has a much bigger catch radius than his 5-11 size would suggest. He's also added good weight and strength as he's progressed in high school. At this point, he reminds me some of Christian Kirk down at Texas A&M in terms of body type.
That's a free post with plenty more at the link. With the flood of impressive late offers (Penn State, Miami, Tennessee and Michigan just last week) maybe other sites take another look. Scout hasn't even ranked the guy, which is kind of boggling since he had over a thousand receiving yards in both of his last two years in high school and was committed to a Power 5 school for months.
While numbers are getting tight now, Sam Webb says Michigan might take another wideout. It won't be FL WR Eddie McDoom(!), who committed to Oregon on an official this weekend. We are of course all devastated to lose such a name but if it can't be Michigan, Oregon seems appropriate for a fast guy named MCDOOM. Oregon's up to 25 commitments but has just two WRs and still has room for CA WR Dylan Crawford. They're in on a couple other WRs; if one of those guys drops then it might be time to talk about Crawford getting pushed over to M.
Delance on campus
Things are looking up for TX OT Jean Delance, who has been a major priority for Harbaugh and company for months now. Delance was popularly thought to be favoring Texas, but now the buzz is that it's a Michigan-LSU battle. Steve Wiltfong reports that he's close to putting in a crystal ballz($) for Michigan… and that he's close to putting a ballz for LSU. Dangit, Wiltfong.
Let's read too much into a tweet with a colloquial phrase in it, shall we?
Ann Arbor it's been real see you all again! 〽️ pic.twitter.com/qLMzO7ALKM
— Jean Delance (@JeanDelance74) December 13, 2015
Michigan lock.
Delance told an LSU site that he was planning to be committed by January, so it's one of those three teams, period, and with Texas on route to RichRodding Charlie Strong it looks like Texas is suddenly playing from behind.
Read between the linebackers
The considerable, if indirect, debate between the various recruiting sites as to how hard Michigan is recruiting CA LB Caleb Kelly has been resolved by Kelly himself:
As for his recruitment, Kelly said he has not talked with Michigan since his visit, which he thought was strange so he hoped to get in communication with them soon. Oklahoma remains a serious contender and he said the Sooners have not stopped their aggressive approach to recruiting him.
Kelly seems to like Michigan more than Michigan likes him. I would not expect Kelly to end up at Michigan unless there is a 180 by the coaching staff.
Meanwhile, vibes are still mostly good with FL LB Jonathan Jones. He took his official visit this weekend as well, and while this is not a great quote when you think you're leading for a guy…
Jones was accompanied on the trip by his mother and she came away equally impressed.
“She said my decision just probably got a bit harder,” said Jones. “It's a great school and she said there are great people. If I went there she would feel very comfortable.”
…later he said he "most definitely" thought about committing on his trip and even the Notre Dame side of this thinks Michigan is the likely choice. He's got a visit to Duke next weekend, and plans on a Signing Day announcement.
Bush and Jones are Michigan's clear top targets. They must be supremely confident in both to all but invite a David Reese decommit and go forward with few or no obvious other options save TX LB Dontavious Jackson on their board.
Cornerbacks moving things around
CA CB David Long, a Stanford commit most people don't think will end up at Stanford, did not make a planned visit to Washington this weekend. UCLA and Michigan have "a little more of his attention" according to Rivals' Adam Gorney. Meanwhile the 247 mods at Washington were recently all but guaranteeing Long flipping to the Huskies. 'Crootin'.
Long told Scout that Michigan hiring Lance Anderson away from Stanford would "give them the upper hand," but that he doesn't think Anderson would take the DC job if offered.
Meanwhile, MI CB LaVert Hill's recruitment has also gone full 'crootin' after months during which he was reputed to be the most locky lock on Michigan's board despite a nominal commitment to Penn State. So:
- Hill likes DJ Durkin and his departure shook up Hill's recruitment extensively. Webb reports that Greg Jackson will be key, and that his brother will vouch for the guy all day.
- Despite the uncertainty, Hill took his official visit this weekend. This marks the 750th time Hill has been in Ann Arbor this year, for which he receives a tiny pewter tree from the mayor's office.
- He's now planning to take all five visits, with UCLA and USC on the docket. He has already been to Tennessee and Michigan; MSU is other team scheduled to get a visit.
- Hill and MI WR Donnie Corley are now planning to announce on the same day. Corley was set to announce on the 18th but now that's off the table. That's probably good for M since they're believed to trail a couple schools in his recruitment. Corley claiming there is "a significant chance" he and Hill are a package maybe not so much.
After the visit Wiltfong did re-iterate he still expects Hill to end up at Michigan, but he had backed off on his certainty that would happen. Rivals is reporting that Maryland is trying to get in, which isn't a huge surprise.
Prepare another 2017 Hello post, Ace, and then another maybe
Michigan picks up a commitment from 2017 GA WR Jeremiah Holloman, a teammate of 2017 RB commit Kurt Taylor. Tim Sullivan catches up with him:
The 6-3, 190-pounder is a three-star unranked within the state or at his position, but has plenty of physical potential. He won the Georgia 6A state title in triple jump this spring with an effort of 47 feet, 5.5 inches. He also placed sixth in both the long jump (22-0.25) and high jump (6-4). …
"Basically on the outside, I'm a big, dynamic player," he said. "I'm speedy with the routes, nice precision with my routes. I can cause a whole bunch of threats from short routes to going deep or jumping over corners. I'm just a threat on the field."
Ace will elaborate with a forthcoming Hello post. Meanwhile Michigan has offered a third 2017 player at Covington: GA LB Jaquan Henderson, a UCLA commit. He was also offered by Michigan's staff and in the aftermath of Holloman joining up Chad Simmons, Brice Marich, and Steve Lorenz all indicated a flip was somewhere between a real possibility and imminent.
Happy trails
TX DE Jeffery McCullough didn't include Michigan in his top five. He was always a longshot. As mentioned, FL WR Eddie McDoom(!) committed to Oregon.
Etc.
Michigan will poke around Montana State transfer QB Conor Prukop, but most expect him to end up plugging Oregon's odd and ongoing hole at QB. Mattison and Partridge stop in on NJ DE Rashan Gary. NJ WR Donald Stewart has been trending away from M for a while but he had an in-home recently and may be back on the radar. TX RB Rakeem Boyd, an A&M commit, may visit in January.
Michigan had an in-home with AZ DE Connor Murphy, who plans a visit in January. He still seems very open.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^
Got it. I misread. My bad.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
I agree (for what that's worth). I think highly of Davis but he is in a similar mold to others on the roster. Walker is the hope of a shifty but durable back. Maybe Davis can be that guy.
December 14th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
Davis' father is a former colleague and I can definitely say that the young man comes from a great family. From the little that I know of Kingston, he seems exactly the type of young man that Michigan actively seeks. It is my hope that Camp Harbaugh forges him into the second coming of (the Notre Dame version of) Jerome Bettis!
December 14th, 2015 at 7:42 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
I missed the part where Magnus said the coaches didnt think those three could help UM win. I did read the part where Magnus doesnt think that next year those three are significantly better than the backs UM has already.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
While our current RBs aren't anything special the bigger issue was the O-line run blocking. Unless we get a Mike Hart type who can dogde tacklers in the backfield I don't think it'll make a huge different who the RB is.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
I agree that the OL isn't/wasn't great, but there were plays to be made that weren't made. Our current RB talent is lackluster. The best true runner on the team (Ty Isaac) couldn't see the field much due to attitude issues, fumblitis, etc.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
Also, Michigan will have much the same OL for 2016. So the best hope for major improvement is at RB.
December 14th, 2015 at 7:08 PM ^
Another year of experience, under Harbaugh and Drevno no less, with the same entire line is HUGE. The running game will be significantly better next year even if nothing else changes.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
I'd agree with this comment a lot more in 2013 and to a lesser degree in 2014.
Not so much in 2015. And I am not sayinng our run blocking is that good but its ok.
PSU has a worse line than UM.
Saquon Barkley averaged 6.1 yds per carry behind that line.
Compared to 4.2 for Smith and 4.4 for Johnson. Almost the entire Big 10 starting backs averaged 5.0+ - can't tell me Illinois or Purdue's OL is that much better than UM's. Look at how Peppers exploited small holes, cut back, burst - beind the same OL. Lots of yds left on field course of game by our backs. In liveblog every game we say 8-10x a game "a faster back would have broken that one for 10+" instead of the 3 yds of dust we got.
And the running backs save for MSU game were not getting hit behind LOS all year like in 2013.
I think the OL is at a servicable (not great or even good) point in run blocking an excellent running back would be able to exploit.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^
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December 14th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^
I think you nailed 2 out of 3 there 21 - "Agility" is what allows you to fight off tackles and keep your balance to gain positive yards, even break occasional long ones.
This is what Deveon did repeatedly, DESPITE having poor awareness & burst to find and get thru holes.
December 14th, 2015 at 4:07 PM ^
Agility is the stop on a dime and do a McGuffie backflip into a spin move all while pouring a perfect cocktail.
Balance is being a weeble.
He's not agile. He's a weeble.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^
For proof see: Jake Rudock
December 14th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
To be honest I was watching film of Kingston last night and he looks like a hell of a player surprised he is only a three star he had a mix of extremely strong cuts and some not so strong but for the most part he has great vision cuts hard and get with probably more speed then Walker would be interested to know what their respective 40 times were
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December 14th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
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December 14th, 2015 at 12:45 PM ^
I think Oregon actually has 3 WRs now, with Wallace the former OSU QB commit flipping this weekend to play WR at Oregon.
December 14th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Seeing a lot of crystal ballz flip for Maryland's highly ranked dual threat QB to go to OSU now this past week as well. Welcome to Big 10 recruiting Durkin.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
he's a pro style guy. Could have sworn I saw that listed a few times.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^
My bad - says pro style. Hmm, seems like a strange fit for Meyer then.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:47 PM ^
He's a pro-style guy who can run. He's not a Braxton Miller-like runner, but he could keep defenses honest.
December 14th, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^
If I were Michigan, I would be asking Nike to drop some Jumpman uni designs in late January to get the attention of any fence-sitters and last minute five stars.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:33 PM ^
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December 14th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^
I do not know exactly, but I have never been that high on Kelly. I have also heard several times that Michigan's coaches do not think he's a 5-star talent, although they do/did like him as a prospect. In other words, he's good but not THAT good.
December 14th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
Magnus, thanks for the insight.
December 14th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
I'm pretty sure I remember reading/hearing, too, that Michigan sees Kelly as a bit of a project and is prioritizing more immediate contributors at LB right now.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
decision more difficult if we really were the presumed leader everyone said we were? This is why I am not at all confident about him or Bush. When ever we seem to have the early and long lead for guys outside the region it tends not to end well. Hope I'm wrong.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:12 PM ^
I have no idea but it's possible that he was planning to wait to make a decision but a good visit makes that decision more difficult?
Yes, that's optimistic, admittedly.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^
WOTS is that Notre Dame had a slight lead before the Michigan visit this past weekend.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
If I read the recruit reports correctly (and most of what I read is on Mgoblog) Jones & Bush are actually opposites when it comes to leaving Fla -
Jones has wanted to come to M all along, but his parents have been said to want him closer to home & our staff didn't push him (may have even stalled his committment).
With Bush, while a FSU legacy, his father has repeatedly been quoted saying he WANTS Jr to come to M, but Jr may not be as high on leaving the state.
I don't know why, not basing this on anything other than looking at all these reports and trying to read between the lines, but I think Walker, Bush & Jones all go Blue. I'm probably way off...
And why has Jackson from Tex suddenlly seemed to be less an option? Just last week he was written up as a strong possibility - was it the weather? It's colder in the Bay Area where I live than in A2 lately!!!
December 14th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
Jackson is still a possibility. But Bush is announcing this week, and Jones visited this past weekend, so they're at the forefront of people's minds.
December 14th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
Ok, thanks for the clarification. Now maybe one more:
We can't take Bush, Jones AND Jackson can we? How do they sort through that? Bush drops one way or the other and clears up the picture? Keep stalling Jones til Jackson decides, then finally let him commit if one or both Bush/Jackson go elsewhere?
Obviously you risk getting none that way, huh?!
So what would the LB picture be if they get only Jones or none of the above?
December 14th, 2015 at 7:20 PM ^
I think we can take two of the three. At this point I believe the coaches would take the first two that want to commit, because they don't have their hooks in much of anyone beyond those three. I think Bush and Jones are similar, so it would be best to get Jackson and one of those two.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
"Michigan must be supremely confiden"
And now I'm nervous. Losing Reese and not having much in the way of LB backup could be a real problem.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:15 PM ^
lock and near lock when discussing recruiting as I don't think there is such a thing.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
The absence in recruiting to Kelly must mean that we've secured commitments elsewhere.
Also, don't forget that we did have Kemp commit and he's projected at the Buck position.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^
right about securing commitments elsewhere, but they are obviously of the silent type.
And while Kemp did commit at the Buck that's more of a WDE than a true LB. Kemp is already 250ish and Dante Fowler at Florida was the Buck at 260.
December 14th, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^
Who knows if that buck position exists any longer.
December 14th, 2015 at 7:22 PM ^
The guys Michigan is generally looking at as defensive coordinator are 3-4 types of guys - Lance Anderson, Dave Aranda, etc. So the Buck position might be named something different, but it will be a very similar thing.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:23 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
I've said this elsewhere, but I think Holloman is a pretty similar athlete to Ahmir Mitchell, who's in the neighborhood of a top-100 prospect. There are questions about Mitchell's hands, but he still is ranked pretty high. So I think Holloman should be a 4-star prospect by the time things are done.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
December 14th, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^
I'm also a bit nervous about LB recruiting. At the same time, I try not to get too wrapped up about it. I don't profess to know more than anyone else. I trust Harbaugh and the coaches enough to believe that it will all work out in the end.
December 14th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
really has me feeling pessimistic, but also a bit optimistic as well. If he was going to commit as the "legacy" player, don't you think he would have by now? Maybe he was holding off until after the season so he didn't have to deal with all the backlash from the state of Florida. I mean, he announces on the 17th, that gives him about 2 weeks of having to live in FL before heading to Ann Arbor!
December 14th, 2015 at 7:13 PM ^
Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Let's go with that. I'm all in!
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