Thursday Recruitin' Drinks Milkshake, Becomes Engineer
Jabrill Peppers Is Fast, Part Whatever
Oh, just Jabrill Peppers fielding a kickoff at the 0:21 mark, hauling down the far sideline—I like that sideline—and reaching the end zone at the 0:32 mark despite high-stepping the final few yards. 96 yards. 11 seconds. In full pads.
He's okay, I guess.
Weekend Visitors
This weekend marks the time when just about every 2014 commit will take their official visit to Ann Arbor, including Peppers, who'll presumably have a nice chat with Brady Hoke about taking other visits—if he hasn't already been talked out of them by the coaches and his family, who've reportedly expressed their desire for Peppers to stick to his commitment.
According to multiple outlets, one uncommitted 2014 prospect will also take his official this weekend: three-star TX RB Vic Enwere, a current Cal commit. Enwere committed to Cal without ever visiting Berkeley—he's slated to visit there in January, and otherwise has no officials set up, so this is looks to be a two-team battle that could go either way. Enwere is now the only feasible target at running back to hold an offer, as CO ATH Kalen Ballage made a surprise commitment to Arizona State this week; he'd been expected to pledge to either Boise State or Michigan State.
The other visitor to keep an eye on is 2015 commit Shaun Crawford, who's recently stated an interest in visiting Ohio State. He's maintained all along that he's "100% committed" to Michigan, so hopefully a quick discussion about Hoke's job security—like Peppers, Crawford cited rumors about a potential coaching change as reason to look around—will dispel any desire to visit the Buckeyes.
[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on Malik McDowell, Tim Settle, a couple of four-star 2015 tackles, and more.]
McDowell Takes, Sets Visits
Michigan's top remaining 2014 target, four-star Southfield DL Malik McDowell, took his first official visit last weekend to Alabama; he left with the Tide firmly in the mix and set the remainder of his official visits, per Josh Helmholdt ($):
"[The Tide] are a strong contender," McDowell said.
The three official visits McDowell will take in January will be to Florida State (Jan. 17), LSU (Jan. 24) and Ohio State (Jan. 31). He also may take unofficial visits to the two in-state contenders on his list - Michigan and Michigan State. But first, the nation's No. 33 ranked prospect will take an official visit to Florida this upcoming weekend.
The strong confidence that McDowell will end up at Michigan has obviously waned a bit now that he's taking all of his officials; that doesn't mean he's guaranteed to end up elsewhere, however. Sam Webb and Steve Lorenz have both posted message board threads recently expressing their belief that McDowell will end up at Michigan, and 247's Steve Wiltfong hints at the same in his latest post ($):
A source close to the situation confirmed Michigan is still in the “forefront,” for Southfield (Mich.) High Top50 defensive lineman Malik McDowell, however, the U.S. Army All-American is taking his official visits to be sure, and to see where he gets the best feel.
Michigan has to wait out four more visits to powerhouse schools, so a whole lot can change; for now, however, I still think the Wolverines have the best chance at landing McDowell.
2015 Updates
Five-star 2015 VA DT Tim Settle got his coveted Michigan offer last week, and despite having a who's-who list of suitors it sounds like the Wolverines will be very strong contenders for his services—he's already planning his next trip to Ann Arbor, per Steve Lorenz ($):
"My favorite part was the participation and enthusiasm of the crowd during the game," he said. "The atmosphere there was unbelievable. I know they struggled a bit on the field this year but they're going to be fine. I liked the food a lot too. We ate at Quickie Burger and that really hit the spot for me. That might be the first place I go when I come back up again."
That visit is likely to come in the spring sometime, probably during April but perhaps a bit later.
"My dad and I are going to do a lot of traveling around that time of the year," Settle said. "I have a lot of schools I need to see and that I want him to see. Michigan is going to be one of them as well. I want my dad to see Michigan. I loved it there the first time and I'd like him to see it as well."
This time, somebody please take the kid to Blimpy Bur--awww hamburgers.
The M Block's Eric Rutter caught up with 2015 four-star VA OT Matthew Burrell, who hasn't heard much from the coaches lately; if Michigan's interest picks back up, however, he'll be listening:
Despite the miscommunications so far, Burrell would be very interested in Michigan should they decide to pursue him. "I'm not going to say I'm waiting on it," said Burrell. "But it would be pretty cool to have it. I appreciate everybody's offers, but Michigan is a school that has a tradition that is one of its own. You don't have a program out there with the fans and alumni that is so strong."
He's gone so far as to tell Notre Dame's coaches that Michigan's win over them—which he was in attendance for—is what sticks out to him in his recruiting process. Burrell is a highly-regarded prospect with a great list of offers and obvious interest, but with Michigan taking a very small class—and focusing on PA OT Sterling Jenkins as their top tackle priority—it appears he'll have to wait for an offer.
That's not to say it won't come, however, as Darrell Funk dropped by to see another 2015 tackle prospect, NJ OT Grant Newsome, and told the consensus four-star that Michigan is "very interested," per Sam Webb ($). Newsome has also expressed interest; if he visits Ann Arbor, an offer could be on the way, and that could signal a new wave of offensive tackle offers to ensure that the Wolverines don't get left in the lurch if Jenkins goes elsewhere.
Etc.
I need a 30 for 30 on Jerry Glanville's recruiting escapades, STAT.
Rocky Top, amirite?
Here's how Top247 lineman Charles Mosley (@BigCharless) announced his commitment to the #Vols: pic.twitter.com/U5WXeimNOK
— Ryan Callahan (@RyanCallahan247) December 9, 2013
December 12th, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^
Dude better watch his celebrations though. Hate to see guys do stuff like this, one day it will bite you.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
Eh, the worst that could happen is that he turns into Desean Jackson. And would that be so bad??
December 12th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
He scored because of the shield punt formation.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:41 PM ^
no warning, or anything
December 12th, 2013 at 10:23 PM ^
notch matching picture to message art. I was thinking that exact quote, and you found a picture of it. If I could up vote you, I would. :)
Rob
December 13th, 2013 at 12:23 AM ^
My soul was reminded of that dark day all over again...
December 12th, 2013 at 4:43 PM ^
What struck me was the lack of teammates celebrating with or congratulating him.
"You know it's all love at the end of the day, brah."
December 12th, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^
They couldn't catch up to him.
December 12th, 2013 at 7:01 PM ^
Meh...he barely highstepped, more like excited running. Plus it's high school.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^
methinks the point is that he is dropping the ball while crossing the goal line
December 12th, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
Oh, just Jabrill Peppers fielding a kickoff at the 0:21 mark, hauling down the far sideline—I like that sideline—and reaching the end zone at the 0:32 mark despite high-stepping the final few yards. 96 yards. 11 seconds. In full pads.
Actually, he doesn't start moving forward until the :22 mark. So, yeah 96 yards. 10 seconds. Full pads. Holy poop on a popsicle stick, that is fast.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 4:03 PM ^
Can he adjust to the speed of the college game?!?!
/ yes, that was snark
December 12th, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
Sadly, I don't think that video is in real time. The motion of the people doesn't look "natural". Now Peppers I expect to look unnatural, but look at the people jumping around in the background, plus a dude's head that seems to "fast forward" through the bottom of the frame at 0:31.
Four FAKES out of five, but Peppers is still super fast.
December 12th, 2013 at 8:17 PM ^
Why does the video speed matter when it's the clock people are watching when he starts, and then crosses the goal line.
December 12th, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^
... because it's not the game clock, it's the video player clock. I can run 100M in 2 seconds on a youtube clip played in fast forward... really fast forward.
December 13th, 2013 at 8:02 AM ^
I see...
/goes back to corner.
December 12th, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^
... dude's fast, but he's not THAT fast.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
that UT committment tweet pic is...err...special.
I prefer the commish putting on the winged helmet on national t.v., myself.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^
So this Peppers guy is pretty fast, eh?
December 12th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^
Doesn't it blow your damn mind that Tennessee has 34 recruits?!
What the bleep man.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:02 PM ^
Talk about rebuilding
December 12th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^
Between new coaching turn over and what not, they needed a huge class (a few EE make it easier to understand as well). Their class will be MUCH smaller next year.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:57 PM ^
...They've landed 105 kids in four years (and counting, given that they could add even more this year).
December 12th, 2013 at 2:58 PM ^
I still have confidence in Hoke and staff landing good recruiting classes.
But my-oh-my how the 2014 season is shaping up to be an important year for the forming of perceptions about this program. Gotta stamp an upward infection point onto the trend line, that's for sure.
December 12th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^
For want of the letter L, which I thought I'd typed. Oh well ... central point still valid: Michigan needs to re-establish the belief the program is trending in a positive way.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^
I love how he looks back to go celebrate with his teammates, but he outran all of them by so much that he has to throw in a few more chest pounds before they make it down there with him.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
Was there an expectation that he wouldn't take all his visits? It seemed like that was always the plan, and nothing has really changed.
I agree that Michigan can still be considered the favorite, but there's a high degree of uncertainty for a kid that doesn't say much and is taking visits late in the process.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^
This has been the plan all along, but the timeline for setting visits kept getting pushed back to the point that I (among others) speculated that they might not happen. I agree with you that there's a lot of uncertainty here; it's tough to consider any team but Michigan as the favorite right now, but he's by no means a lock.
December 12th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^
Let's hope Malik sees the downside to long-distance travel during his flurry of visits and chooses to stay home.
Agree he's far from a lock.
December 12th, 2013 at 9:03 PM ^
Michigan is obviously in the mix, but everybody's calling UM a favorite except MM himself, and he's the only one who matters ultimately.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^
is reporting that QB David Sills has been offered for '15. Any confirmation out there?
December 12th, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^
http://mgoblog.com/content/monday-recruitin-ponders-visits
But yeah, Michigan did offer him.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^
Just did my due dilegence and found the post from last week.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^
We didn't get the old Secretariat pan-out so we could see the rest of the field trying to catch up to JP.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^
I appreciate this thread title.
Also, if he needs convincing, get him a Stucci's Chocolate Peanut Butter shake.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
Blimpy Burger.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:44 PM ^
As an Ann Arborite, I've never been more ashamed of a typo. Thanks.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:30 PM ^
how quickly we forget...
December 12th, 2013 at 3:36 PM ^
North Korea are nuts. Jose Canseco also.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:50 PM ^
God dammit the only negative I can see about Jabrill Peppers coming to AA is knowing that MOARfleet probably only has the bowl game left to get his return touchdown. There will be some part of my soul that is sad watching Peppers as the return man because deep down it knows that my favorite player on the team could never get over his shoelaces being 2 inches too long.
That being said "watches video...slobbers"
December 12th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^
Fear not my friend. We probably will get 1 more year of Norfleet. No matter how good a player is, it is hard enough to be really good as a freshman at one thing, let alone many things. To take practice time away from CB for KR/PR duty would be really hard for a first year player.
Look at Charles Woodson. He didn't start Offense & Special Teams play until 1996.
http://statsarchive.ath.umich.edu/VS-Football/cmaster.php
And if he is good enough to play 2 or 3 ways as a true freshman, watch out.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^
Career Passing for Charles Woodson | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Opponent | Att | Comp | Int | Comp % | Yds | Yds/Comp | TD | Lng | ||
1996 | vs Alabama | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | ||
Season Total | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | |||
1997 | at Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 28 | 28.0 | 0 | 28 | ||
Season Total | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 28 | 28.0 | 0 | 28 | |||
Career Total | 2 | 2 | 0 | 100.0 | 32 | 16.0 | 0 | 28 |
Career Rushing for Charles Woodson | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Opponent | Att | Yd+ | Yd- | Net Yd | Yd/Att | TD | Lng | ||
1996 | Illinois | 1 | 57 | 0 | 57 | 57.0 | 0 | 57 | ||
1996 | at Colorado | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 | ||
1996 | UCLA | 1 | 31 | 0 | 31 | 31.0 | 0 | 31 | ||
1996 | Indiana | 1 | 48 | 0 | 48 | 48.0 | 1 | 48 | ||
1996 | Michigan State | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 | ||
1996 | at Purdue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Season Total | 6 | 152 | 0 | 152 | 25.3 | 1 | 57 | |||
1997 | Baylor | 1 | 0 | 9 | -9 | -9.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1997 | Minnesota | 1 | 33 | 0 | 33 | 33.0 | 1 | 33 | ||
1997 | at Penn State | 1 | 0 | 9 | -9 | -9.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1997 | vs Washington State | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 8 | ||
Season Total | 5 | 41 | 20 | 21 | 4.2 | 1 | 33 | |||
Career Total | 11 | 193 | 20 | 173 | 15.7 | 2 | 57 |
Career Receiving for Charles Woodson | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Opponent | Recp | Yds | Yds/Recp | TD | Lng | ||
1996 | UCLA | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 | ||
1996 | Indiana | 4 | 55 | 13.8 | 0 | 28 | ||
1996 | Michigan State | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 1 | 26 | ||
1996 | at Purdue | 3 | 43 | 14.3 | 0 | 26 | ||
1996 | vs Alabama | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | 12 | ||
Season Total | 13 | 164 | 12.6 | 1 | 28 | |||
1997 | Colorado | 1 | 29 | 29.0 | 0 | 29 | ||
1997 | Baylor | 2 | 45 | 22.5 | 1 | 35 | ||
1997 | at Indiana | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 0 | 21 | ||
1997 | Northwestern | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 0 | 30 | ||
1997 | Minnesota | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 | ||
1997 | at Penn State | 1 | 37 | 37.0 | 1 | 37 | ||
1997 | at Wisconsin | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 0 | 12 | ||
1997 | Ohio State | 1 | 37 | 37.0 | 0 | 37 | ||
1997 | vs Washington State | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | ||
Season Total | 12 | 238 | 19.8 | 2 | 37 | |||
Career Total | 25 | 402 | 16.1 | 3 | 37 |
Career Kick Off Returns for Charles Woodson | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Opponent | Num | Yds | Yds/Num | TD | Lng | ||
1996 | UCLA | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |||
1996 | Penn State | 3 | 65 | 21.7 | 0 | 23 | ||
Season Total | 3 | 78 | 26.0 | 0 | 23 | |||
Career Total | 3 | 78 | 26.0 | 0 | 23 |
Career Punt Returns for Charles Woodson | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Opponent | Num | Yds | Yds/Num | TD | Lng | ||
1996 | Penn State | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 0 | 15 | ||
1996 | at Ohio State | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 | 8 | ||
1996 | vs Alabama | 4 | 68 | 17.0 | 0 | 31 | ||
Season Total | 11 | 106 | 9.6 | 0 | 31 | |||
1997 | Colorado | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 9 | ||
1997 | Baylor | 4 | 21 | 5.2 | 0 | 9 | ||
1997 | Notre Dame | 2 | 29 | 14.5 | 0 | 20 | ||
1997 | at Indiana | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 15 | ||
1997 | Northwestern | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | ||
1997 | Iowa | 6 | 70 | 11.7 | 0 | 17 | ||
1997 | at Michigan State | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | ||
1997 | Minnesota | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | 11 | ||
1997 | at Penn State | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 4 | ||
1997 | at Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1997 | Ohio State | 5 | 97 | 19.4 | 1 | 78 | ||
1997 | vs Washington State | 3 | 18 | 6.0 | 0 | 15 | ||
Season Total | 36 | 301 | 8.4 | 1 | 78 | |||
Career Total | 47 | 407 | 8.7 | 1 |
78 |
December 12th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 4:16 PM ^
This X 1000000.
When the team's best blog and one of the premier sports sites on the web goes overboard with the rumors and talks about firing, it doesn't end well.
Keep in mind: While it may seem like typical board discussion, recruits and other read this and may get a sense of instability. Plus, there is probably not one person here that has ANY influence on any personnel decisions.
December 12th, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^
Come on man. I love the blog (BRIAN) but I think you overestimate your value. How many life decisions have you made based on message board comments? Your cute little posts have no role in the decisions of any sentient beings. It would be in our best interests to have Jabril commit to UM. I sincerely hope he does what is best for himself. I am sure he understands the disappointment of those who want nothing more than the program success he desires.
December 12th, 2013 at 8:00 PM ^
... that Jabrill Peppers would look to, for information on any percieved/possible/rumored coaching change at Michigan.
My guess is that somehow, Jabrill (and others) were fed a rumor about Hoke not making it here. And that the rumor didn't come from anybody at Michigan; not fellow recruits, not coaches, not writers, not bloggers and certainly not internet message boards. Actually, it was on some of the boards like MGoBlog, but that was irrelevant.
My guess is that it came from other schools' recuiters, and that is why Brandon stepped in the way he did.
December 13th, 2013 at 8:53 AM ^
Agreed but seeing it here serves to corroborate the rumor
December 13th, 2013 at 12:29 AM ^
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