recruiting roundup
lolbuckeyes
donovan peoples-jones
corey malone-hatcher
tarik black
antjuan simmons
trajan bandy
deejay dallas
cameron rising
eno benjamin

Thursday Recruitin' Has Excellent Sportmanteau Comment Count

Brian

McCafftermath

That's a good sportmanteau right there. A high quality word-construct. /self high five

Anyway, a touted QB is always a nice piece to get in your recruiting class because people sit up and take notice. People like MI WR Donovan Peoples-Jones and MI DE Corey Malone-Hatcher.

Hyphenated people. Also people who sound like EDM superstars.

CT WR Tarik Black also told Steve Lorenz that McCaffrey's commit has an impact on him; Lorenz is skeptical that is a thing and not just a thing to say for most of these WRs.

Still, Michigan can sell Peoples-Jones and others on the fact that he's going to have a highly capable quarterback for the duration of his tenure. Harbaugh's track record and the kind of recruits they're bringing in should combine to make for an attractive proposition.

Top list for top target Bandy

FL CB Trajan Bandy released a highly specific top ten:

Good spot to draft from, third. Lorenz relates that Michigan is more likely to move up that list than down it since he's one of the top CBs on their board along with Flangan's Stanford Samuels III.

Simmons returns to campus because it is across the street

Business has picked up with MI LB Antjuan Simmons since Don Brown was hired. Simmons has been on campus twice in the past month. That means a bit less than it might for players who have to get in some sort of vehicle to do so; it is still encouraging. Brown has a great affection for smallish, fast, and vicious linebackers—Simmons promises to be that guy.

Yes. Yes he does. Michigan is recruiting him as a SAM, which should give you some insight into the kind of guy that will be at that spot going forward—think Stevie Brown, not Jake Ryan. He told Allen Trieu he got a "great vibe" at M. Interestingly enough, he mentioned the SAM thing with Brandon Brown and then followed it up with an odd name:

"He sees me at SAM linebacker. He wants me to play like Jabrill Peppers."

I guess nickelback == SAM linebacker under Brown? We'll see.

BONUS: ultimate croot tweeter right here

This is exactly who I envision tweeting croots.

EJcfNnU2

I never thought that dude from Smashmouth would stoop so low, though.

Surging for Eno Benjamin

Michigan offered TX RB Eno Benjamin, and that's significant enough to pull out of the bulleted list and discuss specifically because Benjamin is highly likely to be a major target. Benjamin's trainer is one David Underwood, another Texas running back who made the trek to Ann Arbor. Benjamin has a small top list that Michigan joins; he has an unusual leader for a top-100 type kid out of Texas:

“Michigan is working their way up to the top,” Benjamin said.  “They’re up there. Iowa is still #1 right now.  I’ve kind of been feeling Arizona State quite a bit as well as Texas Tech.”

He has a visit planned for early March. Lorenz thinks Michigan might already lead for Benjamin and that he's been after a Michigan offer for going on two years now, so that visit will be one to watch for a shift in his public leaderboard, or maybe even a commit.

As for what kind of back Benjamin is, Scout recently updated their brief scouting report:

Benjamin is a highly instinctive, high-volume running back who possesses big-play ability as well as workhorse production. Possesses exceptional feet w/outstanding balance and lateral ability. Dangerous start-and-stop runner who maximizes yardage at second level w/cutback ability. Good at avoiding direct blows. Lacks ideal size but gains ample yardage after contact. Not a top-end burner, but plenty fast w/good initial acceleration.

Sounds a bit like Fitzgerald Toussaint before he was Poor Damn Toussaint.

New offers & quick hits

Your regular list of guys sporting new offers who may or may not become major targets:

  • Michigan offered 2018 CA QB Cameron Rising. I normally ignore kids who haven't played their junior year yet, but QB is an exception since those recruitments often end very early. Rising called the offer "surreal" and says he is "extremely interested"; he has a solid grasp on how handled guys as different as Kapernick and Rudock. Rising is a pro-style guy with rushing upside—he ran for 750 yards as a sophomore—and looks likely to be a major target in 2018.
  • Scout reports an offer for KY OL Jedrick Wills, a "mauler" who will be tough to pull from the South. Scout has him #53 in 2017.
  • 247 reports an offer to CA OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, who's around 200th on the composite.
  • Rivals reports that CA DE Deonte Johnson got an offer.
  • Rivals also reports that CA OL Popo Aumavae got offered. Oregon is the favorite. WI OL Logan Bruss also got an offer; as per usual Wisconsin will be tough to beat for an instate lineman.
  • Apparently Michigan offered IN OL Emil Ekiyor a year ago. He "really loves" what's going on at M and has a tentative top five of M, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia, and ND.

Small developments amongst guys who are already on the board:

  • MI OL Phil Paea lists M, Oregon, and BYU as the schools he's "hearing from" the most. Those are often proxies for top X lists from recruits who are hesitant about putting a list out there. He just picked up a Minnesota offer; he tells the Minnesota Rivals site that Michigan was his favorite team in-state but his "dream offer" came from the Ducks.
  • NJ LB Drew Singleton looks like another M-Clemson battle.

Etc.: McCaffrey is undecided on whether he will enroll early.

Comments

funkifyfl

February 18th, 2016 at 1:26 PM ^

"Brown has a great affection for smallish, fast, and vicious linebackers." I envision Brown having a bunch of Vonn Millers running around every time I read any statement with this sentiment.

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alum96

February 18th, 2016 at 2:18 PM ^

Yeah no idea where that view comes from.  Guy was 6'3, 246 lbs going into the NFL combine.

That's Lamarr Woodley - not a "smallish" guy.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/von-miller?id=2495202

I think the trend across CFB to counteract spreads is get smaller but fast guys so its not so much a Don Brown thing as its a Michigan was still playing in 2003 at LB thing.  There are only so many 235 lb guys who run 4.5s out there.

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funkifyfl

February 18th, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

That is granted, but with the amount that Miller rushes the QB from the end spot, he basically plays like a DE, no? Anyway, please just leave me in peace and imagine have a bunch of Millers running around and wreaking havor while Brown endlessly chain smokes cigarettes, pounds coffee, and talks about the beat he walked day in and day out before he took a more relaxed job in footbaw.

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MGoPoints: 3086

WolvinLA2

February 18th, 2016 at 5:16 PM ^

You're right about everything you said (except about being an idiot, that I can't speak to), and I think anyone here would love one Von Miller let alone many of them.  But he still doesn't fit the desciption of smallish LB.  For a LB, he's more on the bigish side.  Antuan Simmons is 40 pounds lighter than him and 2 inches shorter.

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funkifyfl

February 18th, 2016 at 6:16 PM ^

We may be veering into annoying 4-3 vs. 3-4 positional nomenclature issues here (THE LB IS NOT THE ISSUE DONNY!!), but I'm saying Miller is undersized for DE, not LB. To add some substance to this:

 

LBs at BC height and weight:

 

6-2, 230

6-1, 218

6-2, 239

6-1, 201

6-1, 222

5-11, 220

5-11, 220

6-3, 240

6-2, 217

6-3, 230

6-0, 210

6-3, 218

 

In comparison, U-M's LBs are basically all between 6-1 and 6-4, and 227-250 with a cluster between 240-250 (too lazy to list out).

 

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bluesong

February 18th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

Hey, now, you're an All Star, get your game on, go play
Hey, now, you're a Rock Star, get the show on, get paid

 

(For the record, I looked that up. No, I do NOT know the lyrics from any Smash Mouth songs by heart..... I DO NOT.... kind of...)

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MGoPoints: 1030

WBALLZ

February 18th, 2016 at 1:37 PM ^

How often do sites actually claim an RB to possess 'top-end speed'? Maybe it's just me or the type of RB we recruit, but It seems like it's rarely listed as an RB attribute.



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