Carrying on from my earlier Diary entry looking at how our starting offense looks when comparing their success at Michigan to their recruiting rankings. When looking back you can see that success has come from 1. Recruiting well (every starter on O that was recruited by U-M was at least a 4*), 2. Development (majority of starters outplayed their rankings), and 3. Successful portal additions. As we move on to the the defense a lot of those 3 points hold true, but #2 especially really stands out on this side of the ball.

Defense

EDGE: Jaylen Harrell 4* #294-I didn't realize Harrell was a 4* coming out of HS. While some physical limitations will always exist, Harrell has gone from a good rotational edge setter, to a quality B1G starter.

EDGE: Braiden McGregor 4* #123-That ranking was reflective of how great of a HS player McGregor was prior to a nasty leg injury his senior year. It has taken a bit for him to get back up to speed but I would say he has met expectations from the last 1/2 of last year through this year.-

DT: Kris Jenkins 3* #513-Outplayed expectations leaps and bounds. All-American level player.

DT: Mason Graham 4* #247-Not sure how Graham was so low coming out of HS because he came to college as ready as a DT freshman that I have seen in some time (like Ed Oliver level). In only 2 years he has exceeded #247 and then some.

DT: Kenneth Grant 3* #444-Another, How??? As a sophomore Grant is playing like a guy who should have been a top-50 guy. Massively (pun intended) exceeding expectations.

EDGE: Derrick Moore 4* #49-Our second highest rated player on defense. He has been a great rotational piece. Hasn't popped off yet, but that can largely be due to being 4-deep at Edge the last 2 seasons. 

EDGE: Josiah Stewart 4* (transfer) 3* #748-Great portal addition. Good pass rusher who has shown to be able to other stuff well. Also, great for Josiah to go from a mid-3* into a major rotational piece on a CFP team.

LB: Junior Colson 4* #90-Two years ago I would say Colson looked like exactly what you would expect a top-100 freshman LB to look like. Last year I would say that he did not look like a sophomore top-100 player. This year, I would say he's right around what we'd need. He hasn't ever taken that leap that he seemed poised to do after his freshman year, but nonetheless he has been our starting MLB for 3 straight playoff appearances, and you have to at least say that's meeting expectations.

LB: Michael Barrett 3* #751-Outplayed this ranking 10-fold. Development and Barrett's character has turned a HS QB turned Viper turned ILB to one of the most important Michigan players of this era.

NB: Mike Sainristil 3* #539-Just like Barrett, he has exceeded this ranking 20-fold. All American. True Program Legend. When it is all said and done and we look back at this era, it will be Mike Sainristil right up there with JJ, Corum, Zinter, and Hutch as the pinnacle players of this special time

NB: Ja’Den McBurrows 3* #555-Early still for him in regards to playing time. For a sub-500 player however, he looks comfortable out there and is poised for a bigger role in the coming years.

CB: Josh Wallace 3* (transfer) 3* NR (recruit)-Josh was outside the top-100 in the portal last year, and not ranked as a recruit (so outside the top-1000). Props to him for his career development. I would go as far to say he's done better than a 3* grad transfer from umass would be expected to do in the B1G.

CB: Will Johnson 5* #15-Stud and every bit the 5* we were hoping for.

S: Rod Moore 3* #506-Another gem (seeing a trend here?). 3 year starter and a playmaker on defense. Exceeded expectations just in his freshman year alone.

S: Makari Paige 4* #245-This is an interesting one, because he is ranked pretty high for our current safety room. Removing the "thrown into the fire" 2020 play, Paige has been spectacularly boring, and in this defense, that is sometimes all you need.

S: Quinten Johnson 4* #306-While it took several years, I think Q's contribution to this team has been right around what a 300ish ranked safety is expected to cotribute.

Recruiting Average (only for the players who were recruited out of HS by Michigan): 334

Composite Score: 90

Takeaways

From an overall "Starz" perspective the defense is well behind the offense, but through outstanding development, high character players, strategic portal additions, and a great scheme, this defense has been a top-5 unit basically for 3 years now. Having 3* guys like Jenkins, Barrett, Sainristil, Grant, and Moore play like high-4 or even 5* level players (2 All Americans in that group) has made all of the difference. In addition, our 5* player has played like a 5* and some of our 4* guys have played above their rankings as well. The coaching staff seems to know what to look for especially on the DL, and that has helped keep this unit where it is despite losing quality-NFL level players like Hutch, Ojabo, Mazi, and Morris.

Overall

Overall Recruiting Average: 265

Composite Score: 91.14 (~#14 National Average)

Takeaways:

In looking at our contributing players, it is obvious that we have played above a #14 national average (as we have been the 2nd best program for the past 3 years). It does go to show that our recruiting right now can work and that we can fill gaps where needed through the portal. I do have to say that we have been incredibly fortunate that for one, our top recruits have all panned out. JJ being the most important of that. So many teams miss on their 5* QB and we happened to in a way have an outlier. In addition, we have had a number of diamonds in the rough. That can be attributed to good recruiting eyes, player development, and program culture. Also though, it's not something you can always rely on. Players like Sainristil and Barrett do not always come along. You can't count on guys in the 500s to become All Americans. What this does show is that we have done a good job recruiting and developing the past 3 years. A #14 average is probably not where we want to be to maintain longterm success of this level. Probably anywhere form #8-12 is what we should aim for. As the data shows, the high ranking players do have just naturally a higher probability of hitting (look at the offense with all 4 and 5*s). I am encouraged by how well we have managed to use the portal these past two seasons, and that can definitely bridge the gap a bit. For example, getting someone like Hausmann as a sophomore and Stewart as a junior can be just as valuable as getting a #150-200 ranked recruit. 

Here's to hoping we close out the later recruiting window well, and that the young guys in the coming years can play up to their rankings and we can find some Kenneth Grant's and Rod Moore's along the way as well.

Go Blue!