2020 Recruiting Questions
As bad as the weather was Saturday, the outcome over ND was more glorious. One of the memes on recruiting is that a big win is always a great thing for recruits who are in attendance. So I have a bunch of questions.
- Myles Hinton was in attendance again. Is this only because of his brother being on the team, having the opportunity to perhaps see Chris and hang out with him? Or is there any chance that Hinton flips from Stanford to Michigan? With Stanford at 4 - 4, could that help Michigan at all? If Myles went blue, he would instantly be the highest ranked player in the 2020 class. I realize there's "always a chance," but I'm more interested in whether or not there is a realistic chance.
- We saw how important the OL is to the success of the team. The ND game was a perfect example of what a solid OL working in unison can do. This, imhe, is the greatest single factor that has sucked since Rich Rod, if not before, and is only now finally getting it together. I'm wondering how many OL we would or could take in 2020. We have 4 kids committed now. Obviously we would make room for Hinton. I'm sure we'd also make room for Andrew Gentry. That would give us two classes with 6 offensive linemen each. I'm assuming that at some point we'd see transfers out. (Magnus has hinted as much.) But you can't have too much depth on the OL, because it is a bit of a crapshoot on who will actually pan out. Oh, and I badly want to see Warinner continue as OL coach.
- Theo Johnson and Andrew Gentry are the top remaining recruits on the board. Both were here for the game. Any reports out there on their visits? Any thoughts on how they are viewing Michigan? Or is this just a free trip to an exciting football game?
- At this point, I'm most concerned about CB and DT recruiting. Is there anyone solid we are still recruiting in 2020? Is Damon Payne in Belleville completely set against Michigan?
- Recruiting has to look far down the road, to 2021 and 2022. OSU already has 6 top 100 guys either committed or 100% crystal balled. Michigan has at least a couple kids (McCarthy and El-Hadi. I hope there are more in the pipeline.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
I'm mildly surprised they haven't recruited another Ryan Hayes type and move/keep him at TE. Aside from McKeon, none of the TEs block like our TEs of old Carr and prior.
Maybe Schoonmaker fills out and becomes a good blocker, but they take guys like All and Eubanks who are really jumbo wrs.
October 28th, 2019 at 2:17 PM ^
TE's like Carr had are few and far between, anymore. The NFL doesn't really use them, and they don't fit into any version of a spread. So what we have now in McKeon, Eubanks, and Schoonmaker are going to be as good as it gets, except for the one or two each year that want to be that throwback player that doesn't have a good fit anywhere.
October 28th, 2019 at 2:51 PM ^
Are you serious? We'll have Eubanks for maybe another year, Schoonmaker is looking pretty decent, Erick All is already playing as a true freshman and looking good, then we have Matthew Hibner and maybe Theo Johnson in this next class (Nick Patterson is probably flipping to GA Tech). That's pretty solid. Our only miss has been Mustapha Muhammad who was passed by Erick All and Schoonmaker
October 28th, 2019 at 7:04 PM ^
Exactly my point.
October 28th, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
Exactly my point.
All and Schoon seems like decent talents. But ND and OSU and PSU seem to have better TEs.
October 28th, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^
You have to recruit at every position every year if you want to compete with the elites. OSU doesn’t stop recruiting DTs just because they did the previous year.
October 28th, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
At this point, I'm most concerned about CB and DT recruiting.
These are my concerns, particularly with CB. Seldon looks good but he's slight and may take some development. We could really use a great CB considering the roster and the fact that Hill will be in the NFL next year. Hopefully Don Brown has some genius strategy with the glut of safeties we're taking in that will make up for the fact that we're so thin on the pure CBs we're used to (Lewis, Long, Hill, etc.).
As for DT, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the SDEs is beefed up to become a DT. That has been our trend lately and we have 3 SDEs in the 2020 class. I think it's okay if that's more of a project because Smith and Hinton should be full-go next year. In 2021 we'll definitely need an impact DT, though, to maintain continuity.
October 28th, 2019 at 12:26 PM ^
DT and corner should have been more a focus this class and may have been at corner. DT though, we never seemed to pursue anyone with ferocity to land them. My issue with DT is, like this year, if the injury bug hits someone or a transfer we can be in dire trouble. Kemp is gone, I believe we get Dwumfor back and Smith/Hinton both full go.
We need more depth at DT/NT, the Wisconsin game showed us what happens when you are thin and an injury or transfer happens. Jeter wasn't at all ready nor played as advertised all off season when the staff was saying, don't worry. Kemp has been a man and had to hold it down himself til Dwumfor was healthy enough to contribute these past two games.
October 28th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
I think Kemp will return - they're not talking about it much so I believe they're lobbying for him to get a retroactive medical redshirt and come back next year. If he does, those four guys can be your core and they'll likely try to get some guys up to DT size from there.
They still have Paea who might actually be useful after not being flipped to another position again in the offseason, Mike Morris could end up DT sized pretty easily (6'6", 262 lb today) or Weslchoff (6'6", 278) or if they think they have enough bullets at DE move Hutchinson inside sometimes.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
Even if Kemp gets a RS and returns and Dwumfor returns those four would be great for 2020. We are counting on no injuries or transfers for 2021/2022 and counting on the tweener SDE/DT to be able to develop and play the interior.
I'm not concerned when we play most programs. I am when we play, Msu, Psu, Osu and then Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska possibly Minnesota on the cross over games. Strong up the middle against the run matters in this conference. I hope that Morris, Welshoff and one or two of this years commits can do it. But this year struggled early because no one else was ready and the staff sunk their off season hopes on Jeter being able to get it done. Imo, I'm hopeful Jeter can get it together.
I'll be much better about it if they land two again next year as they did with Smith and Hinton!
October 28th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
yeah i didn't say it was a good plan, just what i think they're thinking right now. my guess is they push for a couple really good DTs in 2021. we'll see
October 28th, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
6'6" may be too tall to play DT which is the single biggest need. No DT signed in 2015, 2018 and none for 2020. This is a 5 alarm fire.
October 28th, 2019 at 12:19 PM ^
Yeah i would like to see Zordich replaced with a better recruiter at that position. Kalen King and Eric Reese are a couple of local kids to keep an eye on at CB. Allen Trieu was talking up Reese a while back as a sleeper to watch next year. Suppose to have real good speed.
October 28th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
I think Zordich still has his job because he's an elite coach, but he definitely needs some recruiting help. Brown's D requires good athletes at CB who know their craft well.
October 28th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
1) Hinton won't come unless he doesn't clear Stanford's admissions.
2) Gentry is supposedly going on a mission for 2 years
4) Jenkins is supposed to be the next SDE to DT guy. His dad and uncle were huge and played in the NFL for a decade each. His dad was like 370lbs at one point. CB has Green-Warren and Greene who is a Safety. I believe they think at least 1 of the safeties they are recruiting can switch to play CB but yes getting a true CB in the class seems like a necessity at this point.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:29 PM ^
Not a fan of recruiting safeties at CB. Unless they're 4.4 safeties like dax.
Also not a fan of recruiting OG as OTs..but at least the coaches have turned the corner there.
October 28th, 2019 at 1:52 PM ^
Better yet Dax is electronically 4.3
October 28th, 2019 at 2:21 PM ^
It’s easy: if Michigan wants to haul in better recruits at position of need they need to beat Ohio St. If not, this recent ND win will have little to no impact on recruiting
October 28th, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^
I’m excited about Seldon. I think he will be the next great M press man cover corner from Michigan carrying on the tradition of Jourdan Lewis, Lavert Hill, and Ambry Thomas