2021 WR Marvin Harrison JR to aOSU
why can’t we have good things?
October 31st, 2019 at 12:06 PM ^
DPJ and Nico would like to have a word with you...
October 31st, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
Valid point, but it would be nice to have some highly rated recruits/freshmen waiting in the wings at WR. Cornelius Johnson and AJ Henning (borderline 5*) are the highest rated guys and are both 4*. I'd like to see another borderline 5* or better commit.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
Mike Sainristil looked pretty good IMO Saturday night. These rankings aren't an exact science.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
They're not an exact science, yes, but it has been proven that the teams that win a lot are constantly getting the best recruits.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^
And fortunately our classes are consistently ranked highly.
But to knock our current freshmen WR because they didn't meet the arbitrary 5-star criteria as high school players is a bit much.
I've stopped following recruiting closely and don't miss it a bit.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
It's funny how recruiting has become a game into itself.
"Yeah, he's might win the Heisman, but he wasn't a 5-star. I want a 5-star!"
October 31st, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
Funny stat. OSU's leading receiver, Chris Olave has 411 rec yds
Their second leading receiver Benjimin Victor has 355
Michigan's leading receiver Ronnie Bell has 452 rec yds
Our second leading receiver Nico Collins has 374.
I don't know, I just thought this was interesting.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
But Ronnie bell was a 2 star, if he was a 5 star he would have 900 yards already
/s
October 31st, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
And yet, DPJ has 3 TDs to lead Michigan, while OSU has 5 players with at least 3 receiving TDs: Olave with 8, Hill with 4, and Victor, Wilson, and Ruckert with 3 each.
What I find most interesting is, in the long, storied history of Michigan football, no QB has exceeded 25 passing TDs in a single season (though admittedly, Denard had 32 and 36 total TDs in 2010 and 2011, respectively). OSU has had a QB do that 5 times since 2004 (as far back as ESPN's stat database goes; Smith in 2006, Pryor in 2010, Barrett in 2014 and 2017, and Haskins' ridiculous 50 damn TDs last year). Fields himself is sitting at 24 so far this season, so barring injury he'll add to that list.
I was excited for this season, thinking Shea had a really good chance to break the team's single-season passing TD record, with the best WR crew Michigan has had since the Braylon-Breaston-Avant days, but with only 11 TDs in 8 games, that dream is dead for another year. Maybe McCaffrey can do it next season...
October 31st, 2019 at 8:48 PM ^
The difference? They have other guys on their roster who are just as good...and the new ones coming in may even be better.
any one of their guys can be dangerous.
November 1st, 2019 at 5:42 PM ^
OSU has one of the efficient pass games in the nation. If they weren’t the top running game in the nation, I suppose they’d decide to throw for 400 yards per game.
November 1st, 2019 at 6:10 PM ^
Olave was a 3*....
October 31st, 2019 at 12:08 PM ^
Well that sucks. It would be really helpful if OSU's recruiting could fall off one of the these days.
Also, not so sure about "aOSU".
October 31st, 2019 at 12:17 PM ^
t(tm)OSU
October 31st, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
Never gonna happen...gotta beat them. Maybe player compensation will help if we can get on the cutting edge of it.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
"BuT rYaN dAy WoNt Be AbLe To ReCrUiT lIkE uRbZzZz"
October 31st, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
I don't expect him to recruit as well as Meyer. That doesn't mean he won't recruit well, though.
October 31st, 2019 at 2:40 PM ^
That doesn't mean he won't recruit well, though.
Unfortunately "recruit well" is not well enough. Averaging a top 10-ish class is good. But, it's still not competitive with the top 3-ish classes OSU has been signing since 2012. It's like 3 times worse. That's like comparing our recruiting with MSU's. We just can't keep up. JH is doing what UM has traditionally done with recruiting, which is good. Unfortunately however, Day is keeping pace with Meyer, which is significantly better. OSU is recruiting like Bama. This is new since 2012 and hasn't changed yet with Day and likely won't if he keeps winning. So, UM has to find a way to beat them or match their recruiting to get back in the arms race.
November 1st, 2019 at 6:33 AM ^
Of the last 4 recruiting classes osu has signed more top 100 recruits than all BIG 10 teams combined,lol, that's sick.they have more top 50 recruits than um has top 100.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:57 PM ^
It would be nice if OSU didn't recruit so well, but that isn't going to happen without several years of not being at the top of the B1G. Their talent is top of the heap and so is their coaching or they wouldn't be where they are. That sucks, but it is what it is.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:34 PM ^
It will. I think it'll be like when Shaw took over for Harbaugh. All he had to do was step in to Jim's recruits and program for a few years, sustaining it. But slowly it's slipped away. Because Day isn't horrible, it won't fall as fast as we'd like, but it will slip little by little.
October 31st, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
Not trying to troll your board, but that comparison is a huge reach. OSU has been a machine for decades. Harbaugh had 1 good year at Stanford, going 12-1 in 2010. His other 3 seasons were 4-8, 5-7, and 8-5. Don't get me wrong, he took over a terrible program and built it up. He also had Andrew Luck, but regardless, it's not like Stanford under Harbaugh was a juggernaut program with years of sustained success. Shaw went 12-2 in 2015, 5 years after Harbaugh left, and 10-3 the following year. To say he lucked into Harbaugh's players and sustained things for a few years is untrue. I've seen nothing to indicate Day is simply the beneficiary of what Urban did. If I were you, I'd pin my hopes more on Day going to the NFL, and/or guys like Hafley and Hartline moving on, because this staff is the real deal.
October 31st, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
I think this is a fair take and nothing you have said would be remotely close to trolling our board. OSU has been a solid program for over two decades now and has a ton of success even well before that. Anybody that thinks they will get out of elite status any time soon is probably going to be disappointed for the foreseeable future. The only thing I get sick of hearing is how Harbaugh doesn’t get all the credit for Stanford because he had Andrew Luck, but Day and staff should get all the credit this year with high 4* or 5* stars at every position. We can’t speak out of both sides of our mouth when it comes to players that coaches have. I think Day will turn out to be a very fine coach but there is not many coaches in America that would not succeed with that talent similar to Harbaugh succeeding with a talent like Andrew Luck.
November 3rd, 2019 at 6:12 PM ^
This is a bit of Buckeye arrogance it seems.
Ryan Day hasn't proven anything yet as head coach over years. He might well but he might not. Maybe he learned a lot from Urban Meyer over a few years. You would want to hope so. As one who attended the Temple games he (allegedly) provided OC for under Addazio I'm wait and see. Obviously he has miles better talent, resources, facilities and assistants at t(tm)OSU which can't hurt but he was legit awful at Temple. As an alum and donor there I am still bitter.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
Shouldn't that be anOSU?
October 31st, 2019 at 12:15 PM ^
O$U is going to continue to get the top WR's and DE's(along with other positions) in every class because of their ability to put them in the NFL. Recent history is very good for them at those positions...hoping Larry Johnson retires soon.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
And OSU’s ability to actually use WRs.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
Praying next year we can actually have a good QB whether it be Dylan Joe or Cade. JJ is gonna be taking over in 2 years anyway if he keeps improving.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
I'm praying that after Justin Fields leaves that OSU struggles to find a good QB
October 31st, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
I mean this is the same Justin Fields that everyone here was saying wasn’t good because he ran away from UGA after not beating out Fromm.
i have very little doubt that Ryan Day will either recruit a better QB, or coach one up that somehow breaks all of Dwayne Haskins’s records.
October 31st, 2019 at 4:52 PM ^
I don't think we should count on that, right Now the pundits are crystal balling CJ Stroud to them and he was the Elite 11 MVP. The kid is the real fucking deal
October 31st, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^
Don’t go to any car washes in Columbus
October 31st, 2019 at 12:19 PM ^
OSU better make sure that his dad isn't around after hours.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
I heard they lead for the new Boston Dynamics robot too.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
We do have good things. Their names are Nico Collins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black. And that's not including Ronnie Bell or Mike Sainristil. Our recruiting at the WR position has been just fine.
OSU landing five star talent is not anything new and its not going anywhere. They've put a boadload of guys in the NFL and have stars lining up all over the place in the league. Success begets more success.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:49 PM ^
A few notes:
OSU already has this kid’s HS QB committed in the same class so M had virtually no-shot.
Also - please remember that probably the best receiver on OSU this year - Chris Olave - was a 3-4 Star CA kid that folks on this board thought was a “reach” by M’s staff before he blew up and eventually went to OSU.
Not that it wouldn’t be great to land a few more 5*s at WR (or any position) but hand wringing over it is a waste of energy imo.
October 31st, 2019 at 2:39 PM ^
That's a very good point. And honestly, OSU in general has had really good/great success from some of their "lower" rated WR recruits, Michael Thomas, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, KJ Hill, etc. Meanwhile, several of their much higher rated WR recruits have either been just ok(Victor/Mack/Dixon), hurt(Babb), or transferred(Grimes). I expect it will change due to the volume of elite WR's they are recruiting right now, but that has been the trend in recent years.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
The point is that the rich get richer....
aOSU seems to have assistants who are lighting it up.
Sure, we have Nico and DPJ ... but you have to wonder if our inability to have a quality QB hurts our WR recruiting. This is the reality that kids see.
And it pisses me off
October 31st, 2019 at 3:31 PM ^
Looks like Washington is turning out to be a strong recruiter as well.
October 31st, 2019 at 4:54 PM ^
Hartline and Hafley are both ranked in the top 5 for recruiting right now and Washington is killing it as well.
October 31st, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
Because when we get good things we don’t know how to properly utilize them. I don’t blame a top wr for not taking us seriously right now. We gotta start using the ones we have first.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
For those interested in enemy recruiting, Brian Hartline has been on a tear since he took over as WR coach. Garret Wilson and Jameson Williams (5-star and high 4) last year, Julian Fleming/Jaxon Smith-Njigba/Gee Scott Jr./Mookie Cooper this year (all ranked in the top 80 overall), and now Marvin Harrison Jr and Jayden Ballard already committed for next year (both top 80 overall as well) while in good standing with Emeka Egbuka, Beaux Collins, and Troy Stellato (2 top-30 overall players, and a guy whose offer list suggests he's greatly underrated). There are calls in Columbus to do whatever we can to lock up Hartline to as long of a deal as we can.
October 31st, 2019 at 3:34 PM ^
Hartline's several years in the NFL along with his OSU background appears to make a big difference to kids. OSU stepping up its passing game with Haskins and Fields has also been huge.
October 31st, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
Hafley's tenure in the NFL and working with some of the best DB's in football is looking to be a treasure trove for you guys as well. Guys wanting to get to league learning under a guy who was there and had a ton of success is a recipe for a line of recruits lining up to play. ugh
November 1st, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
Hafley's one of the other two most important assistants, in my opinion (Hartline, Hafley, Johnson, in no specific order). Pay them all as much as you have to in order to keep them around. He took the same DB room (minus Kendall Sheffield) that consistently missed tackles and got flagged for PI last year, and turned all of them into looking like locks to be drafted in the first 3 rounds.
October 31st, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
Just wanted to say that I love your avatar. Barrett had been tearing it up (after being forced into duty when Miller went down) and when I saw the play, I knew it wasn't good. The sight of Devin Gardner kneeling there, understanding as only an athlete can what JT was feeling, was one of the classiest things I've seen in football.
November 1st, 2019 at 12:16 PM ^
That is one of my favorite moments from the rivalry. I grew up in the Cooper era, so I have plenty of hatred for the Wolverines as a football team, but I'm all for sportsmanship, and Gardner was an absolute class act. You always see the hateful/taunting side of the rivalry (Boston and Woodson throwing punches, Marcus Hall's double bird, Howard's Heisman pose, Boren standing over Gardner, etc), and I wanted to highlight one of the more human sides.
October 31st, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
New to the blog and as a respectful Buckeye fan (cue the oxymoron comments), I have enjoyed the content and insight on the blog. My honest take is that Michigan is just in a 8-10 win rut due to past hires and Harbaugh. I like Jim and he’s a great person and good college coach, but the team can get back to greatness and A perennial top 10 power every season, with a young, very smart,college coach. Like Tom Herman, Ryan Day, Lincoln Riley ...I think that’s what most Buckeye fans fear most about Michigan’s future. If they get a really smart up and comer that’s already calling the shots on offense or defense
if they get a really smart up and comer that’s already calling the shots on offense and everyone knows he’s very smart and maybe has some NFL experience and friends with the same vision, they can get rid of 50% or more of their coaching staff and give them control that was giving to Day, The Wolverines could be right back to the glory days within a couple years it shouldn’t be taking several. Harbaugh and urban are both more old-school overly loyal guys in terms of the coaches
October 31st, 2019 at 2:01 PM ^
Welcome. Interesting points, but we're sticking with Harbaugh.
Interesting you chose MSU's coach's name for your screen name here.