David Reese Trending Strongly to Texas of Late
Two guys I look at very closely in crystal ballz are Lorenz and Wiltfong. Lorenz just put in a Texas pick for David as have 2 other folks in the past 24 hours including the Longhorns guy. Our own ska band guy picked him to Texas a few weeks ago. So if you believe these tea leaves, along with UM not allowing him to EE it looks like he is headed elsewhere.
http://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/David-Reese-at-Farmington-60884/…
What strikes this as interesting is other tea leaves in the LB corps. Most think Kelly is an OU guy and Devin Bush Jr is trending to FSU of late so I am curious if those 2 fall as expected what LBs we are left to be in play for. Jonathan Jones has been a Michigan "lean" for most our lifetimes and McCulloch and Jackson are sort of longshots.
We basically have Kemp as a BUCK and Johnson as a project guy...
Will be curious how this falls out as you assume we went another 2 LBs in this class with the lack of upperclassmen and zero LBs taken last year.
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November 18th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
LB targets and expected locations as of 3 weeks ago for reference.
| LB | Dontavious Jackson | TX | Texas 69% / Bama 15% |
| LB | Caleb Kelly | CA | Oklahoma 95% / UM 5% |
| LB | Devin Bush Jr | FL | FSU 65% / UM 27% |
| LB | Jonathan Jones | FL | UM 74% / ND 22% |
| LB | Jeffrey McCulloch | TX | Texas 58% / A&M 42% |
November 18th, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
That would be an acceptable get
November 18th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
Reese would be an ILB. I don't think the LB recruits you mentioned are all interchangeable, but I don't know what positions all of them are being recruited to play.
November 18th, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^
Coach / Charlie Strong / TX / University of Miami 100%
TEXAS IS A:
November 19th, 2015 at 8:18 AM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:11 PM ^
Reese wants to enroll early. But which of the other players would enroll in January?
November 19th, 2015 at 12:24 AM ^
November 19th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^
JH is looking to add Bush Jr.'s father to the recruiting staff. His mom is in favor of him following in his fathers footsteps and going to FSU. Some of that has to do with Jr. being close to home. His father however is not so sold on FSU and is very open to his son going to UM. If Bush Sr. lands on staff I would imagine this view becomes dominant.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
The guys at Rivals have said that the FSU thing is mostly smoke for Bush, and that the dominant Oklahoma lead for Caleb Kelly is inaccurate. Various people are still confident in Jonathan Jones and Dontavious Jackson, the latter of whom seems interested in Texas but they have a highly questionable coaching situation.
Reese is somewhat limited athletically, so I'm not too worried about losing him.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^
Thx.
Yes I remember you liked him more as a FB than LB.
Seems like UM would not let him "go" without having a bird in hand. Curious which bird it is now! Lorenz and Wiltfong havent budged off Bush to UM yet although those picks came in summer when it seemed like a sure(r) thing.
November 19th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
to "let him go"...at this point, with no LOI signed, Reese is in complete control of the situation, no?
November 18th, 2015 at 2:38 PM ^
Lorenz and Webb still feel strongly that Bush Jr will end up at UM. He is earlt enrolle so we should know soon.
I'm still hoping UM can lure D. Jackson. Looks like a great prospect.
Interesting news regarding Reese. I think he wants to stay close to home but enrolling early is important to him.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
Hasn't Webb said that he personally has lost some confidence about Bush, but that his sources still remain as confident as ever? (His own opinion is swayed by being the lead dog for so long without the firm commitment...the longer it goes, the more doubt creeps in)
November 18th, 2015 at 6:18 PM ^
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November 18th, 2015 at 6:24 PM ^
maybe some Siberians.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
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November 18th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
Good pt on Victor, although he may be our FB next year too ;) Can you imagine the trick plays when your FB can throw 30 yd strikes??
November 18th, 2015 at 2:47 PM ^
Coach Harbaugh isn't afraid to have guys play both ways. It might be asking a lot from a true freshman, but I don't know much about this kid. He very well may handle it very well.
Yeah, I had to.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:27 PM ^
Or even better, your linebacker? Just THINK of the tricks if we recover a fumble!
Oh, wait... our D doesn't do that. Nevermind.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^
It's really too bad if Reese goes elsewhere just because he can't get an EE here. I get that it's important to him. But I would think early playing time is also. Our depth chart at LB for next year should be a good recruiting tool, even though the crystal balls seem to not show that right now. Let's hope things take a turn for the better SOON.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:47 PM ^
On the other hand, if Reese doesn't want to come here, happy trails young man.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 2:47 PM ^
WOTS is basically that the coaches don't want him anymore. It's their polite way of telling him to get lost.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 7:23 PM ^
My guess is that he ends up as a linebacker. I think there will be too much talent at QB for him to break into that situation. I don't think he'll be athletic enough for safety. He could also be a fullback/H-back, but I'll go with LB.
Thanks for the compliment.
November 18th, 2015 at 9:29 PM ^
He would need to add 20+lbs (for LB also), but with his running ability it would seem a natural fit.
Imagine O'Korn with Peppers in the backfield with Viramontes & Gentry (+Butt) at TE. All the possibilities to throw or run.
November 19th, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
I think he's a little short/small for a traditional tight end position, but I could see him being used as an H-back type. He's more the type of guy who would go in motion like Khalid Hill, Henry Poggi, etc.
November 19th, 2015 at 10:30 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^
It isn't polite. It's just plain unethical.
If you don't want the kid - you tell him exactly that, not passively aggressively slow play the kid until he leaves in disgust.
I hope this isn't what is happening, because it's completely disgusting if so.
November 18th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^
First of all, we don't know what the staff has told Reese or hasn't told him, let alone how they expressed it. But the guy has clearly gotten the message that he should look around, and that seems to be the most important thing.
Second, if it is true that the coaches don't want Reese anymore, we also don't know why that is. But there could be any number of explanations. The one that seems to disgust you is the notion that the staff might have decided they would rather have some different LB prospects and so they are trying to squeeze Reese out of the class to make room. That's possible--but if they are doing that, why haven't they just sent Reese packing? Yes he's expected to decommit at some point, but for now it appears the staff is still willing to take him if Reese still wants to come.
Some other possible reasons why the staff might not be as interested: (1) they originally wanted him as a FB (or FB/LB two-way guy), and Reese has made it clear he doesn't want to play FB; (2) maybe there has been a deterioration in the relationship since he committed; (3) maybe Reese has slacked off on the field, in the weight room, or in the classroom since he committed.
Finally, even if it's true that the coaches don't want Reese anymore and the reason is just because they think they can get a better player with his spot, I think there is genuine room for debate about whether that is unethical or not, when the player is informed of this well before signing day with ample time to check out other schools and commit somewhere else. (Yes, I realize lots of people around here have criticized other coaches for doing that, but I always viewed that as a way people tried to make themselves feel better about M not doing as well. The reality is, before Harbaugh arrived, M didn't have the luxury of turning away good players to make room for even better players).
November 18th, 2015 at 5:37 PM ^
"Second, if it is true that the coaches don't want Reese anymore, we also don't know why that is. But there could be any number of explanations. The one that seems to disgust you is the notion that the staff might have decided they would rather have some different LB prospects and so they are trying to squeeze Reese out of the class to make room."
The reason for not wanting him is irrelevant. Not wanting him is irrelevant. HOW they go about letting him know he isn't wanted is the issue.
What disgusts me is the idea of slow playing the kid.
If you don't want him - that is fine, but you immediately tell him exactly that.
It isn't the idea that they might want someone else - it's the idea that they are passively-aggressively slow playing a kid to get HIM to go away instead of just being honest and saying "we don't want you anymore".
November 18th, 2015 at 6:28 PM ^
Again, for all we know the coaches came right out and told Reese, "we will still honor our offer if you want to come, but you should know that we would prefer you didn't." So the idea that there is slow-playing going on is utter speculation at this point.
That said, chances are the situation is more complicated than "the coaches don't want Reese but won't give him a straight answer." What does it mean to even say the coaches "don't want" Reese? Does it mean they don't want him at all, or does it just mean they don't want him as much as some other prospect, or that they only want him under a certain set of circumstances? If the coaches had found out some awful thing about Reese and just don't want him around anymore, period, then yeah--they should tell him that (and for all we know, they did). But that seems unlikely. It's probably more of a scenario where the coaches have other preferences but would still take Reese as a backup plan--and where Reese knows that and is going to go investigate other programs, but still has a spot at M if nobody is offering a better package.
November 19th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^
All of those options are acceptable, as long as you're upfront with the kid and actually tell him.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:28 PM ^
don't come thru. This is life come on, if Harbaugh loses games he is going to be gone, just like a business.
November 19th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
Vance Bedford has strong ties to Michigan and coached with Durkin and Mattison at Florida. Seems a likely the Michigan staff steered him to Texas who can accomodate his early enrollment. Seems like the kid is landing on his feet and wouldn't surprise me if our staff assisted. So enough of the conjecture.
November 19th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
Vance Bedford has strong ties to Michigan and coached with Durkin and Mattison at Florida. Seems like the kid is landing on his feet and wouldn't surprise me if our staff assisted. So enough of the conjecture.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
I could easily see him playing early at LB and fullback. Wish we could get more EE's in. Hate to lose a tough, physical player at a position of need who loves Michigan.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
If he was more open to it, he probably gets offered the EE he wanted.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:22 PM ^
Right. My understanding is that when he committed, Michigan told him they would give him a chance to play LB but wanted him more as a FB. Then when he got more offers at LB, Reese went to them and said he wanted to be LB only. After that the coaches started backing off.
November 19th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
Is not a project guy imo. He may be a bit raw but he is explosive, athletic, and has good instincts and plays against pretty good competition. Harbaugh is a notoriously great evaluator of talent and offered the guy on the spot. Watch his film, he fills the right gaps more often than not and is deceptively quick. Has good size as well. I really think he is an under the radar guy that will be a playmaker after a year of solid coaching.
November 18th, 2015 at 4:41 PM ^
agreed - it likely wont be immediately but johnson will be a player. i actually really like his game and the potential there especially when considering the current LBs lack of quickness / athleticism. i tend to apply the term "project" to riskier prospects thatll take several years to transition due to experience level or poor instincts or significant position change or whatever - id say devin gil is closer to project than johnson (though i like johnsons game and dont view gil as potential big time college player).
however im not sure what makes you think he has "good size as well" given that hes only listed at like 6'0" - 6'1'" 200-205 lbs. and thats ok for an incoming frosh LB, particularly one with his skill set / potential (its just also the size of most safeties). id prob consider "good size" to be at least 215-220 lbs - interestingly i think some of the best LBs are the guys who grew up as versatile athletes yet could handle bulking up 25 lbs or whatever without losing much quickness, flexibility, etc (prime i.e. = thomas davis of carolina panthers).
not breaking stones here, just curious your thoughts given that phrasing - id be thrilled if i misread his height / weight (bc i loved his game on tape, just thought he was little undersized) or the kid hulked up in the past year or whatever
November 18th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
I should have said a good frame. I think he gains 25-30 lbs after a year of strength and conditioning. He reminds me of the quick LBs Miami and FSU have historically had that just flow to the ball and blow up plays.
It is indeed a lot of extrapolation to expect him to gain that weight and still keep his safety-like athleticism, but would be nice to have an athlete like that at LB. Jake Ryan pre-injury was great, but the last true explosive athlete I can remember at LB for Michigan was David Harris.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 3:21 PM ^
Bring in Taysom Hill... as LB. He can hurdle OLs who are trying to block him.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:35 PM ^
Lol, imagine Harbaugh's face if he hurdles someone he's supposed to tackle.
November 18th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
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