Football recruiting tidbits
E.J. Holland of Rivals changed his FutureCast pick from Michigan to Florida State for Chandler (AZ) Hamilton 2022 quarterback Nicco Marchiol. Personally, I think this is a positive development, because I do not like left-handed quarterbacks as a general rule. There's a good left-handed quarterback about every 20 years or so, and I just don't buy into the idea that Michigan was going to just happen to stumble into this generation's Standout Lefty QB. Michigan's last few lefties have done jack squat in Ann Arbor.
Clarkston (MI) Clarkston offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger named Michigan to his top 4, along with LSU, OSU, and PSU. All the crystal ball picks are still for LSU, but he's held off so long from committing to them that some people are questioning whether he'll still pick the Tigers. He's announcing next Wednesday, June 24.
Another couple players that seem to be fading for Michigan: 2021 TE Thomas Fidone and OG Drew Kendall. I'm not saying things are over with them, but confidence doesn't seem to be as high on either one. Personally, I would take either/both, even though Michigan has a lot of offensive linemen either committed or in the oven. I think Kendall will be a better player than Greg Crippen, for example.
Magnus, I resemble that remark about lefty QB's! I was a lefty QB in HS and went to a JC and did nothing...hahah.
Thanks for the updates as always!
Let’s be honest, we haven’t had a good right handed QB in almost 20 years. I don’t see the down side to rolling the dice on solid QB if he is left handed, right handed, or throws with his feet.
Between notebooks with rings on the left side to school desks where your writing hand hangs over the side to scissors to getting ink all over your pinky when you write to shaking hands (may not be a problem in the future) to the computer mouse to wrist watches to pant zippers to weapons/firearms to bumping elbows with all you righties when we eat...can't play the infield in baseball...can't find lefty golf clubs (so I ended up learning to play right handed) and now we can no longer play quarterback! It feels like the whole world is rigged against us lefties! It's no wonder us southpaws are so smart, creative and unique with everything we have to overcome.
Lefties of the world unite!!!
/s (Just in case it isn't obvious)
Don’t feel too bad. My father was a natural lefty until the nuns rapped his knuckles repeatedly so that he used his right hand to write with. Everything he did at school was done right handed; at home, things like shoveling, raking, etc was done as a natural lefty.
I’m a naturally right handed; I rake/shovel with either for some reason. ?
There was another crystal ball for Cristian Dixon to Michigan. 247 rankings dropped him immensely in their latest update, from a 90-rated 4* to an 87-rated 3*. Rivals still likes him a lot, putting him at #175 nationally.
Magnus any thoughts on his game?
Another WR target, Jaydon Thomas, had the same drop from 90 to 87.
While I would never claim to be an evaluator of talent or know the difference between an 87 and a 90 rating as a receiver based on film... Anyone want to help me out on what has happened in the last few weeks football wise that has lead to this drop in a rerank? Not like there's new tape to be evaluated or any camps happening where they saw these kids play live.
I don't see Dixon getting much separation from defenders. I think he's an okay possession receiver, but I just don't see much that makes him stand out as a difference maker.
The issue with Kendall seems to be that he could have committed at any point and he hasn’t done so. Maybe he’s waiting to go back on campus one time? Not sure his reasoning but it sounds like if he waits too long he will lose his position in the class. Michigan seems to be pushing heavily for Dellinger and Thomas Cole so they definitely want another tackle in the class. And Spindler is a take no matter what.
I was going to say this exactly. Cole or Delligner would be the 5th guy in the class. Spindler has a spot for 6th, and then the class is full. I think Michigan would rather take 5 with 3 interior guys and 2 OTs than take 6 with 5 interior guys and 1 OT.
Don't we already have 2 OTs in this class?
I think that depends on whether El Hadi is a guard or tackle. He's probably a swing guy and could either be RT or G, depending on need. Bounds and Cole are true OT prospects.
I think of El Hadi as a Mason Cole type. They are listed as the exact same size and have very similar rankings coming out of high school. So yeah I assume his position will be based on need.
Nope. Three guards (2 possible centers) and a tackle. Even El-Hadi, who was listed as a tackle until recently, was always probably a better fit at guard.
Unless of course the staff is telling Kendall to hold off for some reason. You can’t just commit without the coaching staff’s permission. It could be that the staff already has four OL, are pushing hard for Dellinger/Cole and prefer Spindler. And Kendall is the fallback option for the staff.
That’s obviously with zero inside info and just an example of what could be going on and explain why Kendall hasn’t committed yet.
247 also moved Giovanni El-Hadi to guard rather than tackle. So now he's the #5 OG, and #68 overall.
Magnus I think you've said he may be more guard than tackle, or if a tackle a right tackle?
Thanks Magnus. I enjoy your updates. A couple notes – is jack squat a new technical term in the high school and collegiate coaching vernacular. And I guess Rick Leach is the backstop to the last successful LH QB to lead Michigan – not Morris, Richards, or De. Brown.
A Dellinger commit would be a nice surprise. Not very confident though.
Interesting development with Kendall. He seemed like a lock!
Magnus, why do you believe there has been such a shortage of top-notch lefties? Is it because the rest of the team (in particular, the O-line) is generally so used to playing with a righty that the QB never gets the help a righty would?
Perhaps it is because only around 10% of the global population are left-handed? The pool shrinks with every factor--tall enough? Good enough to throw a football? And then: well, you have to switch your best tackle to play blindside.
I don't think that means that we should forgo looking at lefties. Just because Tua rocked it doesn't mean there cannot be another one.
"Looks like Steven Young but...he's also a lefty so let's not recruit him!" Us lefties are hurt.
This, and if you’re a lefty with an arm they want you on a pitchers mound.
I think Kendall and Splinder decisions are related, and that Kendall might be waiting to see if Spindler drops.
An interesting theory I heard about lefty quarterbacks when Tua got drafted: one reason you see so few of them is the value of left-handed pitchers in baseball. Lefty kids who have the arm strength to be elite quarterbacks tend to get siphoned into baseball, since being a lefty who can get up into the 90s is basically a golden ticket to major league bullpens. Not sure how much water this holds, but interesting to think about.
Clayton Richard agrees. I remember being really excited about him when he signed as a 5* QB with us...then I played against him on the diamond the year before he got to UM and I knew he was going to the majors with his breaking stuff and over 90s fastball.
Yep, had a buddy workout for the tigers and they loved him, told him if he touched 90 on the gun they would go do some paperwork
Personally, I have had significant trouble with the Hamilton family, so the shift by EJ Holland may be for the best...
Still waiting on those Earth Wind & Fire tickets
He's too busy impregnating Stacy, so chill dude.
:)
Also, also, there has been much drama (most of it in jest) on Quentin Sommerville on the 247 board. Seth has mentioned that he was once very highly rated, then dropped quite a bit as it seems clear he's only about 6'1". That was given in at least one post on 247, I believe, for his drop.
Many posters over there have clipped photos of Sommerville standing next to various recruits that are 6'1" or thereabouts, and he's clearly taller. Was wondering Magnus if you had any thoughts on Sommerville? If he's not much taller than 6'1", he seems to be a Danna type, which I'd take all day. But if he's 6'3" with longer arms to match I assume he has more upside than that. But then why the precipitous fall?
Lamar Woodley and Brandon Graham are both about 6-1 and change.
Elvis Dumervil, 5-time Pro Bowler who retired just two years ago, is 5'11. There are much worse things than a short DE.
Got to fix recruiting. Ohio State is going to have five or six 5 star commits. Michigan might only have two top 100 commits.
Anything other than the best class we've ever recruited is a failure, especially what with COVID and our last BIG championship being in the mid aughts!
Not that it matters, but I'm not sure I understand the categorical dismissal of southpaws as QB. You might be suffering from low sample size bias. Steve Young and Boomer Esiason were lefties.
Aren't both of them nearly eligible for social security? Not a resounding endorsement.
Matt Leinert, Mike Vick, Tua Tagovailoa, Tim Tebow?
I'm thinking that it has more to do with scheme and coaching all designed for right-handed QBs than an inherent handicap of left-handed players. Also - top-shelf lefty throwers might gravitate to baseball where they are a hot commodity.
Michael Vick, Ken Stabler, and Tua Tagovailoa are all left handed.
Yeah, I mean, you've got a list of successful left-handed NFL QBs that consists of about four players (Stabler, Young, Esiason, Vick) in the past 40-50 years. Yes, there are more successful college QBs (Tebow, Tagovailoa, etc.), but the numbers aren't good overall.
Lefty quarterbacks also require adjustments by your receivers, coaches, play calling tendencies, etc. All things being equal (size, speed, intelligence, leadership, etc.), I want to stick with the right-handed guy so 10 other people on offense (plus backups, coaches, etc.) don't have to adjust when the southpaw comes in the game.
A left handed QB once raped my dog. At least, I think he did.
Mike Vick??
Thanks for the info Magnus.
I hope that sometime soon it's hiring instead of recruiting.
As in you hope we fire Harbaugh?
No, as in we should pay the players.
Thanks Magnus. I pooped.
Interesting about Kendall I was reading some recruiting articles this morning, don’t remember from where, and it seemed like Michigan had offered another OL recruit or 2 and kicked the tires to see how firm Davidkov was to Iowa. I read that as Michigan isn’t so sure on the guys in there board and are looking to add more commits. Kendall was mentioned and from what I gather Warriner told him Michigan is taking 6, and if another OL commits he wouldn’t be a take as the staff is going to see what Spindler wants to do.
In one of the recent Michigan Recruiting Insiders podcasts, Sam Webb mentioned that the number of OL in the 2021 recruiting class might be an issue, especially if Spindler is one of them.
IMO, you recruit about 8 guys with the expectation that a couple will decommit. And that mentality should carry over into almost every position, unless you're talking about the QB position, where McCarthy is the guy because he's visited Michigan a bunch.
A lefty QB (when your other QB's are right-handed) is going to change the whole offensive schema and consistency on snap exchanges, OL protection, and handoffs. OTOH, a lefty QB is advantageous to have on field goal attempts, assuming the kicker uses his right foot.
Magnus, you are a handist.
I wear that distinction proudly.
Good stuff