Hello: 2024 OT Blake Frazier

Submitted by Magnus on April 16th, 2023 at 1:04 PM

2024 Austin (TX) Vandegrift offensive tackle Blake Frazier just publicly committed to the good guys. He's the son of former Michigan offensive lineman Steve Frazier.

UM85

April 16th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^

He is absolutely pancaking and manhandling the competition.  Several of the opponents are simply not willing to take him on and avoiding contact.  I'm having a hard time believing this is 6A, Texas competition. But it is, right?

Denard In Space

April 16th, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^

Had to look it up, you are absolutely right. Top tier of Texas high school football. And he looks like he's playing against JV, literally throwing people around. But not just that -- I saw him (not sure of the correct terminology here) switch targets and feint a block while switching to effectively block another guy, which looks like it's technique / smarts too. Just gonna keep my mouth shut from here on out and hope nobody notices that we might have stolen the best OL in the class, holy shit.

trueblueintexas

April 16th, 2023 at 3:55 PM ^

Vandergrift HS is in the far western reaches of Austin on the edge of the Hill Country. It was built about 14 years ago.  It is in a very affluent area. They are in the Leander school district which has three pretty good teams. They are not quite on the level as the big Austin schools like Westlake, Westwood, and Lake Travis which also means they are a step further down from the really big Dallas and Houston area schools. That said, they play against good football talent in that area as the big Leander schools provide players to D1 teams most years. 

Bo Harbaugh

April 16th, 2023 at 4:56 PM ^

It’s absurd how good our O-line looked in the last 2 OSU games- specifically the second half.  Some of the reach blocks and seals in tandem looked NFL elite to my untrained eyes.  I wasn’t sure if it was UM’s line being that good, or OSU’s D being that confused/indecisive.

The TCU game kind of brought things back down to earth as our line did not look prepped for the 3-3-5.  I was certain we’d pave them

energyblue1

April 16th, 2023 at 9:46 PM ^

TCU shaded their 3 dt’s all to the interior and used lbers to shoot the gaps for pulling lineman.  I don’t think Olu was healthy, he had an awesome seal the first play with Edwards but after that, didn’t seem to move or open space.  Rumors were he was in a walking boot leading up to the cfp.  

Tcu was prepared for the run game, and given a month to prepare, I’m surprised we weren’t ready for that 3-3 stack, esp as they brought pressure from safeties as well.  Really shocked we didn’t go Ace and attack the edges.  But most of all, surprised we didn’t attack earlier with JJ and force the issue.  

Bo Harbaugh

April 16th, 2023 at 6:28 PM ^

@ Magnus, 

Is there a reason Roebuck at 6-7 and 320 already is rated seemingly a rung lower than the rest of our OL commits and targets? His offers are also a bit less impressive than the rest of the current o-line for that cycle. (He does have the major B1G offers, but looks like SEC powers didn't really come sniffing like with our other prospects)

He looks good on film and the measurables are obviously there.  Is there some nuance I'm missing?

Is this a trust the coaches - we were early on him type?  Does he not play against the best competition/league in Ohio?  I'm not an expert, but his tape looked on par with our other commits.  Curious to see if he gets a bump or is just an overlooked prospect for this cycle.

FWIW, I'm generally not a star gazer, (specifically with OL which is often unpredictable but if anything Moore and this staff has earned the benefit of the doubt with that position group), but I just don't see a difference between Roebuck (a giant road grader) and our other targets.  

Magnus

April 16th, 2023 at 7:05 PM ^

Personally, I tend to look for athleticism over size. A lot of Michigan's oversized linemen over the years have failed to live up to expectations (Chris Bryant, Chris Fox, Ben Braden, Tony Posada, etc.). Bryant and Fox had injuries, Posada just wasn't interested, and Braden turned out to be so-so. The one oversized guy who played above expectations - or at least to them - was Michael Onwenu.

I don't think Roebuck's movement skills are up to par with some of the other guys, though I'm not particularly high on Luke Hamilton, either. Roebuck tries to do a lot by overpowering guys with his upper body, but that's not always a great proposition when you play top competition in college.

I think Sam Webb is someone who talks about "following the offers." Seth talks about that, too. If a 4-star kid's best offers come from Cincinnati and West Virginia, there's probably reason to be skeptical. If a 3-star has offers from Clemson, Florida, Michigan, Texas, Texas A&M, etc., then maybe we should take notice.

jerseyblue

April 16th, 2023 at 1:42 PM ^

I'd love Anderson. Only way I see him coming though is if Guarnera goes against Sam's gut and picks another school. Then Frazier could slide to C and Anderson could come in a a Guard. Right now I'm just guessing that a big time player like Anderson may see the crowd as unappealing.