Lander Barton to Utah and Mizzou observation
4* UT linebacker followed a long line of family members to Utah. Harbaugh and MacDonald were just at one of his games during the bye. 247's Bryce Marich said he felt it was down to UM and Utah. Barton recently told him it wasn't a given he'd make the obvious choice of Utah. Alas, he did. Our linebacker focus seems like it will focus on Chicago 4* Jimmy Rolder who's profile has skyrocketed the last 6 weeks or so.
On to Missouri who is giving off a 2013 'Ol Miss vibe. A sucky program that out of the blue is getting some serious recruits. Looks like they are offering some nice "NIL" packages. They are 4-5 and 1-4 in SEC. They are currently ranked 14 on 247 that includes 1 5* and 6 4* players. They are also getting crystal ballz for a few 4* guys in next year's class. Just an observation when I was looking at Barton's commitment on the site.
November 11th, 2021 at 5:46 PM ^
Yeah and I read an article that quoted Domani Jackson said it’s between sticking with USC and flipping to bama.
I don’t have good feels about this cycle, there’s smoke to the Deone Walker to Kentucky , and a Amarion Walker hasn’t flipped yet sounds like he’s sticking with the Irish imo leading to the offer to the East Carolina commit who’s names escaping me.
that lost in East Lansing seems to be rearing it’s head on the recruiting side of things.
November 11th, 2021 at 5:54 PM ^
Sam Webb doesn't really believe the Domani news fwiw. I think Will Johnson is trying to get him to visit for the OSU game. I'd give us a chance if Domani Jackson does indeed visit again.
The ECU commit - Kaleb Webb - is legit. 6'4" 195 with a 10.91 100m (equivalent to a 4.49 40). This guy is nearing Nico Collins levels of athleticism, though Collins was truly special because he kept up the speed after adding 30 lb.
November 11th, 2021 at 6:25 PM ^
Yep, Sam and his gut are always spot for the high profile recruits.
/s
November 11th, 2021 at 7:28 PM ^
No
I’ve been following Sam’s work quite closely for a while now. The only recruitment he wiffed on during that time was Spindler’s.
November 11th, 2021 at 7:49 PM ^
And he apparently knew about Spindler right beforehand, but I guess they let recruits tell 247 guys to stay mum and not change crystal balls within a short timeframe. Which is silly but there you have it
November 12th, 2021 at 12:11 AM ^
Didn't he miss on Harris also?
November 12th, 2021 at 8:20 AM ^
"a 10.91 100m (equivalent to a 4.49 40). "
Not even close.
A 10.5 100m projects to about 4.7 40
November 12th, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^
One thing to consider is that the NFL tracks 40 YARD times, not 40m times. The calculator you seem to have used converts 100m to 40m, which is about 43.74 yards. Doesn't seem like that big a deal, but that's over 11 feet difference. There have also been a couple different estimations that a 10.9 100m translates to somewhere around a 4.5-4.6 40 yard dash, so OP wouldn't be that far off.
Doing some quick and dirty math, a 4.5 40 yard dash covers about 8.9 yards, or 26.7 feet, per second. Assuming a constant velocity throughout (which we know isn't true, but that average is fine here), it would take an additional 0.4 seconds to cover the remaining 11 or so feet, bringing you to 4.9 seconds for a 40 METER dash.
So I think it's safe to say that a 10.91 100m dash would, in fact, translate to somewhere around a 4.5-4.6 40m dash.
November 12th, 2021 at 10:01 AM ^
Yep I used that last calculator you linked (from Reddit)
November 11th, 2021 at 5:54 PM ^
I don’t think the msu game had a real impact. All the things you listed were true before that game and there was just a lot of wishful thinking. Barton was always a reach, a flip is always a long shot until it actually happens and deone walker has been down on Michigan since we processed his friend out of the class.
I don’t know why but linebacker recruiting has been terrible this cycle. Losing an in state guy to nd and top targets to Baylor and North Carolina are all worrying signs.
The assumptions around domani Jackson have also been more hopeful thinking than anything. This class is just not good enough. Hopefully a strong finish and staff continuity can allow for a massive year next year to cover that hole or we get pleasantly surprised at the end of this cycle
November 11th, 2021 at 6:07 PM ^
If one loss were enough to take apart a class, I have bad news for Mizzou which is 4-5
November 11th, 2021 at 7:22 PM ^
Jimmy people will say anything. We already have a good defense and also people with lots of eligibility. So yeah one loss has derailed us. Five losses would guarantee us one five-stars as well as a plethora of four stars. Get it? Exactly!!!
November 11th, 2021 at 6:16 PM ^
Losing a hard fought football game on the road to a top ten team isn't going to make a negative impact on recruiting at all. I actually think this class is going to turn out fine. I get the star rankings don't look sexy. Have you watched Kenneth Grant, or Damani Dent or Myles Pollard, or Mason Graham play football? You can't convince me those guys aren't within the top 300 prospects in America.
We're doing fine for Amarion. Deone Walker may head elsewhere - and would be awesome to have him in the class - but he's still very high on Michigan. Let's just see what happens. Worrying about what a recruit might think before he commits, and before he signs is pointless.
As for Domani. He is committed to USC. He had some nice things to say about Alabama after his visit. He likes Michigan a lot too. He'll end up signing where he signs, but it's not like he's the glue holding this class together. He's committed to another school fergodsakes. I think Michigan's class is panning out just fine (albeit thin on high-end linebacker talent). Let's just see what happens before we worry about how our close (bullshit) road loss looks to potential commits.
November 11th, 2021 at 6:49 PM ^
I’ve seen the tape good prospects, losing out on Some targets and not having many pokers in the fire is what concerns me. I think you mistook my talking points for worry, I’ve got way more important things to worry about than college football recruiting. I also have the opinion on that losing the state didn’t have a positive impact on recruiting but I could be wrong too.
November 12th, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
I think the sunshine and rainbows is a little over the top. The class isn't bad but there are some clear holes in it. Like for example our linebacker recruiting is in a tough spot.
November 12th, 2021 at 9:22 AM ^
UM class ranked 18th by 247. 17 commits, avg grade of 88.08, putting us in the company of Kentucky, Indiana and Ole Miss. I get that some recruits might be underrated, but the same could be true for other schools. The bottom line is recruiting classes ranked in the mid teens aren’t good enough to win the B1G or make the 4 team playoff
November 11th, 2021 at 5:47 PM ^
Michigan needs to finish strong to help on the recruiting front. All of the dudes carrying us this year are for the most part 4 or 5 stars - Hutch, Dax, Ojabo, Hinton, Mazi, Ross, CoJo, Corum All, etc. Haskins being the real exception.
Michigan has 1 five star and 2 4 stars in the next class. I know its a COVID year, but still. That is not going to allow Michigan to keep up, even with the elite talent development. Combine that with not being able to take transfers like a MSU or PSU, were going to fall way behind.
ND has a top 5 recruiting class, so they are able to figure it out.
November 11th, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
I think you're underrating this class a bit. It's not the best we've had recently, but there are some more guys that are 4* level:
- Kevonte Henry is a 4* on 247 and Top 100 on On3
- Myles Pollard is a 4* on Rivals
- Marlin Klein is a 4* on On3
- Kenneth Grant is a 4* on 247 and On3
- Mason Graham is a 4* on 247
- Colston Loveland is a 4* on 247 and On3
- Aaron Alexander is a 4* on On3
November 11th, 2021 at 7:23 PM ^
Stop it with the facts!!!
November 11th, 2021 at 9:09 PM ^
Seven guys at 4 star or above? That's not great Jim
November 11th, 2021 at 10:59 PM ^
To be fair, the recruiting cycle still isn't over yet.
November 12th, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^
That's in addition to the composite ones (Will Johnson, Tyler Morris, and Kody Jones). And I think we're in good shape for:
- 5* Josh Conerly
- 4* Zeke Berry
- 4* Deone Walker
- 4* Jimmy Rolder
- Joshua Josephs (4* on 247 and On3)
- Amorion Walker (4* on ESPN)
We're at least Top 2 for all of the above players.
November 11th, 2021 at 5:47 PM ^
Another recruiting note: Michigan just offered 2023 ATH Khamari Anderson, who is the younger brother of current Michigan freshman Raheem Anderson. If we're really pushing for him, I'd suspect he's in the fold fairly quickly. Khamari is a TE/DE who is 6'5" 230 and also plays baseball.
On Barton, score a point for Courtney Morgan's 2 visit rule of thumb for out of region prospects (a guy won't commit unless he visits twice). Barton only visited once for his official, even though Michigan pushed hard for him to unofficially visit either in the summer or for another game.
November 11th, 2021 at 5:52 PM ^
Consistently win and recruiting takes care of itself
I feel confident regarding the path forward for this team relative to recruiting
"it ain't over until the fat lady sings"
Domani Jackson needs Michigan to give him a reason to come here by winning out in 2021
Go Blue!
November 11th, 2021 at 5:59 PM ^
That’s not actually how recruiting works, just look at the fall of Florida. It’s a constant thing and your staff has to love it and breath it to be elite.
November 11th, 2021 at 5:55 PM ^
They seemed to really want Barton, that said, Barton was always going to be TOUGH to get out of his home state. Rolder has been blowing up this fall, hopefully that one turns out to be a good one.
November 11th, 2021 at 6:13 PM ^
Damn. Baller they said. Striking out a lot this cycle. People don't need to be cranky about it. Just seems to be limited in high end talent. Hopefully some diamonds in the rough
November 11th, 2021 at 6:27 PM ^
I'm surprised because I thought part of the reason for going with younger coaches was to improve recruiting.
November 11th, 2021 at 7:52 PM ^
Not sure how this class will shake out, but two relevant things:
1) The staff is clearly waiting for a stretch run where they believe they can close on some guys they truly value, rather than doing the previously typical thing of taking decently ranked guys early when it's convenient. This class will need several more guys and remains smaller than most classes ranked above it. It'll almost certainly rise some as it fills out. Not exactly sure how it'll play out, but this is a different approach, and one I like given that it hinges on rigorous and comprehensive evaluations
2) They're in on more top guys in 2023 than I can ever remember them being at this stage, so that's promising
November 11th, 2021 at 8:15 PM ^
Bummer about Barton, but not unexpected. Hopefully we can finish strong and sway Rolder.
I'm just having a hard time understanding the relevance of the Missouri part of the post. Are we in H2H recruiting battles against them? Or you're just noting that their current success seems bizarre? I couldn't care less about them unless they're infringing on our recruits, which I'm not sure they are.
November 11th, 2021 at 8:24 PM ^
Wooo…..MOAR crap recruiting news!!!!
Will Michigan muster a Top 15 class?
November 11th, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
As a former Mizzou fan, I think Eli Drinkwitz is a good coach and recruiter. He's not the snake oil salesman or "holier than thou fake preacher" Hugh Freese, and I think recruits understand his authenticity. He did pretty well in his year at App State, finishing 12-1.
The program had some success under Gary Pinkel (5 division championships) so it's not like they're Vandy, coming out of nowhere. And they're the only D1 school in a state with decent mid level talent (remember Hassan Haskins is from there) and a pipeline into places like Texas.
November 12th, 2021 at 8:16 AM ^
I loved his work on Star Trek Next Generation.
November 12th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
That was my reaction too. What is LeVar Burton doing in Utah??