Looking back at every 5 star Michigan has signed
From the 247 Composite rankings which cover the modern recruiting rankings era.
Every 5 star we've signed ranked by their 247 percentage
- 2016- Rashan Gary, DT (1.0000)
- 2014- Jabrill Peppers, ATH (0.9992)
- 2007- Ryan Mallett, QB (0.9978)
- 2003- LaMarr Woodley, LB (0.9972)
- 2003- Prescott Burgess, S (0.9970)
- 2001- Kelly Baraka, RB (0.9944)
- 2006- Brandon Graham, LB (0.9930)
- 2019- Daxton Hill, S (0.9927)
- 2017- Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR (0.9925)
- 2004- Chad Henne, QB (0.9924)
- 2001- Ernest Shazor, S (0.9922)
- 2005- Kevin Grady, RB (0.9914)
- 2017- Aubrey Solomon, DT (0.9879)
- 2013- Derrick Green, RB (0.9874)
- 2019- Chris Hinton, DT (0.9867)
- 2001- Marlin Jackson, CB (0.9857)
- 2005- Marques Slocum, OG (0.9853)
- 2007- Donovan Warren, (0.9845)
- 2002- Gabe Watson (0.9839)
NOTE: 2021 commit J.J. McCarthy (0.9899) would be #13 on this list if his ranking sticks and he signs.
#17......
"i got a fuck lion now come fuck wit me"
Twenty years from now, my Sparty Crush is gonna look like this
What does that even mean, "Sparty Crush"?
A joke means nothing if people don't laugh.
2005- Kevin Grady, RB (0.9914)
Thought that was his BAC at first glance.
You can't say Grady didn't have the pedal to the metal.
Especially at traffic lights in Grandville with his car in park.
He was probably on his way to visit Kevin Grady Sr. in prison.
Some say while passed out, the RPMs of his Yukon matched his high school yardage total.
Peppers, Woodley, Graham, Henne, Shazor, Jackson, Warren, and Watson all delivered to varying degrees. Some All-Americans and others All-Conference multiple times.
Not really counting Mallett because he left with the coaching change.
Green, Grady, Baraka, and Solcum were all busts.
Gary, DPJ, and Burgess were good but never great.
Hinton and Hill are TBD.
Edit: Moved Burgess down a grade. Remembered him too fondly.
Wasn't Gary All Big Ten first or second team both his sophomore and junior seasons?
Which is good. It's not great.
April 27th, 2020 at 10:12 PM ^
Drafted just a wee bit higher than DPJ, no?
April 27th, 2020 at 10:18 PM ^
Wasn't as concerned with draft position as I was on-field production.
Gary was drafted in the 1st based on potential. Defintely didnt give us anywhere near the numbers youd expect from a #1 HS recruit.
Whatd he have like 9 sacks in 3 seasons here? He was hyped as if hed have 9 sacks per season at least
April 28th, 2020 at 10:07 AM ^
Right, but the first literally includes guys who made an all conference team multiple times, yet Gary is included in the tier below anyway.
April 28th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
Fair point. I ding him because, while he did get All-Conference honors, he was supposed to be a consensus All-American, top 5 pick type guy and came up short.
”Peppers, Woodley, Graham, Henne, Shazor, Jackson, Warren, and Watson all delivered to varying degrees. Some All-Americans and others All-Conference multiple times.”
Multiple all-conference accolades would still put him in this group though, would it not? We can sit here and debate how good or how great he was. But he’s certainly delivered if you consider this group as delivering.
You lost me when you put Gary in a tier beneath these guys:
Burgess, Shazor, Warren, and Watson
I think he was better than all of them. 1st-round draft pick, too.
April 27th, 2020 at 10:18 PM ^
Shazor was an All-American.
Warren was Freshman All-American.
I was wrong on Burgess. He was ok.
Watson was similar in college accomplishments. All-Conference multiple years.
I was looking at how they did in college and not draft position.
Gary was the holy grail and didn't produce like a consensus #1 Clowney type does. The other guys weren't on the same planet hype wise if I remember correctly.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:53 AM ^
Based on what I saw from Dax Hill, it's not a stretch to predict that he will definitely "pan out". Hinton saw limited game reps but he was looking pretty good late in the year. I think he'll turn out just fine.
April 28th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Interesting "hit rate" on defense vs offense. Harder to predict skill positions? System? Level of competition makes them stand out more?
I know there were other issues with two of the RBs, but I wouldn't have expected that big of a difference.
April 28th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
It's a myriad of things. Ignoring bad decisions that result in guys getting kicked off teams, WRs and RBs are dependent on OL and QB play more than other positions are dependent on their teammates. CBs on crappy defenses can still be good because they just need to break up passes when the ball heads their way. DEs just need to pass rush. WRs on the other hand, if the ball is 5 feet away from them, what can they do? If you're a RB and have 3 guys in the backfield the second you get the ball, you're screwed.
Traditional RBs who have bad OLs struggle. Barkley was crazy good, in part, because he didn't need the OL to get him a hole. He split out, ran routes, and juked his way to yardage. He also had a ton of negative plays like Sanders did with the Lions. Michigan hasn't had those types of RBs. If Green got hit in the backfield because of a crap OL, it was over.
Memo to self: do not recruit 5 star RB.
No man...you gotta play the odds.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
Wisconsin has done pretty well turning 3 stars into All Americans and All Big Ten guys. 5 star backs come here to disappoint.
Swinging and missing on a 5 star is particularly frustrating and frankly somewhat embarrassing. Wonder if Michigan’s proportion of 5 star busts is on par with other programs that have gotten the same or more 5 stars in the same time period. Feels like it’s higher but that could just be my miserableness coming through.
How would you rate Baron Browning's play?
Good, not great. But when your list of 5 stars is 3-4 times as long, you can overcome that. And he’s not done yet.
April 27th, 2020 at 11:10 PM ^
If Browning is lackluster again next year but gets drafted in rounds 1-3, I would still consider him a bust.
Giving Gary a pass for being a high draft pick does not make him a better Michigan football player.
April 27th, 2020 at 11:17 PM ^
He was previously being shoehorned into a new position (mlb). If he moves to Will as expected, look out. Well, look out either way, but especially if he moves over.
April 28th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
It’s not just us. Look at Randy Moss back in the nineties--he was a big zero for two big-time schools before he ended up at Marshall.
He signed a LOI with Notre Dame but never actually got in because of a fight he got into in high school. He went to Florida State but he had to sit out a year because the NCAA considered this a transfer. Then he violated his probation (for marijuana, which is admittedly bullshit) and never played a down at FSU before transferring to Marshall.
Moss obviously panned out as a player, but not for Notre Dame or Florida State.
That list has like 9 wins vs Ohio State all obviously from the early 2000s.
Where's the equally depressing list of guys that M finished second to? Probably mostly Bama and OSU players.
The way I counted it has four wins vs OSU, all from 2003.
Analysis? I'm surprised the hit rate seems as good as it is. The 5-star hit rate is only about 50% and I count well over 50% of those guys were quite successful.
April 28th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
I think over the last 3-4 years the hit rate nationally for 5* players has increased substantially. I think I saw that on 247. IIRC it was something north of 75%. I don't recall what a "hit" was considered.
I remember meeting Slocum (#91 photo) in San Antonio at the Army Bowl when I was in medic training. Too bad he didn’t pan out.
Desean Jackson had the play of the game where he flipped for a TD and downed himself at the 1. He did it in the NFL too.
That’s my cool story bro for the night.
While not a 5 star, the one highly player that I would have loved to have seen flourish ,but didn't due to injury, was Antonio Bass. What a shame. I like to think that had he stayed healthy, he would have been one player that would have taken Michigan to the next level.
I feel like Carr would have put him at QB in the redzone sometimes and never let him throw the ball because that would have already been peak creativity from a Michigan team of that era.
He did throw the ball once. Complete to Avant. Bad pass. At Iowa.
He was used exactly as we used Breaston. That would have been his career and impact.
Remember that time that Coach Carr used an all-American CB on offense because of a lack of dynamic skill players and Heisman Trophies and MNCs followed. But don't get in the way of facts of touting the MGoBlog company line.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
One time. Doesn't make a trend. Rather proves how inflexible Carr was otherwise.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
That all-American CB also won Mr Ohio in high school primarily because he was a superstar running back. He chose Michigan in no small part because we promised he could primarily play CB. But the desire (on both sides) was always there for him to touch the ball at least situationally. Let's not pretend Lloyd was some visionary whose creative juices turned Charles into a surprise offensive star.
You're right, if only Coach were smart like Rich then we would have won more games. Because I read here countless times that if Michigan ever got a coach like that, watch out Michigan football would he unstoppable.
April 27th, 2020 at 10:58 PM ^
I was hoping this was the video, and I was not disappointed.
Fun fact ...Mr. Stansik works for the U of M athletic department in video production. Follow your dreams.
How...have I never come across this before?
April 27th, 2020 at 10:55 PM ^
Of those listed my opinion of the top five guys who had the best career at Michigan. Success in the NFL is no factor here.
1.Lamar Woodley
2. Brandon Graham
3. Chad Henne
4. Marlin Jackson
5. Donovan Warren
April 27th, 2020 at 11:16 PM ^
pretty accurate list
I was going to post something about Woodley and Graham being bad asses until I saw your list...
One could argue over # 5 maybe...
Warren over Peppers??
He was a Heisman finalist!!
April 27th, 2020 at 11:12 PM ^
I see 6 that didn’t pan out for Michigan, regardless of what they did elsewhere: Mallett, Baraka, Grady, Solomon, Green, Slocum. 30% of our 5 stars didn’t amount to much at Michigan, or they went elsewhere. I wonder what the whiff rate is other schools.
April 27th, 2020 at 11:25 PM ^
1. So we've signed some 5 star players who would be ranked a 5 star in a retrospective re-ranking.
2. But we've also signed some overrated 5 star players who most certainly wouldn't be ranked a 5 star in a re-ranking.
Those 2 statements are true for all the blue bloods and nouveau riche (like LSU, UF, Miami, etc.)