greg rogers

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Tuesday Recruitin' Masters Weaknesses
Ace •

Winter Is Coming

I posted most of the post-Opening evaluations of Michigan commits yesterday, but these highlights of Benjamin St-Juste were published after that went up, and they make it clear why he's almost certainly headed for a ratings bump. St-Juste didn't just test well—though he certainly did that, posting the second-best shuttle time at the combine—he also made a lot of plays on the ball in the 7-on-7 portion, and his quickness is on full display in the drills at the end of the video. 247's Barton Simmons:

"(St-Juste) may have been the best big cornerback at the event," Simmons told Wolverine247. "He moves so well for a guy of his size and was the most impressive cornerback physically as well. He was challenged a lot but was rarely beaten. He was really impressive and really stood out throughout the weekend." 

247 hasn't updated their rankings yet; when they do, I'll be surprised if St-Juste is still a three-star. There aren't many 6'3" corners that move like that.

Simmons also went into more detail on Dylan McCaffrey's performance for Steve Lorenz's latest post at the Freep:

"He was an upper-tier quarterback at the event," Simmons said. "The biggest reason for that is the mental grasp he has on the position. He's a guy that was so decisive with his reads. He knows where the ball needs to go and gets it there quickly. In that setting, knowing where the open man is and connecting with him quickly should be routine and he was able to do it all day.

"He has some slight mechanical issues he has to correct, but he has a coaching staff at Michigan that is obviously fully capable of getting him where he needs to be. The coaches at the event raved about his ability to take coaching and wanting to learn about the game. He's far beyond your average quarterback in that regard."

Still no word on the specifics of those mechanical issues, unfortunately, but Simmons clearly isn't too concerned, especially once Harbaugh gets involved—he called the Harbaugh/McCaffrey pairing "a perfect match."

File this away for later: Bleacher Report's Michael Felder, who helps coach at The Opening, had an enlightening exhange with Jaylen Kelly-Powell:

Playing more free safety should help Kelly-Powell improve on his zone coverage. He's clearly a coachable kid—something that was noticeable at SMSB, too.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

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Tuesday Recruitin' Settles Dust
Ace •

It's Defensive End Season, Apparently


Corey Malone-Hatcher (left) announces his decision Thursday. [Fuller]

The next couple weeks should be quite eventful for Michigan on the recruiting trail after a couple top defensive end targets set their decision dates.

Top-100 VA WDE Luiji Vilain has been considered a heavy Michigan lean since his visit a couple weeks ago, and he told 247's Steve Wiltfong his mind is "made up" heading into his announcement on June 12th. Vilain will choose between Michigan, USC, and Virginia Tech; all signs indicate he'll choose the Wolverines.

The prospect of Michigan starting to fill its open spots at defensive end is probably what prompted four-star St. Joseph WDE Corey Malone-Hatcher to set his decision for Thursday afternoon.

While Malone-Hatcher still has ten schools in play, his Crystal Ball reads 100% for Michigan; like with Vilain, it'd be a huge surprise if he went elsewhere.

Michigan has also made a move for three-star OH SDE James Hudson, who decommitted from Kentucky just before visiting campus two weekends ago, and he picked up an offer on the trip. After speaking with multiple sources familiar with Hudson's recruitment, 247's Steve Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball pick for Michigan, and in doing so he clarified M's outlook at DE:

The Wolverines appear to be in great shape with four-stars Corey Malone-Hatcher and Luiji Vilain, both of whom are expected to make a college decision in the very near future. An eventual addition from Hudson would give Don Brown a trio of defensive ends to work with in the 2017 cycle. We would expect Michigan to take at least one more at the position in 2017 after that.

None of these potential commitments would preclude the others from joining the class. The trio of Vilain, Malone-Hatcher, and Hudson would be a great haul at defensive end, and Michigan would still have space to pursue the likes of DJ Johnson and Deron Irving-Bey to round out the group.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

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