owen wafle
The second of two Hellos from the past couple days after Jaden Smith yesterday, today we're covering DT Owen Wafle from New Jersey. Originally a Notre Dame commit, Wafle was in the Irish's 2024 class for a year before suddenly de-committing in May without ever having visited Michigan. The crystal balls swung towards the Wolverines, he finally took his OV to Ann Arbor this past weekend, and the foregone conclusion became official. Let's break it down:
GURU RATINGS
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RATINGS BY SITE |
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|---|---|---|---|
|
247: 6'3/290 |
On3: 6'2/267 |
Rivals: 6'2/290 |
ESPN: 6'3/270 |
| 3*, 89, NR Ovr #30 DL, #4 NJ |
3*, 88, NR Ovr #71 DL, #15 NJ |
4*, 5.8, NR Ovr #15 DT, #3 NJ |
4*, 80, #43 East #32 DE, #8 NJ |
| 4.12 | 3.72 | 4.25 | 3.97 |
|
COMPOSITE RANKINGS |
|||
|
247 Composite |
On3 Consensus |
MGoBlog |
|
| 4*, 0.8925, #406 Ovr #41 DL, #8 NJ |
3*, 88.95, #410 Ovr #38 DL, #7 NJ |
4*, #385/791 Ovr #32/68 DTs since 1990 |
|
| 3.93 | 3.90 | 4.01 | |
Wafle is one of those prospects right on the cusp of 4* status, not there in the On3 consensus because they weight their own ratings heavily and are the outlet most-down on Wafle, while he is there in 247. According to Seth's five-star scale, Wafle is a 4* by the slimmest of margins, registering at 4.01. In our database of every Michigan DT commit since 1990, Wafle is almost smack-dab in the exact middle, 32nd out of 68. In terms of his measurements, there's slight disagreement about whether he's 6'2" or 6'3", while the weight discrepancy between 247/Rivals (290) and On3/ESPN (~270) is simply a matter of recency. As we will detail in the scouting section, 290 is the updated number, as Wafle has added weight.
[AFTER THE JUMP: Strong, quick, and hard-working]
Oh no this guy is going to get pancaked when the punniest announcers in television are around to see it.
After a great conversation with the coaching staff and my family I am extremely excited to announce that I will be committing to The University of Michigan!!! #GoBlue @CoachMikeElston @CoachJim4UM @Coach_Minter pic.twitter.com/2VUR7DWjEx
— Owen Wafle (@OwenWafle) June 11, 2023
That's the bad news. The good news is Mike Elston and Chris Partridge yoinked a four-star defensive tackle from New Jersey out of Notre Dame's class. Just about everybody with a crystal ball or the equivalent put one in for Michigan immediately after Wafle announced his decommitment from the Irish.
The takeaway from a quick group film review from when that happened was that Wafle is kind of a cross between a nose tackle and a badger, the kind of short but powerful DT prospect who will immediately get under your pads, and then bite and scratch and claw until you let him have your quarterback's leg so you can keep yours.
I'm not sure how this affects the rest of DT recruiting this cycle because Michigan already has German phenom Manuel Beigel, Ohio build-a-bear Ted Hammond, and an edge/4i-type in Jerod Smith in the class. Michigan also seemed close to landing doubles-eating NT Deyvid Palepale, and were still in it for some blue chip types. I think this is one of those situations where they weren't going to miss an opportunity on a prospect they really like, and can sort it all out later.
Alex Drain will have a full Hello this week. There is no content after the jump.
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