Kenneth Grant and Deuce Spurlock have committed to Michigan
Michigan has picked up a pair of 2022 commits over the last couple of days. First up was Deuce Spurlock, a three-star athlete out of Madison, Alabama. He committed on Sunday after "a great visit":
After a great visit I’ve decided to Commit to The University Of 〽️ichigan. I want to thank everyone who has helped me on my journey #GoBlue @Beast1Athletics @UMichFootball @CoachJim4UM @MikeMacUM @GeorgeHelow @PlayerProMorgan @ChadSimmons_ @DexPreps @CoachBGodsey @MAMustangsFB pic.twitter.com/hHGwJbbJiJ
— Deuce Spurlock (@deucespurlock) September 26, 2021
Spurlock is ranked #1274 on the 247Sports Composite, and Michigan beat out a herd of schools beginning with A to land Spurlock: App State, Arkansas State, Army, and Auburn. Though listed as an athlete on 247, Spurlock plays OLB normally.
Then, just over an hour ago Michigan reeled in three-star defensive tackle Kenneth Grant from Merrillville, Indiana:
110% committed!!!I want to thank everyone that helped me choose my decision and took time out of there life to help and recruit me.#Goblue?? @CoachJim4UM pic.twitter.com/BdkPRhJIiB
— Kenneth Grant☔️ (@KennyGrant78) September 28, 2021
Though Grant is not terribly high on the composite (#511), the list of interested parties for the 6-4, 335 lb. DT was much more star-studded, as Michigan bested Wisconsin and Ohio State, among others.
Michigan now has 18 commits for the 2022 recruiting class, and the class is ranked 15th nationally per 247. Both players will receive proper Hello posts during the bye week, when the staff here at MGoBlog has more time to write.
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September 28th, 2021 at 5:36 PM ^
Welcome aboard to both. Nice additions to the defense.
September 28th, 2021 at 5:40 PM ^
Welcome aboard young men! Grant I think is a crucial pickup for Michigan. Everything I've read and heard about Grant suggests the people that have seen him, and evaluated him think he is massively underrated as a high 3* prospect. I've read he gives off some very strong 'Alan Branch' vibes as a prospect, and fits in very well as a nose tackle in the MacDonald defense that also has gittyup for a big fella that should translate to pass rush that Michigan has yet to get at this point from that position. I do think as the season wears on, offenses are going to download Rutgers plan of attack in the second half and lean on Michigan's interior defensive line until they break. That unit right now is adequate, albeit unspectacular from the starting unit, and very thin beyond that. Guys like Grant and Walker (and Nolen if Michigan hits the lottery) are going to be important as depth guys turning into starters down the road. I think Grant is going to be a very good player here if he develops to his prospect projection.
Spurlock is kind of an unknown to me. He's a deep sleeper for sure, but he can really run and seems like he's pretty good at play diagnosis. I'm sure he's still very raw and needs to develop quite a bit before seeing the field, but that's probably the plan for him anyway with a true fosh and Rs. frosh already in the 2-deep at linebacker. At minimum, he could develop into a great special teams player. For those that will hand wring over his prospect rating, important to remember Ronnie Bell and Hassan Haskins both registered at about the same level as prospects coming out of high school as well. Sometimes these guys end up being major contributors. If not, it's never a bad thing to have athletic, linebacker sized prospects that can run, cover kick-offs and punts. Spurlock sounds like a high upside guy, that could develop into a legitimate middle linebacker in the defense if he get's the scheme down and can develop the nuances of playing linebacker.
Go Blue, gentlemen! Looking forward to watch how both of these guys develop.
September 28th, 2021 at 5:43 PM ^
24/7 lists Spurlock at 6'2" and 200 lbs. I assume that he projects as an ILB for this iteration of Michigan's defense? Even squinting really hard, I do not see a way to build-a-bear that frame into an OLB in the mold of Hutchinson or McGregor.
September 28th, 2021 at 6:22 PM ^
Yup definitely ILB along with Aaron Alexander. Both have very similar measurables
September 28th, 2021 at 7:09 PM ^
On3 today ranked Aaron Alexander at #282 (!!!) overall. I'm not sure Aaron Alexander's mom would have ranked him that highly but they seem to really like his speed. They also have Kevonte Henry at #82 and Joshua Josephs at #74, so they definitely love the high ceiling prospects a lot.
On3 mentioned Kenneth Grant as a 4* in their commitment article for him, but I haven't seen anything updated to show that (he's not in their updated Top 300).
Mason Graham also picked up an Oregon offer to go along with his USC offer. Have to credit the staff for identifying these under the radar guys and going out and getting them.
September 29th, 2021 at 9:18 AM ^
Does anyone know if 24/7 has integrated On3's rankings into its composite yet? I'd think that 24/7 would want to add those data points, but On3 is new and built by its former owner. Bad blood and no track record could keep On3 out for now.
September 29th, 2021 at 10:22 AM ^
Not yet. On3's rankings don't go past the Top 300 as far as I can tell, so step 1 would be rating more players.
September 28th, 2021 at 5:47 PM ^
The Shaun of a Nua era.
September 28th, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
I believe Grant puts us at 219.XX which puts us at 14th class in the country, bumping in front of Stanford and still behind UNC at 13
September 28th, 2021 at 6:06 PM ^
Hope we don’t oversign for 2022 and have to drop the Deuce.
September 28th, 2021 at 6:11 PM ^
What is the meaning / significance of the "commitment" pose (crouched, arms out)? Anyone? Spurlock has it in his picture.
September 28th, 2021 at 6:17 PM ^
He's just looking for a welcome to the family hug.
September 29th, 2021 at 9:57 AM ^
The space constraints of social media probably contribute to the popularity of crouched or squatting poses in commitment posts. Twitter and Instagram favor square (or at least squareish) photos. A standing pose occupies most of the available vertical space in a square frame and little room for horizontal text or other graphics. Crouching or squatting leaves a more usable block of horizontal space.
September 28th, 2021 at 6:36 PM ^
Two studs. And we beat OSU for Grant, and Auburn for Spurlock.
The staff is crushing it. Welcome
September 28th, 2021 at 6:54 PM ^
I presume rankings are complete crap now, and the program is now relying entirely on internal scout reports.
September 28th, 2021 at 7:35 PM ^
I think the coaches have previously stated that they rely entirely on their own scouting and talent identification instead of the national services. If I'm not mistaken, that's standard operating procedure at pretty much every program? I think the services are just there to give fans something to follow in the world of 'crootin.
Maybe Kiffin's tenure at USC was defined by specifically getting guys who were ranked very highly by the recruiting services (presumably to lure other prospects with the promise of playing on such a talented roster) but even Meyer at OSU and Saban at Bama have taken their share of guys who they are very high on despite 3* ratings from the services.
Gattis has previously stated that McNamara was at the top of Saban's QB board at Bama. Now Cade was rated as a 4* prospect just outside the top 250 or so, so definitely no slouch, but not the highest QB according to the services either. And obviously, Saban is not going to order his QB board based on what 247sports says, lol, he's going to watch the tape and meet the prospects and their families, and get the guy who fits their program needs the best.
So There is also that element of programs might need a different kind of prospect at a certain position (even independent of scheme differences) in any given year, which can't really be accounted for on any linear scale that the services use. There are years where you need somebody who is ready to play right away, and there are years where you specifically want to swing at a high ceiling developmental project because you don't need to immediately shore up depth or find a starter. So two guys might be mid 4* recruits at the same position according to the services, but they could have those rankings for entirely different reasons (one is considered likely to contribute right away and be a late round pick, the other may ultimately get drafted day 1 or not at all).
For these reasons, of course the programs are going to do their own homework and look for the recruits that are reasonably likely to enroll and succeed at their school and fit their specific program needs. I doubt they use the services for much more than double checking highly rated names that they didn't offer to make sure there wasn't any oversight, or maybe as a placeholder list that they update as they evaluate the guys that they actually want.
If anyone has actual real world experience with this, please feel free to correct any of my conjectures. :)
September 28th, 2021 at 8:52 PM ^
Off the top of my head…
Chip Kelly’s violations at Oregon were related to a paid scoring service, so there is at least one example.
Sam Webb is the guy who told Michigan about Alan Branch. Sam isn’t a scout though so YMMV.
I have seen a quote from an anonymous coach saying that coaches game the rankings quite a bit.
September 29th, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
Yeah an entire article about USC making it part of their recruiting approach
September 28th, 2021 at 7:36 PM ^
247 and EJ Holland call Grant a 4* so I think that matches what the staff sees. My gut (meaning have watched zero film) is Seth will be able to copy and paste his hello post from Aaron Alexander. Lower ranked but smart, fast, and have a good frames.
September 28th, 2021 at 7:53 PM ^
Grant needs a nickname like Mack Truck so opposing QBs & RBs can crawl back saying “damn, I feel like I got hit by a MACK TRUCK”!!! ?
September 28th, 2021 at 8:12 PM ^
Good to see these new guys know commits come in pairs.
September 28th, 2021 at 8:35 PM ^
Will Mason Graham get a hello post as well?
September 28th, 2021 at 8:39 PM ^
Welcome! Welcome!
September 28th, 2021 at 10:14 PM ^
Hype
assemble all the planetoid-sized tackles
September 29th, 2021 at 2:44 AM ^
These guys are both good pickups with a lot of upside. Grant in particular is the kind of player we’ve desperately needed over the past several years. Welcome lads! Go Blue. Beat Ohio.
September 29th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
This sounds great to me. The defense thus far has exceeded expectations; no reason to think their evaluations are anything but solid.
GO BLUE!
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