Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson, LB Deuce Spurlock, LB Jimmy Rolder.

Jacksonville, FL – 6'3”, 200
via Twitter. Good # choice.		247: 6'3/200      3.58*	3*, 86 #90 LB, #101 FL
		Rivals: 6'3/200      3.70*	3*, 5.7 #40 OLB, #85 FL
		ESPN: 6'3/200      3.53*	3*, 77, #388 SE #64 OLB, #123 FL
		On3: 6'3/200      3.74*	3*, 88 #51 LB, #66 FL
		Composite:      3.69*	3*, 0.8688, #724 ovr #71 LB, #101 FL
		Other Suitors	Aub, YTM, IU
		YMRMFSPA	Jaylen Harrell
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by me.
Notes	Twitter.
Film:
Senior Highlights: Hudl. Junior highlights.

Michigan's edge recruiting was the other position causing concern all cycle until they pulled a blue chip out of their hats. The good news was both positions had an absolute floor of okay, thanks to George Helow uncovering a Michigan sleeper agent in his hometown of Jacksonville.

The versatile Micah Pollard has no relation to the other M.Pollard in the class, which is some kind of upset considering Micah is six degrees from just about everyone else in football. Micah is familiar with Detroit because his father Marcus Pollard played for the Lions. Dad also played with Jim Harbaugh in Indianapolis, and ran in the same circles. Marcus's sister is married to Clifford Story, head coach of an Alabama power that pumps out SEC talent but worked with Harbaugh on the satellite camps.

Micah's older brother Myles (not OUR Myles) played basketball, and thus knew Juwan Howard and the boys from the AAU circuit. The Pollards also know Tyrone Wheatley, who's been coaching an HBCU down there. Micah's mother, Amani, was from metro-Detroit, and played basketball for Farmington in the '80s. When Michigan started recruiting him, Micah mentioned his uncle (Amani's stepbrother) used to play for the Wolverines, and you might have heard of him; Micah's grandpa is Charles Plater, the stepfather of Braylon Edwards.

In this Micah Pollard is a lot like the people in my mother's stories, in that I have no idea who this person is or what they're doing here, but clearly we're related.

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What's he in town for?

Pollard is not well-scouted. Three out of the four sites don't know what position he plays, how his senior year went, or whether he's really 200 pounds or 240. While the linebacker targets rose up the board and fell to other schools, and edge commits came and went from the class, if Pollard got a mention it was only because he was tagged at the back of those articles. Neither On3 nor ESPN have any scouting articles to explain their ratings.

Michigan's new defensive staff, which values versatile edges highly, made Pollard a priority when they came on last winter. But other than George Helow, who was originally recruiting Pollard to Maryland, the guy putting in the most time scouting Pollard was 24/7's Brice Marich, after getting down to Jacksonville for a game where Pollard was "applying constant pressure" off the edge. Brice credited Pollard as a guy with "great burst, athleticism, instincts and genes," but versatility most of all.

Marich also got Bartram Trails assistant coach Chad Parker describing the consummate glue guy:

A physical player. I mean, he’s going to be physical. He’s got a high football IQ, high motor, hard worker and he’s a great teammate. He’s a guy that’s going to make the campus and community better. He’s always going to find things to do and help better the place that he’s at. He will be a good student and a good student-athlete. He will be good representation of the program off the field. Great character.”

He noted Pollard, not then-commit Brandon Jennings, was the best player on the field:

…he can run sideline to sideline, he can stand up, he can put his hand on the ground, but preferably stands up. He was just a freak.

…and got video:

Rivals last mentioned him when he committed. The rest of their coverage is their IU site brought up Pollard's junior stats—55 tackles, 22 TFLs, 11 sacks, and a bag of turnovers, and 2nd team all-Florida—and their Kentucky and UCF affiliates say he's a candidate for their respective hybrid DE/LB roles.

And edge who can linebacker, not a linebacker with an edge

That and EJ Holland discovered Michigan's plans are even more diverse:

“He said he sees me playing all over the field,” Pollard said. “He said he can see me being a pass rusher but also someone that can cover and play in the box.

Steve Lorenz called Pollard a perfect example of why 24/7 shifted their positional groupings from DEs and OLBs to "EDGE" as in:

Someone who can get after the passer and can drop back in coverage as well. A classic linebacker size/speed with what I would say is a relatively advanced understanding of rushing the passer and using his hands on the edge.

Not many other schools were after Pollard, but Auburn, who gave Michigan the stiffest competition, plus Miami (yes THAT Miami), Kentucky, and Indiana all have that OLB/DE role in their systems.

But he can edge?

Touch the Banner seems to be the only opinion out there, so I'm going to have to pull from him heavily:

Pollard’s highlights show good closing speed. He repeatedly comes off the edge and chases down plays from the back side. Much of his highlight film shows him being completely unblocked – after all, why would you block the D1 linebacker coming off the edge to kill your quarterback? – like he pilfered the Invisibility Cloak, but on the rare occasion when somebody bothers to try, he shows a good push-pull move, can dip his shoulder to turn the corner, and plays with nice agility to evade blockers. I’m impressed with his ability to sink his hips and lower his center of gravity, which helps with his agility.

That shoulder dip is the difference between effectively forgettable Royce Jenkins-Stone and an Uche, but if the bending was like that I think we'd have seen a lot more fight out of Auburn and Miami. The Canes came hard for Uche himself at the end.

Can he gain weight?

All four sites say "200" but that hasn't changed since they created his profiles. Brice listed Pollard's weight—as of September 2021—at 213 pounds, which means he could realistically step on campus in the 220s. Magnus:

Pollard will have to get stronger, because some of his arm tackles will get shaken off by higher-level ball carriers. I also wonder about his long-term upside, because he lacks elite speed and size.

It's a long way from there to Winovichian weight, though you can be an edge specialist who moves between that and linebacker around 230.

Etc.

I'm dedicating this football season to my little sister Ayris with cerebral palsy, for every sack I get is a donation to the cerebral palsy foundation, please consider donating!! https://t.co/yfFucb3SKg

— (@micahpollard12) August 27, 2021

Why Jaylen Harrell? Not an elite athlete, but Harrell can line up as a WILL in a 4-3 on one down, and play the edge of a 5-2 the next down. He doesn't have elite speed, and that makes him a bit of a mismatch against elite tight ends. But that versatility is key to Michigan's life-after-Hutch/Ojabo plans to confuddle opposing quarterbacks. Harrell is smart and willing to stick his face into a puller, which makes him a positive against the run. He isn't an effective pass-rusher at this stage, but he could get there. I think if Pollard had the upside of a Frank Clark we'd have heard a lot more about him. Magnus likened him to Mario Ojemudia as a skinny rusher who thickened to 252 and was an effective anti-zone read weapon at WDE.

Guru Reliability: Very low. They barely looked at him before he committed, and it was only recruiting reporters and our local Michigan-obsessive coach who cared to look after.

Variance: Medium-high. Could be an effective player who starts in years 3, 4, and 5; could be a locker room guy who gets a paragraph at the end of his positional previews in HTTV until he finds a spot in the rotation late.

Ceiling: Average. You can't count out an edge-bender, but Pollard seems like more of a good floor.

General Excitement Level: Meh-plus. They need bodies at the position, and Pollard seems like the type to can make himself useful when he's not on the field, so I'm glad he's in the class. I don't think he's going to become the next Uche.

Projection: If the position wasn't so think right now I'd call him the class's holiest lock for a redshirt, but Pollard can be useful on special teams and maybe in pass rush situations. He's also the type of player they could come back and get a redshirt on as a sophomore, or play for a few games and put on ice.

He definitely needs at least two years to bulk up if he's going to be a regular on the field. I think he'll be a package piece for most of his career, at first as an extra edger or extra Jaylen Harrell-type guy, and then assuming Harrell's role, whatever that might be, deep down the road.