The first of our catch-up Hello posts begins with the one of the most recent, and third most highly rated recruit in the class, 4* California S Zeke Berry. Michigan earned Berry's commitment last Friday after he visited for The Game, and Berry represents one of the first commitments the Wolverines have really earned as a result of this B1G Championship season. Berry was initially an Arizona commit who opened things up in October and seemed to be destined for Oregon, but Michigan kept plugging away down the stretch and sealed the deal with their win over Ohio State. 

 

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 5'11/196	ESPN: 6'0/195	247: 6'0/195	On3: 6'0/196	247 Comp:
4*, 5.8, #250 OVR #27 CB, #59 CA	4*, #283 OVR #21 S, #23 CA	4*, 94, #64 OVR #8 S, #7 CA	4*, 96, #59 OVR #3 S, #3 CA	4*, 0.9120, #226 OVR #18 S, #19 CA
4.05	4.10	4.57	4.80	4.12

Bottom row is Seth's conversion to the five star scale. Links are to profiles

ESPN and Rivals are in the same ballpark with Berry, but 24/7 and On3 are noticeably higher on him, starting to border on five-star status in On3's case. This makes for this an interesting split: two sites that see Berry as a legit 4.5*, top 100 guy, and then two that have him more as a back-end top 300, normal 4*. We'll try to investigate this discrepancy as we go along, but either way, Berry is a highly coveted recruit. 

Berry is set to play in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio and the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii in the next month. Berry ran track in HS and has also played on both sides of the ball, both as a WR and as a DB but everyone sees him playing on defense in college. 

[Hit the jump for the scouting and video]

 

SCOUTING 

As you may expect for a prospect of Zeke Berry's caliber, and one coming from a school that is as successful at football as De La Salle is, there's quite a lot of scouting out there. We'll start with 247's national crew, who shared their takes when Berry committed last week. Chris Singletary highlights Berry's two-way game but clearly projects a position for him in college: 

This two-way talent is one of the best athletes in the country. Utilizing very good overall athleticism, Berry is a promising prospect. On the defensive side at safety, where he will play on the collegiate level, you see all the traits 

In the footage we have of Berry in HS, safety was his most frequent defensive position, but he did play corner a good bit too. That versatility in the defensive backfield is something Cooper Petegna pointed out in that same piece: 

Can do a little bit of everything and can be deployed in a variety of ways. He has the ability to play the deep hash, in the box, or as a match defender at the line of scrimmage. Plays with excellent instincts and feel in coverage and as a run support defender

Greg Biggins' piece on 247 pools together what the scouting brain trust at that site really thinks, and highlights the way that Berry playing WR on offense has helped him develop plus-ball skills for a DB ($): 

In the secondary, he can play safety or corner depending on the need and/or scheme. He’s built like a safety with a thick frame and is very physical but has a corner skill set in terms of his twitch, cover instincts and ball skills. He has excellent ball awareness, is physical on press coverage and closes very well on the football ... He’s tough and plays with a nice edge in his game and like all players that come out of the Spartan program, his football IQ is very high

That same piece notes that Berry flew up 247's board this fall after watching his senior tape, from the mid-220s (where Rivals and ESPN still have him) into the top 100. The same thing happened over at On3 ($): 

“Berry makes a big jump from No. 157 to 59 with terrific senior tape,” Senior Recruiting Analyst Gerry Hamilton said. “The 6-foot, 185-pounder is an all-around safety that is as adept as a downhill striker, as he is with range in coverage. More than a downhill striker, Berry excels in tackling in the open field. His ability to open up and run makes covering from hash mark to boundary simple. When it comes time to make plays on the ball, the four-star flashes ideal timing, and finishing ball skills"

Berry is a prospect whose scouting report is scant on negatives, something mentioned in write ups by both national 247 writers and EJ Holland himself. Berry seems to have the size and athleticism to play for a top ten program like Michigan, has pedigree and intangibles coming from a national powerhouse, and is extremely versatile, with the ability to play everything in the defensive backfield from nickel to corner to FS to SS. 

If that description sounds vaguely familiar, it's because it should resemble that of one Daxton Hill on the current Michigan squad, or Jabrill Peppers from a bygone era. Michigan sees him, according to multiple articles by different insiders, as a versatile safety who is a swiss army knife on the defense in the mold of Hill/Peppers, just one who isn't freakishly athletic. Tanner Wooten of Maize and Blue Review made the same connection I did while watching his senior tape on Hudl: 

The second play of his mid-year senior highlights show Berry blitzing from his corner spot and it’s hard to not be reminded of (Daxton) Hill’s devastating sack from the Wisconsin game that knocked Badgers QB Graham Mertz out of the game.

 Go down to the embedded senior video, watch the second play, and then re-watch this: 

Pretttttty similar. 

OFFERS 

Berry received offers from Michigan, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Pitt, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Indiana, Louisville, Minnesota, SDSU, Syracuse, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, and Washington State. Basically, the entire PAC-12 and then occasional schools in the Midwest. He took official visits to those first five, and as mentioned previously, was an Arizona decommit who held a final top two of Michigan and Oregon. This was a guy a lot of teams wanted. 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Berry plays at De La Salle High School in Concord, CA, which is in the Bay Area for those curious. De La Salle is a Catholic school that is known for its football team, so much so that it is literally the first thing on their Wikipedia page: 

They play Division 1-AA and have won just about everything under the sun the last 25 years, so their loss in the first round of the playoffs last weekend was reported in local papers as "stunning". As you may expect, De La Salle has produced plenty of NFL players over the years, including Maurice Jones-Drew, Austin Hooper, and TJ Ward. Michigan and Jim Harbaugh are no stranger to recruiting out of De La Salle, since Devin Asiasi hailed from that school six years ago, even if that one didn't work out in the long term. 

STATS

Zeke was a two way player in HS, and he managed to throw a pass, receive a pass, rush the football, record a sack, and record an INT all in the same season(!). On offense as a senior, Berry rushed 31 times for 268 yards, caught two passes for 11 yards, and threw three passes for 141 yards and a TD. On defense as a senior, he recorded 25 tackles, three sacks, and a lone interception. 

FAKE 40 TIME 

Not very FAKE, because we have a time that is independently "verified" from The Opening Regional in November of 2020, which clocked in at 4.55, listed on his 247 page. I couldn't find any other times, and there's nothing listed on his Hudl. 

VIDEO 

Here's his midseason highlight footage, featuring clips from offense, defense, and special teams: 

If you watch long enough you see a play where he's recreating the Donovan Edwards -> Roman Wilson pass, with Berry playing the Edwards part. 

If you want a short and sweet taste of what his defensive highlights look like, you can watch this 15 second clip from his Twitter: 

NOT HERE! ? pic.twitter.com/IVWyJkP7fK

— zeke berry (@BerryZeke) October 11, 2021

Spoiler: it's mostly him closing on guys and thumping them. 

ETC

Ran track and also played baseball in the spring, in addition to his three-phase performances for the football team. Kid likes to play sports! Seemed to be attracted to UM's academics, in addition to football. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Berry is a prospect that I'm pretty high on. He does not have Dax or Jabrill athleticism (hence why he's not a five star), but Berry is definitely athletic. His closing speed on tape is impressive, and the way he crunches players when he goes to hit has some shades of Khaleke Hudson as well. Mike Macdonald seems to have an affinity for versatile DBs that can be moved all over to fit his matchup-dependent game plans (Rod Moore seems to already be the next in line to the Dax throne). Berry would slot in behind Moore in that lineage. I tend to side more with 247/On3 on this one, Berry looks much more like a high 4* than a "back end of the top 300" type of guy, with all the attributes he brings and the raw athleticism. Him being a late riser who improved over his HS career is also a nice sign. 

I discussed this briefly in my broad recruiting update yesterday, but after Michigan went the last couple Zordich years scrounging for athletic DBs, to have a guy like Berry and a Will Johnson in this class is a welcome sight. The CB room is going to be rather crowded next season (Gray, Turner, Green all likely to return + adding Johnson, Pollard and maybe Jones), but there should be some room open at safety. Brad Hawkins is likely graduating after 17 years at Michigan, and Dax Hill has an NFL decision to make, which, given his first round projections, proooobably isn't going in Michigan's favor (hey, maybe he pulls an Olave and we get to be happy!). In that case, Moten and Rod Moore are probably your starting safeties, with Makari Paige, Quinten Johnson, and Jordan Morant after that. Still, a guy like Berry could easily see the field pretty quickly with his projectable athleticism, maybe not on defense but probably on special teams. Having depth is a good thing and Berry will only enrich that. 

 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

You can go read my piece from yesterday if you want a more detailed look at the class, but Berry is currently the fifth DB in the class, joining Johnson, Pollard, Jones, and Damani Dent. Michigan is the leader for S Keon Sabb, who would make it six and be a huge addition. If they get Sabb, then the DB class is done, as Michigan will have nabbed three corners and three safeties. Keeping Kody Jones in the class will remain a battle, but with or without him, DB is probably the strength of this class overall, and the exciting nature of Berry as a prospect is a big reason why.