kenneth grant
deuce spurlock
2022 recruiting
Michigan's newest commit [Steve Wiltfong, 247 Sports]

Kenneth Grant and Deuce Spurlock have committed to Michigan Comment Count

Alex.Drain September 28th, 2021 at 5:27 PM

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": 

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: 

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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Comments

Hail to the Vi…

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. 

Joined: 09/13/2010

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Wallaby Court

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.

Joined: 11/08/2008

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mwolverine1

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.

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Wallaby Court

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.

Joined: 11/08/2008

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MGoCarolinaBlue

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. :)

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bsand2053

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.  

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Blake Forum

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.

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