Monday Recruitin' Prefers Queazy Comment Count

Ace

Today's recruiting roundup covers the latest on David Dawson and Gareon Conley, new candidates to round out the 2013 class, the latest wave of 2014 offers, and more.

Guess Who's Back


Talk to me man

Yes, Brian stole my thunder on Friday, but here it is again: David Dawson was re-offered last week after having a "heart to heart"($) with Brady Hoke and will take an official visit to Ann Arbor on December 14th. This is, unequivocally, a good thing; Michigan needs one more offensive lineman in the class and Dawson is easily the best among the available options.

It's also a strike against critics of Hoke's nebulous "Policy"—one that's never been explicitly stated, mind you—as it's clear he deals with these matters on a case-by-case basis, as he should. A commitment taking visits doesn't necessarily mean he's gone from the class forever; it does mean he hold a spot while looking around. This ensures, as much as one can ensure with these things, that members of the class show the same level of commitment given to them by the school.

On that note: Gareon Conley will also take an official visit to Michigan on December 14th, according to ESPN's Brad Bournival ($). He'll also visit Ohio State this Thursday, and all indications are this is a two-horse race between the Wolverines and Buckeyes—Conley wanted an Oregon offer before he took a visit to Eugene and one has yet to materialize.

It seems very possible that both Dawson and Conley could end up back in the class when all is said and done. Dawson seems to regret parting ways with Michigan—there were rumors he tried to talk his way back into the fold shortly after the coaches dropped him—and I'd be surprised if Hoke would re-offer without a pretty good idea of where Dawson is headed. Conley looks to be more of a toss-up, but Michigan has his father in their corner.

[Hit THE JUMP for new 2013 and 2014 offers, the updated 2013 Rivals100, and BAYLE WOLF.]

He Gets It, Fergodsakes

Michigan continues to pick interest in 2013 linebacker recruits; Mike McCray and Ben Gedeon are both solid in their commitments, so this likely indicates potential attrition on the current roster (LBs Antonio Poole and Kaleb Ringer both missed the 2012 season with injuries, FWIW). The Wolverines recently offered NC LB Jamieon Moss, a Virginia Tech commit, who's considering a visit on—yes—December 14th, according to Sam Webb ($).

“Jamieon Moss had one of the best seasons of any player in North Carolina this year,” [Scout analyst Michael] Clark said.  “Moss played at a high level all season, registering 170 total tackles. Although, Northeastern’s defense struggled against Tarboro (in a playoff loss), he was one of the bright spots for the Eagles.”

“Physically, there is a lot to like about Moss. He also has a high football I.Q. and plays under control. Moss is a long, lean prospect. He runs extremely well and does a nice job of diagnosing plays as soon as the ball is snapped. Along with his speed, his long strides give him tremendous range and he can cover a lot of ground quickly. He is also relentless and has a non-stop motor.”

Moss is a three-star and isn't ranked higher than #67 at outside linebacker on any of the recruiting sites, though it sounds like he could get a bump when his senior film goes out.

Also getting interest, though no offer yet, from Michigan is AL CB Marquis McCullum, per Sam Webb ($). McCullum is unranked on all four sites and is so under the radar that 247 doesn't even have a profile for him, but there's good reason for that: he was in a car accident at the end of his junior year and the resulting injuries prevented him from attending any camps or combines. He's fully recovered however, and at 6'1", 185 lbs., he's an intriguing prospect—as a bonus, despite hailing from Birmingham he's familiar with the local lingo:

“When Coach Smith asked him (is Michigan a school he’d really be interested in), Marquis said, ‘it’s Michigan for God Sakes!’  Coach Smith started laughing and said, ‘oh yeah, that’s what Coach Hoke said at his first press conference.’  Honestly I didn’t know that he knew anything about Coach Hoke’s first press conference.  He threw even me off with that one.”

McCullum hasn't pulled in any offers thus far, and given the above you can bet he'd seriously entertain the thought of heading north were Michigan to extend the opportunity.

New 2014 Offers

Michigan also sent out its latest wave of 2014 offers at the end of last week. Four-star IL LB Nyles Morgan, Crete-Monee teammate of Laquon Treadwell, got his from Jeff Hecklinski on an in-school visit. NJ DE/TE Garrett Dickerson, a top-50 level recruit, was offered by Curt Mallory as a defensive end. Southfield DE Lawrence Marshall was offered in-person by Fred Jackson, which must be one of the greatest single ways to boost one's self-esteem. Marshall told Tremendous in the above article that he has no favorites, but a quote he gave 247 last week indicates Michigan has the early edge ($):

Marshall told Wolverine247 on Tuesday that Michigan is his early favorite.

“I wouldn’t commit right away but Michigan would definitely be my top school,” said Marshall. “I love their tradition and just the way they do things. I know they have great academics.”

Of the three new offers, Marshall seems the most likely to end up in the class, though Michigan has been in regular contact with both Morgan and Dickerson as well.

Updated 2013 Rivals100, DetNews Dream Team

Rivals is updating their 2013 rankings this week—always starting the day after I do the recruiting rankings, I swear—and today they unveiled the new Rivals100. Here's where Michigan's commits and key targets landed:

  • Laquon Treadwell—#10 overall (five-star)
  • Derrick Green—#14 overall (five-star)
  • Leon McQuay III—#19 overall (five-star)
  • Shane Morris—#25 overall (five-star)
  • Henry Poggi—#68 overall (four-star)
  • Patrick Kugler—#79 overall (four-star)
  • Mike McCray—#88 overall (four-star)
  • Kyle Bosch—#99 overall (four-star)

In a bit of a surprise, Shane Morris held onto his fifth star despite a senior season marred by mono. Meanwhile, Laquon Treadwell's stellar senior season was met with the requisite rise to five-star status. It'll be interesting to see where Michigan recruits land in the Rivals250 and beyond, especially Channing Stribling, who certainly will rise from his current two-star rating.

The Detroit News released their all-state squads and the 2012 All-State Dream Team last week, featuring several Michigan commits and targets. The Dream Team included Jourdan Lewis (end, which is really WR), David Dawson (OL), Malik McDowell (DL), and MSU commit Jon Reschke (LB). Da'Mario Jones (end) and Damon Webb (DB) earned all-state honorable mention for Division 1-2. Csont'e York (end) got first-team honors for Division 3-4, where Khalid Hill (end) and Tommy Doles (OL) garnered honorable mention.

Patrick Kugler, the only Michigan commit still alive in his high school football playoffs, was featured in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last Friday, an an opposing coach gave him a glowing scouting report:

“He looks like an NFL guy playing with middle-school kids,” McDowell coach Mark Soboleski said before his Trojans lost to North Allegheny, 56-6, Friday night in a PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal at Seneca Valley.

“You know he’s a coach’s kid. You can just tell. He’s got great technique. He gets off the ball so hard. He does not look like he should run as fast as he does. You see kids that big and they’re slow and gawky. But he’s got great, great feet. I think he’s in a class by himself. He stands alone.”

The article also contains a few areas for improvement for Kugler: strength, stamina, and—most importantly—mustache-growing.

Ben Gedeon was named to the U.S. U-19 national team, which will compete in the International Bowl in February.

Etc.

Scout's Yancey Porter caught up with Laquon Treadwell after his visit to Ole Miss last weekend ($). The bad news: he talks about a top three of Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, failing to mention Michigan. The good news is that he's got a great nickname [emphasis mine]:

"I enjoyed Ole Miss a lot," said Laquon, whose friends call Quon, L.T. and his favorite, Queazy. "Ole Miss has a lot of pluses for me."

Due to his high school's policy on early graduation, IL RB Ty Isaac will not enroll early at USC, per ESPN's Blair Angulo ($, info in header). While Isaac has given no indication that he'll consider a decommitment from the Trojans, this at least gives Michigan—and Notre Dame, as well—more time to make their pitch.

Chelsea RB Berkley Edwards committed to Minnesota, which is noteworthy only because Braylon Edwards again made an ass of himself on Twitter (scroll down to Nov. 29th if you're so inclined).

BAYLE WOLF! Unfortunately was the main reason Michael Ferns's St. Clairsville squad lost in the state title game, but... BAYLE WOLF, y'all.

Comments

turtleboy

December 3rd, 2012 at 5:38 PM ^

Beyer was very underweight and started at LB, and Mario was about 10 pounds lighter, and an inch shorter. At this rate I see him getting past 250, but by the time he's a senior. Until then he's got 2 years of weighing 20-40 lbs less than an average 250-270 lb end. 6'3" 230 is ideal for an OLB, 250 would be good for a tweener OLB/DE combo player. Just seems too small to be a full time DE in the B1G.

4272 Bartlett

December 3rd, 2012 at 5:05 PM ^

Just an observation but am I the only one that is getting puzzled and frustrated with the lack of highly touted skilled players that actually decide to come to Michigan?

Shane Morris doesn't count in this instance as well as DG because they are homegrown and likely lifelong UM fans.

On the national stage it seems like we are always used as leverage with the players at the QB, RB, and WR positons against other top level BCS programs only to be left holding the bag as the quintessential "nice guy" come signing day. It would be nice to get some 5 star talent at these positions especially the later two as we are always on the list with these kids but cannot seal the deal. I know Hoke and Mattison are demigods around this board but the recent success of LSU, Bama, and ND(this year) cannot atone for the fact that our short comings since 2008 are as much due to a lack of a star at these offensive postions (since Braylon and Hart respectively) as it is to the failures and ineptitude of the former staff.

I guess the more pertinent question is do you think we we can continue to be elite and compete for championships with beasts on defense and the o-line but "just some glue guys" toting the rock?

Magnus

December 3rd, 2012 at 5:13 PM ^

Wisconsin does just fine with beasts on the offensive line and some average-ish running backs.  The stud running backs in each class don't want to go to Madison, but somehow they do just fine.  Montee Ball was Rivals' #33 running back, and James White was the #42 RB and a 3-star.

Blue boy johnson

December 3rd, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^

Patience. This is only Hoke's second full recruiting class and it is not over with yet. Come close on enough and sooner than later Hoke will land one, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened this year with Green.

Same questions surrounded Beilein. Beilein missed out on Trey Ziegler, Prather, McCallum, Amir Williams,a Georgetown kid, a St Johns kid and probably a few others before landing his first real big fish in McGary. Now with Burke, Hardaway, GRIII, Stauskas and Co., the can Beilein recruit meme has been answered.

Schembo

December 3rd, 2012 at 5:39 PM ^

Alot of that can be attributed to the lack of elite talent in the state on a consistent basis at those positions. Recruits are looking at the SEC and some of the Big 12 offenses as their best bet of getting to NFL and it's hard to argue with that right now.  Combine that with the program being down for a few years and a couple changes in offensive philosophy and it's hard to sign 5 star talent outside of the midwest region.  It may take a year or two of Borges pro-style offense being successful before all the top "skilled" position players have UM circled as a potential destination.  My biggest concern is our ability to grab those kind of players out of Ohio.  We've shown we can do that on defense, but not so much on offense lately. 

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 3rd, 2012 at 6:23 PM ^

We've missed on many skill guys recently - Isaac, Brenneman, Dunne, Harris, Burbridge, Treadwell, etc. Landing just a couple would change the perception quickly. We also have fresh memories of regional guys like Braylon, Henne, Avant, Navarre, Manningham tearing up opposing Ds.

WolvinLA2

December 3rd, 2012 at 6:37 PM ^

Have we missed on most of those guys though?  Brenneman is from PA and an early PSU commit, Dunn from OH and an early OSU commit.  We passed on Burbridge because of grades, Harris likes Izzo and wants to play basketball, and Isaac was down to us and USC and picked California. We don't know what will happen with Treadwell yet. 

And yeah, M had a run of NFL wide receivers unmatched by almost any school ever.  But you mention Henne and Navarre, we've got Gardner and Morris.  And although Manningham was a huge recruit, we weren't sure about Braylon and Avant until they had been on campus a couple years, so let's wait and see on some of our guys too.  Amara Darboh sure seems a lot like Avant to me. 

EDIT:

You know who we haven't missed on?  Midwest OL and LBs.  Kalis, Braden, Bosch, LTT, Kugler, maybe Dawson plus RJS, Ross, Bolden, McCray, Gedeon and Ferns.  Everybody likes to focus on "skill" players, but are they the most important?  I'd argue not.  Give an offense big holes and lots of time to pass, and all of a sudden skill players look a lot more skilled. 

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 3rd, 2012 at 7:05 PM ^

contend our skill recruiting is average. Obviously a projection and I could be 100% wrong if some of the guys blow up like Hart and Braylon. Chesson, Butt and Dymonte are the 3 commits who appear dynamic enough on HS film to become legitimate game-changers (Dymonte on offense let alone defense). Other than Devins and DRob, we lack explosiveness. I would still give Hoke a better grade if Isaac, Treadwell, Harris and other 5 star playmakers picked us. Only time will tell.

M-Dog

December 3rd, 2012 at 7:02 PM ^

Michigan is like that hot chick in Accounting who always says "I can't find anyone to date".  But what she really means is "I can't find anyone to date who is fabously rich, movie star handsome, feeds the homeless in his spare time, and loves my two toy poodles."  There are hundreds of eligible guys lined up to date her, but she only wants the absolute top of the line.

There are hundreds of excellent skilled players that would sign with Micigan in a heartbeat, but we only want the handful of elite skilled players that every other top program also wants.

So, we keep trying but sometimes we miss out and spend our nights alone. 

AJ1

December 3rd, 2012 at 5:49 PM ^

Thought Braylon was just supporting his brother. A little upset that Michigan didn't give him a shot, but I don't think it crossed the line that bad, and he came back to say that he still was very supportive of Michigan.

Also, here's another Dawson interview - free one - that wasn't linked:

http://www.maizeandbluenews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=648:dawson-details-his-recruitment&catid=21:recruiting&Itemid=96

buddhafrog

December 3rd, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^

I think Braylon gets more hate than he deserves around here.  I do understand what he has said and what he has done.  I don't excuse it, but I don't throw out the baby with the bath water.  He's no Rumeal Robinson who disgraced his family and the university with his actions.  Braylon speaks out, but also always speaks about his love the UM.  Even with the twitter posts - unless they have been deleted - what I saw didn't bother me.  By far the worst was that he said he expects his little brother to rip the maize and blue a new a$$hole soon... and then followed it up immediately that he love UM but also loves his brother.

If my borther played for anyone, I'd be rooting for him to do the same to UM - but for UM to still win.  I don't think Braylon is any different.  He could have / should have said it differently, but geez.  Too many cry babies around here, joining the group think because it's easy and convenient, without too much thought into it.  

Please, find a new meme to jump onto.  This braylon-hating is getting so old.

Go Berkely.  Go Braylon.  Go Blue.

WolvinLA2

December 3rd, 2012 at 9:28 PM ^

But if your brother was a football player, would you be taking to twitter to bitch about him not getting an offer?  Braylon has access to the UM AD, he could have talked with the coaches if he wanted to.  Instead, he decided to complain publicly that the coaches hadn't offered his brother (the same brother who didn't have any other decent offers).  His latest rant isn't nearly as bad as what happened month ago, it's just more piled on top.

It's petty, and it makes him look bad.