One Hinton Down, One To Go?

Michigan added their second 2019 five-star defensive end in a week's span on Saturday night when Georgia product Chris Hinton committed. You can find the full Hello post here if you missed it over the weekend. Since Hinton dropped, Scout's Allen Trieu has posted an updated, detailed scouting report featuring some praise few senior defensive linemen receive, let alone 265-pound sophomores:

His defensive film shows just how athletic he is though. He can really bend. He plays with good leverage and pad level, and does a good job of winning those leverage battles in the run game. When he needs to re-direct and pursue a ball carrier, he can absolutely do it. He is a fluid kid for such a big body and his lateral agility is excellent. We would categorize his foot-speed as good, especially considering his size. He will probably not be a speed-rusher as a weakside end, but if he plays defense, we see him as being a tackle or in Michigan's system, a strongside end or "anchor."

Trieu mentioned that when Scout put together their 2019 rankings, every single regional analyst placed Hinton in the top five overall. Much of that is because of his obvious physical talent; it's also in part because people around him can't stop mentioning how he's mature beyond his years. Trieu caught up with Hinton's high school coach for one such quote:

Yeah, it's easy to say this every time you call on a player and say he's this and that or whatever... but this kid's unbelievable. He's just an unbelievable young man. He may be the most mature 16-year old I've ever been around whether that's talking to adults, whether it's the way he can just communicate with you and understand what's going on, the way he does a great job of pushing teammates in a way that he cares for them and calls them up to be the best all those kinds of things. He's just really, really special. The old adage is, if your best player is your hardest worker, you'll have a good team. We'll be good this year and next year because he can just get after it. And he knows his role isn't just for him to be good, but to help others around him be good as well.

It'd be more than satisfactory if Hinton arrived on his own, but it gets better, as his younger brother Myles Hinton is a potential five-star offensive tackle in the 2020 class. Myles told TMI's Evan Petzold that his brother's commitment helped M's chances:

"Michigan was already high on my list and my brother committing just makes it that much better," he told The Michigan Insider. "I'd love to play with my brother (at Michigan). I think it would be really cool for us to both go to the same place."

He's planning to visit campus for a game or two with his brother this fall. Stanford is the other school standing out; Michigan looks like the team to beat. Steve Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball for Myles to Michigan shortly after Chris's commitment. He also put one in for four-star 2019 IN DE George Karlaftis, who would give the program a remarkable three-man DE recruiting haul well over a year away from Signing Day 2019.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Jobe Transfers To Don Brown Territory

A relatively recent rule change regarding Florida high school eligibility could help Michigan flip their top remaining target in the defensive backfield. Top-100 FL CB Josh Jobe, a Miami (YTM) commit, will transfer from Miami (FL) Columbus to Cheshire Academy (CT) because he'll be 19 years old by September 1st, rendering him ineligible in Florida. Steve Lorenz has repeatedly said that this recruitment could get wild and Jobe's quotes fall in line with that line of thought:

Given that, the coaches at Columbus helped him find a home at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, and Jobe noted that this puts him closer to the University of Michigan, one of the schools that he’s still interested in along with Florida, Alabama and Miami.

“I have to see how it goes,” said Jobe, who added that the Miami coaches do not seem concerned with him potentially breaking his commitment.

“A lot of colleges are going to come at me. I have to see what they are talking about. I have to see how this season goes. I still have time to figure it out. I don’t know how (Miami) is going to react, but I have to do what’s best for me.”

Cheshire Academy is deep in Don Brown Country; Michigan pulled Tarik Black from the program for the 2017 class. This is admittedly speculative and very much subject to change: I've put in a Crystal Ball pick for Jobe to Michigan. Alabama will also be a factor here.

2019: New Rivals100, In-State Updates

Rivals released their first numerical Rivals100 for the 2019 class and it features a healthy number of Michigan targets. Among commits, Hinton ranks third overall, and Nolan Rumler cracks the list at #93. Belleville OT Devontae Dobbs (#25 overall) narrowly edged recently offered East Kentwood OT Logan Brown (#28) for top prospect in the state.

Speaking of which, the song remains the same when it comes to the Belleville duo of Dobbs and top-100 WR/CB Julian Barnett. Dobbs told TMI's Josh Newkirk that he's not currently in contact with the coaches:

“Lately I’ve been talking to Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Auburn, Alabama, and Georgia,” Dobbs said.

One prominent school missing from Dobbs’ list is Michigan, as he explains his interest in the Wolverines is trending in the wrong direction.

“If they show interest then I’ll show interest back,” Dobbs said. “I’ll still consider them, but right now at the moment there is no communication between us.”

Barnett, who doesn't hold an offer yet because he didn't camp at Michigan when they wanted to evaluate him, talked up Ohio State (which also hasn't offered), Alabama, Notre Dame, and the other in-state school when going over his recruitment with Rivals's Josh Helmholdt:

The offer from Alabama has put the Crimson Tide high on his interest list. A couple of Midwest schools also rate high with Barnett.

“I like Notre Dame a lot. I just like the atmosphere and how the coaches are,” he said. “I like Michigan State too. If I wanted to stay home, I would probably go there.”

Michigan clearly has a lot of ground to make up; it's not clear if they have interest in doing so, especially since they're in line for a monster 2019 class with or without this duo. I believe it's safe to say the coaches wouldn't just give up on two talented in-state prospects without good reason. It's hard not to note they come from the same program; if it's an issue with the Belleville, it wouldn't be a first—Harbaugh and Co. had to mend seriously damaged relations with Detroit King when they arrived in Ann Arbor. The issue definitely isn't a lack of emphasis on in-state recruiting.

In more encouraging in-state news, four-star 2019 Detroit King (oh hey) defensive back Marvin Grant told Newkirk he could see himself at Michigan:

“My Michigan offer means a lot to me, to me that’s the biggest college in the state,” Grant said. “They have a great program. People that play at Michigan from King told me it’s a great stage to play for Jim Harbaugh. It’s one of the top colleges in the NCAA. They have a lot of talent and could be a perfect fit for me.”

He's already been to campus and is looking to visit again soon. He says Don Brown is recruting him as a VIPER.

Etc.

Another couple reasons not to get too worked up about Dobbs: Michigan is making a big move on Logan Brown's Crystal Ball, and four-star 2019 IL OT Trevor Keegan had a great visit at the BBQ, per Trieu:

While Michigan is a school many analysts believe will be tough to beat for Keegan, he is not ready to name any favorites.

"Right now I'm very interested [in Michigan," Keegan said. "I don't have a top five or anything, I'm just going by what my family and I feel the most comfortable with."

Keegan has some big-time schools after him but Michigan is in a great spot.

2019 commit Charles Thomas eyes some recruiting targets.