Leesburg (VA) Lee County DT Aubrey Solomon (image via Cleveland.com)
Leesburg (GA) Lee County defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon committed to Michigan on Saturday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, and Ole Miss, among others.
Solomon is 6’3″, 305 lbs.
RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 84 grade, #6 DT, #61 overall
Rivals: 4-star, #4 DT, #91 overall
Scout: 4-star, #9 DT, #127 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 91 grade, #14 DT, #207 overall
Hit the jump for more on Solomon’s commitment.
Solomon was on the fringe of my radar as a top prospect nationally, but not one who had reported a Michigan offer. I had not heard until Friday that he was planning to visit Michigan along with teammate Otis Reese this weekend, and Reese also committed to the Wolverines. He was reportedly offered on the visit and ended up feeling comfortable enough to commit.
Solomon is a big body who has a solid frame. He plays nose tackle in an odd-front defensive in high school, but he’s mostly a one-gap player rather than a two-gapper. He has decent feet for a big guy coming off the snap, and he frequently utilizes a swim move to avoid the center’s block. With the size, strength, and leg drive to push the pocket, he can be a force in the middle as a run-clogger and he can also get some movement to collapse the pocket.
The most glaring negative regarding Solomon is that he does not play with a low center of gravity. He stands up too high off the snap, regardless of what move he has predetermined to use. He does not have great straight-line speed to close on quarterbacks and running backs, so he has to make his mark as more of a block-eater. I would also like to see him lock out blockers with more consistency, because he does have the arm length to be more of a force on the interior. I think his lack of bend also prevents him from being as violent of a tackler as he could be.
Overall, I like Solomon as a nose tackle. I think he has potential to eat blocks, collapse the pocket, and allow his teammates to be playmakers. I do not look at Solomon himself as a huge playmaker, however. In some ways, he reminds me of former Michigan defensive tackle Gabe Watson, who had a solid career at Michigan and made it to the NFL, but never developed into the star that his recruiting rankings hinted he would be. If the coaching staff can help Solomon play lower – which can be a tough task – then his ceiling climbs somewhat.
Michigan now has two defensive tackles (along with 3-tech Phillip Paea) and four defensive linemen total (add in ends Luiji Vilain and Corey Malone-Hatcher) in the 2017 class. Both lines need a good deal of recruiting attention in 2017 because of all the upperclassmen on Michigan’s roster.
TTB Rating: 80
Highlights can be found here (LINK).
You need to login in order to vote
Good stuff Thunder. I’ve been waiting for a nose tackle commit like Solomon for a while. Any idea if we are done with DTs this year now? Would love to see us get at least one more big body in the middle.
You need to login in order to vote
I think Michigan will continue to recruit some defensive tackles, but I’m not sure how strongly they’ll pursue under-the-radar, project types. They might go for home runs and see if they can pull off a coup.
You need to login in order to vote
247 now has Solomon at .9516, 94 Nationally, 6 DT and 10th in Georgia, which is pretty remarkable when you consider that the state of Georgia has ten of high school football’s top 94 players.
As an aside, The Ohio State University has the #4 DT in this class, which was interesting to me only because that kid is coming from Bishop Gorman. That’s two for The Buckeyes from Bishop Gorman as they also have the nation’s #1 Dual Threat QB, also from Bishop Gorman. When I looked at Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s film, I was as or more impressed with Bishop Gorman’s team as I was Thompson-Robinson, himself. I was very impressed with Thompson-Robinson. I thought that as a team, they looked far more college ready than IMG or any of the other Catholic powerhouses that are out there playing a national schedule.
I keep getting told that Nevada school boy athletics is mediocre at best. So I looked. Bishop Gorman has 4 of the top 5 kids in the state and 5 of the top 15. Desert Pines also has 5 in the top 15.
So I go to Bishop Gorman’s web site because I have time on my hands. To quote the great Keith Jackson, “Whoa Nellie!” These guys aren’t fooling around. http://www.bggaelsfootball.com
You need to login in order to vote
Truffle, Vilain and Solomon would look real good to me, lining up together on some random first down.
You need to login in order to vote
I hate spell check ….. Tufele
You need to login in order to vote
Truffle sounds a lot tastier.
You need to login in order to vote
I’m not sure if you missed it, but SinCityBlue had some comments/links about Bishop Gorman when we talking about Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He said it’s quite a show to watch their football games. I think Ohio State is also strongly in the running for WR Tyjon Lindsey, who is transferring out of Bishop Gorman to head back to California.
You need to login in order to vote
I’m always happy when Michigan lands an interior line recruit. But this came so suddenly from an out-of-region recruit that you wonder if it will stick through signing day. I hope so.
You need to login in order to vote
I wonder that, too, but at the same time, he wasn’t short on other suitors. I would worry more about him flipping if he were running on Tulane, Florida Atlantic, and Georgia Tech offers and then got Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia to come after him later. But given the choice of a bunch of big-time schools already recruiting him, he picked Michigan. I’m not 100% convinced he’ll sign with Michigan, but the timing of it makes me think it wasn’t totally a rash decision.
You need to login in order to vote
Yeah if he was openly pining for an Alabama offer he hadn’t gotten yet this might be different. Then again we wouldn’t necessarily assume he was going to get it in the future if he hadn’t thusfar, so you could argue that side of it with your hypothetical recruit who is less highly regarded too.
It seemed pretty rash to me but of course I’m happy to be proven wrong.
You need to login in order to vote