Los Angeles (CA) Loyola cornerback David Long, Jr.
Los Angeles (CA) Loyola cornerback David Long, Jr. committed to Michigan on Thursday evening on ESPNU. The one-time Stanford commit chose the Wolverines over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington, and Wisconsin, among others.
Long is a 6’0″, 175 lb. prospect. As a senior in 2015, he caught 25 passes for 525 yards (21 yards/catch) and 7 touchdowns; on defense, he made 19 tackles, 1 interception, and 5 pass breakups. He claims a 4.4 forty and a 10.8 time in the 100 meters. He also has a 36″ vertical, a 245 lb. bench press, and a 375 lb. squat.
RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 83 grade, #5 ATH, #104 overall
Rivals: 4-star, #9 CB, #81 overall
Scout: 4-star, #5 CB, #64 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 95 grade, #8 CB, #96 overall
Hit the jump for much more on Long’s commitment.
Long was offered early on by Michigan’s new staff during the last off-season. The coaches used their California connections to throw out a lot of offers on the West Coast. Now that Long joins Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Catholic wide receiver Dylan Crawford as a Michigan commitment, a couple of those offers have come to fruition. Others may pay off the next couple weeks. During the in-between time, though, Long made Michigan’s staff sweat it out. The Wolverines were thought to be in a strong position when he committed to Stanford last August, and he remained committed to the Cardinal until mid-December. Then his choice was down to Michigan and Washington, with both teams’ staffs – and fans – expecting a commitment. Over the last week or two, though, things appeared to be trending more and more toward the Wolverines, and his choice of Michigan on national television this evening was not much of a surprise.
Long is a sufficiently physical cornerback; he’s not the type who relies entirely on being handsy, but he’s not going to get overpowered very easily, either. He has a good mix of strength and skill. He has good hips turning out of a smooth backpedal, and he can plant and drive on short throws. Long also shows a good ability to locate and high-point the ball. When he participated in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl a couple weekends ago, he made an interception, albeit on a badly thrown ball by Florida commit Feleipe Franks; he then returned the ball 27 yards and showed some good speed and running instincts on the way. That play underscored one of the nice things about Long – he could double as a returner and/or receiver. As mentioned above, Long averaged 21 yards/catch against some pretty good competition in California. (If you’re so inclined, check out the players he’s matched up against and then look at the competition for, say, Kiante Enis and Khaleke Hudson. There’s a significant difference.) He gets off the line quickly, runs sharp routes, catches the ball smoothly, and has some shake and bake. I also like the way that Long carries himself on the field, as a confident kid but not one who’s overtly cocky.
On the negative side . . . there’s not much. I would like him to be a legitimate 6’1″ with all the same skills, but I also wanted to play shortstop for the Detroit Tigers when I was a kid. You can’t have everything. Long isn’t a once-in-a-generation athlete, and he doesn’t leap off the screen with his athleticism. He’s just a very solid prospect in every phase of the game.
Overall, Long is one of the best cornerback prospects in the country. He played against some of the best players in the nation at the Army Bowl, held his own, and even made a big play for his team in a winning effort. He could play corner, slot receiver, wide receiver, punt returner, or kick returner at the next level. Due to his versatility and mentality, I think he looks a good bit like Michigan All-American cornerback Jourdan Lewis, although Long is a little bigger. From a build standpoint, I’m reminded of former Michigan corner Raymon Taylor, who had a decent, perhaps underappreciated career in Ann Arbor. I would probably establish a Taylor-like career as the baseline and expect something at least slightly better than that over the next three to five years.
Michigan is now up to 22 commits (including Stephen Spanellis, whom I have not profiled yet) in the 2016 class. The Wolverines lost a commitment from Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic corner Antwaine Richardson earlier today – which is a good trade for Michigan – but still need to have suitable replacements for several corners who will be moving on after 2016. Jourdan Lewis, Channing Stribling, and Jeremy Clark are all departing after next season, and that trio represents every start from 2015. Michigan will continue to recruit Detroit (MI) King cornerback Lavert Hill and Old Tappan (NJ) Old Tappan athlete Jordan Fuller, the latter of whom could play cornerback, safety, or wideout.
TTB Rating: 92 (ratings explanation)
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Good get for is and what do u make of us flipping that Virginia recruit because I know the coaches make their pic base of film and not ranking but Swenson is rank higher on every site than him…which one you think is a better prospect
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I’m working on it now. I post on every recruit, so if it’s not posted, that’s because my thoughts aren’t complete yet.
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I’m looking forward to that. There’s a lot of intriguing angles to that whole Swenson vs. Spanellis thing.
There’s a bit of an argument going on over at MGoBlog about whether the way the Swenson situation was handled will end up being good or bad for Michigan in the eyes of recruits. It’s impossible to say at this point, and it’ll be hard to determine with accuracy if it did later.
I’m leaning towards the idea that Harbaugh is sending a message — the expectation for improvement is relentless, and it applies whether you’re committed or not. That may drive away some recruits, and it may draw others who like that sort of intense scrutiny. I don’t know. We’ll see.
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Alabama and Ohio State have done similar things in the past. They seem to be doing okay. As I mentioned in the Swenson post, “Winning cures everything.” In another year or two, nobody’s going to remember this situation except hardcore recruiting fans/gurus. That is, as long as Michigan wins. If Michigan starts to lose, people will use this as ammo for getting Harbaugh fired, just like they used ammo such as “Brady Hoke doesn’t wear a headset” and “Brady Hoke claps too much.” Remember that little glitch last year when Greg Mattison called a recruit stupid and got kicked out of the house? Yeah…I literally have not heard a peep about that since about two weeks after it happened.
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True dat.
If Harbaugh can’t win at Michigan, nobody can. I shudder to think about what a post-Harbaugh Michigan would be like.
Let’s not think about that. Let’s think about NSD, then the build up to spring camp!!
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Two huge pickups for Michigan!
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92, wow. Highest rated recruit in the class. Easily the most explosive commit on tape. Great get
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I had a coach explain to me one time,”You’re not a great athlete, so you need to learn to do it right.” I never got particularly good at football with that advice, moderately better when it came to hoops, but it did work out for me quite nicely later on.
Edge and hustle remain under rated, despite lip service. The hope here is that Drevno can impart that message and then more importantly, that it works out for everybody on the field.
I really liked Terrance Davis ….. Just sayin’.
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Oopsies! This was supposed to be for Spanellis’ post.
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