Jordan Elliott, Wolverine

Jordan Elliott, Wolverine


November 28, 2015

Houston (TX) Westside DT Jordan Elliott

Houston (TX) Westside defensive tackle Jordan Elliott committed to Michigan on Saturday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and USC, among others; he has been committed to Baylor and Houston at different times, so this is the third commitment of his process.

Elliott is 6’4″, 301 lbs. He claims a 4.86 forty, a 4.35 shuttle, a 335 lb. bench press, and a 520 lb. squat. He’s been chosen as a 2016 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 85 grade, #11 DT, #47 overall
Rivals: 3-star, #28 DT
Scout: 4-star, #13 DT, #102 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 96 grade, #7 DT, #43 overall

Hit the jump for the rest of the breakdown.

Michigan offered Elliott this spring when he was already a Houston commit. That love affair wore off, after which he committed to Baylor. That also did not last. Michigan kept pursuing him, and when this week began, it looked like he was likely to make his pledge to Michigan public. After Saturday’s loss to Ohio State, he picked the Wolverines.

Physically, there are some obvious things to like about Elliott. For example, he is 6’4″ and 301 lbs. Second, there are times when he tosses opponents around like rag dolls. When he keeps his hands inside, he does a good job of locking out offensive linemen and driving them into the backfield. When he finds the ball carrier, he is big enough and strong enough to swallow them up and not let go. Unlike a lot of players his size, he does a good job of bending at the knees and maintaining leverage. He also shows good straight-line quickness in short spaces, and he bends well to chase down the line. I have few questions about his physical abilities.

But I do have questions, and they mostly have to do with mentality. The fact that he has committed three times now (and decommitted twice) is a red flag to me. Some data on players who decommit suggest that those players often do not live up to their rankings. I do not like his defensive stance, which is correctable; but I assume that he has been taught a more appropriate stance. I do not like his footwork, because it takes him too long to get his second step down, and he does not gain ground with his second step often enough; he plays like a two-gapping 3-4 tackle even though he’s playing in a 4-3, which is typically more of a penetrating style of play. He also seems too tentative at times to attack ball carriers, and instead waits for them to come to him. Having watched his junior and senior film, I just don’t see as many flash plays as I would like to see.

Overall, I think this is a bit of a boom-or-bust commitment for Michigan. There are some technical things to clean up – and I think some motivational ones, as well – but the coaching staff is paid to teach and inspire. If they get Elliott to play to his potential, he could be an All-Big Ten nose tackle. Then again, if Elliott continues the trend of not fully committing to a program, then he could be a guy who washes out of the school or transfers elsewhere.

Ideally, Elliott will not be needed next year. He looks like a nose tackle, and Michigan should have a trio of talented, experienced nose tackles in fifth year senior Ryan Glasgow, redshirt junior Maurice Hurst, Jr., and redshirt sophomore Bryan Mone. That would give Elliott a chance to work on his body and conditioning, as well as improve those technical aspects of his game.

Elliott is the 22nd commit in the 2016 class and the first true defensive tackle, although Rashad Weaver or Michael Onwenu could join him on the interior line. The Wolverines are looking for at least one more tackle, specifically Rashan Gary, who is more of a 3-tech or 5-tech. Elliott is also the first Texan to commit to Michigan since the 2011 class, when the Wolverines pulled in the unproductive trio of TE Chris Barnett (never played at Michigan), QB Russell Bellomy (transferred to UTSA then quit), and LB Kellen Jones (transferred to Oklahoma, Clemson, and Wisconsin then quit).

TTB Rating: 79 (ratings explanation)

7 comments

  1. Comments: 183
    Joined: 9/3/2015
    suduri xusai
    Nov 28, 2015 at 11:34 PM

    Man. Thunder to the Michigan recruiting staff. I really enjoyed this scouting report, and I think you are right about him on many aspects. Flaky commits very often end up being busts. I really hope the staff saw something in him to offer. And after today’s garbage performance, we’ll go nowhere without some dominant D-linemen.

  2. Comments: 1356
    Joined: 8/13/2015
    Roanman
    Nov 29, 2015 at 8:45 AM

    William Campbell being a real good example of a kid who had to mess around within the recruiting process and never got good. Whether or not there’s some cause and effect or character thing on display, I dunno, but it for sure feels like it goes that way.

    But ….. and on the positive side, a lot of Thunder’s concerns regarding Jordan Elliot could have been cut and pasted from Chris Wormley’s scouting report. so there’s that. Besides, he’s got a good Michigan name.

    And ….. were it me once again, Michael Onwenu would absolutely be playing D line and I’d be taking Terence Davis yesterday rather than waiting on Jean Delance, if that is indeed what is going on. I want them both and wouldn’t be fooling around with either.

    • Comments: 522
      Joined: 8/12/2015
      DonAZ
      Nov 29, 2015 at 10:53 PM

      Michael Onwenu — 6’3″, 367 pounds.

      So help me … to my untrained eye that sure looks like NT material to me. A big immovable body to clog up the middle. So some quick questions:

      Q1 — Is his potential as OG too high to risk sending him to the DL?
      Q2 — How hard is it for someone to move from OG to DL?
      Q3 — Does Onwenu flash the kind of skills a good DT needs?

      Thanks. I come to learn. I am a sponge. 🙂

      • Comments: 3844
        Joined: 7/13/2015
        Nov 30, 2015 at 8:48 PM

        #1. I don’t think his potential is necessarily all that great as an OG. What I’m assuming Michigan sees is that same 6’3″, 367 lb. guy who can wall off defensive tackles and get movement in the middle. That’s obviously something that Michigan is lacking, and if you look at some of those solidly built Alabama offensive linemen over the years, you can reasonably see Michael Onwenu being one of those guys.

        #2. It’s not very difficult for someone to move from OG to DL, in my opinion. We’ve seen some players do it fairly well over the last handful of years, including William Campbell, Quinton Washington, John Ferrara, etc. Washington is obviously the best example of the bunch. But I think that’s probably one of the easier moves to make, because the handwork and the footwork are similar in a lot of respects.

        #3. I think Onwenu flashes the kind of skills that a good NT needs. He’s not a penetrator or a guy who’s going to make a ton of plays in the backfield, IMO. If Onwenu were to play defense, I see him being a huge space eater like Vince Wilfork. Obviously, Wilfork was a great NFL player and that’s a best-case scenario, but Wilfork was the kind of guy that you had to block with two people and he would sometimes still make the play. Onwenu can be that type of player on the college level, at least. I’ve had questions about his motor, which comes back to size and conditioning. I don’t want him trimming down to 305 lbs. because I think that takes away an important part of his game, but I think he should probably play in the 320-335 lb. range.

  3. Comments: 111
    Joined: 10/14/2015
    UM_1973
    Nov 30, 2015 at 11:37 AM

    Thunder, I appreciate your analysis which is very frank and insightful. Quick question: which 3 recruits (who are reasonably interested in UM) that you would very much want to be in this class?

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Nov 30, 2015 at 11:44 AM

      Thanks!

      If I could only pick three, they would probably be Rashan Gary, Kareem Walker, and Mecole Hardman. Gary is one of the top few recruits in the country. We need all the help we can get at RB. And while Hardman may not play a position with the biggest need, he could help at a number of positions (WR, CB, S, KR, PR) and you can’t really turn away an elite skill player like that.

      Others in consideration include Isaac Nauta (but we have enough depth at TE) and Jean Delance (highly ranked OL are hit-and-miss).

      • Comments: 183
        Joined: 9/3/2015
        suduri xusai
        Nov 30, 2015 at 4:55 PM

        Ha. Rashan Gary, K Walker and M Hardman, all 5-star and all in positions of need. Hardman could play any position. The best thing is that we have chance at signing all 3. I really hope we can sign that dream class this year.

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