Antioch (CA) Antioch RB Najee Harris (#2)
COMMITMENTS
Michigan currently has commitments from three players, and all three are likely to be running backs, not “athletes” who bounce back and forth between positions. The speedster is Los Lunas (NM) Los Lunas runner O’Maury Samuels (4-star, #21 RB, #276 overall), who at one time had the national lead in SPARQ rating. While he was eventually passed up for that honor, he showed that he has the athleticism to be a national recruit. He has continued taking visits while committed to Michigan, perhaps just doing his due diligence while Michigan also explores other options. The bruiser is Groton (MA) Lawrence Academy’s A.J. Dillon (4-star, #19 ATH, #298 overall), who is 6’1″, 230 lbs. and runs a sub-4.6. Dillon broke his leg mid-season and missed a chunk of his senior year. The pinball is Loganville (GA) Grayson’s Kurt Taylor (3-star, #55 RB, #873 overall), a 5’9″, 200-pounder who is neither extremely fast or extremely bruising. He is a notoriously hard worker and has welcomed competition throughout his recruitment, so while he may be a little short on talent, he might just be one of those “Harbaugh guys.”
Hit the jump for more on Michigan’s running back situation.
UNCOMMITTED PLAYERS
- Cam Akers
- Eno Benjamin
- A.J. Davis
- Greg Johnson
- Adarius Lemons
- Anthony McFarland, Jr.
- Damon Williams
COMMITTED ELSEWHERE
- Kennedy Brooks (Oklahoma)
- Kyshaun Bryan (South Carolina)
- Stephen Carr (USC)
- Toneil Carter (Georgia)
- Ty Chandler (Tennessee)
- Mike Epstein (Illinois)
- Najee Harris (Alabama)
- Chase Hayden (Arkansas)
- Bo Melton (Rutgers)
- Cordarrian Richardson (Clemson)
- Trey Sermon (Oklahoma)
- Todd Sibley, Jr. (Pitt)
- D’Andre Swift (Georgia)
- Nathan Tilford (Arizona)
RETURNING ROSTER PLAYERS
- Drake Johnson (6th)
- Ty Isaac (5th)
- Karan Higdon (Jr.)
- Kingston Davis (So.)
- Chris Evans (So.)
- Kareem Walker (RS Fr.)
OUTLOOK FOR MICHIGAN
The list of uncommitted players seems to be pretty irrelevant, as Michigan has put most of its efforts into flipping Antioch (CA) Antioch running back Najee Harris. While there had been some pursuit of former Alabama commit Cam Akers and current USC pledge Stephen Carr, those recruitments have fallen to the wayside. There are some who believe it’s a 50/50 shot with Harris, which would be excellent news, considering he’s the composite #1 player in the nation. Meanwhile, Wylie (TX) East’s Eno Benjamin, a one-time Iowa commit, listed Michigan in his top six recently, and he might be a player the Wolverines could reel in if they really wished. He has trained with former Wolverine running back David Underwood in Texas, but it’s unclear if Michigan sees him as a big enough upgrade over the three currently committed players to consider rocking the boat. With those three players already in the fold at running back, it’s probably Harris or bust.
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There probably isn’t a more important upgrade needed than at RB. I guess you could argue offensive line but since teams can coach different schemes and move players around to fill different needs up front, the RB can step in with very little coaching and make an immediate impact on talent alone. To me, you either have the ‘it’ factor or you don’t. Penn State’s Barkley has it. LSU’s Fournette has it. FSU’s Cook has it. But, ‘it’ has been missing from UM for a long time. I was hoping Kareem Walker may be the guy but his senior year highlights and All Star Game performances were very average. Plus, it doesn’t sound like he came back from Spring practices very prepared for the season both academically and athletically. I see O’Maury being a utility type back. Dillon could be the guy and I think he has the best chance. I hope we keep him in the class. As for Taylor, I don’t know what to expect. His highlights are minimal (nothing like Mike Hart’s).
Is it just me or does it seem like every time Higdon gets hit he goes down? He doesn’t bounce of tackles or keep his balance. His burst was better this year. So is Evans. Great burst but tripped up quite a bit. Plus, a bit of a long strider. Isaac just looks lethargic to me. Rarely lowers a shoulder and expects his talents to take over… but they never do.
Which brings me to Najee Harris. Most talented back we’ve recruited and pure difference maker. There’s only a couple backs like this per year and he’s one of them (Akers being the other). Sure, other backs can function within the offense but the Najee-types break tackles and spin and leap over and through defenders to make major differences regardless of how great the offensive line is.
I was hoping for mid-50’s weather and sunshine in December for this weekend’s visit. Instead we are expected to get dumped on. Which seemed to help a year ago in my recollection. I think there was a snow storm that made some recruits cancel their flight and they had to stay an extra day (Rashan Gary I think). #1 recruit? Extra time with players and pondering future? Maybe this is the perfect storm!
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Exactly. It continues to amaze me that a program like Michigan has so much trouble putting high quality running backs on the field. Highly rated guys bomb, guys who show promise one year never develop further, and we’re subjected to a steady stream of mediocre to pretty good backs, who are never real difference makers. We’ve had basically two backs in the last two decades who could be called great over their careers, and a couple others who’ve had one good season. And since Mike Hart left, we’ve had only one 1000 yard season from a running back, and that just barely. The next recruiting class does not show much promise towards reversing that trend.
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Was it the backs or the OLs. Have any of these guys had success in the NFL? Is Thomas Rawls going to be the most successful pro since…
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Based on the recruiting charts as I understand them JH’s program seems to be focused correctly on our offensive needs ,namely OL, then WR and RB.
I am a believer in it all starts with the lines O and D. I will be very happy if we can build quality depth there and still pick up several of our top recruits at LB,S, CB as well.
One thing I am finding as a learning experience is that if/when we get too many of a similar type athlete at any position this coaching crew is adept at encouraging them into other positions of need, or even processing them out of the picture. Dead wood and program player are no longer synonymous.
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In this sort of offense you have to have a strong OL. It doesn’t have to be the most talented in the world, but it does have to execute consistently. This is just reality in an offense that is focused on efficiency over explosiveness.
Of course, ideally you have both, but relative to the Baylors and OKlahomas of the world, Michigan is much further toward the efficiency spectrum.
The OL has been an issue since Hoke arrived. I’ve argued adamantly for more numbers on the OL literally every offseason. “That’s too many” many replied – and they were wrong. This is the first year where the coaching staff seems to be on the same page. The projected 7-8 man OL class is exactly what the program needs and they need to keep taking 4-6 person OL classes until the OL depth is stabilized.
Same goes for the DL to some extent but Michigan has been much better at consistently developing players under Mattison’s guidance. That guy is treasure and it’ll be a sad day when he retires.
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Absolutely. Mattison’s awesome and without him Hoke would’ve lost so many more games. Will miss him when he retires.
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Any of these guys will be fine if the OL produces holes and the passing game can consistently keep teams from loading up the box.
I think RB is the most overrated position in football and for many years I think they’ve taken too many. But I’ve backed off that a bit as the turnover in personnel at the position is quite high. If you can find that rare difference-maker it’s worth the investment.
Typically you know within a year or two what you have and the ones that fall on the depth chart tend to transfer away. If they land all 3 commits I would expect some departures from the current group of 5-6 returning backs.
………..
Dillon sounds like a boom or bust prospect and the kind of guy who requires good blocking – as most jumbo backs do. Samuels is a speed back and represents the kind of athleticism I’d like to see in the backfield. Taylor seems in the Higdon/Smith mold which every team needs – especially Harbaugh coached ones.
Thunder has talked me into hoping things with Benjamin heat up again if Harris ends up sticking with Alabama.
As for Harris – I hope we get him, but I’m skeptical he’s going to be the type of difference maker some people imagine. Maybe I’m just jaded by the history of 5-star (or close to it) RB recruits who have disappointed in maize and blue. Walker, Green, McGuffie, Kelly Baraka, Kevin Grady, Carlos Brown, Max Martin, Jerome Jackson, David Underwood… These guys tend to lose out by the Vincent Smiths, Mike Harts, Chris Perrys and Brandon Minors of the world, more often than not.
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A little early to label Kareem Walker a disappointment, no?
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Well, assuming that he didn’t play this year because of academics and other non-talent related doghouse issues, perhaps. If he didn’t see the field simply because he wasn’t showing the coaches enough, then yes, he will probably not be as good as his hype.
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Never say never but…nah – it’s not too early. He was an early enroll and if he was going to be a difference-maker we would know by now. He could end up being a quality college player of course, and there’s always the Chris Perry exception, but typically the difference makers show up as freshman and do something.
Chris Evans stood out. Walker did not, and now he’s behind several others.
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But a #1 overall recruit has never been a bust, I believe. So Najee Harris is a bit different from even Kevin Grady or Derrick Green. As I recall, many people questioned Green’s skills even when he was still in high school. No one is doing that with Harris.
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Here’s my look back at historical #1 recruits:
https://touch-the-banner.com/a-history-of-1-rated-recruits/
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Nice post, I had missed that one somehow.
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Great post!
Everyone who did not suffer severe injury problems on that list had a better career than Grady/Green, although obviously most were not running backs. Might be interesting to see how the #1 running back in each class fared; I would guess that there were a few busts in that group.
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The guy I thought was particularly disappointing was Kelly Baraka. He was/is just an incredible athlete with remarkable acceleration. That one, I thought was just a damn shame.
Antonio Bass was a tragedy to my way of thinking. Thinking about that one still makes me sad..
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Both were tragedies of a sort. Baraka couldn’t stay clean.
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This is a few years old, but it looks at the #1 running backs up until that point:
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-history-of-1-rated-tailbacks.html
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Wow you have got me covered. NIce work. Overall encouraging for Najee Harris.
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A bit different, but not that different. Thunder made went through all the top rated RBs when Derrick Green committed and that exercise led me to be excited. Green ended up a bust of course. There are no guarantees in recruiting.
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-history-of-1-rated-tailbacks.html
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Oops Thunder posted that already. My bad.
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Interesting stroll down memory lane. 4 years later.
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/02/final-ttb-ratings-for-2013.html
Nailed a few of the duds: Dukes, Dawson, Samuelson. Missed a few at the top.
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Yeah, with a couple of those guys (mainly Derrick Green), I wish I would have trusted my gut. When I researched #1 running backs, I think that sort of swayed me to bump him up higher than he should have been. And Morris’s flaws were too big to overcome.
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Ha. You swayed me too.
Interesting to me that I think the initial assessment influenced my perceptions for a while. I try to be patient with assessing young players, and Hoke kept starting Green over other backs when he was healthy. I assumed that was because his talent showed better in practice and that the lack of production was more about scheme and OL than his talent. Probably a bit of truth to that, as Green kept playing some even for Harbaugh, but in hindsight, it’s clear he just wasn’t the elite talent he was touted to be a looong time ago.
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