Brooklyn (NY) Poly offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson (image via Rivals)
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NOTE: This is the skeleton of a commitment post I had begun writing for Isaiah Wilson. I had my Crystal Ball on him to pick Michigan, and the late swing to Georgia surprised a lot of people in the Michigan recruiting sphere. So I had some notes going, as well as a bit of a scouting report. Naysayers will say that I’m throwing this stuff out there only because he committed elsewhere, but I guarantee what’s below was written prior to his public commitment to the Bulldogs.
Wilson is listed at 6’7″, 355 lbs. He claims a 5.6 forty.
RATINGS
ESPN: 5-star, 93 grade, #2 OT, #2 overall
Rivals: 5-star, #2 OT, #6 overall
Scout: 4-star, #9 OT, #49 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 94 grade, #12 OT, #103 overall
Hit the jump for more.
Obviously, Wilson is a massive human being at 6’7″, 355 lbs. At that size the most impressive thing about him is his ability to bend his knees and maintain leverage against much smaller players. That will come in handy when he’s facing even bigger players in college, so it’s great that he already possesses a skill that someone like the 6’5″ William Campbell didn’t really master on a consistent basis. Wilson’s wingspan and nifty feet make him an ideal left tackle prospect, but he also has the quickness to pull if Michigan wants to lead him out on sweeps or reintroduce the counter trey that Michigan loved so much in the 1990s. Wilson can also work up to the second level, and he can be devastating against smaller defenders since he’ll outweigh most linebackers by 100 lbs. or so.
I’m going to be a little judgmental here and say that one red flag for me is his Twitter handle, which is @_LayZay_, obviously a play on his name being Isaiah. Maybe it’s irrelevant or coincidental, but combined with his physique – which needs some work – I can’t help thinking that someone who embraces a handle with an implication of being “lazy” might have some issues with motivation. Looking at it from the opposite side, I can’t imagine someone who wants to be known for hard work and determination would choose “Lay Zay” or “Lazy Larry” or anything like it for his social media handle. I might not be inclined to mention this if it were not for some bad weight he carries. In addition to the fact that Wilson doesn’t consistently play through the whistle, even on his highlights. One reason for that may be that Wilson played offense and defense, which would naturally get tiring for anyone his size, even if they’re well conditioned. Still, the red flag exists. Also, Wilson is not a polished offensive lineman and needs to refine his technique, although his athleticism and size could hold off many of the opponents he would face in the bottom half of a season schedule.
When I look at Wilson, I’m reminded of former Alabama left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio, who is now with the Buffalo Bills. Kouandjio was the top lineman in his recruiting class and became a 2nd round pick by Buffalo in 2014. Wilson has first round and All-American potential, but it all depends on how well he develops over the next three or four years.
Where does Michigan go from here? Well, Steve Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball for Highland Springs (VA) Highland Springs offensive tackle Mekhi Becton to Michigan right after Wilson committed to Georgia, and he seems like a likely fallback plan. It also increases the importance of landing Aledo (TX) Aledo offensive tackle Chuck Filiaga and maintaining the commitment of Plantation (FL) American Heritage lineman Kai-Leon Herbert. Herbert’s teammate, Tedarrell Slaton, has some academic work to do and reportedly wants to play nose tackle in college, so I’m not sure how much it helps Michigan’s offensive line to keep recruiting him. Also, Slaton is more of a guard prospect on offense, so as far as tackle depth goes, the best he could do is take hold of an interior position to prevent Michigan from having to move a tackle inside.
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I’d take Slaton as a nose tackle in a heartbeat, then I’d go talk to Paea about guard.
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Thunder, in your opinion, is Becton a higher floor/ lower ceiling prospect compared to Wilson or just a 1A to 1B with not a significant drop off? I think if I remember correctly, both are HUGE tackles…
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I hope there’s not much drop off; we really need done OTs to pan out, and bad!
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What about another option? lower ceiling, lower floor, not as good.
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Yes, both are huge. Becton is 6’7″, 340 lbs., so he’s only about 15 pounds lighter than Wilson. But Becton just isn’t on Wilson’s level when it comes to athleticism, knee bend, etc. He’s a taller Juwann Bushell-Beatty in some ways, though not quite as sloppy physically.
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Huge huge loss for the class. Yes, they will probably find someone else to fill the spot at tackle and said player could be better than Wilson – that’s the nature of recruiting. But if you’re going to celebrate landing em, you have to be disappointed when you lose em.
So it goes at times, but considering OT is arguably the #1 need in this recruiting class, with both starters departing and an immediate need, losing a guy with all american potential from within the Big Ten footprint (ish) stings quite a bit.
Other than the paper thin ‘red flag’, the evaluation is actually very favorable by Thunder’s standards. And OL is notoriously tough to predict.
As for the rest of the class. Herbert needs to be a priority and Slaton should be pursued aggressively. Michigan badly needs another interior DL. Slaton fits the Onwenu profile of a potential 2-way player.
The way to attack this OL deficiency is through numbers. That was true with Wilson or without, but losing a 5-star and (probably) replacing him with a 3-star is almost always a step back for the program, at least for those of us who follow recruiting closely.
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Yeah I feel like I’m crazy. I have seen people saying oh well on to the next guy. What another low rated guy? Cool. We are in desperate need and all we can reel in are Minnesota level guys. This stings a lot in my opinion. With Herbert on the fence and now we are on plan C type of guys I’m worried. But what the hell do I know?
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Minnesota? Come on, that’s a bit of a stretch. I’m sure our OL haul will finish among the tpp 2-3 in the B1G
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Oh you’re right. Their 3 star is ranked higher than our 3 star guys.
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I hear you, we should be getting some of the elite recruits given the opportunity. But Minnesota level – that’s an exaggeration. Anyway, OL rankings are less meaningful than other positions. I’ll take a 3-star this staff likes over a 4-star any day.
It’s not all doom and gloom. I am very encouraged that this staff seems poised to take 7 OL. It’s exactly what’s needed. Would be nice if some were blue chip, but the more important thing is getting numbers.
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What would Wilson’s TTB rating have been (had he committed to Michigan)?
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As Extrajuice said, I usually don’t give out ratings for guys who don’t commit. But he probably would have been in the low 90s, maybe high 80s.
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BAM!
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I don’t think Thunder will reveal that. But, he’ll probably give us a range! I’ll take a guess, 80’s.
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I tend to agree with your analysis. He is blessed with great physical attributes but will have to work a lot harder to dominate against better competition. Speaking of that, seems like the geographical area that he played in they don’t tend to send players to Division One schools very often. I think Will Campbell would actually be a good comparison for this guy unless he really motivates himself (I think that might be harder to do in SEC country with his “buddies” around him).
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