Tag: Erik Magnuson

Recruit Tracker: The Remaining Few

Royce Jenkins-Stone carries the ball against Eisenhower (image via here)

Mailbag: Does Hoke deserve blame for lack of OL depth?

Do you think Hoke deserves any blame for not going after OL/DL last year? I realize time was short, but he managed to snag a QB, TE, DE and LB – guys that hadn’t been targeted before.
Shouldn’t he have seen the potential train-wreck coming at OL and tried to address the situation? I’d imagine there were some marginal 3-star types available that could have at least contributed to depth. DT is probably a different story – since competition is so stiff and freshman can contribute right away. But OL…the needs been there for a long time. Besides Rodriguez’s class of 6 guys in ’08 Michigan has under-recruited the OL position since 2005 (no more than 3 OL in a class). Rodriguez recognized the need and immediately worked to rectify it. Yeah, he had more time, but we didn’t even hear of any new names pop up at OL in the 2011 class.

I think that Rodriguez deserves a little less blame for the OL situation. 1st, he was forced by Carr into recruiting a giant OL class in ’08. with all the other needs around he couldn’t keep taking 5 guys a year. So, the small OL classes in 09 and 10 were somewhat justifiable. 2011 was looking strong but the transition cost UM Fisher and probably some other OL recruit. I don’t think it’s all on him that the ’09 and ’10 OL classes now look to be so damaging.

The question above comes from a commenter in Tuesday’s recruiting update post.

No, I don’t think Brady Hoke deserves blame for not going after offensive linemen and defensive linemen last year.  First of all, he was hired less than a month before National Signing Day.  With that short of a start, I don’t think he can really accept any blame whatsoever.  But secondly, he did  go after linemen.  Hoke offered:

• Ohio DE/DT Keith Heitzman (Michigan)
• New Jersey DE Max Issaka (Rutgers)
• Arizona OT Ryan Nowicki (Penn State)
• Florida DT Trevarris Saulsberry (Tennessee)
• Florida DE Jordan Williams (Tennessee)

Furthermore, he continued to recruit former Michigan commit Jake Fisher, who ended up signing with Oregon.  I got the feeling that the new coaches were really pushing for Fisher and wanting to make him believe that he was their priority at the position.  The fact that Fisher chose Oregon was very disappointing to me, because I think Fisher is going to be an excellent lineman and he has already earned solid reviews in Eugene.

Rodriguez offered just 17 linemen in the class of 2010; one committed (center Christian Pace, who has since left the program).  Rodriguez offered just 13 linemen in the class of 2009; three committed (Taylor Lewan, Michael Schofield, and Quinton Washington, who has switched to defensive tackle).  Furthermore, by the time Rodriguez was fired in January 2011, he only had three offensive linemen committed (Fisher, Jack Miller, and Tony Posada).

The offensive line recruiting at this point has nothing to do with Lloyd Carr.  Carr left behind a mediocre group (Justin Boren, David Molk, and Steve Schilling along with a bunch of journeyman types), but Rodriguez had a few years to fix it.  And while Rodriguez did a decent job of bringing in talent, he clearly didn’t bring in enough of it.  This roster is full of Rodriguez recruits, Mark Huyge, David Molk, Rocko Khoury, and Elliott Mealer; Lloyd Carr hasn’t coached a game since January 1, 2008, yet two starters and two key backups remain from his regime.  Here’s a breakdown of who’s responsible for the expected 2012 offensive line:

• Carr: Rocko Khoury, Elliott Mealer
• Rodriguez: Ricky Barnum, Chris Bryant, Taylor Lewan, Jack Miller, Patrick Omameh, Michael Schofield
• Hoke: Blake Bars, Ben Braden, Kyle Kalis, Erik Magnuson, Caleb Stacey (plus a presumed sixth commit)

Lastly, you state that Rodriguez had so many other needs that he couldn’t commit more scholarships to linemen.  I think that’s a farce.  Every team has 85 scholarships to use.  Every team needs roughly the same number of cornerbacks, receivers, quarterbacks, etc.  Rodriguez had five slot receivers on the roster by the time he started recruiting for 2011 (Martavious Odoms, Jeremy Gallon, Terrence Robinson, Drew Dileo, and D.J. Williamson), yet he still offered five more slot receivers for the 2011 class.  Virtually every coach – except perhaps Rodriguez – would tell you that offensive linemen are more important than slot receivers, but Rodriguez whiffed on too many offensive linemen in the class of 2011.  After taking only one in 2010, he was on his way to taking only three in 2011.  The position group was going to continue to be thin under Rodriguez.  We’re talking about a difference of one guy (Fisher) between the current team and the team Rodriguez would have had.

With all that out of the way, take a look at what Hoke is doing now.  He threw out a late offer to Nowicki and didn’t get him.  Rather than poaching 3-star linemen from places like Vanderbilt and Purdue, he decided to throw himself into grabbing 4- and 5-star linemen for the class of 2012.  The Wolverines have enough depth for the 2011 season, so we’re talking about 2012 (and beyond).  Is a 3-star redshirt freshman loads better than a true freshman Kyle Kalis or Erik Magnuson?  Yes, it’s ideal that every lineman redshirts, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily take age over talent.

The 2012 offensive line looks to be:

LT: Taylor Lewan
LG: Ricky Barnum
C: Rocko Khoury
RG: Patrick Omameh
RT: Michael Schofield

The backups will be Elliott Mealer, Jack Miller, and Chris Bryant, plus a bunch of freshmen.  It looks like a pretty good starting offensive line, but whether the next guy in is a 3-star redshirt freshman or a 4-star true freshman, there’s bound to be a significant drop-off.

I don’t blame Hoke for any of the 2011 recruiting class, but I give him credit for Russell Bellomy, Tamani Carter, Keith Heitzman, Antonio Poole, and Matt Wile.  I also don’t blame Rodriguez for not getting a viable quarterback in 2008, but I do give him credit for pulling in Ricky Barnum, Justin Feagin, J.T. Floyd, Taylor Hill, Martavious Odoms, Patrick Omameh, Terrence Robinson, Roy Roundtree, and Brandon Smith.  But I will hold Hoke responsible if any of those five players wash out, just like I blame Rodriguez for wasting scholarships on Feagin, Hill, and Smith.

Recruiting Update: October 19, 2011

California WR Jordan Payton

OFF THE BOARD

This guy was already off the board, but Fairless Hills (PA) Pennsbury OT J.J. Denman flipped his commitment from Penn State to Wisconsin.  The 6’6″, 305 lb. lineman would appear to fit in well at Wisconsin.  Frankly, I can’t think of a single reason for an offensive lineman not to choose to attend Wisconsin right now.  The Badgers have churned out solid offensive linemen over the last several years, including first round picks Joe Thomas (Cleveland Browns) and Gabe Carimi (Chicago Bears); they win all the time and put up all kinds of points; and they get to eat whatever they want.  What’s not to like?

POTENTIAL COMMITMENT

Westlake Village (CA) Oaks Christian WR Jordan Payton has set his announcement date for next Tuesday, October 25th.  Payton was formerly committed to USC, and has since been rumored to be a Cal or Michigan lean.  Most recent reports have him leaning toward Michigan.  The 6’2″, 199 lb. wideout will be visiting Notre Dame this coming weekend, but the fact that he set his announcement date for immediately following his visit to South Bend suggests that he has already made his decision.  Payton has decent speed, but perhaps more importantly, he knows how to catch the ball and get upfield.  He understands body positioning and body lean and will get every inch that’s available to him.  He probably won’t be a superstar at the next level, but he could be a very good #2 receiver.

ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL ROSTERS

Since the first waves of offers from the new coaching staff were sent out earlier this year, I noticed that Coach Hoke and Co. seemed to be offering elite players in higher quantities.  That observation has been borne out in numerous ways so far, including the Rivals 250, the Scout 300, the 24/7 Top 247, etc.  To add to the mounting list of evidence, I submit more data for the argument that Michigan is targeting higher quality players than they were under Rich Rodriguez:

Last year 25 of the Army All-American Bowl players sported Michigan offers.  While the 2012 game’s rosters have yet to be completed, 50 of the planned participants have offers to play football in Ann Arbor.  Only five of those 50 have committed to Michigan at this point (OG Kyle Kalis, OT Erik Magnuson, LB Royce Jenkins-Stone, LB James Ross, and DT Ondre Pipkins), but if AAB rosters are any indication of elite talent, then Michigan’s going after it in spades.

Aside from the four aforementioned players, Michigan still has a good shot at landing the following participants:

• OT Zach Banner
• WR Jordan Payton
• CB Yuri Wright

New Rivals 100 Released

Kyle Kalis is Michigan’s top rated recruit at #22 overall

The new Rivals 100 has been released for the class of 2012, and there have been some minor shakeups and one big leap.

Here’s what it looked like back in May . . .

. . . and some of the changes for Michigan commits:

– Kyle Kalis dropped from #18 to #22

– Erik Magnuson dropped from #34 to #44

– Ondre Pipkins jumped from #246 to #53

– Royce Jenkins-Stone dropped from #87 to #97

And if you’re interested in how it looks for Michigan offerees altogether, take a look at the list below:

5-stars:
1. Dorial Green-Beckham – WR – Missouri
2. Mario Edwards – DE – Texas (Florida State)
3. D.J. Humphries – OT – North Carolina (Florida)
4. Eddie Goldman – DT – Washington, D.C.
5. Darius Hamilton – DE – New Jersey
8. Stefon Diggs – WR – Maryland
9. John Theus – OT – Florida (Georgia)
10. Ellis McCarthy – DT – California
11. Nelson Agholor – S – Florida
15. Gunner Kiel – QB – Indiana (Indiana)
16. Noah Spence – DE – Pennsylvania
18. Andrus Peat – OT – Arizona
21. Aziz Shittu – DT – California

4-stars:
22. Kyle Kalis – OG – Ohio (Michigan)
24. Joshua Garnett – OG – Washington
26. Arik Armstead – DE – California (USC)
29. Kyle Murphy – OT – California
36. Jordan Simmons – OG – California
38. Zach Banner – OT – Washington
40. Tommy Schutt – DT – Illinois (Penn State)
43. Durron Neal – WR – Missouri (Oklahoma)
44. Erik Magnuson – OT – California (Michigan)
47. Jonathan Taylor – DT – Georgia (Georgia)
48. Deon Bush – CB – Florida
49. Devin Fuller – QB – New Jersey
50. Avery Young – OT – Florida
51. Yuri Wright – CB – New Jersey
52. Jabari Ruffin – LB – California (USC)
53. Ondre Pipkins – DT – Missouri (Michigan)
55. Kent Taylor – TE – Florida
57. Geno Smith – CB – Georgia (Alabama)
59. Zach Kline – QB – California (Cal)
60. Avery Johnson – WR – Florida (LSU)
61. Ifeadi Odenigbo – DE – Ohio
62. Marcus Maye – S – Florida (Florida)
63. Tee Shepard – CB – California (Notre Dame)
64. Kendall Sanders – CB – Texas (Oklahoma State)
65. Keith Marshall – RB – North Carolina
66. Jordan Jenkins – DE – Georgia (Georgia)
68. Eli Harold – DE – Virginia (Virginia)
71. Tyriq McCord – DE – Florida
74. Adolphus Washington – DE – Ohio
77. Ronald Darby – CB – Maryland (Notre Dame)
78. Jarron Jones – DT – New York
79. Chris Muller – OT – Pennsylvania (Rutgers)
80. Se’von Pittman – DE – Ohio (Michigan State)
84. D.J. Foster – CB – Arizona
85. Brian Poole – CB – Florida (Florida)
89. John Michael McGee – OG – Texas (Oklahoma)
90. Taylor McNamara – TE – California (Arizona)
95. Derrick Woods – WR – California
97. Royce Jenkins-Stone – LB – Michigan (Michigan)
98. Dominique Wheeler – WR – Texas (Texas Tech)
100. Bryce Treggs – WR – California (California)

247 Sports’ Top 100

Michigan commit Kyle Kalis is the #40 player in the nation.

247 Sports re-ranked their top 100 recently, and there are some changes to note (find previous rankings here):

– Michigan commit CB Terry Richardson dropped from #31 out of the top 100.

– Michigan commit (and former Ohio State commit) moved up from #52 to #40.

– Michigan commit LB James Ross dropped from #84 to #100.

– Michigan commit OT Erik Magnuson jumped from #85 to #63.

– Michigan commit DT Ondre Pipkins jumped from #149 to #88.

The new ratings of Michigan offerees:

5-stars
1. Arik Armstead – OT – California (USC)
2. Dorial Green-Beckham – WR – Missouri
3. Eddie Goldman – DT – Washington, DC
5. Andrus Peat – OT – Arizona
7. Kyle Murphy – OT – California
8. John Theus – OT – Florida (Georgia)
9. Keith Marshall – RB – North Carolina
10. Stefon Diggs – WR – Maryland
12. Gunner Kiel – QB – Indiana (Indiana)
14. D.J. Humphries – OT – North Carolina (Florida)
15. Mario Edwards – DE – Texas (Florida State)
16. Noah Spence – DE – Pennsylvania
18. Yuri Wright – CB – New Jersey
20. Devin Fuller – QB – New Jersey
22. Darius Hamilton – DE – New Jersey
23. Jarron Jones – DT – New York

4-stars
24. Nelson Agholor – S – Florida
26. Jordan Jenkins – DE – Georgia
28. Ellis McCarthy – DT – California
30. Dan Voltz – OT – Illinois (Wisconsin)
32. Geno Smith – CB – Georgia
34. Eli Harold – DE – Virginia (Virginia)
39. Joshua Garnett – OG – Washington
40. Kyle Kalis – OG – Ohio (Michigan)
45. Javonte Magee – DE – Texas
46. Tee Shepard – CB – California (Notre Dame)
49. Ifeadi Odenigbo – DE – Ohio
54. Dillon Lee – LB – Georgia (Alabama)
56. Chris Wormley – DE – Ohio (Michigan)
58. Kwon Alexander – LB – Alabama
59. Armani Reeves – CB – Massachusetts
60. Jordan Diamond – OT – Illinois
63. Erik Magnuson – OT – California (Michigan)
64. Jonathan Taylor – DT – Georgia (Georgia)
66. Ronald Darby – CB – Maryland (Notre Dame)
70. Zach Kline – QB – California (Cal)
72. Brock Stadnik – OT – North Carolina (South Carolina)
73. Sheldon Day – DT – Indiana (Notre Dame)
74. Durron Neal – WR – Missouri (Oklahoma)
77. Jabari Ruffin – LB – California (USC)
78. Elijah Shumate – S – New Jersey
80. Connor Brewer – QB – Arizona (Texas)
81. Dominique Wheeler – WR – Texas (Texas Tech)
87. Aaron Burbridge – WR – Michigan (Michigan State)
88. Ondre Pipkins – DT – Missouri (Michigan)
89. Cyrus Jones – CB – Maryland
90. Jordan Simmons – OG – California
92. LaDarrell McNeill – S – Texas
93. Tommy Schutt – DT – Illinois (Penn State)
96. Drew Harris – RB – Pennsylvania
98. Zeke Pike – QB – Kentucky (Auburn)
99. Bryce Treggs – WR – California
100. James Ross – LB – Michigan (Michigan)