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| Former USC running back Ty Isaac could end up in a Michigan uniform. |
In case you missed it, USC rising sophomore running back Ty Isaac has been granted his release to leave and return closer to home, reportedly due to an ill mother. The most important thing in this story is that he has a sick mother, and while the details are unknown to me at this point, I certainly hope she regains her health. As a member of the 2013 class, Isaac was afraid of moving away from his Illinois home for family reasons, so it’s unfortunate that he has to go through this transfer/recruiting process again so soon.
As for the football aspect, Michigan made Isaac a top priority when he was coming out of Joliet (IL) Catholic and only started to press for Derrick Green after Isaac started to drift away from the Wolverines. Michigan ended up getting Green and De’Veon Smith in the 2013 class, both of whom played as freshmen and will be true sophomores this fall. Meanwhile, Isaac had 40 carries for 236 yards (5.9 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns for the Trojans. He was behind a couple older players as well as fellow freshman Justin Davis, but while Isaac had the fewest carries, all of them performed well while sharing time.
My scouting report on Isaac (LINK) indicated that he has good size, speed, and vision but lacked the power you might expect from a back as big as he is (6’3″, 225 lbs.). Green and Smith have failed to separate themselves from the competition of Justice Hayes and Drake Johnson, so in my opinion, the presence of Isaac would help Michigan’s backfield. Early reports say that Illinois, Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Northwestern have all made contact and have a decent chance; Notre Dame, another front-runner in his high school recruitment, might also be in the mix, but they could be nixed by USC since they’re on the Trojans’ schedule.
Michigan has scholarships to give after the 2014 class was signed, and Isaac could very well earn a waiver to play in 2014, much like Tennessee-to-Michigan State receiver DeAnthony Arnett did last year. If Isaac were to decide on wearing a winged helmet, he could conceivably be a starter by this fall. I don’t do TTB Ratings for players who don’t commit to Michigan, but I would have ranked Isaac higher than both Green and Smith in the 2013 class. He’s a more natural runner than Green and has more breakaway ability than Smith.
The Wolverines have historically struggled to pull in transfers (Alabama center Chad Lindsay being a cautionary tale for getting up hopes), partly because of their admissions department. But unlike getting a grad year transfer, Isaac is just a rising sophomore, so getting him into an undergrad program should not be a huge issue. I am skeptical that anything in Michigan’s favor happens, but I do believe he would be a highly desirable addition to Michigan’s program from a football standpoint.
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Yeah. I just don't want to jinx Michigan by saying anything in Michigan's favor either nowadays. Hope everything works out. I hope he doesn't make a bad life choice by going to Northwestern, Illinois, or Ohio.
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Northwestern would be a "bad life choice"? You couldn't possibly be talking about NU's superb graduation rate and academics, the football program's family atmosphere, and the fact that his teammates (the vast majority of them, anyway) are standout citizens. You must be referring to the fact that he may or may not have a better chance to achieve greatness at Michigan and become an NFL running back, which, if he's fortunate, will be a three-year career.
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Would think he would go to the school where he would be the featured back immediately and that would seem like NW and Illinois first.
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Or, depending on where home is in Illinois, then to Wisconsin.
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Waste of a scholie. If he were anywhere near as good as touted, he would have shown it last year. In no sense can he be considered "rising"
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Well, he averaged 5.9 yards/carry and scored a couple touchdowns. Also, he's going from his freshman year to his sophomore year, which is what the term "rising sophomore" means.
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He saw very limited action, most of it not in prime time, so his YPC average isn't very telling. And if that's a ",rising sophomore", I'm not sure what other kind there is. Every sophomore is going from their freshman year to their sophomore year. But it doesn't necessarily mean that their talent and production is "rising". A RB who is actually a 5 star level talent would have been making more of an impact as a freshman.
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I disagree with your last statement.
And "rising sophomore" is language in the education world for somebody who is between years, to indicate what they're going to be the following year. It attempts to eliminate questions like "Wait, was he a sophomore last year or will he be a sophomore in the fall?" It means nothing more than that. I don't know why that term requires such a lengthy discussion.
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Of Rivals 5-stars in 2013, Thomas Tyner was more productive than Isaac; Taquan Mizzell, Greg Bryant, and Derrick Green were less productive.
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Pursuing this kid makes sense, assuming that Hoke does due diligence on his motivation, mentality, etc. As Thunder points out, RB is far from settled, and the fact that Justice Hayes is in the mix is a poor sign – that guy is not a UM level RB. I love that Green is getting into shape, but if he cannot figure out how to break a tackle, he is not going to cut it. I like Smith, but he needs a good complementary player. Transfers are great, low-risk additions because you have more relevant film on a player and another team invested the resources into the early training. Isaac would be a no-brainer with his talent.
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It's definitely worth the flyer if we can get him. There's no down side to it. Increased competition is always good. Besides, he brings a dimension that we don't have. Currently we have Green who the jury is still out on because he doesn't make people miss, he doesn't have breakaway speed, and he struggles in the passing game both catching and blocking. In Smith, he's a good receiver out of the backfield, but he isn't as talented of a runner as Green overall. The rest of our RB's are nothing more than "roster fillers". Isaac is supposedly a good hands guy with breakaway speed. He may not run over people, but he does add those 2 important dimensions to the offense. Lastly, if Coach Nuss is going to run his offense like Bama did, then you need to good RB's. Adding a 3rd quality RB covers us against injuries.
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It's definitely worth the flyer if we can get him. There's no down side to it. Increased competition is always good. Besides, he brings a dimension that we don't have. Currently we have Green who the jury is still out on because he doesn't make people miss, he doesn't have breakaway speed, and he struggles in the passing game both catching and blocking. In Smith, he's a good receiver out of the backfield, but he isn't as talented of a runner as Green overall. The rest of our RB's are nothing more than "roster fillers". Isaac is supposedly a good hands guy with breakaway speed. He may not run over people, but he does add those 2 important dimensions to the offense. Lastly, if Coach Nuss is going to run his offense like Bama did, then you need to good RB's. Adding a 3rd quality RB covers us against injuries.
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