2019 Season Countdown: #66 Jalen Perry

2019 Season Countdown: #66 Jalen Perry


June 26, 2019
Jalen Perry (image via Wolverines Wire)

I just finished reading Foreign Influence by Brad Thor, which you can find on Amazon if you’re interested:

Name: Jalen Perry
Height:
6’1″
Weight:
185 lbs.
High school:
Dacula (GA) Dacula
Position:
Cornerback
Class:
Freshman
Jersey number:
N/A
Last year:
Perry was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 28 tackles, 3 interceptions (1 TD), and 12 pass breakups; he ran 42 times for 332 yards and caught 26 passes for 297 yards, totaling 5 touchdowns.
TTB Rating:
88

Perry, a one-time Georgia commit, picked the Wolverines in November of 2018. I never had the time to do a commitment post on him, since it was near the end of football season, and then the holidays happened, etc. So this might be the first you’ve read any kind of assessment of him from me.

Anyway, I like Perry a good amount. He has size, speed, athleticism, physicality, ball skills, and all the things you want from a cornerback prospect. Considering Michigan’s track record of developing cornerbacks over the past several years, good things are likely to happen. This season it will be tough to get on the field much, because Lavert Hill and Ambry Thomas are the starters. But a year from now, Perry should be pushing for playing time, and I think the coaching staff will start to get his feet wet this fall.

Prediction: Backup cornerback

7 comments

  1. Comments: 79
    Joined: 10/3/2015
    UM2013
    Jun 26, 2019 at 10:21 AM

    Obviously his is tough to separate, but would be curious to hear your thoughts with regard to how much of Perry’s grade is based on Zordich’s track record / playing in Don Brown’s defense. I.e., if Perry had been recruited during the Rich Rod years, would he be an 80? 70?

    It also feels like it’s becoming more difficult over time to guage how much of Michigan’s DB success is due to the defensive scheme vs. the individual talent of that player. I thought Jourdan Lewis was an all-time corner during his senior year at Michigan (and he was undoubtedly great) but after the success of Hill, Long (and even Watson) I’m now wondering if his individual talent was a tad overrated.

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Jun 26, 2019 at 10:33 AM

      Everything is context-dependent. His grade might be lower if there were more/more talented defensive backs ahead of him. It also might be lower if the coaching staff were worse. How much lower? I don’t know.

      I still think we can gauge the talent of Michigan’s defensive backs. Brandon Watson and Channing Stribling went undrafted, and both of them were 3-star recruits. Jourdan Lewis and David Long both got picked in the top half of the NFL Draft, and they were both 4-star recruits. Jeremy Clark was a bit of an outlier, obviously, but there are always going to be outliers.

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Jun 26, 2019 at 10:37 AM

      Also, Jourdan Lewis was pretty good in 2014 under Greg Mattison. And better under D.J. Durkin in 2015. And even better in 2016 under Don Brown. Maybe that’s coaching, or maybe it’s simply progression with experience.

      Every player is a system player of some sort. Tom Brady wouldn’t be good in a zone read options, and Vince Young wouldn’t have been himself in Lloyd Carr’s offense. Ronde Barber was a good Tampa 2 corner, but he wouldn’t have been as good in man-to-man.

      • Comments: 79
        Joined: 10/3/2015
        UM2013
        Jun 26, 2019 at 12:10 PM

        All good points. Agree that every player is a “system player” to some extent, although obviously the top players would succeed in any system. Just seems like Michigan’s scheme puts a high floor on the success of the pass defense – there are very few college teams built to succeed against the combination of press-man / frequent blitzing, regardless of the individual talent of the corners. As we witness against OSU and Florida, however, when Michigan struggles to generate pressure having superior athletes becomes imperative.

        Just out of curiousity, how would you rank Lewis’s senior year against Long and Hill’s junior years?

        • Comments: 3844
          Joined: 7/13/2015
          Jun 26, 2019 at 12:17 PM

          I would say Long had a better 2018 than Lewis had a 2016, mainly because of the way things ended for Lewis against Florida State. And I would put Hill’s 2018 at #3 on that list.

        • Comments: 6285
          Joined: 8/11/2015
          Lanknows
          Jun 26, 2019 at 10:16 PM

          I’d put Lewis ahead because the secondary got shredded worse at the end of 2018. We can pin that on individual failings (Watson) but it’s a team deal and Hill/Long/Thomas didn’t force Brown into keeping him off the field. Lewis carried a bigger load on a better defense and was a consensus all american.

          • Comments: 1863
            Joined: 1/19/2016
            je93
            Jun 26, 2019 at 10:29 PM

            Agree it’s a team deal. And the 2018 Secondary didn’t have a Maurice Hurst caving in the middle of the Line, supplementing the DEs screaming off the edge. Mo was a pretty big deal

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