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7Apr 2015
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Recruiting Update: April 7, 2015

Brownsburg (IN) Brownsburg quarterback
Hunter Johnson (image via 247Sports.com)

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COMMITMENTS
Prattville (AL) Prattville running back Kingston Davis committed to Michigan (LINK).

Avon (IN) Avon quarterback Brandon Peters committed to Michigan (LINK).

Farmington (MI) Farmington fullback David Reese committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Brownsburg (IN) Brownsburg running back Toks Akinribade was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 210 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and a bunch of MAC schools. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #62 running back, and #781 overall. As a junior in 2014, he had 220 carries for 1,579 yards and 15 touchdowns. Akinribade is a solidly built running back with pretty decent speed and some good power, a solid all-around back. His teammate is 2017 quarterback Hunter Johnson (see below).

Hit the jump for several new 2016 offers, some 2017 offers, some commitments elsewhere, and some random tidbits.

Vero Beach (FL) Vero Beach defensive end Patrick Bethel was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 243 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, and Miami, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #18 strongside end, and #300 overall. Despite being listed at a very average 6’3″, he is long-limbed and lanky. He’s pretty aggressive, though, and packs quite a punch.

Sachse (TX) Sachse cornerback Donovan Duvernay was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’10”, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Baylor, Boise State, and TCU, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #69 athlete, and #974 overall. As a junior in 2014, he caught 20 passes for 452 yards and 5 touchdowns, plus he had 2 kickoff return touchdowns. His brother, Devin, is a slightly bigger receiver who’s the #38 overall prospect in the country. The twins plan to play together in college, so while Devin was offered a few weeks ago, the Wolverines basically have to take a shot with Donovan to get Devin.

Rockford (MI) Rockford kicker Quinn Nordin was offered by Michigan. Nordin is a 6’1″, 200 lb. prospect with offers from Iowa, Penn State, and several others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #1 kicker, and #1045 overall. Nordin, who also punts, could potentially be Michigan’s second scholarship kicking specialist since 2015 recruit Andrew David is coming in, but David is likely limited to placekicking in college. Nordin could do either job or both. Since the time he was offered, several 247 Sports Crystal Ball predictions have come in for Michigan, and it now stands 75% in favor of the Wolverines.

Byesville (OH) Meadowbrook offensive guard Josh Sills was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 319 lb. prospect with offers from a few MAC schools. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #71 offensive guard, and #1280 overall. Sills plays tackle for his high school team, but he plays way too high and does not have the feet to remain on the perimeter in college. In fact, he seems rather slow-footed and appears to be a bit of a reach at this juncture in the recruiting cycle.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice tight end Carter Dunaway was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’6″, 225 lb. prospect whose lone offer comes from the Wolverines. He is not ranked in the 2017 class. Dunaway is the brother of defensive end Jack Dunaway, who will be a preferred walk-on in the fall; both are the sons of Craig Dunaway, who played tight end for Michigan in the mid-1980s. They are also the former teammates of quarterback Alex Malzone and wide receiver Grant Perry, both of whom will be freshmen in the fall. I have been unable to find football highlights of Carter, but here’s a short video of him dunking (after missing his first attempt) as a scrawny eighth grader (LINK).

Brownburg (IN) Brownsburg quarterback Hunter Johnson was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 197 lb. prospect with offers from Miami, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Tennessee, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 5-star, the #1 pro-style quarterback, and #9 overall. As a sophomore in 2014, he completed 122/226 passes for 1,434 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He claims a 4.6 forty. Johnson has good arm strength and a compact, high delivery, and he also makes quick decisions. He would be an excellent pickup. Johnson was offered on campus this past weekend when he visited with 2016 running back teammate Toks Akinribade (see above). Michigan’s only other quarterback offer for 2017 so far is Coloradoan Dylan McCaffrey.

Hinesville (GA) Liberty cornerback Richard LeCounte was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’11”, 174 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, and Ohio State, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #4 athlete, and #22 overall. LeCounte could also play wide receiver or safety at the next level.

Lithia Springs (GA) Jonesboro wide receiver James “M.J.” Walker, Jr. was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 210 lb. prospect who might be better known for his basketball exploits, where he’s a 247 Composite 5-star, the #2 shooting guard, and #16 overall in the 2017 class. Walker is a jumbo wide receiver with good speed, but not great. His biggest advantage is obviously his size and ability to go up and catch the ball. It’s unclear whether he will pursue basketball or football (or both) in college.

OFF THE BOARD
North Ridgeville (OH) North Ridgeville running back Demario McCall committed to Ohio State last week. He did not hold an offer from Michigan, but he was the top guy on my list of guys that I wanted the Wolverines to offer. McCall has an element of speed that is lacking in most of the guys on Michigan’s roster. With the Buckeyes already having two 2016 running backs committed, I had hoped he might get squeezed out and end up in Ann Arbor.

Lawrenceville (GA) Archer offensive tackle E.J. Price committed to Georgia. Price grew up in Michigan, recently named the Wolverines his #1 choice, and then committed to the Bulldogs a couple weeks later. He may yet visit Michigan, which would give Jim Harbaugh a chance to flip him, but this is a disappointing development since Price is #10 offensive tackle and #77 overall player in the 2016 class.

Virginia Beach (VA) Ocean Lakes cornerback Levonta Taylor committed to Florida State. The 247 Composite 5-star and #2 cornerback expressed passing interest in the Wolverines’ offer, but he never visited, seemingly destined for the Seminoles for a while.

Folsom (CA) Folsom offensive tackle Jonah Williams committed to Alabama. Williams was offered by the Wolverines back in February and seemed excited about the offer at the time, but he had not mentioned Michigan in recent weeks.

Pompano Beach (FL) Coconut Creek cornerback Malek Young committed to Georgia. Young was offered by Michigan’s previous staff but was not pursued by the new regime.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a list of visitors from this past week/weekend (LINK). One late addition to that list is Fayetteville (NC) Sanford cornerback Mark Gilbert, who visited campus yesterday. Gilbert is a 247 Composite 3-star, the #45 cornerback, and #498 overall. He also has offers from Duke, North Carolina State, Pitt, and West Virginia, among others.

Southfield (MI) Southfield running back Matt Falcon, who holds a Michigan offer, announced a top five that includes Arizona State, Arkansas, Michigan, Oregon, and Tennessee. With the Wolverines taking a commitment from Kingston Davis, it appears they are still interested in another runner. Falcon is a little faster than Davis, although the Southfield product is still good-sized at 6’1″, 215 lbs.

Over on Recruiting Season, I added/updated profiles for:

6Apr 2015
Uncategorized 13 comments

Kingston Davis, Wolverine

Prattville (AL) Prattville running back Kingston Davis (center, image via 247 Sports)

Prattville (AL) Prattville running back Kingston Davis committed to Michigan. He chose Michigan over offers from Louisville, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Southern Miss, among others.

Davis is a 6’1″, 225 lb. prospect. As a junior in 2014, he rushed for 1,407 yards and 17 touchdowns on his way to a state championship. He claims a 4.5 forty. The quarterback on the team was Keith Washington, an incoming freshman for the Wolverines who will play corner in college.

Hit the jump for more on Davis and his commitment to Michigan.

RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: 3-star RB, #24 in Alabama
Scout: 3-star, #100 RB
247 Sports: 3-star, #3 FB, #1101 overall, #42 in Alabama

Davis was not really on Michigan’s radar until they went into Prattville for Washington, who was committed to Cal at the time. In the process of flipping Washington, they also offered Davis in early February. It was – and is – his biggest offer. In March he set up the visit for the spring game, and he apparently really enjoyed the visit. After a day or two of swirling rumors that he would commit, he tweeted it out on Monday morning.

Davis is a well developed kid (see the picture above) whose body is already prepared for college. Along with a strong upper body, he has thick thighs and a good base. As a runner, the best part of his game is that he runs with his shoulders square to the line at all times and has good body lean. He runs behind his pads and will lower his shoulder to power through tackles from linebackers and defensive backs. He also has a good feel for seeing the hole, sliding laterally to get there, and pressing upfield. Davis also shows a couple nifty spin moves in the hole, rolls out of the grasp of defenders, and even displays an occasional stiff-arm. He falls forward after contact and should gain an extra yard or two while being tackled. Meanwhile, he catches a couple passes in his highlights, including a jumping one-hander on a screen pass.

On the negative side, Davis is not a speed demon. He is a bruiser. He rarely leaves high schoolers in the dust, which means it will be even tougher for him to break away in college. Obviously, Michigan is not recruiting him for his speed. This is potentially problematic for Michigan, because the Wolverines currently lack a speed back or a home run threat out of the backfield, unless redshirt sophomore Ty Isaac can be that guy for a couple years. Some analysts have projected Davis at fullback, but he has made it clear that he wants to be a tailback in college.

Overall, Davis seems to fit what Jim Harbaugh wants in a running back – a sturdy, between-the-tackles guy who can move the pile and maybe break off a long run if blockers get a hat on a hat. Davis won’t create those plays on his own, though. I think Davis is a little quicker than De’Veon Smith and tougher to take down that Derrick Green. The first guy I thought of when watching his highlights was former Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill, who was a little bit shorter but had the same kind of game.

Michigan now has five commits in the 2016 class, including an entire backfield committed in one weekend – Davis, Reese, and quarterback Brandon Peters. Washington was the first recruit from the state of Alabama in over a decade, and now Davis gives Michigan two consecutive years with an Alabama native. Several more Alabama players have been offered, but all seem to be long shots. Michigan’s staff is scheduled to do a satellite camp in Prattville this summer, so this could be the beginning of a fruitful relationship with the deep south, a notoriously difficult area to reach for northern schools.

The 2016 class is currently scheduled to be 15 players strong, so with five guys in the fold, the class is one-third full. The total class size will surely continue to grow with attrition, early NFL departures, injuries, etc. It’s unclear right now whether Michigan will continue to recruit other running backs, although I would certainly like to see the Wolverines get the home run hitter they have been lacking in recent years.

TTB Rating: 80 (ratings explanation)

5Apr 2015
Uncategorized 16 comments

2015 Spring Game: Blue 7, Maize 0

After watching the spring game on Saturday, here are some thoughts on each position group:

QUARTERBACKS: With Wilton Speight nursing a slight injury, this was a game between Alex Malzone and Shane Morris. Malzone had the superior completion percentage, but Morris looked like the better quarterback. Malzone still has an ugly, baseball-pitcher delivery that needs to be shortened up. He looks okay on quick throws (bubble screens, etc.), but any time he has to drop back and set up, the ball drops down to waist level and takes forever to come out. That is not something that gets fixed quickly. He made some good decisions but just doesn’t have the ability to get the ball there quick enough (from a mechanical standpoint and an arm strength standpoint). Morris, meanwhile, also made some good decisions, showed nice touch on some throws we haven’t seen him make before, and generally looked calmer in the pocket. His Blue team picked on “cornerback” Dennis Norfleet a bunch, which I thought was a bit unfair. Norfleet has been practicing mostly at wide receiver, but he was playing corner due to a lack of depth with the split squads. Morris and the Blue team sent Amara Darboh and Jaron Dukes deep on him several times, both of whom are significantly taller and veteran receivers. If the season were to start today, I think Morris is definitely the guy . . . but Jake Rudock is on his way from Iowa.

Hit the jump for some feedback on the rest of the position groups.

RUNNING BACKS: De’Veon Smith had a very nice run on the first play of the scrimmage, although it was a play set up to succeed by personnel. The Maize team had Mason Cole, Blake Bars, Patrick Kugler, Kyle Kalis, and A.J. Williams at the point of attack against a front seven that included Royce Jenkins-Stone at DE, Allen Gant at SAM, and walk-on Dan Liesman at weakside linebacker. Regardless, Smith broke a tackle and got into the secondary for a 34-yard gain before getting pushed out of bounds. Otherwise, the running game was pretty paltry. Derrick Green and Ty Isaac were both limited by injuries, and fullback-ish Wyatt Shallman got a bunch of carries. Even Ross Taylor-Douglas – who has been practicing at corner – got to carry the ball. (This somehow stumped announcer Marcus Ray, who started complimenting #18 Antonio Whitfield on the run, even though Ray is a defensive backs analyst for Michigan and Taylor-Douglas wears #29.) Anyway, Smith looked the best on this day, but I still think Isaac is the best option on the team. Unfortunately, he has been nursing various injuries this spring, including a hand injury and a hamstring problem, which he tweaked on Saturday.

FULLBACKS: Michigan doesn’t have a whole lot right now outside of senior Joe Kerridge. With Sione Houma injured, the other guys don’t look effective. Shallman whiffed badly on at least one blown pass protection.

WIDE RECEIVERS: The Maize team was trying hard to get the ball to Jehu Chesson early on in the scrimmage, and the new coaching staff seems to like his abilities. They also called for him to throw two passes on trick plays, one of which he completed. Amara Darboh was the leading receiver for the Blue team, but again, he was largely picking on Norfleet. Freshman Brian Cole looked the part of a freshman at times, and it does not appear that he was called on to block much in high school; on one screen play, Cole was knocked on his butt by Blake Countess, who then made the tackle. Redshirt freshman Maurice Ways also looks the part, but he has an issue with drops, which is consistent with his high school scouting reports. Aside from redshirt freshman Drake Harris, the receiving corps was mostly intact, so Michigan’s lack of noteworthy talents at receiver is a bit concerning. This is a team that is going to have to find success on the ground and take advantage of some play action through the air. As of right now, I don’t think any of these receivers will surpass 800 yards, but there will be a few in the 400-700 yard range.

TIGHT END: Jake Butt was hampered by the lack of a running threat, so he got hit on some short throws pretty quickly. We know what we have in him. I thought A.J. Williams did a better job as a blocker than we have seen him do in the past, which is a good thing. Ian Bunting and Chase Winovich are both thin right now, and Winovich had an ugly drop on a drag route. Bunting can be a receiving threat this year, though, and should be a pretty good weapon once he packs on a few more pounds. I think he can help out this year as a move tight end, but not with his hand in the dirt.

OFFENSIVE LINE: I have heard good things about Logan Tuley-Tillman this spring, but he seemed to be making lots of mental mistakes. Juwann Bushell-Beatty looked very slow off the line. This is a group that I think has a pretty solid core, but ability drops off rather quickly. Mason Cole, Ben Braden, Graham Glasgow, Kyle Kalis, and Erik Magnuson look like the best five. Kugler looked better than I expected, based on scouting reports, and I thought David Dawson and Blake Bars looked just okay.

DEFENSIVE LINE: We generally know what we have here, but the one guy I really liked was Lawrence Marshall. He’s still a little bit on the thin side, but he has the length and the explosiveness to be an asset on the edge for a team that is lacking pass rushers. Willie Henry did not seem to be giving 100%, which is one of his struggles. But when game time comes around, he’s bound to be a good one. Jenkins-Stone is pretty undersized and seems to be playing defensive end out of necessity. His presence on the line reminds me of the Rich Rodriguez years, when a guy like Adam Patterson was playing nose tackle. Things aren’t that  bad, but Michigan needs defensive ends. Luckily, they’ll get a bit of help in the fall from freshmen Shelton Johnson and Reuben Jones, plus Taco Charlton should be healthy by the fall.

LINEBACKER: Michigan had several injuries at the linebacker positions, including James Ross and Mike McCray. That allowed players like Gant and Liesman to get more playing time. Generally, Michigan has four seniors and should be in good shape with five starter-quality guys. Desmond Morgan made an interception, and both he and Joe Bolden were giving the offensive line fits. Noah Furbush has also missed the spring with an injury. Mario Ojemudia is a defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid, depending on the front, but he missed the last couple weeks of spring practice with a leg injury.

CORNERBACK: Despite an overall lack of depth, I was very encouraged by the play of the cornerbacks. Blake Countess and Jourdan Lewis both look good, and Countess looks more physical at the line of scrimmage, which was an issue last year. Brandon Watson also made an outstanding interception on a Malzone-to-Ways pass in which Watson raked the ball out and possessed it before rolling out of bounds. Watson might not be the fastest guy around, but he is known for physicality and has long arms that can help him on plays exactly like what he showed.

SAFETY: The safeties weren’t tested much in the game, but they generally fared well. Jabrill Peppers batted a pass, Delano Hill made an interception, and Jeremy Clark looked physical as a defender in tight spaces. Michigan’s combination of quarterbacks and receivers was bound to put more pressure on short areas and the corners than the safeties.

OVERALL
It was fun to watch some actual competition going on in the spring game. It was difficult to gauge units, because both teams were split up between starters and backups. Also, Michigan had numerous injuries, but some of those guys probably would have been available if it were a game and not a spring scrimmage. Even so, it was a physical game and even the quarterbacks had to scramble for safety since they were live. Previously, Brady Hoke had the referees blow a quick whistle when a defender got within arm’s reach of the QB.

Michigan will not be an elite team this year, and I don’t think many people expect they will be. There aren’t enough playmakers, especially as pass rushers and wide receivers. I think the offensive line will be above average, and Michigan has a few quality running backs. Whoever the quarterback will be has to make sure to minimize mistakes. The defense is pretty good from top to bottom, and I would guess they’ll be a top-25 unit this coming season. If the Wolverines can stay healthy on the offensive line and at running back, a game manager at quarterback (probably Jake Rudock) can get this team to 8 or 9 wins.