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Recruiting Update: March 23, 2015

Mililani (HI) Mililani running back Vavae Malepeai

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ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Montgomery (AL) Carver defensive end Marlon Davidson was offered by Michigan. Davidson is a 6’4″, 260 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, and Georgia, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 5-star, the #3 strongside end, and #27 overall. He claims a 4.9 forty. Davidson looks like a 3-4 defensive end or perhaps a defensive tackle at the next level. His technique is inconsistent, but he’s a big boy who can run and shows some good aggression. His brother, Kenneth Carter, was a former defensive tackle at Auburn from 2010-2013, and Davidson is widely considered to be a shoo-in for the Tigers.

Camden (NJ) Camden defensive end Ron Johnson, Jr. was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 240 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #17 weakside end, and #270 overall. He claims a 4.6 forty. Johnson is a kid who shows a really good motor and some good athleticism. A teammate of wide receiver Brad Hawkins, who already held a Michigan offer, the two visited Michigan this past weekend, but Johnson got news of the offer a couple days before making the trip.

Wichita (KS) East defensive end Xavier Kelly decommitted from Kansas State. The 6’5″, 230 lb. prospect committed to the Wildcats last November, but offers from Arkansas and Michigan in recent weeks have caused him to reopen his recruitment. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #20 weakside end, and #326 overall.

Mililani (HI) Mililani running back Vavae Malepeai was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 195 lb. prospect with offers from Cal, Colorado, Hawaii, and Washington, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #53 running back, and #731 overall. He claims a 4.44 forty. As a junior in 2014, he had 1,337 rushing yards, 205 receiving yards, and 24 total touchdowns. Hawaii doesn’t have the best competition in the country, so highlights should be taken with a grain of salt. However, Malepeai does have some impressive vision, an innate ability to slither out of tackles, and decent speed. He does a really good job of following his blockers, staying right on their hip for the added protection. He is the cousin of Michigan offeree Boss Tagaloa and is coached by former NFL special teamer Maa Tanuvasa. Michigan has only had two players from Hawaii in the history of the program (in 1925 and 1945), and the program only makes rare forays into the state for offers. The last time they went after an Aloha State player was in 2013 for defensive tackle Scott Pagano (Clemson).

Montgomery (AL) Carver linebacker Lyndell Wilson was offered by Michigan. Wilson is a 6’2″, 220 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU, and Ohio State, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 5-star, the #2 outside linebacker, and #8 overall. He claims a 4.64 forty. As a junior in 2014, he made 86 tackles, 9 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions (1 returned for a touchdown). Do yourself a favor and watch his highlights, because he has one of the most impressive highlight reels I’ve seen in the 2016 recruiting class. You’ll even see a couple highlights against incoming freshman Keith Washington and 2016 running back offeree Kingston Davis. Unfortunately for Michigan, it looks like an Alabama vs. Auburn battle for Wilson.

Cuyahoga Falls (OH) Walsh Jesuit center Jack Wohlabaugh was offered by Michigan. Wohlabaugh is a 6’3″, 280 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Purdue, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #15 offensive guard, and #334 overall. He is also the son of Dave Wohlabaugh, who played center for Syracuse before moving on to the NFL to play for the Patriots, Browns, and Rams. Jack plays left guard for his high school team, and he shows quick feet with a good initial punch. However, with his size, pedigree, and quickness, he probably projects to center at the next level.

Hit the jump for lots of miscellaneous bits.

MISCELLANEOUS
Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Rancho Santa Margarita quarterback K.J. Costello announced he will be announcing his college decision on the afternoon of Thursday, March 26. He visited Michigan last summer and was thinking about committing at the time, but despite saying he’s down to Michigan, Stanford, and USC now, it looks like it will be one of the two California schools. Costello had been saying that he would visit Michigan this spring, but that visit never materialized. At one time it was thought he and a small group of Californians might come to Michigan (though package deals, especially of more than two players, are always huge long shots), but wide receiver Theo Howard already committed to Oregon. Costello’s teammate, wide receiver Dylan Crawford, is probably a long shot for Michigan now, and cornerback David Long, Jr. is also part of that group of friends.

Weber State punter Blake O’Neill from Weber State has spurred Sam Webb into announcing a gut feeling for Michigan. O’Neill is a graduate transfer prospect. Last year for Weber State, he averaged 44.1 yards/punt. Out of his 62 punts, 25 of them landed inside the 20-yard line and 18 of them were 50+ yards. Michigan lost both specialists last year in the forms of kicker Matt Wile (who had punted at times in his career) and Will Hagerup. Class of 2015 signee Andrew David is not expected to factor into the punting duties, so Michigan is looking at O’Neill or walk-on Kenny Allen to be the punter this season.

Lawrenceville (GA) Archer offensive tackle E.J. Price named Michigan his leader. The coaches are pitching early playing time for him, which makes sense considering Michigan’s lack of a solidified pecking order at offensive tackle. Price grew up in the Grand Rapids area. Two of his offered teammates – cornerback Jamyest Williams and safety Isaiah Pryor – are 2017 prospects who will be visiting Michigan this coming weekend, although Price will not be with them.

Huntersville (NC) Southlake Christian running back Robert Washington named Michigan to his final six schools. The former Mississippi State commit has visited Michigan four times, all during the Brady Hoke era. He will decide in April, and the Bulldogs are not part of the final group.

Here’s a list of visitors from this past weekend (LINK).

Michigan picked up a couple preferred walk-ons this past week:

• Jersey City (NJ) St. Peter’s Prep outside linebacker/defensive end Cheyenn Robertson
• Saline (MI) Saline linebacker Chris Terech

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

• Farmington safety Jakkar Jackson
• Detroit Cass Tech safety Jaylen Kelly-Powell
• Warren De La Salle linebacker Eric Rogers

What I’ve Been Reading

America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t by Stephen Colbert. Written in the same style as I am America (And You Can Too!) as well as some Jon Stewart and Co.-written books in the past, Colbert’s most recent book is another quite humorous attempt at making us look like idiots. I find that I can only really stand to read about half of each one of these books at a time before the writing style becomes a little too much for me to bear. They’re well worth the read if you’re looking for some entertainment to go along with your politics, but the sarcasm and double-speak are better digested in chunks.

David and Goliath  by Malcolm Gladwell. I have now exhausted the list of Malcolm Gladwell books, and I am kind of sad because of it. This one was his weakest effort, in my opinion, because the whole premise is based on underdogs taking down the kings of the hill. (Luckily, there was no mention of Appalachian State.) I did find Gladwell’s story about David and Goliath interesting, because Biblical history has always piqued my curiosity. (Spoiler alert if you haven’t read it: Goliath may have had a hormonal condition that caused him to be very large, but also somewhat dumb with poor vision.) However, I also got somewhat bored with his discussion of the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, because basically, the whole damn thing is stupid. Basically, the message of the book is that sometimes advantages can be disadvantages, and disadvantages can be advantages. I did make some connections to football, because part of being a coach is motivating kids and convincing them they have a chance to succeed when the guys across from them might be bigger and/or faster.

Fire in the Hole  by Elmore Leonard. For no good reason at all, this was my first foray into the writing of Elmore Leonard. One would think that being from Michigan, I would have bothered to pick up one of his novels or short story collections earlier in my life. Heck, I never even bothered to watch any of the movies based on his books, but I have been watching Justified for several years. I finally decided to pick one up, and why not start with the group of short stories that involves Raylan Givens? The Givens story “Fire in the Hole” was predictably good, and there are some other solid efforts in there, too. I had not realized that Leonard would be so preoccupied with United States Marshals in general, but they’re mentioned consistently throughout his stories. One thing I like about Leonard is that he does not mess around too much with descriptors and flowery speech. I went ahead and picked up Pronto, which I’ll be starting soon.

Dexter’s Final Cut  by Jeff Lindsay. Speaking of being sad, I finally finished the Dexter series of books. If you have not read the books and/or watched the entire series, you may want to stop reading here. This final Dexter effort has him working as a technical advisor for a cop show filming in Miami. He overextends himself to not only being a blood spatter analyst and serial killer, but also the bodyguard of a beautiful Hollywood actress. I don’t want to give away the exact ending of the book for anyone who might glance too far down in this paragraph, but I will say that the book and the television series do not end on high notes. Dexter, Breaking Bad, and some other shows feature morally ambiguous protagonists, and I always hoped that Dexter and Walter White would somehow redeem themselves. People often ask me if the series end the way I want them to, but that’s not really the point. If stories end how we want them, then there would be no point in anticipating a surprise ending. I actually found this book to be the most compelling Dexter novel of the series, but mostly because my feelings toward him had shifted from ambiguity to rooting against him.

What about you? Any reading suggestions for us?

Poll results: Who will start at quarterback in 2015?

Shane Morris wasn’t smiling very often during the 2014 season.

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Last week I posed the question: Who will start at quarterback in 2015?

I’ll start off by saying that I don’t really care who the starter is. What matters most to me is that the starter is good, or at least the best man for the job.

Shane Morris (Jr.): 31%
The junior Morris is the most experienced guy currently on Michigan’s roster, although a transfer in from Jake Rudock (below) would change that immediately. Unfortunately, Morris has a 0-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and completed just 35% of his passes last year. The highly touted recruited has a cannon for an arm and some decent wheels, but his decision-making has left a lot to be desired.

Wilton Speight (RS Fr.): 30%
Speight has earned some momentum in spring practices, according to some observers. He’s a big guy who can move a little bit. Despite being a redshirt freshman, he will turn 21 in December of this year after taking an extra year of high school due to a broken collarbone.

Alex Malzone (Fr.): 21%
Malzone has earned some praise this spring from some observers, and the occasional report says he’s the leading candidate for the job right now. However, I have not heard as many positive reports on him as the former two. Malzone is reportedly struggling with mechanics, arm strength, and the speed of the game right now.

Jake Rudock (5th): 16%
Rudock, who is visiting Michigan this weekend, has not been offered by the Wolverines yet. And in order to come to Michigan, he would need to jump through some hoops with the Big Ten, since he’s a fifth year transfer candidate from the University of Iowa. I imagine that 16% number here has more to do with whether he’ll actually choose/be allowed to play for Michigan, since his starting experience, 61.7% completions, and 16-to-5 interception ratio last year would almost certainly vault him to the top of this list.

Zach Gentry (Fr.): 0% (2 votes)
Gentry is a true freshman who will not arrive on campus until this summer. While he might have the highest ceiling of everyone on this list (he’s 6’7″, has a strong arm, and a good runner), he will also be the newest to the college game.

Spring Practice Rumblings

Mason Cole might not be blocking many edge rushers this season

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Based on recent developments and leaks, I’ll toss out some of the recent rumblings from practice, which you can feel free to dissect/discuss.

Quarterback: Different sources will say different things. I don’t really have much to add to that, except it seems like Shane Morris is mentioned most often as looking the best.

Running back: Ty Isaac had questions about his toughness coming out of high school, but he has played through some things this spring; however, he has been suffering from hand and hamstring injuries, so he is limited. Derrick Green has also been injured, and Drake Johnson is coming off that ACL tear. The one constant has been De’Veon Smith, who has been earning praise for his vision and attitude. It’s not really a secret that Smith can have a sullen disposition at times.

Fullback: With Sione Houma out due to injury, it’s still Joe Kerridge, Brady Pallante, and Chase Winovich getting reps at this spot.

Hit the jump for the rest of the positions.

Wide receiver: The hype about Drake Harris persists. He’s listed at 6’4″, 174 lbs. but there are reports that say he’s actually 185 now. That’s still not very big, but either way, I think the only thing that will keep him off the field this fall is the nagging injuries. He might not start, but I think he will play. Otherwise, there has not been much buzz about the receivers.

Tight end: Jake Butt has been looking pretty darn good, and Ian Bunting has shown promise as a pass receiving tight end. Henry Poggi has flipped from defensive end to tight end in an attempt to boost the numbers. I have not heard many positive things about A.J. Williams, who is a senior and still struggles to block people. Khalid Hill is still out recovering from his own ACL injury.

Offensive line: The lineup at a recent practice was (left to right) Logan Tuley-Tillman, Erik Magnuson, Mason Cole, Kyle Kalis, and Ben Braden. Cole – who was the starting left tackle last year – projected to the interior offensive line coming out of high school, so while I expected him to be a guard in college, center still fits him, in my opinion. That is if he can handle snapping, the calls, etc. It hurt that fifth year senior Jack Miller called it quits, and it hurt even more when Graham Glasgow prolonged his idiocy streak and disobeyed his probation. I have not heard good things about Patrick Kugler or Blake Bars, who were #3 and #4 at center, respectively, coming into the spring.

Defensive line: It sounds as if Michigan is going to be running more of a 3-4 look this year. I have heard positive things about Chris Wormley at strongside end, and Greg Mattison says the nose tackles have stood out. With Poggi playing offense for now, that makes Michigan pretty thin on the defensive line. They have a lot of tackle types and not much in the way of ends, at least until a couple freshmen arrive this summer.

Linebacker: The four starting linebackers in the 3-4 look have reportedly been Mario Ojemudia (who has an undisclosed injury), Desmond Morgan, Joe Bolden, and James Ross. Royce Jenkins-Stone has been filling in for Ojemudia, and Lawrence Marshall has also made a positive impression. The backups on the inside are Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray. McCray and Allen Gant were both shown in video from yesterday wearing yellow non-contact jerseys, so their status is questionable.

Cornerback: The cornerback jobs are Jourdan Lewis’s and Blake Countess’s to lose. Nobody’s challenging them, and the depth is thin, anyway. Channing Stribling is the next option, but I haven’t heard any buzz about him really pushing for playing time.

Safety: Michigan is running a bunch of guys out there at safety. The buzz about Jabrill Peppers is non-stop; he’s playing free safety and moving down into the slot in nickel situations. Jarrod Wilson is bound to start at strong safety. Dymonte Thomas has also been dealing with an injury, but he seemed to have been doing better and rotating in for nickel packages. Delano Hill also may have turned a corner, and he looks pretty good athletically in the limited film I’ve seen; that has always been the book on him, that he’s a very good athlete who struggled to put it all together.

Visitors: March 20-22, 2015

Detroit (MI) King wide receiver Donnie Corley

Johnathan Berghorst – DE – Zeeland (MI) East: Berghorst, a 2017 prospect, is a 6’3″, 245 lb. end with no offers at this time. He has visited Michigan numerous times, and while it’s rare that guys hang around Michigan a ton and don’t eventually get some kind of chance, nothing really stands out about Berghorst on film. He does still have two years of high school ball left to play, though.

Jalen Cochran – DE – Canton (MI) Canton: Cochran is a 6’4″, 225 lb. prospect with offers from Iowa and a few MAC schools. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star. Cochran is largely under the radar so far, but I believe he’s perhaps a pretty big sleeper and could earn some big-time offers by the time everything wraps up.

Donnie Corley – WR – Detroit (MI) King: Corley is a 6’2″, 180 lb. prospect with offers from LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Ole miss, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #20 wide receiver, and #109 overall. Michigan was outside of his released top five because he had not built much of a relationship with the new coaching staff, but Harbaugh’s crew is working their way back up the ladder. Corley is visiting Tuesday, March 17.

Brad Hawkins – WR – Camden (MI) Camden: Hawkins is a 6’2″, 205 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Pitt, Rutgers, and South Carolina, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #33 wide receiver, and #161 overall. Currently he appears to be favoring the Gamecocks, but he does not look to be in a hurry to make a decision, so Michigan still has a chance to work their way to the top.

Hit the jump for several more visitors.

Joshua Jackson – QB – Saline (MI) Saline: Jackson is a 6’2″, 200 lb. prospect with offers from Northwestern, Utah, and some assorted lower-level schools. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #20 dual-threat quarterback, and #684 overall. Jackson is the son of former Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson and the brother of former Wolverines wide receiver Jeremy Jackson, but the younger Jackson does not hold a Michigan offer at this time.

Ron Johnson, Jr. – DE – Camden (NJ) Camden: Johnson is a 6’4″, 240 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #17 weakside end, and #270 overall. As a junior in 2014, he had 84 tackles and 10 sacks. Johnson, who is teammates with Hawkins, is probably in line for an offer once he gets to campus (EDIT: Johnson was offered by Michigan on Thursday); he appears to have a strong motor and some good football intuition, along with some pretty good athleticism.

Michael Jordan – OT – Plymouth (MI) Plymouth: Jordan is a 6’6″, 275 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #18 offensive tackle, and #178 overall. He’s joining Corley on a visit to practice Tuesday, March 17.

Ahmir Mitchell – WR – Egg Harbor City (NJ) Timber Creek: Mitchell is a 6’3″, 205 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Rutgers, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #6 athlete, and #88 overall. Mitchell, who was being recruited as a safety by Michigan’s previous staff, is now being looked at as a receiver. He recently placed Michigan in his top six schools. Despite attending a different school, he will be headed to Ann Arbor with Hawkins and Johnson.

Michael Onwenu – OG – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Onwenu is a 6’2″, 330 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Michigan, and Ohio State, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #7 offensive guard, and #212 overall. Michigan had dropped off Onwenu’s radar for a while, but recently the Wolverines have been climbing back up. Onwenu was favoring Ohio State at one time, but their treatment of former teammate Michael Weber may have turned him off the Buckeyes a little bit. Onwenu plays defensive tackle, too, but Michigan wants him as an interior offensive lineman.

Jake Rudock – QB – Iowa: Rudock is a 6’3″, 208 lb. quarterback who has been the starter at Iowa the past two years. He will be a fifth year senior in 2015 and plans to transfer. His first choice appears to be Michigan. As a redshirt junior in 2014, he completed 61.7% of his passes for 2,436 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Michigan was reportedly not very interested when Rudock first reached out, but their interest seems to have been piqued after watching a handful of spring practices.

Jack Wohlabaugh – C – Stow (OH) Walsh Jesuit: Wohlabaugh is a 6’3″, 280 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Purdue, among others (UPDATE: He picked up a Michigan offer on his visit). He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #15 offensive guard, and #334 overall. He is also the son of Dave Wohlabaugh, who played center for Syracuse before moving on to the NFL to play for the Patriots, Browns, and Rams.

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