Rochester (MI) Adams CB Vincent Gray (image via MI Prep Zone)
COMMITMENTS
Kansas City (MO) Park Hill wide receiver Ronnie Bell committed to Michigan (LINK).
Essexville (MI) Garber fullback Ben VanSumeren flipped from Iowa to Michigan (LINK).
Bayern (Germany) defensive end Julius Welschof flipped from Georgia Tech to Michigan (LINK).
Hit the jump for a couple new offers and a bunch of guys who went off the board.
Myles Sims (image via Detroit News)
The 2018 Under Armour All-American Game will take place on January 4, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. EST. Played in Orlando, FL, it will be broadcast on ESPN. Below are the Michigan offerees who will be participating.
TEAM HIGHLIGHT
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
*Announcing his college decision during game
Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. It’s hard after that game not to be very frustrated with the state of Michigan football, but I’ll say the same thing I said toward the end of the regular season: This was not going to be a great season from the beginning. Michigan lost almost everyone on defense from 2016, lost a bunch of production on offense, and lost three offensive line starters. They also didn’t get back their starting LT who got injured from last year, got their best WR hurt, and lost their starting four games into the year. If you’re an objective observer, you can probably admit that those are some huge, huge hurdles to overcome.
Hit the jump for the rest of the game discussion.
RUSH OFFENSE vs. SOUTH CAROLINA RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #40 in rush offense (186 yards/game) and #54 in yards per rush (4.51). They are led by junior Karan Higdon, who is 71 yards shy of 1,000 yards for the season (147 carries, 929 yards, 6.3 YPC, 11 TDs). Junior backup Chris Evans came on stronger during the second half of the season, and he sits at 661 yards, 5.3 YPC, and 6 TDs. Both players started their ascent during the latter half of the year, which is when the offensive line started to gel in the running game. The right side of the line will probably be totally different than the way it started the season, because right guard Michael Onwenu (replaced by Cesar Ruiz) and right tackle Nolan Ulizio (replaced by Juwann Bushell-Beatty) both struggled mightily in pass protection. Oddly enough, Bushell-Beatty has been superior in both phases, and Ruiz has been good enough in the run game that Michigan hasn’t really missed Onwenu. Michigan is #10 in Adjusted Line Yards and #9 in Power Success Rate. Defensively, South Carolina is #41 in Adjusted Line Yards and #123 in Power Success Rate, and that ALY number is their highest ranking in any of Football Outsiders’ nine categories. They are #45 in rushing defense (147 yards allowed/game) and #42 in yards per carry allowed (3.9). They are not great, but they have been very consistent, allowing anywhere from 2.54 to 4.84 yards per carry in every game. (For some perspective, Michigan has a higher ranked rushing defense but allowed opponents anywhere from 0.41 to 6.4 yards/carry.) The Gamecocks are led in tackles by 6’2″, 218 lb. senior WILL Skai Moore, who is their best overall defender with 88 tackles, 8 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 3 INTs). Sophomore MIKE T.J. Brunson (6’1″, 230 lbs.) is second with 75 tackles, and senior strong safety Chris Lammons (5’10”, 190) has 70. Sophomore weakside end D.J. Wonnum (6’4″, 251) leads the squad with 13 tackles for loss. Sometimes crazy things happen in bowl games, but the numbers suggest Michigan should be able to run the ball okay but won’t go hogwild.
Advantage: Michigan
Hit the jump for the rest of the preview.
Ja’Raymond Hall (image via 247 Sports)
Freshman offensive lineman Ja’Raymond Hall has elected to transfer. A graduate of Oak Park (MI) Oak Park, he enrolled early but did not play at all during this season. He will have to sit out the 2018 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and he will be a redshirt sophomore when he’s finally eligible to play in a college game in 2019.
Hall was an early addition to the 2017 class, committing in December of 2015. I gave him a final TTB Rating of 77. As an offensive tackle/offensive guard tweener, I thought he was a solid developmental piece, but there are other guys in the class ahead of him and in his class who have higher potential. I also thought Hall lost a little of his athleticism as he added weight during his senior year, and obviously tackles are at a higher premium than guards. This does hurt overall depth on the offensive line, however, a position that Michigan has struggled to recruit as effectively as I expected under Jim Harbaugh.
Hall is the first member of the 30-man class of 2017 to depart. Here’s a look at Michigan’s 2018 scholarship chart with Hall removed (LINK).