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2019 All-American Bowl

Daxton Hill (image via 247 Sports)

The 2019 All-American Bowl will be taking place in San Antonio, TX, today, and it will be broadcast on NBC at 1:00 p.m. EST. Other than the Polynesian Bowl (January 19), this will be the last chance to see Michigan’s 2019 commits until they’re suiting up for Michigan. This game used to be known as the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but the Army no longer sponsors the bowl.

Michigan commits include:

EAST
DL Chris Hinton, Jr., #5
WR Cornelius Johnson, #81

WEST
DB Daxton Hill, #30

This game is full of guys Michigan pursued or is pursuing, including:

EAST
RB Quavaris Crouch, #27 (Tennessee)
RB Eric Gray, #2 (Tennessee)
WR Wandale Robinson, #13 (Nebraska)
DE Zach Harrison, #93 (Ohio State)
DE George Karlaftis, #42 (Purdue)
LB Lance Dixon, #31 (Penn State)

WEST
WR Jaylen Ellis, #4 (Baylor)
WR Kyle Ford, #82
OL Bryce Benhart, #68 (Nebraska)
OL Logan Brown, #50 (Wisconsin)
DL Isaiah Foskey, #18

The following players will be announcing their commitments:

CB Marcus Banks
WR David Bell
DE Khris Bogle
ATH McKel Broussard
WR Kyle Ford
WR Jadon Haselwood
WR Bru McCoy
CB Chris Steele
CB Tyrique Stevenson

Here’s a link to the full rosters (LINK), and here’s a list of all the Michigan players to have played in this bowl game in the past (LINK).

2020 Recruiting Capsule: Oak Park OG Justin Rogers

Oak Park (MI) Oak Park offensive guard Justin Rogers (image via MLive)

I used to do recruiting capsules on Recruiting Season, a Blogger site where I updated the recruitment of various players in the State of Michigan. Unfortunately, that took a lot of time, especially going back and forth between the WordPress and Blogger platforms. So now that it’s the off-season, I’m going to try incorporating in-state recruiting nuggets on the weekends, unless something significant is happening over the weekend to replace them.

The first capsule is on Oak Park offensive guard Justin Rogers.

Height: 6’2″
Weight: 311 lbs.
High school: Oak Park (MI) Oak Park
Position: Offensive guard
Class: 2020
Offers: Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Boston College, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami-FL, Miami-OH, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Texas, Toledo, USC, Western Michigan
Commitment: Uncommitted

Notes: Claims 4.82 forty and 24.5″ vertical . . . 247 Composite 5-star, #1 OG, #1 in Michigan, #14 overall as of 1/4/18

Stats: N/A

Highlights: 

2020 Recruiting Update: January 4, 2019

Sterling (VA) Dominion OT Jimmy Christ (image via Twitter)

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2020

Tosh Baker – OT – Phoenix (AZ) Pinnacle: Baker is a 6’8″, 260 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and USC, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #52 offensive tackle, and #484 overall. He’s a teammate of new-ish Michigan quarterback commit J.D. Johnson.

Jimmy Christ – OT – Sterling (VA) Dominion: Christ is a 6’7″, 280 lb. prospect with offers from Notre Dame, Penn State, Pitt, and Virginia, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #47 offensive tackle, and #404 overall.

Fred Davis – CB – Jacksonville (FL) Trinity: Davis is a 6’2″, 177-pounder with offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Miami, among others. He’s a 5-star, the #3 cornerback, and #30 overall. He claims a 4.57 forty, a 4.3 shuttle, and a 36″ vertical.

Hit the jump for a couple more new offers, along with some other tidbits.

read more

2019 Under Armour All-American Game

Mazi Smith (image via 247 Sports)

The 2019 Under Armour All-American Game is being played tonight at 6:00 p.m. EST. The game will be played in Orlando and broadcast on ESPN2.

Michigan commits selected for the game include:

TEAM FLASH (Coached by Steve Mariucci)

• #40 Anthony Solomon, LB
• #50 Nolan Rumler, OG
• #74 Trente Jones, OT

TEAM BALLAHOLICS (Coached by Deion Sanders)

• #31 Quinten Johnson, DB
• #36 Mazi Smith, DT

Running back Zach Charbonnet was also selected, but he’s injured and not participating.

Players scheduled to announce their college decisions include:

• LB Shammond Cooper
• WR Arjei Henderson
• DE Tre’Mon Morris-Brash

None of them will be picking Michigan.

Here’s a link to all the players who have participated in the game since its inception in 2008 (LINK).

Zach Gentry and David Long, Jr. are headed to the NFL

Zach Gentry

Michigan took a couple big hits in personnel on Wednesday when redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry and junior cornerback David Long, Jr. said they would be skipping their final year of eligibility to go to the NFL.

New Mexico native Gentry was a 4-star recruit in the 2015 class, the #8 pro-style quarterback, and #174 overall. A one-time Texas commit, the then newly hired Jim Harbaugh got Gentry to pick Michigan late in the recruiting cycle. After a season spent attempting to learn the quarterback position, Gentry started catching passes during bowl practices of his freshman year. He didn’t catch his first pass until 2017. In total, he hauled in 49 passes for 817 yards (16.7 YPC) and 4 touchdowns over his career, and he was named Third Team All-Big Ten in 2018.

David Long, Jr.

Long, from Los Angeles, was a 4-star cornerback in 2016 and ranked as the #7 player at his position and #65 overall. Michigan hauled him in late in the 2016 class, and one of the big recruiting stories down the stretch was the story of Jim Harbaugh climbing a tree at Long’s house while on a home visit. Long played sparingly in 2016 but then became a lockdown corner for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He allowed only one touchdown in 2018 and was named First Team All-Big Ten. He made 38 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 17 pass breakups during his career.

Gentry said he was not disappointed with his draft grade, and he should be highly valued at 6’8″ and 262 lbs. with good speed. He’s also a position-switcher who still has room to improve and develop. He won’t be a first round pick, but I would expect him to go somewhere in the middle rounds of the draft.

Long has decent size for a corner at 5’11” and 187 lbs. He tackles well, has good speed, and knows how to be physical. There’s no buzz about him being a first round pick, but he could go late on day two.