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Recruiting Update: Thanksgiving Style

Indianapolis (IN) Ben Davis OT Dawand Jones (image via IndyStar)

COMMITMENTS

Jalen Perry – CB – Dacula (GA) Dacula: Perry committed to Michigan.

Amauri Pesek-Hickson – LB – Leawood (KS) Blue Valley North: Pesek-Hickson committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2019

Tommy Eichenberg – LB – Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius: Eichenberg decommitted from Boston College. He’s a 4-star, the #19 inside linebacker, and #359 overall. He has earned offers from Michigan and Ohio State since he committed to B.C., so now it seems to be a battle between the Buckeyes and Wolverines. The crystal ball is 81% in favor of Ohio State, and with the recent commitment of Pesek-Hickson, I don’t believe this is going to go in Michigan’s favor. He also has an older brother at Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish have not offered.

Dawand Jones – OT – Indianapolis (IN) Ben Davis: Jones is a 6’8″, 360 lb. prospect with offers from Florida State, Indiana, Michigan, and USC, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #85 offensive tackle, and #986 overall. Jones took an unofficial visit to Michigan last weekend, which is when the offer from the Wolverines was extended.

Darius Robinson – TE – Canton (MI) Canton: Robinson is a 6’6″, 250-pounder with offers from Colorado, Maryland, and Syracuse, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #48 strongside end, and #662 overall. Michigan offered him as a tight end, which he did play in high school, but for a heavy run team. As of the time he was offered on Tuesday, his crystal ball was 100% in favor of the Syracuse Orange.

MISCELLANEY

Jaylen Ellis – WR – Round Rock (TX) Cedar Ridge: Ellis named Michigan to his top six, including Arizona, Baylor, Cal, Houston, Michigan, and Tennessee. He’s a 3-star, the #56 wide receiver, and #438 overall. His crystal ball is 100% on Texas, though.

Kyle Ford – WR – Orange (CA) Lutheran: Ford named a top five of Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, USC, and Washington. He’s a 5-star, the #5 wide receiver, and #29 overall, but he tore his ACL during his senior season. He plans to announce on January 5, 2019.

Harrison Bailey – QB – Marietta (GA) Marietta: Bailey is announcing his commitment at 8:45 a.m. on November 29. He’s a 4-star, the #3 pro-style QB, and #59 overall in the 2020 class. The crystal ball is 90% in favor of Michigan.

The Game Preview: Michigan Rush Defense vs. Ohio State Rush Offense

Previously: M Rush Offense vs. OSU Rush Defense, M Pass Offense vs. OSU Pass Defense

MICHIGAN

Michigan is #14 in rushing defense (111.6 yards allowed/game), and the 3.28 yards allowed per rush ranks at #14 also. Despite having the #1 passing defense in the country, teams have still only run for 11 touchdowns this season, which is tied for #20 overall.

Michigan runs mostly a 4-man front, but defensive end Chase Winovich – the team’s third-leading tackler with 58 – is questionable after suffering an injury against Indiana. Devin Bush, Jr. is a sideline-to-sideline middle linebacker, and his 73 tackles lead the team. Safety Tyree Kinnel (62 tackles) has improved his tackling this year and frequently pokes his nose up into the box to help in the run game. Winovich’s 13.5 tackles for loss will be greatly missed if he’s unable to play, and Bush is second with 9.0.

As for the defensive line overall, Michigan is #10 in Line Yards, #3 in Opportunity Rate, and #15 in Stuff Rate; where they struggle is in Power Success Rate (#80), which is the result of a lack of a powerful nose tackle. Michigan has not had great production from the interior line, which makes Michigan’s defensive success so impressive: the top three defensive tackles (Lawrence Marshall, Bryan Mone, Auburey Solomon) have combined for just 26 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. For a comparison, Maurice Hurst, Jr. had 61 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss by himself last year.

OHIO STATE

Ohio State is #53 in rushing offense (182 yards/game) and #66 in yards per carry (4.4). Their 20 rushing touchdowns come in tied at #61.

Ohio State’s line is as follows:

• LT: Thayer Munford (So., 6’6″, 325)
• LG: Malcolm Pridgeon (RS Sr., 6’7″, 315)
• C: Michael Jordan (Jr., 6’7″, 310)
• RG: Demetrius Knox (RS Sr., 6’4″, 311)
• RT: Isaiah Prince (Sr., 6’6″, 306)

Munford was not heavily recruited, Pridgeon is a JUCO transfer, and Jordan was thought to be a tackle or guard coming out of high school. As a group, they are #34 in Opportunity Rate, #67 in Line Yards, #67 in Stuff Rate, and #101 in Power Success Rate. It’s not a great group, but it is Ohio State: they’re still not bad, because of the talent and the coaching.

The Buckeyes have a good 1-2 punch with sophomore J.K. Dobbins (5’10”, 214) and senior Mike Weber (also 5’10”, 214). They have combined for 1,626 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. Weber missed last week with an injury, leading to Dobbins’s 37 carries for 203 yards against the Maryland Terrapins. Dobbins has generally been held in check by solid defenses (28 yards against Michigan State, 57 against Penn State), but Weber went for 102 against MSU two weeks ago. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins (6’3″, 220) is decently mobile, but he’s not really a runner like J.T. Barrett, Braxton Miller, and other past OSU quarterbacks; Haskins has 93 yards and 4 touchdowns on the year and is more in the mode of Cardale Jones.

OVERALL

The fact that Haskins isn’t a great runner should help Michigan out here, because Urban Meyer used J.T. Barrett to great effectiveness over the past several years. Even in their worst rushing game against Michigan over Meyer’s tenure (the 2016 game), Barrett ran the ball 30 times for 125 yards and 1 score. Michigan should do well, but the absence of Chase Winovich would be a big blow. Backup Josh Uche isn’t a run-stopper, and Aidan Hutchinson can be taken advantage of because of his inexperience. Michigan’s best defensive end combo, sans Winovich, would be Rashan Gary on the strong side and Kwity Paye on the weak side, but that leaves the backup situation in flux.

It will also be important for Michigan to control the ball on offense. Michigan can get worn out on defense, like they did against Indiana last week, and that has also hurt them in the past. Several players went down with cramps last week. No Barrett probably means a lesser chance of getting worn down on extended drives, but it will still be something to watch for in the fourth quarter.

Advantage: Michigan

The Game Preview: Michigan Pass Offense vs. Ohio State Pass Defense

Shea Patterson (image via the Sporting News)

Previously: M Rush Offense vs. OSU Rush Defense

MICHIGAN

Michigan is #87 in passing offense (211 yards/game), which sounds pretty bad. However, they’re #111 in passing attempts (272). Shea Patterson’s efficiency numbers are what stand out. The Wolverines are #14 in passing efficiency and tied at #20 in yards per attempt (8.5). Starting quarterback Shea Patterson is completing 65.9% of his passes for 2,177 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions; in his last four games, he has 8 touchdowns and 1 pick, with that one interception coming on an RPO last week against Indiana.

I’ve posted about the evenness with which he has spread out the ball, but I’ll emphasize it again: Michigan’s top two wideouts (Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones) and top tight end (Zach Gentry) all have between 29-32 receptions and 461-477 yards. It’s very interesting how consistent that distribution has been over the last several weeks. Various other receivers have shown a penchant for making big plays (tight end Nick Eubanks, wide receiver Ronnie Bell, and wide receiver Oliver Martin), but they have been targeted inconsistently.

The Wolverines are #24 in sacks allowed with 15 so far, which meshes well with their #25 ranking in Sack Rate. They’re #45 on Standard Downs, but #21 on Passing Downs.

Hit the jump for the rest of the preview.

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Attractive Michigan Girl of the Week

If you have any other pictures of girls wearing Michigan gear, drop me an e-mail. Go Blue!

Amauri Pesek-Hickson, Wolverine

Amauri Pesek-Hickson (image via 247 Sports)

Leawood (KS) Blue Valley North athlete Amauri Pesek-Hickson committed to Michigan over the weekend. He picked the Wolverines over . . . uhh . . . Missouri State.

Pesek-Hickson is listed at 6’3″, 210 lbs. As a senior in 2018, he ran 76 times for 563 yards, caught 38 passes for 595 yards, and scored 14 total touchdowns.

RANKINGS
ESPN: N/A
Rivals: 3-star ATH, 5.6 grade
247 Sports: 3-star, 86 grade, #75 ATH, #927 overall

Hit the jump for more on Pesek-Hickson’s commitment.

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