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| Plantation (FL) American Heritage defensive end Brian Burns (#99) |
NOTE: I posted a short recruiting update on 2018 prospects yesterday (LINK).
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin tight end Peyton Aucoin was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 255 lb. prospect who has lots of a lower level offers, along with Arizona State, North Carolina State, and Texas. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #44 tight end, and #1015 overall. Aucoin is not known for his pass catching skills, but he blocks very well and has the size to be an in-line tight end and essentially another lineman.
Plantation (FL) American Heritage defensive end Brian Burns was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 212 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, and South Carolina, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #27 weakside end, and #438 overall. As a junior in 2014, he had 75 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, and 12 sacks. He claims a 4.76 forty and was invited to The Opening. Burns is a long, lean, quick-twitch guy who has the makings of an impressive pass rusher. You may want to watch his highlights for some pretty impressive basketball highlights that are interspersed throughout.
Abbotsford (BC) Abbotsford wide receiver Chase Claypool was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 205 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #168 wide receiver, and #1159 overall. The talent, coaching, and passion for football just isn’t the same in Canada as it is in the United States, so Canadian prospects are tough to judge based on their level of competition and their lack of precise coaching. However, Claypool has some good change-of-direction skills for being so tall, and he looks like a basketball player when going up for the ball. British Columbia – the southwestern province of Canada – borders the state of Washington, and Oregon appears to be the front-runner for Claypool’s services.
Hit the jump for several more 2016 offers, a few 2017 offers, some guys who committed elsewhere, and some random bits.
Trophy Club (TX) Byron Nelson offensive tackle Kellen Diesch was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’7″, 270 lb. prospect with offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #49 offensive tackle, and #568 overall. Diesch is also a standout defensive end, but his body and skills make him an offensive line prospect. He needs to add strength, and he tends to stand up too high on defense, although he does a better job of staying low when blocking. He is likely to stay in Big 12 country for college.
Arlington (TX) Bowie offensive guard Tope Imade was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 327 lb. prospect with offers from Miami, Texas, and Texas Tech, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #44 offensive guard, and #927 overall. Imade moves his feet well and has a good body for college, but he does not have great hips and might get submarined by defensive linemen who are able to stay low and fire out. Texas came in with an offer shortly after Michigan did, and Imade is likely to end up as a Longhorn.
New Orleans (LA) St. Augustine tight end Jamal Pettigrew, an LSU commit, was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’6″, 229 lb. prospect who committed to the Tigers in January; he also has offers from Alabama, Florida, Miami, and Texas, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #6 tight end, and #170 overall. As a junior in 2014, he caught 17 passes for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns. Pettigrew has pretty good speed, nice hands, tracks the ball well in the air, and is a plus blocker, too. Michigan is unlikely to be able to peel Pettigrew away from LSU’s grips, but this offer may be partly about building relationships in fertile recruiting grounds. St. Augustine is the school that produced LSU running back Leonard Fournette in 2014, as well as Texas cornerback Jermaine Roberts, both of whom were offered by Michigan.
New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin tight end Irvin Smith was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 230 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida, Miami, and Texas, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #24 tight end, and #564 overall. A teammate of Aucoin (see above), Smith is the pass receiver of the two and shows some smooth route running and soft hands. He’s the son of former Notre Dame tight end Irvin Smith, who was a first round NFL Draft pick by the Saints in 1993, concluding his career in 1999 after subsequent stints with the 49ers and Browns.
Citra (FL) North Marion wide receiver Freddie Swain was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 172 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, and Miami, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #44 wide receiver, and #246 overall. As a junior in 2014, he caught 52 passes for 841 yards and 6 touchdowns. He claims a 4.55 forty and was invited to The Opening. Florida appears to be the front-runner as of now.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
Seattle (WA) Cleveland offensive tackle Henry Bainivalu was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 270 lb. prospect with offers from Cal, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #11 offensive tackle, and #77 overall. Bainivalu has good feet and shows pretty good technique, but he may not have the length to stay outside and could end up playing guard. The front-runner right now appears to be the in-state Huskies.
Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco offensive tackle Wyatt Davis was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 290 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Arizona, Cal, Oklahoma, UCLA, and USC, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #6 offensive tackle, and #34 overall. Davis is a pretty well polished player at a powerhouse California school, one that produced quarterback Josh Rosen (UCLA) in the 2015 class and has several FBS prospects each year. Michigan is supposedly right in the top couple schools for Davis, who is fond of Tim Drevno’s work at San Francisco and with USC.
Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Trevon Grimes was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 180 lb. prospect with offers from Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, and Notre Dame, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 5-star, the #1 wide receiver, and #7 overall. He claims a 4.48 forty. He is widely expected to commit to Ohio State, possibly in the very near future.
Monroeville (PA) Gateway offensive guard Robert Hainsey was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 263 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan State, North Carolina State, Penn State, and Pitt, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #18 offensive tackle, and #148 overall. Gateway has been a hotbed of talent outside of Pittsburgh, and Michigan has recruited several prospects from there, especially during the late Lloyd Carr era and Rich Rodriguez years. Hainsey is leaning toward Penn State.
Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas defensive tackle Kedonis Haslem was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 290 lb. prospect whose lone other offer comes from South Carolina. Haslem is a bit of a lumberer at this point and does not have great football instincts, and I would not be surprised to see him become an offensive player. He is the son of Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who played his college basketball at Florida.
Denton (TX) Guyer tight end Brian Polendey was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 235 lb. prospect whose only other offer comes from Houston. Polendey has mostly been under the radar, and no highlights of him exist right now, as far as I know. Michigan is in on him early. Polendey’s part-time quarterback in 2014 was Kevin Dillman, who had strong Michigan interest at one time but ended up signing with North Texas after decommitting from Nebraska. The other QB was 2017 passer Shawn Robinson, the top dual-threat quarterback in his class, who also holds a Michigan offer.
Graham (WA) Kapowsin offensive tackle Foster Sarell was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’6″, 310 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Stanford, UCLA, and Washington, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 5-star, the #3 offensive tackle, and #5 overall. He has already committed to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. I worry about guys who are so big at a young age, because they tend to plateau from a growth standpoint, and hitting 300 lbs. as a freshman means an extra few years of carrying that much weight around on your knees and ankles. He is now 310 lbs., and while he moves pretty well, it’s interesting to see whether players with bodies like this continue to mature or not.
Florence (AL) Florence safety J’Marick Woods was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 196 lb. prospect whose first came from the Wolverines, followed closely by Kentucky. Woods claims a 4.67 forty. Woods is a long safety who could very well turn into an outside linebacker in college. His teammate is 2016 fullback/linebacker Erroll Thompson, whom Michigan is recruiting as a two-way player.
OFF THE BOARD
Houston (TX) Westside defensive tackle Jordan Elliott committed to Houston. Elliott has had a bit of an odd recruitment so far, as he was previously committed to Baylor. So far he has eschewed the traditional powers (including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Texas, USC, and others) for two other in-state schools, neither of which has had sustained success. The U.S. Army All-American has over eight months until National Signing Day, and I would not be surprised to see him change his mind again.
Suwanee (GA) North Gwinnett wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe committed to USC. For Michigan followers, this is a plus because I certainly would not look forward to writing “Imatorbhebhe” for long, let alone pronouncing it. However, he’s the 247 Composite #33 wide receiver and #177 overall player, so he’s a good prospect.
Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s offensive guard Cameron Kolwich committed to Northwestern. Kolwich had recently picked up offers from Arkansas and Vanderbilt, and his commitment to Northwestern surprised 247 Sports Crystal Ball predictors, who had him 100% choosing Michigan.
Woodberry Forest (VA) Woodberry Forest offensive tackle Clark Yarbrough committed to Stanford. At one time Michigan was considered to be the leader for Yarbrough, and indeed, Michigan still had 5% of his Crystal Ball picks at the time he pledged to Stanford. However, Jim Harbaugh’s staff backed off of Yarbrough a few months ago, supposedly because they’re not sure if his frame (6’6″, 270 lbs. right now) can handle the type of weight they want to put on their offensive tackles.
MISCELLANEOUS
Cranford (NJ) Cranford offensive tackle Will Fries is visiting Michigan today. He’s a 6’6″, 270 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, Miami, Michigan, Penn State, Pitt, and Rutgers, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #37 offensive tackle, and #387 overall.
Euless (TX) Trinity defensive tackle Chris Daniels put Michigan in his top ten. Daniels grew up in Muskegon before moving to Texas, and he said that Michigan was his favorite school as a kid. He’s the #114 overall player in the country.
Camden (NJ) Camden defensive end Ron Johnson placed Michigan in his top fifteen. Top fifteens are stupid, and I don’t like mentioning top lists very often. However, Daniels has a clear connection to the state of Michigan, and Johnson visited Michigan this spring with several other Garden State prospects. The main reason I mention him, however, is that I typed up about 75% of his scouting report last week before I got sidetracked. The finalized version should be coming in the next day or two, and Michigan is reportedly in his top two.
Over on Recruiting Season, I posted some new developments:
