Recruiting Update: June 16, 2015

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16Jun 2015
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Recruiting Update: June 16, 2015

New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling

COMMITMENT
Dudley (MA) Shepherd Hill tight end Sean McKeon committed to Michigan (LINK).

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback Victor Viramontes committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
Tampa (FL) Tampa Bay Tech wide receiver Daquon Green was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’1″, 183 lb. prospect who has offers from Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, and Miami, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #33 wide receiver, and #210 overall. He earned his offer after the satellite camp in Florida, and he also attended the Sound Mind Sound Body camp this past weekend. He’s a speed player who can go get the ball and run after the catch.

Salt Lake City (UT) Brighton running back Sione Heimuli-Lund was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 220 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona State, BYU, Oklahoma State, Stanford, and Utah, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #15 running back, and #160 overall. Lund is a somewhat squat running back who might turn into a fullback or a linebacker in college. He is a teammate of 2016 wide receiver and Michigan target Simi Fehoko, as well as 2015 linebacker Osa Masina (USC). The Wolverines have two Salt Lake City natives currently on the team, though they went to Highland: fullback Sione Houma and defensive tackle Bryan Mone.

Baltimore (MD) Our Lady of Mt. Carmel defensive end Joshua Kaindoh was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’6″, 235 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, and Penn State, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #2 weakside end, and #53 overall. Kaindoh is a long and lanky end or even outside linebacker, but the early favorite appears to be Ohio State.

Hit the jump for several more 2017 offers, a new 2018 offer, and some random bits and pieces.


Bellaire (TX) Episcopal offensive tackle Walker Little was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’7″, 301 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and TCU, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #30 offensive tackle, and #302 overall. He’s a huge human being who looks like a college player already. Little is a teammate of 2017 defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, who has Michigan in his top five.

New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 215 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, LSU, Miami, and Oklahoma. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #5 outside linebacker, and #88 overall. Jordan-Swilling is also a standout running back, although his future is probably on defense. He is the son of former New Orleans Saints Pro Bowl linebacker Pat Swilling. Michigan has also offered two of Bruce’s 2016 teammates, tight ends Peyton Aucoin and and Irvin Smith, the latter of whom is also the son of a former NFLer. Also as an aside, Brother Martin also boasts Bruce’s twin brother (a cornerback who is somewhat less heralded) and another running back named Jordan Bruce. So Jordan Bruce, Bruce Jordan-Swilling, and Tre Swilling are all on the same team. “Hey, Bruce, get over here! No, not you, Jordan. I mean Swilling, get over here! No no no, not you, Tre. Dammit, Bruce Jordan-Swilling, GET OVER HERE! Finally. So…can you get me a water bottle? I’m parched. Thanks.”

Las Vegas (NV) Bishop Gorman quarterback Tate Martell was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’11”, 180 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Texas A&M, Utah, and Washington, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #2 dual-threat quarterback, and #25 overall. As a sophomore in 2014, he completed 124/200 passes for 2,537 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions; he also ran 73 times for 433 yards and 5 touchdowns. He claims a 4.62 forty. Despite his slight frame, Martell has a cannon of an arm, throws a nice ball, displays good accuracy, and can escape pressure.

Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard wide receiver Jordan Merrell, a Cincinnati commit, was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’10”, 176 lb. prospect who earned his offer at the Florida satellite camp. Merrell plays some running back and could end up at either position in college.

Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Joshua Palmer was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 190 lb. prospect who also has an offer from Temple. Palmer transferred from a school in Canada to St. Thomas Aquinas this offseason, to this coming year will be his first year of playing football in America. He did play in the International Bowl against the United States, where he made a few nice plays. Michigan is recruiting several other plays at St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Memphis (TN) Trezevant running back Cordarrian Richardson was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 220 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #21 running back, and #266 overall. Richardson attended the Sound Mind Sound Body camp at Macomb (MI) Dakota this past weekend and also made a stop at Michigan’s campus, where he was offered.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2018
Oak Park (MI) Oak Park offensive guard Marquan McCall was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 280 lb. prospect whose only other offer comes from Akron. McCall worked out at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp in front of Michigan’s coaches, and they offered him shortly thereafter. He is a teammate of 2017 offensive tackle Ja’Raymond Hall, who also holds a Michigan offer and seems likely to drop for Michigan at some point.

MISCELLANEOUS
Detroit (MI) Cass Tech safety Jaylen Kelly-Powell named Michigan his leader. After observing him at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp late last week, the coaches say he could play either cornerback or safety for them.

Warren (MI) De La Salle running back Allen Stritzinger also named Michigan his leader. Stritzinger’s next biggest offer is from Cincinnati, so that’s not much of a surprise. Stritzinger is a guy who could play running back, wide receiver, cornerback, or safety at the next level.

Over on Recruiting Season:

16Jun 2015
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Victor Viramontes, Wolverine

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback
Victor Viramontes (image via 247Sports.com)

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback Victor Viramontes committed to Michigan on Monday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Colorado, Nebraska, Washington State, and Wisconsin, plus a few others.

Viramontes is listed at 6’2″, 220 lbs. He claims a 4.58 forty. As a junior in 2014, he was 123/228 passing (53.9%) for 1,784 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions; more impressively, he ran the ball 214 times for 1,757 yards (8.2 yards/carry) and 18 touchdowns.

RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: 3-star, #19 dual-threat QB
Scout: 3-star, #31 ATH
247 Sports: Unranked

Viramontes participated in Michigan’s satellite camp in Fresno, California, last week. Despite being in a hotbed of talent, the participation in Fresno was not at the same level as previous stops, so it looked like the Summer Swarm tour was ending on a bit of a flat note. But reports came out of the camp that head coach Jim Harbaugh was keeping an eye on Viramontes, pulled his father aside, and had a lengthy discussion. An offer came following the camp, and it only took a few days for “Vicious” Vic Viramontes to publicly accept, despite never having visited Ann Arbor.

EDIT: Here’s an excerpt from my post on Monday morning:

Even better is that his nickname is “Vicious Vic,” so if he ever decides to pursue MMA, he’s got a pretty nice, alliterative name for it: Vicious Vic Viramontes. (You can hear Michael Buffer saying that name, can’t you?) Anyway, Viramontes is a veritable virtuoso on the field who has various valuable skills, like vision and a vibrant arm, to victimize a defense on his way to taking a viselike, victorious grip on a quarterback job. (That’s my way of saying that Vicious Vic can probably go somewhere and be The Man at quarterback in this class, rather than possibly playing second violin fiddle to Brandon Peters.)

I see a little bit of Jim Harbaugh himself in Viramontes. The Norco quarterback plays with a carelessness for his body that shows competitiveness and passion for the game. He will bulldoze tacklers or jump over guys rather than run out of bounds. That’s probably part of why he was offered. As for his more traditional quarterback skills, Viramontes has a strong arm and can throw the outs, the deep ins, the long ball, etc., and he makes some of those throws off of his back foot. He also has an ability to feel pressure in the pocket and keep the play alive while still keeping his eyes downfield. When he tucks the ball to run, he brings all 220 lbs. with him, and at a faster speed than you might guess. He’s not afraid to run over would-be tacklers, and Derrick Green could learn a thing or two from Viramontes about balance and running through low tackle attempts. He also shows nifty feet to keep defenders off balance, he can cut without losing much speed, and he can outrun most of the guys on a high school field.

All those positives aside, Viramontes has a lot of mechanical things to work on before he can succeed at the next level. I imagine Harbaugh will work with him on his footwork and dropback, whether it’s from under center or out of shotgun. He tends to favor one side directly on the snap, and he does not look off defenders, although his ability to keep the play alive can get guys out of position at times. He finishes his throws high, but he tends to drop the ball down, which elongates his delivery like a mirror image of Tim Tebow. He also carries the ball loosely with one hand when he scrambles, which can lead to turnovers. The big rumor with him is that he wings everything with 100% velocity, so he will need to dial it back at times; there are examples of a little touch in his highlights, though, so the ability is there but maybe not with consistency. A lot of coaches would probably advise him to run out of bounds and take a little less of a beating, too.

When it comes to quarterbacks, I am of the opinion that too many is better than too few. I said this many times during the 2012 and 2013 recruiting cycles, but it was a mistake to skip the 2012 cycle and crown Shane Morris as the heir apparent for 2013. At one time under Brady Hoke, Michigan had about 12 scholarship linebackers and three quarterbacks, so they had a full four-deep at linebacker – a position that’s often interchangeable with at least one of the other linebacker positions – and went just three-deep at the most important spot on the field. Numbers breed competition, and sometimes you need your second or third quarterback. Quarterbacks are also smart guys who are often some of the better athletes on a team, so they can transition to tight end, slot receiver, safety, etc.

As for Viramontes himself, he joins Brandon Peters at quarterback in the 2016 class. The nice thing about this addition is that it allows for so much flexibility. Even if Peters proves to be the superior quarterback, Michigan could employ Viramontes as a Tebow- or Blake Bell-type short yardage player who can be a dual-threat. With the way he plays, he could be a short-yardage back like Wyatt Shallman, an H-back like Aaron Shea, a linebacker, maybe a safety, maybe a special teams coverage guy. I said previously that I thought Viramontes would end up committing elsewhere because he could be “The Quarterback” in another school’s class. Instead, it looks like he will be Michigan’s Swiss Army knife to deploy as needed. I do think he can be a full-time quarterback with some development because the physical tools are there, so that part of his game comes down to whether he can handle the information and tutelage from Harbaugh.

Norco is a school that produces quite a bit of talent, sending players to places such as Arizona State, Boise State, Duke, UNLV, USC, and others over the years. Harbaugh has some experience with a Norco product in the form of former Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. While out in California, Michigan also offered Viramontes’s teammate, 2016 linebacker/safety Troy Dye.

TTB Rating: 75 (ratings explanation)

15Jun 2015
Uncategorized 16 comments

Sean McKeon, Wolverine

Dudley (MA) Shepherd Hill tight end Sean McKeon (image via Rivals)

Dudley (MA) Shepherd Hill tight end Sean McKeon committed to Michigan on Monday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Boston College, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech, among others.

McKeon is 6’5″, 230 lbs. He claims a 4.69 forty, a 4.58 shuttle, a 36″ vertical, a 275 lb. bench press, and a 455 lb. squat.

RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: 2-star TE
Scout: 3-star, #51 TE
247 Sports: 3-star TE

McKeon was offered relatively recently. He immediately set up a visit date to see Michigan, and that visit took place this past weekend. He slept on it for a night, and here we are. The speed of his process makes a lot of sense, not only because Michigan is his best offer, but because tight ends should be lining up to play for Jim Harbaugh.

I have an inherent trust for Harbaugh’s evaluations and usage of tight ends, so I will try not to let that color my evaluation of McKeon himself. But I do think there is a lot to like. First of all, he has good size without bad weight, and he should just be able to pack on some muscle before contributing. Once the play starts, the first thing that jumps out about him is that he shows good acceleration off the ball, and I think he will be able to get separation from linebackers with that initial speed burst. He also shows the ability to adjust to the ball in the air, whether it’s sliding to make a catch or going up to get it, where he can catch the ball with his hands outside the frame of his body. He is not an absolutely dynamic runner with the ball in his hands, but the first clip of his highlights shows a pretty amazing run-after-catch effort, and the offense also uses him on reverses, which is pretty rare for a tight end. McKeon is also a willing blocker who shows some pretty solid technique, and he has the feet and the hips to be effective in the run game.

On the negative side, Massachusetts is not known for its football talent, and the guys McKeon runs away from in the film are probably not going to be big-time recruits themselves. He is not a quick-twitch guy who will make people miss very often, and he is mostly a straight-line player, which is pretty standard for tight ends.

Overall, though he is a 2-star guy or unranked to a couple services, I think McKeon is a quality recruit. He reminds me of junior tight end Jake Butt in a lot of ways. Michigan should be able to get him in the flat or hit him on crossing routes, and a guy with decent speed who’s 250 lbs. or so will be tough to bring down for defensive backs.

McKeon’s commitment gives Michigan thirteen pledges in the 2016 class. He is the first true tight end in the class, though defensive end Rashad Weaver could be a blocking-type tight end. When McKeon arrives on campus, Butt will be a senior, and no other players have established themselves as true tight ends instead of H-backs (Khalid Hill, Ian Bunting, Henry Poggi, and Chase Winovich all seem like H-back types). The only other guy pegged for tight end is incoming freshman Tyrone Wheatley, Jr., who is 6’7″, 286 lbs. and could feasibly end up at another position. If McKeon can add a reasonable amount of weight, he could find himself battling for a starting gig as a sophomore.

The last Michigan recruit from Massachusetts was 2013 defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr., and no Michigan player has ever come from Shepherd Hill.

TTB Rating: 83 (ratings explanation)

15Jun 2015
Uncategorized 1 comment

2015 Michigan vs. Ohio Border Classic

Preferred walk-on linebacker Chris Terech with Jim Harbaugh and Chris Singletary (image via MLive)

I meant to get to this last week, but the 2nd annual Michigan vs. Ohio Border Classic took place on Saturday. It has essentially replaced the Michigan all-star game and the Big 33 game, which used to be between Ohio and Pennsylvania. Michigan won the inaugural game in 2014, and they won again this year by a score of 24-7 (LINK). The MVP of the game was Baldwin quarterback Brandon Childress (Central Michigan), who had two rushing touchdowns.

Here’s a link to the rosters for both teams (LINK). There are a ton of players headed to the MAC on Michigan’s side, but the only player headed to Michigan is walk-on Chris Terech from Saline. Otherwise, there are just a few Michigan connections. First is Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison linebacker Michael Ojemudia (Iowa), the brother of senior defensive end Mario Ojemudia. Also, former Michigan wide receiver Ronald Bellamy is building up a pretty talented program at West Bloomfield, which had two representatives in the game: wide receiver Obbie Jackson (Western Michigan) had 3 catches for 80 yards, and defensive tackle Eddy Wilson (Purdue) also played in the game.

The only Michigan-offered player to participate was Detroit (MI) Cass Tech lineman Joshua Alabi (Ohio State).

15Jun 2015
Uncategorized 4 comments

2016 Recruiting Update: June 15, 2015

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback Victor Viramontes (image via Press Enterprise)

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COMMITMENTS
Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic cornerback Antwaine Richardson committed to Michigan on Friday (LINK).

Cooper City (FL) Cooper City defensive end Rashad Weaver committed to Michigan on Sunday (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Carson (CA) Calabasas safety Marquel Dismuke decommitted from Cal. He’s a 6’1″, 180 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan and Nebraska, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #10 safety, and #246 overall. Dismuke was an early offer by the Jim Harbaugh staff, and he committed to Cal surprisingly early when Michigan thought they had a chance. The Wolverines still might be able to pull him in, but the decommitment came a couple weeks after Nebraska offered, and the Cornhuskers have 89% of the Crystal Ball votes.

Norco (CA) Norco safety Troy Dye was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 200 lb. prospect with offers from Colorado and Oregon, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #41 safety, and #634 overall. He earned his offer at the satellite camp in Mission Viejo. Listed as a safety, he moves like a linebacker and should probably be reclassified by 247 Sports. Regardless, he has some upside as an outside linebacker and still probably slots in as a 3-star prospect. Michigan was his favorite school growing up. His father was born in Michigan and played football at San Jose State (so why not go play for Al Borges and Greg Robinson?), where he also had a baseball career that led to the Houston Astros organization.

Cartersville (GA) Cartersville tight end Miller Forristall was offered by Michigan and then committed to Alabama. He’s a 6’5″, 220 lb. prospect who’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #20 tight end, and #486 overall. As a junior in 2014, he caught 32 passes for 600 yards and 8 touchdowns. The home state Bulldogs never stepped forward with an offer.

Hit the jump for a couple more 2016 offers, some guys who committed elsewhere, and some random bits and pieces.

Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan safety/linebacker Devin Gil decommitted from Miami. He’s a 6’1″, 205 lb. prospect who also holds offers from Colorado, Louisville, and South Florida, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #63 safety, and #941 overall. Gil visited Michigan with a couple teammates this past weekend, and he decommitted from the Hurricanes during the visit, saying he wanted to see who else would show interest in him. He plays safety and that’s where 247 Sports has him pegged, but he looks like he’ll be a linebacker at the next level. His Crystal Ball is 100% in favor of Michigan right now.

Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan safety Josh Metellus decommitted from Georgia Southern. He’s a 6’0″, 187 lb. prospect with offers from Florida International, Miami-OH, Middle Tennessee State, and South Alabama. He’s a 247 Composite 2-star, the #139 safety, and #1957 overall. He is a teammate of Gil and 2016 linebacker Devin Bush, Jr. and visited Michigan this past weekend.

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback Victor Viramontes was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 220 lb. prospect with offers from Colorado, Nebraska, Washington State, and Wisconsin, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #48 athlete, and #676 overall. A teammate of Dye’s, Viramontes attended the second California satellite camp, in Fresno, and earned his offer after Harbaugh saw him run and throw. As a junior in 2014, he was 123/228 passing (53.9%) for 1,784 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions; more impressively, he ran the ball 214 times for 1,757 yards (8.2 yards/carry) and 18 touchdowns. Even better is that his nickname is “Vicious Vic,” so if he ever decides to pursue MMA, he’s got a pretty nice, alliterative name for it: Vicious Vic Viramontes. (You can hear Michael Buffer saying that name, can’t you?) Anyway, Viramontes is a veritable virtuoso on the field who has various valuable skills, like vision and a vibrant arm, to victimize a defense on his way to taking a viselike, victorious grip on a quarterback job. (That’s my way of saying that Vicious Vic can probably go somewhere and be The Man at quarterback in this class, rather than possibly playing second violin fiddle to Brandon Peters.) If quarterback doesn’t work out for him, he could probably play running back, fullback, H-back, linebacker, or maybe strong safety at the college level.

Fort Lauderdale (FL) Cooper City tight end Rashad Weaver was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 245 lb. prospect with offers from Illinois and Syracuse, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 2-star, the #112 defensive tackle, and #1803 overall. He claims a 4.9 forty. Weaver has decent speed but has a lot of technical holes in his game; he’s also a big body who could project anywhere from tight end to defensive end to defensive tackle to perhaps even offensive tackle. He reminds me of New Jersey athlete Jake Pickard from the 2015 class, who was committed to Wisconsin, earned a late offer from Michigan, and ended up signing with Syracuse. Weaver almost immediately named Michigan his top school. The Wolverines are recruiting him as an “athlete” but saying he can play tight end to start his career.

OFF THE BOARD
Manor (TX) Manor defensive end Erick Fowler committed to LSU. He initially showed some interest in the Wolverines, but nothing had transpired in recent weeks between the two parties.

Cranford (NJ) Cranford offensive tackle Will Fries committed to Penn State. He had recently visited Michigan and put the Wolverines in his top group, but that seemed like a formality before a looming commitment to the Nittany Lions.

Mechanicsville (VA) Atlee safety Jaqui “J.J.” Givens committed to South Carolina. The co-defensive coordinator at South Carolina is Jon Hoke, the older brother of former Michigan head coach Brady Hoke.

Converse (TX) Judson defensive end Alton Robinson committed to Texas A&M.

Byesville (OH) Meadowbrook offensive guard Josh Sills committed to West Virginia.

New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin tight end Irvin Smith committed to Texas A&M on an unofficial visit. He is the son of former Notre Dame and NFL tight end Irv Smith. He is also a teammate of 2016 tight end Peyton Aucoin and 2017 linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling, both of whom have Michigan offers.

Chesapeake (VA) Indian River linebacker Jaquan Yulee committed to Alabama. Despite listing Michigan early as one of his top schools, he never visited. Recently, the Wolverines dropped out of his top five, and then he became a Crimson Tide. Which sounds weird.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a list of some (but not nearly all) of the participants in Michigan’s Exposure U camp (LINK).

Here are the notable prospects who took part in Michigan’s 2015 Summer Swarm tour, which ended last week (LINK).

Here’s yet another list, this one of visitors from this past weekend and Sound Mind Sound Body campers (LINK).

Scout released a new top 300 for 2016 (LINK).

Houston (TX) Aldine MacArthur defensive end Isaiah Chambers named Michigan to his top ten.

Abbotsford (BC) Abbotsford tight end Chase Claypool named Michigan to his top three.

Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Rancho Santa Margarita wide receiver Dylan Crawford named Michigan to his top ten.

Los Angeles (CA) Loyola cornerback David Long, Jr. named Michigan to his top ten. The guys at 247 Sports have said at times that Long is the staff’s top cornerback target.

Avon (IN) Avon quarterback Brandon Peters, a Michigan commit, was named a finalist for the 2015 Elite 11.

Florence (AL) Florence fullback/linebacker Erroll Thompson named Michigan to his top five. Michigan is recruiting him to play both positions. He is believed to be a strong Alabama lean, however.

Over on Recruiting Season, I updated profiles for: