Harbor City (CA) Narbonne cornerback Darion Green-Warren publicly announced his commitment to Michigan on Saturday afternoon during the All-American Bowl. He signed with Michigan during the early signing period in December but kept his decision quiet until now. Green-Warren picked the Wolverines over offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and Oklahoma, the latter of which once held his commitment.
Green-Warren is listed at 6’0″ and 187 lbs. by 247 Sports. He ran a laser-timed 4.67 forty.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 82 grade, #17 CB, #212 overall
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #12 CB, #154 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 91 grade, #19 CB, #239 overall
Hit the jump for more.
Michigan had been recruiting Green-Warren for a long time, back when he was at Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei. Green-Warren transferred to Harbor City (CA) Narbonne for his senior year. Both schools are powerhouses, but like any good powerhouse, they are not devoid of question marks. The longtime favorite for Green-Warren was USC, and he was a silent commit to the Trojans, but he signed with Michigan during the early signing period. He wanted to keep it quiet, though, so he announced at the All-American Bowl and enrolled early at Michigan.
I have yet to find senior highlights of Green-Warren at Narbonne, so all we have are underclassman highlights and what we saw during the All-American Bowl. His 4.67 forty time is not impressive, and speed is not a strength of his based on his highlights. He seems to have good instincts and is physical. In a quote you’ll see a little later tonight (I won’t post it all here), his trainer says he shed 30 pounds after transferring schools, in order to lose some bulk and gain a little quickness. I like Green-Warren from a technique standpoint, and he’s also a feisty competitor. He breaks well and he’s physical.
The biggest issue I see is his lack of makeup speed. This is something that many Michigan corners have lacked in recent years, from J.T. Floyd to Channing Stribling to Brandon Watson. Some people have questioned Green-Warren’s size, which I don’t really understand; I have doubts that he’s a full 6’0″ tall, but even 5’10” or 5’11” is still adequate for a corner. If you’re looking for a guy who can shut down Ohio State’s seemingly endless bullet train of wide receivers, this probably isn’t the guy.
Overall, Green-Warren is a solid cornerback. Is he a difference-maker? Is he the type of player to get Michigan over the hump against OSU? Probably not. I think he could end up having a career similar to that of former Wolverine Donovan Warren, a three-year player who left early only to be excluded from the NFL Draft. The difference is that Warren was a 5-star prospect, whereas Green-Warren is a little more appropriately ranked (4-star, #184 overall in the 247 Composite).
With Green-Warren signed, sealed, and delivered to Michigan, the Wolverines now have 23 signees, including 9 early enrollees (LINK). It’s unclear if offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua and tight end Nick Patterson will end up signing with Michigan, but they are also verbally committed. Jim Harbaugh talked about someone like R.J. Moten being able to play corner, but I think the corners in this 2020 class are limited to Green-Warren and Andre Seldon, Jr.
TTB Rating: 78 (ratings explanation)
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Always glad to pick up an all-American at a position of need, but this stung:
“If you’re looking for a guy who can shut down Ohio State’s seemingly endless bullet train of wide receivers, this probably isn’t the guy”
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Yeah…I mean…sad but true. Hopefully I’m wrong.
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Thunder:
Would it be fair to say that only a handful of the top-ranked cornerback prospects have a short-term hope of matching up with OSU’s WR recruits? If so, I wish that the fan base would be realistic and not demand that Harbaugh get *all* those guys. Just one (a la David Long in ’16) would be an achievement when the competition is considered.
Otherwise, you’d have to roll the dice on a guy with pure speed but less-than-obvious projection to the defensive backfield, right? It seems that second-tier schools like Boise State and UCF regularly put CBs in the top of the draft. Look up the recruiting profiles from a few years back and you’ll see 2-/3-star RBs or WRs who haven’t played much CB. Either those schools are getting lucky or they have coaches with a good eye for talent and projection.
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Thunder- shouldn’t his 40 time be viewed a little more positively given that it’s laser-timed? We’ve had players at UM like Mario Manningham that were plenty fast, but only turned out to be 4.6-4.7 players once they ran official 40s for the NFL, and that was after significant S&C work in college.
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Lots of times are laser-timed now. The Nike camps and other combines have mostly adopted laser timing, so most big-time recruits have laser-timed forties out there somewhere. That didn’t stop guys like Peoples-Jones and Jeudy from running somewhere in the mid-4.4s or so.
I think if you do a study of 40 times in high school vs. 40 times at the NFL Combine, you will not find a significant difference. 247 listed Chase Winovich with a 4.65 forty coming out of high school, and he ran a 4.59 at the Combine. David Long ran a 4.4 in high school and a 4.45 at the Combine. Those are the first two players I looked up. Basically, it seems like you see 40 times varying by about 0.05 seconds, and it doesn’t always go down. So if Green-Warren is a 4.67 guy now, I don’t really have any hopes for him to get down to a 4.50 or in the 4.4s. He probably has a ceiling of about a 4.61 or so, which still isn’t anything special. After all, it’s slower than DE/OLB Chase Winovich.
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Wino added a ton of weight. all the more impressive that he maintained speed.
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Agree Lan about Winovich. He is a good example of the guy who sticks it out, works hard and becomes a force over time in his career here.
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A recipe to be a fan favorite. Low expectations, steady rise, strong finish.
Long-haired white guy with a big personality doesn’t hurt either.
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Dennis is the 3rd CB in the class. Solid haul IMO.
I’d take another Donovan Warren/Blake Countess type of player.
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I went back and looked at Green-Warren’s film looking for slow. I didn’t see it. I also didn’t see blazing quick. But …
He makes it hard to get off the line of scrimmage.
He’s played a national-ish schedule against real competition that includes Concord De Lasalle, IMG, Bishop Gorman.
I don’t believe the part about an 18 year old kid taking 30 off to get quicker as a corner. 8 maybe … 5 for sure. But, weight does worry me here, as he’s young to be taking anything off. Flashing back to another guy named Green.
I think in our system he’s a real good pickup. I’d put him on that big outside receiver that wants to post up on little corners and tell him to keep the guy on the line of scrimmage while the rest of us get after the QB. I’d occasionally slide him in on your tight end if we are doing something exotic or maybe better put, switching up on a blitz somehow.
I’d keep him away from blazers, against OSU, I’d probably be real careful about islands and such. Maybe go looking for a Buckeye receiver that he could beat up.
I like him, I think he can go at a high level based on his feist.
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He’s physical, so I think he can be successful in college. But the last cornerback taken in the 2020 Draft that I can find a 40 for was 5’10”, 193 lb. Chris Jackson from Marshall, who ran a 4.48 at his pro day. Pitt’s Dane Jackson ran a 4.57. Chris Claybrooks reportedly ran a 4.25.
The slowest time for a CB at the 2020 Combine was Stanford Samuels with a 4.65. He wasn’t drafted.
Green-Warren ran a 4.67.
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I don’t doubt a word of it, but this is one area where I’m inclined to agree with Lanky. If the kid can get a hold of a guy, strangle him at the line of scrimmage and not catch a flag, I’m happier than a little pig in poop.
I wish him well with regards to a career in the league, but I’m good.
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If Green-Warren can have a Channing Stribling-like career but tackle a little better, I’ll be happy, too. I don’t think any of us disagree in that aspect.
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Yeah, I’d take that
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