Gabe Newburg, Wolverine

Gabe Newburg, Wolverine


April 2, 2018

Clayton (OH) Northmont DE Gabe Newburg

Clayton (OH) Northmont defensive end Gabe Newburg on Monday night, just before the basketball team played in the national championship game. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers, and some MAC programs.

Newburg is 6’5″, 230 lbs. He claims a 4.73 forty, a 330 lb. bench, and a 215 lb. clean. As a junior in 2017, he made 58 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery (for a TD).

RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: 3-star, 5.6 grade, #53 WDE
247 Sports: 3-star, 85 grade, #55 WDE, #813 overall

Hit the jump for more on Newburg’s commitment.

Newburg visited Michigan State a couple weekends ago, and on the way back home, he made an unplanned visit to Ann Arbor. He met Jim Harbaugh, who offered, and it didn’t take long for Newburg to make up his mind. He grew up as a diehard Michigan fan, so the writing appeared to be on the wall.

Newburg is a little bit narrow in the shoulders and lower body, so he will probably remain on the open side in college. He is very reminiscent of Chase Winovich, in my opinion. The number one thing that stands out about him is his motor. He makes plays out in the flat, he chases plays down from behind, and sometimes he beats offensive linemen with tenacity. He has a variety of pass rush moves, including a nifty-footed spin move. He also uses leverage pretty well and does a good job when necessary of gator rolling guys to the ground. I’m not sure if he has a wrestling background, but it looks like it.

On the negative side, Newburg is a little limited athletically. I think he would be helped with his get-off by improving his stance. I don’t believe he’s a full 6’5″ – maybe more like 6’3″ – so his reach and the upper limit of his overall mass might be limited. He also needs to get stronger, especially in the lower body, and he needs to use his hands more consistently.

Overall, I like Chase Winovich, so I like Newburg. As soon as I saw Winovich playing defensive end in spring practice a couple years ago, I thought he would be good at just pestering people to death. I see that same quality in Newburg. He might not end up with the measureables to be a superstar or top draft pick, but I think he can be a very effective college player. He will probably need a year or two in college to develop before he can put it all together.

Michigan now has 7 commitments in the 2019 class, including 3 defensive ends. (For the record, I believe Chris Hinton’s best position is OL and he should be a 3-tech if he stays on defense, but he’s still listed as a DE by most sites.) Newburg is the first commitment from Northmont since Kaleb Ringer in the 2012 class.

4 comments

  1. Comments: 295
    Joined: 12/19/2015
    Extrajuice
    Apr 04, 2018 at 11:56 AM

    I like this kid! Great write-up. Summarizes a lot of my thoughts after watching the tape. He may be 800+ in player rankings but he’ll be a kid that surprises people. He’ll never probably jump up into the top 300 though. The one main difference between Winovich and Newburg is speed. I think Winovich has more. Although Newburg already has a head start in playing the position where as Winovich had to learn it. I’m not disappointed by this 3-star offer and commitment.

  2. Comments: 8
    Joined: 4/6/2017
    awnitsol
    Apr 05, 2018 at 1:53 PM

    So, yeah, turns out he has a wrestling background. Good call.

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Apr 05, 2018 at 6:38 PM

      Haha, yeah, I was thinking about that today when I read MGoBlog’s commitment post. It turns out Newburg used to wrestle and his dad is a wrestling coach.

  3. Comments: 359
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    GKblue
    Apr 09, 2018 at 8:17 AM

    “Overall, I like Chase Winovich, so I like Newburg. As soon as I saw Winovich playing defensive end in spring practice a couple years ago, I thought he would be good at just pestering people to death. I see that same quality in Newburg.”

    This is what a coach sees that is more important than stars. I think Coach Brown lives to create disruption and if a guy like Newberg becomes a dude in our system he does it with disipline and crazy ass aggression. I like defensive lineman with a wrestling background.

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