Jaylen Kelly-Powell (#1, image via USA Today)
Detroit (MI) Cass Tech safety Jaylen Kelly-Powell publicly committed to Michigan on Tuesday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Alabama, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Stanford, among others.
RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #18 safety, #265 overall
Rivals: 3-star, #31 safety
Scout: 4-star, #23 safety, #269 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 93 grade, #17 safety, #148 overall
Hit the jump for more on Kelly-Powell.
Kelly-Powell is 5’11”, 183 lbs. and ran a laser-timed 4.66 forty. He claims a 275 lb. bench press and a 395 lb. squat.
Kelly-Powell was an early offer for Michigan, and he was always considered to be leaning toward Michigan. In fact, though his name is slightly different, he was named after former Michigan Fab Five basketball player Jalen Rose. He took several recruiting trips, including to Alabama and Ohio State, but Michigan was pretty confident about him all along. He was considered to be a Michigan “silent commit” – even though I don’t put a ton of stock in silent commitments. There are other players who fall into that category, and I would not be surprised if Michigan’s staff encouraged him to commit this week after the loss to Iowa. With perhaps a bit of negative news following the loss, his commitment helps people turn the page and gives some positive vibes around the program.
In regard to his talent, Kelly-Powell is a 247 Composite 4-star and #260 overall. The recruiting sites generally like him pretty well, and he has been a fairly high-level recruit for the past couple years. He’s a versatile secondary player who played some corner, slot corner, and safety, in addition to playing some running back and slotback for Cass Tech. The number one thing I like about Kelly-Powell is that he’s a high-effort, competitive player. He chases people down from behind, runs his feet through contact (on offense and defense), moves his feet laterally, and gets to the football. He does a good job of coming downhill to stop the run, he stays square, and he wraps up ball carriers rather than going for kill shots. In coverage, he has good speed, changes direction well, and plays physically in coverage, which will match up well with what Michigan wants out of a cover safety.
On the negative side, Kelly-Powell isn’t very big at 5’11” and somewhere south of 190 lbs. I don’t know that he will crack 200 lbs. in college, and I’m guessing he’ll probably check in somewhere around 195 lbs. eventually. I think his lack of size affects him in run support, and he’s not a truly violent hitter who will stop players in their tracks. He’s a “safe” tackler, which is good, but he’s not a highlight-reel hitter. Despite playing some corner in high school, he looks a bit timid when put in space and tries not to be overly aggressive in man coverage, probably because he’s afraid receivers will beat him deep. That’s because he doesn’t have the greatest hips and has just so-so straight-line speed.
Overall, I like Kelly-Powell as a safety but don’t see him being a star. He’s not athletic enough to be a standout, but he can play nickel corner or strong safety. He’s not a guy you want playing in a ton of space, but he can blitz, stop the run, and cover. I think he’s somewhat similar to current Michigan sophomore Tyree Kinnel.
Michigan now has 19 commits in the 2017 class, including two safeties – Kelly-Powell and Alabama native J’Marick Woods. Kelly-Powell plans to enroll early, so he’ll get some extra practice this coming spring. That may be important because Michigan will lose their two starting safeties, Delano Hill and Dymonte Thomas, after this season. The two most obvious heirs appear to be Kinnel and current freshman Josh Metellus, who has worked his way into the two-deep, but there’s always room for competition. Cass Tech has been very kind to Michigan over the last decade. Occasional players have escaped to Ohio State or Michigan State, but generally, players Michigan wants from Cass Tech end up wearing maize and blue.
TTB Rating: 81 (ratings explanation)
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Great news.
I have no concerns about Powell’s size. Thomas is 199 pounds at 6’2, Jourdan Lewis is 180 something – neither seem to have a problem tackling.
Nickel corner and safety are important positions.
I prefer safe tacklers to highlight reel tacklers. Most of those are targeting penalties waiting to happen.
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I’ll let Thunder jump in but before he does I will say that I’m concerned about his size. If you’re a cover corner like Lewis, you can get away with being 180-190 lbs. JKP isn’t a cover corner. JKP will have to try to bring down 230 lb running backs from the safety position and it takes someone with more size (or the ability lower the should pads like Thomas). Lewis gets to cover and tackle players his size or slightly larger in a smaller area.
I don’t know if it’s the dreadlocks (Denard always seemed short to me too and Devin Bush looks like he’s 5’6″) but JKP doesn’t seem like he’s 6′ or even 5’11”. Regardless, his size/frame very well could be a concern down the road for his skill set.
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Yeah, the size thing concerns me more at safety than corner. Jourdan Lewis tackles well at corner because a) he’s adept at taking out people’s legs, b) he’s often tackling wide receivers or running backs who are small/quick enough to get to the edge, and c) he’s generally keeping outside contain, so almost by definition, he has the sideline and then inside pursuit to help him. I’ve seen some pretty average tacklers look like good tacklers in high school because they use that outside leverage to their advantage.
That’s not the case at safety. At safety you’re often working inside out when you fill the alley, or you’re stepping up to take on guys like 230 lb. LeShun Daniels when he gets to the third level. Sometimes those guys have a two-way go, and you’ve got to stand your ground, wrap them up, and take them to the ground, not just use the sideline as your friend and dive at their knees.
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Thomas isn’t the same kind of athlete, though. Thomas is a more powerful player and a different kind of tackler. He was a 4-star and the #71 player in the country. It’s a little different when you’re bringing 199 lbs. with his explosiveness and speed than when you’re bringing 190 lbs. with less explosiveness and speed.
I agree on safe tacklers vs. highlight-reel tacklers, but you may be talking about allowing an extra few yards on contact, sometimes at critical points. It’s just something to watch and keep in mind.
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I think if you’re shorter you don’t need the same weight to be an effective tackler. Better location can offset less force. This is why I don’t see Bush being a liability as a tackler, even if there are times that an OL puts him on skates. Not like having a 245 lb LB instead of a 215 LB is going to change that…
In general, safeties are getting smaller (more like old CBs, but ones who can tackle) and CBs are getting taller. Versatility, awareness, reliability – increasingly more valuable than the old school model of run-stuffing, head-hunting, safties driving down into the box.
I would expect JKP to add some weight, as most players do. We can talk about the rankings if you want, but the offer-list speaks for itself. The size difference between guys like Hill, Thomas, Peppers, Hudson, Kinnel doesn’t worry me. The big lanky guy they had back there (Clark) got moved to CB. The best pound for pound athlete got moved to LB.
I think the idea he’ll end up too small for safety is antiquated. Reasonable minds may disagree.
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Early I know, but…Do you really think Mettelus is likely to start over Hudson at this point?
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I’ve seen Metellus out on defense more than I’ve seen Hudson. And Hudson might be in line to play at SAM, while Metellus seems to be a safety.
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I just realized that you have now passed me up for the most comments on the website. It’s kind of like when I had more MGoPoints than Brian on MGoBlog. I guess I need to step up my game…
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Or update your scoring so that all my comments that get negged count.
Otherwise…keep up!
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First off, I hope everything is ok after the ER visit on Saturday. I’m glad you’re back writing and giving us articles and opinions.
Second, I totally agree with the above. I always watch the latest Hudl video before looking at your scouting reports and I had the same conclusion. I also really liked his intensity. You can tell he likes the game and will work at his craft. Seems like a good athlete but not great. I really like his vision at running back, though I know he’ll never play there in college. As for the negatives, he seems like a safety exclusively. I know he’s not afraid to hit but he’s not going to knock you back either. He hits and wraps using a lot of his arms and not enough shoulder pads. This is especially evident in his junior yr highlights.
Overall, I think it’s more important we have him because he’s associated with DPJ and Ambry Thomas. Kinnel is the same comparison I had. Very solid in a lot of football techniques but not a game-changer by any means.
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I would gladly take another Kinnel, if early indications mean anything.
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Thanks for the concern. Everything’s okay long-term, luckily.
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You heard it here first. JKP is a nickel back. He is the classic tweener. Physical for a corner but not for a safety. Great hips for a safety but not for a corner. A team needs guys like JKP. He is a really good nickel back prospect.
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