Jeffrey Persi, Wolverine

Jeffrey Persi, Wolverine


June 25, 2019
Jeffrey Persi (image via Twitter)

San Juan Capistrano (CA) Junipero Serra offensive tackle Jeffrey Persi publicly committed to Michigan on Monday night, or Sunday morning if you’re on Eastern Standard Time. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Oklahoma, UCLA, and USC, among others.

Persi is listed at 6’7″ and 265 lbs. He claims a 5.36 forty, a 4.75 shuttle, and a 24″ vertical.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 80 grade, #33 OT
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #35 OT
247 Sports: 3-star, 87 grade, #43 OT, #539 overall

Hit the jump for more on Persi.

Persi was offered during a flurry of new offers over the winter leading up to 2019’s National Signing Day, and as with almost any offer from the State of California, I took it with a grain of salt. Persi always voiced interest, but that happens a lot with guys that eventually pop up on my Twitter feed as having committed to UCLA or Oregon or Arizona State. Persi took an official to UCLA in early May, and his second official was this past weekend to Michigan.

Persi has a big frame and looks like he’s all of 6’7″. Right now he has a pretty thin body for his height, but that will fit out with time and good nutrition. He has decent straight-line speed, and he does a decent job of anchoring against the bull rush.

On the negative side, Persi plays too high and his feet get too narrow. He needs to work on his hand placement, stance, and get-off. He is moderately aggressive but not a nasty blocker; he doesn’t finish plays the way I wish he would.

Overall, Persi is a piece of the puzzle. He has the size of a prototypical left tackle, but the skills don’t match. At this point in Michigan’s recruiting, I would say there are smaller players – who aren’t prototypes – that I would slot ahead of him at tackle. When I watch Persi play, I’m reminded of Perry Dorrestein from the late 2000s – a guy who started some games and didn’t embarrass himself, but playing on a pretty weak team at that point without many other options.

By the time I hit “publish” on this post, Michigan might have more commitments, but as of this instant (AFAIK), the Wolverines have sixteen commits in the 2020 class. Persi is the fourth offensive linemen, joining Micah Mazzccua, Zak Zinter, and Reece Atteberry; of those players, Persi is the most tackle-like.

TTB Rating: 65 (ratings explanation)

5 comments

  1. Comments: 1863
    Joined: 1/19/2016
    je93
    Jun 25, 2019 at 6:38 PM

    I like the pickup. A prototype LT, with a few options ahead of him while he develops. Hopefully the OL is finally coming around

  2. Comments: 6285
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    Lanknows
    Jun 25, 2019 at 6:54 PM

    OL seems to be on solid footing. Not as many highly-ranked recruits as you might like but the quantity and distribution of scholarship players finally looks pretty stable.

  3. Comments: 522
    Joined: 8/12/2015
    DonAZ
    Jun 25, 2019 at 7:27 PM

    I’ll confess to being surprised by the ’65’ rating. Given what I’m reading elsewhere, I would have thought mid-70’s minimum. 65 puts Persi squarely in the “average Big Ten starter” category. Do you suppose that’s the expectation of the coaching staff as well?

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Jun 25, 2019 at 10:00 PM

      I think the coaching staff probably expects better than that from Persi. They probably wouldn’t be recruiting him if they didn’t think he could be a good player down the road.

  4. Comments: 295
    Joined: 12/19/2015
    Extrajuice
    Jun 25, 2019 at 11:58 PM

    As with ratings of almost all OL, who the hell knows. When I watch film of him I see someone with a perfect “frame” heading into college. The technique looks really RAW but he seems like a really smart kid and I’ll take the really smart kid on OL vs the really smart kid at DL. There is something to his his attributes. Size-check, foot speed – check, brains – check, experience – no check. I typically don’t like flyers for UM and think these guys should be more late cycle pushes but if you’re gonna do it I’d rather it be this kind of kid. Will be 3 yrs before he even cracks playing time. No big deal. I’d probably grade 73.

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