Burke (VA) Lake Braddock tight end Matthew Hibner committed to Michigan on Sunday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Air Force, North Carolina State, and Virginia Tech, among others.
Hibner is listed at 6’4″ and 228 lbs.
RATINGS
ESPN:
Rivals: 3-star, 5.5 grade
247 Sports: 3-star, 85 grade, #43 TE, #1016 overall
Hit the jump for more on Hibner’s commitment.
Hibner was just offered by Michigan at the end of May, and he committed to the Wolverines about ten days later.
Hibner is a good athlete. He plays a lot of outside linebacker on his junior highlights, and they line him up at wide receiver, too. His speed is so-so, but he’s not going to run away from many people. He has a decent frame with plenty of room to keep bulking. I like his short-area and lateral quickness.
On the negative side, Hibner has some learning to do about whatever position he plays in college. He doesn’t appear to have much experience as an in-line tight end, and his defensive scheme doesn’t translate that well to Michigan’s. Based on his film, he needs to bulk up significantly before seeing time in college.
Overall, I like Hibner more than his ranking of #1016 overall. He has some untapped potential. He reminds me of former Michigan linebacker Noah Furbush, whom I pegged as a defensive end coming out of high school, but who ended up being a pretty effective SAM linebacker and special teamer in his career. And with that comparison, you might not be surprised to know that I see him as a slightly stronger candidate on defense. I do, however, think he could be successful on either side of the ball.
Michigan currently has a commitment from San Antonio (TX) Christian tight end Nick Patterson, and they are recruiting others at the position. Michigan will probably continue recruiting Theo Johnson, Cane Berrong, and others – especially considering the staff might not even be fully convinced that Hibner is a tight end.
Lake Braddock is the largest public school in the state of Virginia, with almost 4,300 students (LINK). Even so, Michigan has never landed a recruit from Lake Braddock, and the only other they’ve offered in my memory is quarterback Caleb Henderson (UNC/Maryland), who was in the 2014 class.
TTB Rating: 72 (ratings explanation)
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Surprised by the lack of comments on this commit. First, he looks like he hustles, which coaches love. He’s obviously smarter than most division 1 players if you can score a 1400 on SAT. Impressive. I even like his hands after watching the 7 on 7 hudl film. Most credit goes to whatever QB was throwing him the ball though. Very accurate. He’s even versatile after watching the junior highlights of him on defense.
This is what frustrates me about UM recruiting though. He’s the typical slow-play type kid. He doesn’t have another comparable offer to UM so why make it committable unless you are 99% sure this kid somehow went undetected. He didn’t, he goes to a huge school with a lot of athletes. He’s exactly the type of kid you go after later in the cycle, especially when you’re in on Theo Johnson. You can’t tell me that sends a message to Theo that they are recruiting and getting commits from 2 other LOW ranking TE’s. If I’m Theo’s parents I’m saying, “we should probably keep an open mind for awhile if they are taking kids like Patterson and Hibner”.
Bottom line, he’s a raw McKeon. Not fast, not overly athletic, not as big, not as good. You want to take a chance on him next January or after Theo Johnson commits somewhere else? Maybe, but I’m not even thrilled with that. Too many “projects” at TE to take another. Mustapha, Schoonybaloonymaker, Alls, Patterson etc. I’d give him a 62 rating on TTB scales.
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I think the theory is it’s better to get the commit and then ‘process’ a kid later than ‘slow play’ and risk losing somebody willing to come.
It seems like Hibner is taking Patterson’s spot and hey maybe somebody else better comes on down the line later.
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I don’t agree with this approach but I understand why they think it helps the program.
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I have no opinion on Hibner as a prospect. I am questioning the idea that we need to recruit multiple TEs in this class.
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