With the regular season in the rear view mirror and only a bowl game (or maybe playoff) between now and National Signing Day, I thought I would do a rundown of the position groups. This should not be confused with my “If I Had My Druthers…” posts, which rank remaining recruits. With football season wrapping up and the holidays, I haven’t had a ton of time to pore over film. So here’s a look at Michigan’s quarterback recruiting situation in 2017.
COMMITMENTS
Littleton (CO) Valor Christian’s Dylan McCaffrey is a 6’5″, 196 lb. Army All-American. He’s a part of the famed McCaffrey clan. You might have heard of his brother, who won an Olympic medal. No, wait. His dad won an Olympic medal. Or was that his grandfather? Okay, okay, his brother was an NFL receiver for the Broncos. Right? No, that was the mom. The whole family’s just so athletic that I can’t keep things straight. Anyway, Dylan is a 247 Composite 4-star, the #4 pro-style quarterback, and #53 overall in the class. He can run a little bit and has a very similar athletic profile to that of last year’s QB recruit, Brandon Peters.
UNCOMMITTED PLAYERS
- Jackson Gibbs
COMMITTED ELSEWHERE
- Chase Brice (Clemson)
- Jack Coan (Wisconsin)
- Kasim Hill (Maryland)
- Bailey Hockman (Florida State)
- Hunter Johnson (Clemson)
- Tate Martell (Ohio State)
- Davis Mills (Stanford)
- Shawn Robinson (TCU)
- Jelani Woods (Oklahoma State)
RETURNING ROSTER PLAYERS
- Shane Morris (5th)
- John O’Korn (5th)
- Wilton Speight (RS Jr.)*
- Alex Malzone (RS So.)
- Brandon Peters (RS Fr.)
OUTLOOK FOR MICHIGAN
Generally, you want to aim to have about five scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, preferably one in each class to spread out the talent and experience. Including McCaffrey, six are scheduled to be on the roster in 2017. That will almost certainly not be the case when August rolls around. The most glaring reason is that Michigan would have two fifth-year seniors on the roster, neither of whom would likely be starting. With Speight locking down the starting job for the duration of 2016, it would be an upset for one of his elders to win the gig. Expect one or both of Morris and O’Korn to transfer, at the very least. As for the recruiting aspect, Michigan has not been pursuing quarterbacks for months and will stick with only McCaffrey unless something weird happens, like a mass transfer at the position. Gibbs isn’t a serious option for Michigan, and his only chance to join the team would be as a walk-on.
*Returning starter
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I didn’t think that mom was a great athlete, but she absolutely ran great routes.
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That family is insane. Dylan’s family includes:
Maternal grandfather: Dave Sime, Olympic sprinter, Duke baseball player, top 10% of his med school class
Mom Lisa: Stanford soccer player
Maternal aunt Sherrie: UVA top-ranked singles tennis player
Maternal uncle Scott: state wrestling champ, starting FB at Duke
Dad: Stanford and NFL WR
Paternal uncle Billy: Duke/Vandy and Euro league basketball player
Paternal aunt Monica: G’town basketball player
Brother Christian: well, yeah.
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no doubt. pretty sure another older brother played WR at duke and led the team in catches (not a pro prospect or great college player but still impressive enough to earn a starting job and make some plays in the acc)
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Would be a big surprise if either of the 5th year guys don’t seek an opportunity elsewhere. Assuming a kid has graduated already there’s not much reason to stick around to be a backup in year 5 when you can spend 4 months elsewhere, actually get playing time, and give yourself a chance to go to the NFL.
In O’Korn and Morris’ case they have the physical talent, they have had Harbaugh’s coaching for 2 years, and they are stuck behind Speight with more talent coming. They’re not likely to have the IT that it takes to make the NFL but they would be wise to give it a shot at a school they can start at and maybe find somebody at the NFL level who believes in them after a good season.
Given that 2 ex-Purdue QBs started in the SEC this year it’s clear there are opportunities available around the country. In O’Korn and especially Morris’ case, they are probably better served by a lower level of competition but maybe there will be some unexpected opportunities for them.
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Agreed. I’d take either of them here at UNLV. Believe it or not they’d have a very decent set of WRs to throw to.
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