Ryan Hayes, Wolverine

Ryan Hayes, Wolverine


May 28, 2017

Traverse City (MI) West offensive tackle Ryan Hayes committed to Michigan on Saturday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Cal, Kentucky, Michigan State, Notre Dame, TCU, and others.

Hayes is listed at 6’7″, 252 lbs.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 80 grade, #30 OT
Rivals: 3-star, #49 OT
Scout: 4-star, #21 OT, #262 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, #10 OT, #102 overall

Hit the jump for more on Hayes’s commitment.

Hayes was offered by Michigan in late February. With a lot of players from Traverse City heading toward Michigan State, it seemed at the time that he might follow. Lots of bad stuff has gone down in East Lansing over the past few months, though, and even without those bad vibes, things seem to have been trending toward Michigan. He visited campus in late March and enjoyed himself, and the presence of Greg Frey – who recruited Hayes’s brother at Indiana – helped significantly, too.

Hayes is a tall kid with plenty of room to grow. As a high school tight end in a Dead-T offense, he’s not a fully fleshed-out tackle right now. He bends very well, and one of his strengths should be down blocking and maintaining leverage in the run game. He moves his feet well after contact, and he has the athleticism to release to the second level. He also does a good job of using his hands and finishing blocks.

What he needs to work on is pass protection. Instead of blocking on pass plays, he’s generally running routes. Despite being somewhat of a lumbering tight end, he has solid athleticism for an offensive tackle, but those athletic traits need to be harnessed.

I went on record back in February with the thought that Hayes is the #3 prospect within the state for 2018, and that was before Michigan offered (LINK). He’s a great fit for offensive tackles coach Greg Frey, who has recruited athletic tackles like Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield previously. Hayes will need at least a year to work on technique and add weight, but I think he could eventually start at either guard or either tackle spot. Michigan has also talked to him about potentially being a blocking tight end early in his career until he’s capable of playing on the line.

Michigan now has 10 commitments for 2018, which is interesting, since there are technically only 9 spots opening up (LINK). The Wolverines have now reached the point where people will have to disappear before everyone who’s committed can enroll. Of course, that type of thing happens naturally all the time with early departures for the NFL, transfers, and injuries, but it’s always curious to see how those spots open up.

After adding Grand Rapids (MI) Catholic Central offensive tackle Jalen Mayfield last week (LINK), Michigan now has two tackles; a third offensive lineman comes in the form of Indianapolis (IN) Cathedral offensive guard Emil Ekiyor (LINK). Only two offensive linemen will graduate after the 2017 season: offensive tackle Mason Cole and center Patrick Kugler.

TTB Rating: 86 (ratings explanation)

19 comments

  1. Comments: 1356
    Joined: 8/13/2015
    Roanman
    May 28, 2017 at 6:48 AM

    Early riser.

  2. Comments: 1356
    Joined: 8/13/2015
    Roanman
    May 28, 2017 at 7:14 AM

    It’s memorial Day weekend, do some reading. Here’s a very nice history of what Thunder calls the Dead T, but I prefer to call the Full House or Olivet T. An offense that is widely associated nationally, with Michigan high school football.

    Employed by Fritz Crisler at Minnesota, ripped off in it’s entirety by Frank Leahy at Notre Dame ( tsk tsk, Irish ) the Full House T has hardly ever completely gone away in the state of Michigan regardless of trends in football elsewhere. Go see some high school football in the state of Michigan, particularly on the west side of the state and likely down river as well, i guarantee that you will see it run and run well,

    http://www.eteamz.com/swanton/files/kylemcelvany-thetoffense.pdf

    • Comments: 1356
      Joined: 8/13/2015
      Roanman
      May 28, 2017 at 7:17 AM

      Oh yeah.

      I really like this pickup. I think this kid could could conceivably hang or at least bounce out as your blocking TE and is a very nice LT prospect.

    • Comments: 191
      Joined: 8/13/2015
      crazyjoedavola
      May 28, 2017 at 10:29 AM

      Without reading its history, it looks like an option running attack very similar to the wishbone… the placement of the FB is a little different though.

      • Comments: 1356
        Joined: 8/13/2015
        Roanman
        May 29, 2017 at 6:54 AM

        Not even close. I suppose you could add elements from option football, but I’ve not seen it.

        The T is about bringing superior numbers to the point of attack and running through you, then creating misdirection and false momentum with ball handling … and running through you. They want to force you to step up and play them kind of 4 – 6 – 1, punch a hole through your second level and then run like hell.

        The passes from it are pretty typically the slants to the TE that you see going to Hayes above. He takes a step as though blocking down, steps quickly into his route and finds the ball at about one step behind LB depth. Now he’s one on one with your safety.

        The offense is widely derided as “High School”, actually the author calls it JV. But I’ve seen it quick and deadly. I watched Belding just pound somebody with it at a semi final game a million years ago and was dumbfounded then that somebody at the height of the Wishbone’s popularity, was running straight T formation football. I guarantee you, if you turn on the TV for the finals this year, somebody in the state of Michigan playing for the State Championship will be running it still. It seems there always is.

        On that “High School” thing I think the most innovative football to be found anywhere is at the top of high school football. For starters, and I might be wrong here, coaches get their kids for many more hours, particularly in the summer, they have more time for dreaming it up and putting it in.

        • Comments: 359
          Joined: 8/11/2015
          GKblue
          May 29, 2017 at 8:11 AM

          Back in the day I played in and against the T; didn’t know any difference really.

          In HS that are still successful with it it is a system where from the freshman year on it is drilled into the kids to be an efficient run first offense. Many other schools simply don’t see inside fakes, or play against this type of balls first discipline and power. I have always thought that HS lineman buy into this system quite well.

          • Comments: 359
            Joined: 8/11/2015
            GKblue
            May 29, 2017 at 8:23 AM

            Truth here, I hadn’t read the linked article yet and was relying on memory.

            The team that I was thinking of in a successful modern application of the T was none other than Monroe SMCC.

            • Comments: 3844
              Joined: 7/13/2015
              May 29, 2017 at 9:13 PM

              A few years ago, I think Cass Tech played Lowell in the state championship game, and Lowell ran the Dead T, too.

              • Comments: 1356
                Joined: 8/13/2015
                Roanman
                May 30, 2017 at 6:42 AM

                I watched them beat Brother Rice in 2002 for the state championship with a kid who set the state record for single game total yards in that game. But i cannot for the life of me remember how they lined up.

                Kid went to GVSU to play DB for Brian Kelly.

                • Comments: 1356
                  Joined: 8/13/2015
                  Roanman
                  May 30, 2017 at 6:44 AM

                  Them = Lowell

              • Comments: 1356
                Joined: 8/13/2015
                Roanman
                May 30, 2017 at 6:56 AM

                The Roanboys all went/go go to Calvin or Hope, so I’m on 96 west of Lansing all the time.

                There is an outstanding little restaurant/bar on the river walk in the middle of Lowell. Definitely not bar food. Way, way worth the 5 minute drive off the expressway.

                Lowell in general is a neat and tidy, likely Dutch, little, town. The athletic part of their campus reeks of a commitment to winning.

  3. Comments: 1863
    Joined: 1/19/2016
    je93
    May 28, 2017 at 12:03 PM

    How will his pass_pro develop as desired, if he spends a year or two at TE? Will we have another TWJr, who is spectacular at nothing?
    No, I’m not down on the pickup, just honestly asking

    • Comments: 359
      Joined: 8/11/2015
      GKblue
      May 28, 2017 at 2:44 PM

      Lets see what weight he comes in at after his senior year of HS. If he still needs S&C to be OT size I’m in favor of a shirt, we need OT bad.

      On the other hand if it benefits him and the team, Frey is both OT and TE coach and may use him as a big athletic blocking TE in limited use. If this happens, I bet guys will be saying a few years down the road that they wish we hadn’t burned his red shirt if it proves out he needs one before making the 2 deep.

      With respect to TWjr is it really lack of snaps or the amount of dog in him? He seems kind of laid back so far, but what great potential he has.

    • Comments: 262
      Joined: 8/12/2015
      Painter Smurf
      May 29, 2017 at 10:22 PM

      If they use him at TE, that probably means he is a contributor. In other words, if he is riding the pine, he’ll do so at OT.
      Whether he turns into a better blocker than TWJ is not f course anyone’s guess at this point.

  4. Comments: 71
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    umfarnn
    May 28, 2017 at 1:51 PM

    Nice, I like the change in philosophy with taking lighter more athletic linemen with frames to grow. I clicked on your link to Ekiyor and realized you haven’t given him a rating yet. Any plans to go back to the early commits and give ratings now that 2017 is wrapped up?

  5. Comments: 295
    Joined: 12/19/2015
    Extrajuice
    May 28, 2017 at 5:32 PM

    This philosophy of offering athletic tackles is interesting. I’m not disappointed in Mayfield or Hayes and I think guys like this (in-state) are easier to stay committed down the road. You don’t have to worry about these 2 flirting with other programs. As a previous article stated, it’s tough to really project lineman anyway. However, I do agree with what some others have said with recruiting players that are higher ranked, especially skilled positions. I think this will come WHEN Michigan starts beating OSU again. Until then, we probably gotta get guys that can be coached up a bit.

    • Comments: 262
      Joined: 8/12/2015
      Painter Smurf
      May 29, 2017 at 10:29 PM

      I think UM has had a pretty good track record of turning jumbo TE recruits into contributors over the years, so I am all for this. Even if they don’t turn into studs, they tend to give you positional versatility.

  6. Comments: 262
    Joined: 8/12/2015
    Painter Smurf
    May 29, 2017 at 10:45 PM

    Fortuitous for UM to have two excellent OT prospects in state this year. Would not be surprised if both eventually start.
    Hayes has a lot of technique work ahead, coming from that offense. But Frey is a great tutor and seems to flourish with athletic players.
    I could definitely see Hayes getting run at TE, especially if a couple of the ’17 OT’s look good. UM lost their TE enforcer in Asiassi and a lot of the other young TEs are blocker-projects. Great pick up either way.

  7. Comments: 313
    Joined: 8/17/2015
    JC
    May 30, 2017 at 9:14 AM

    If you talk to Lewan he’ll tell you he came into college at 250, put on a bit of beef in his redshirt year to be at a playable weight by RS FR year.

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