Tag: 2005 recruiting

Ex-Wolverines: Class of 2005

Marques Slocum (image via Scout)

TRANSFERS/RETIREES

Jason Forcier – Quarterback – San Diego (CA) St.Augustine
Forcier, the older brother of Tate (Class of 2009), arrived in the fall of 2005 as a bit of a departure from the standard mold of Michigan quarterbacks; he was more mobile and elusive than the standard 6’4″ to 6’6″, 220 lb. passer that seemed to gravitate toward Ann Arbor.  He redshirted in his first season on campus and was a backup quarterback on the 2006 team; he completed 3-of-3 passes for 30 yards.  With the arrival of highly touted freshman Ryan Mallett and still more competition in Steve Threet, Forcier transferred to Stanford and sat out the 2007 season due to transfer rules.  As a redshirt junior at Stanford in 2008, Forcier went 5-for-13 for 62 yards and 1 interception.  He tried to return to the University of Michigan in 2009 as a grad student and play for the Wolverines, where younger brother Tate Forcier was a freshman QB, but his attempts were unsuccessful.
Current status: Out of football

Hit the jump for several more former Wolverines.

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Review of 2005 Recruiting: The Wide Receivers

Mohamed Massaquoi turned down an offer from the Wolverines to play for Georgia

THE ROSTER
Jason Avant, Sr.
Steve Breaston, Sr.
Carl Tabb, Sr.
Adrian Arrington, So.
Doug Dutch, So.

THE RECRUITS
Antonio Bass
High school: Jackson (MI) Jackson
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #5 ATH; Scout 4-star, #9 WR
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: LSU, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Virginia Tech
Scoop: Bass played immediately as a true freshman and was a jack-of-all-trades.  He completed 1 pass for 13 yards, ran the ball 19 times for 81 yards, and caught 8 passes for 64 yards.  However, he suffered a career-ending knee injury during spring practices in 2006.

Mario Manningham
High school: Warren (OH) Harding
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #45 overall, #5 receiver; Scout 4-star, #7 WR
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Ohio State
Scoop: Like Bass, Manningham earned immediate playing time.  He had 27 receptions for 433 yards (16.0 yards per catch) and 6 touchdowns as a true freshman.  In his sophomore season of 2006, he grabbed 38 passes for 703 yards (18.5 yards per catch) and 9 touchdowns.  And as a junior, he really blew up with 72 receptions for 1,174 yards (16.3 yards per catch) for 12 touchdowns, including a school record 97-yarder from Ryan Mallett.  He finished his career with 137 receptions for 2,310 yards (16.9 yards per catch) and 27 touchdowns.  He also had 31 carries for 176 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and 1 punt return for 17 yards in his career.  In four seasons with the Giants, Manningham has 160 receptions for 2,315 yards (14.5 yards per catch) and 18 touchdowns.

LaTerryal Savoy
High school: Mamou (LA) Mamou
Ratings: Rivals 3-star; Scout 4-star, #35 WR
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Mississippi, South Carolina
Scoop: Savoy redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, he caught 1 pass for 7 yards.  In 2007, he again caught 1 pass for 9 yards.  During his redshirt junior season of 2008, he started one game and caught 4 passes for 38 yards (9.5 yards per catch) and 1 touchdown.  As a senior in 2009, Savoy made 12 receptions for 158 yards (13.2 yards per catch).  For his career he caught 17 passes for 212 yards (12.5 yards per catch) and 1 touchdown.  He was not drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and has not played in the NFL.

Andre Amos
High school: Middletown (OH) Middletown
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #25 WR; Scout 4-star, #30 WR
College: Ohio State
Other notable offers: Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue
Scoop: Amos redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  He played backup cornerback in 2006, making 9 total tackles, making 1 interception, and breaking up 1 pass.  As a redshirt sophomore in 2007, he made 3 total tackles.  Amos missed the entire 2008 season due to injury.  As a fifth year senior in 2009, he made 12 total tackles and broke up 1 pass.  He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and has not played in the NFL.

Nyan Boateng
High school: Brooklyn (NY) Lincoln
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #20 WR; Scout 3-star, #38 WR
College: Florida Cal
Other notable offers: Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska
Scoop: Boateng played in five games as a true freshman in 2005, grabbing 4 passes for 77 yards and rushing 2 times for 16 yards.  He sat out the 2006 season at Florida for discipline reasons.  He then transferred to Cal, where he sat out the 2007 season due to transfer requirements.  As a redshirt junior in 2008, he made 29 catches for 439 yards (15.1 yards per catch) and 5 touchdowns.  During his fifth year senior season in 2009, he caught 13 passes for 191 yards (14.7 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.  He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and has not played in the NFL.

Kevin Cousins
High school: Richmond (VA) Huguenot
Ratings: Rivals 3-star; Scout 2-star
College: Penn State
Other notable offers: N/A
Scoop: Cousins redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, he caught 1 pass for 8 yards.  While he was on the roster for both the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the injury-plagued Cousins didn’t play another game for the Nittany Lions.

Eric Huggins
High school: Conway (SC) Conway
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #77 overall, #8 WR; Scout 4-star, #11 WR
College: Oklahoma Newberry College
Other notable offers: Clemson, Florida, Florida State, USC
Scoop: Huggins redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  He did not play in 2006 and transferred to Newberry College.  He caught 6 passes for 88 yards and 1 touchdown in 2007.  As a redshirt junior in 2008, Huggins caught 9 passes for 97 yards.  He left the team prior the 2009 season.

Selwyn Lymon
High school: Fort Wayne (IN) Harding
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #72 overall, #7 WR; Scout 5-star, #5 WR
College: Purdue
Other notable offers: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
Scoop: Lymon sat out the 2005 season.  He started 12 games in 2006 and caught 33 passes for 580 yards (17.6 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns.  In 2007 he caught 40 passes for 450 yards (11.2 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.  He was kicked off the team after the season for getting caught drunk driving, after which he entered the 2008 NFL Draft.  He went undrafted and has not played in the NFL.

Mohamed Massaquoi
High school: Charlotte (NC) Independence
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #29 overall, #4 WR; Scout 3-star, #19 WR
College: Georgia
Other notable offers: Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State
Scoop: Massaquoi played in 13 games as a true freshman in 2005, grabbing 38 passes for 505 yards (13.3 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.  In 2006 he caught 30 passes for 366 yards (12.2 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.  As a junior in 2007, Massaquoi caught 32 passes for 491 yards (15.3 yards per catch) and 4 touchdowns.  In his final season of 2008, he caught 58 passes for 920 yards (15.9 yards per catch) and 8 touchdowns.  He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns and has caught 101 passes for 1,491 yards (14.8 yards per catch) and 7 touchdowns in the NFL.

Rendrick Taylor
High school: Bennettsville (SC) Marlboro County
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #16 WR; Scout 4-star, #13 WR
College: Clemson
Other notable offers: Alabama, Florida State, South Carolina, Tennessee
Scoop: Taylor played sparingly as a backup wide receiver in 2005, making 9 catches for 69 yards (7.3 yards per catch).  He followed that up with 12 catches for 152 yards (12.7 yards per catch) as a sophomore, but he missed half the season with a broken arm.  As a junior in 2007, Taylor caught 25 passes for 259 yards (10.4 yards per catch).  He redshirted in 2008 due to injury, and then in spring 2009 he made the rare move from wide receiver to fullback.  As a fifth year senior in 2009, Taylor started 3 games at fullback, rushing 13 times for 37 yards (2.8 yards per carry) and catching 8 passes for 53 yards (6.6 yards per catch).  He was not drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and has not played in the NFL regular season.

CONCLUSIONS
Biggest miss: Mohamed Massaquoi was the only Michigan offeree to find particularly successful.  He has made a decent professional career for himself (despite some injuries) with the Cleveland Browns and had the best college career of any of the non-Michigan guys.

Biggest bust: Selwyn Lymon was the highest rated recruit and the only 5-star of the bunch.  While he did have a decent couple seasons at Purdue for a young player, his off-the-field behavior really derailed what could have been a very good career.

Best in class: DeSean Jackson went to Cal and had 2,423 receiving yards to go along with 22 receiving touchdowns and 6 punt return touchdowns.  So far in the NFL, he has 4,085 receiving yards and 21 receiving touchdowns.  He has also rushed for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus another 4 touchdowns as a punt returner.

Review of 2005 Recruiting: The Running Backs

Kevin Grady never had a 100-yard game in college

The Roster
Mike Hart, So.
Jerome Jackson, Jr.
Max Martin, So.

The Offerees
Andre Criswell
High school: Detroit (MI) Renaissance
Ratings: Rivals 2-star FB; Scout 2-star RB
College: Michigan
Other notable offers:
Scoop: Criswell arrived as a fullback in 2005 and redshirted behind Kevin Dudley.  As a redshirt sophomore in 2007, Criswell caught 2 passes for 32 yards in mop-up duty against Eastern Michigan and Minnesota.  On special teams he made 4 career tackles.  When Rich Rodriguez arrived in 2008, he gave Criswell a chance to play at both tight end and defensive end, but Criswell never saw the field at either position.  He was not given a fifth year of eligibility, but instead spent the 2009 season as a graduate assistant.

Kevin Grady
High school: Grand Rapids (MI) East
Ratings: Rivals 5-star RB, #22 overall; Scout 5-star, #5 RB
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Michigan State
Scoop: Grady arrived as an all-everything tailback out of western Michigan and spent his freshman season as the primary backup to Mike Hart.  He ran the ball 121 times for 483 yards (4.0 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns; he also caught 14 passes for 113 yards (8.1 yards per catch).  However, his freshman year was the high point of his career.  Off-the-field troubles and the healthy return of Hart limited him to 55 carries for 187 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns, in addition to just 1 catch for 8 yards.  He tore his ACL in the spring of 2007 and sat out the following season.  As a redshirt junior in 2008, Grady saw limited time as a backup tailback behind Sam McGuffie and Brandon Minor, notching just 14 carries for 33 yards (2.4 yards per carry) and 1 touchdown.  He accepted a switch to fullback for the 2009 season, and ended the year with 10 carries for 80 yards and 1 touchdown, in addition to 5 catches for 29 yards (5.8 yards per catch).  Grady ended his career with 200 carries for 783 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns, plus 20 receptions for 150 yards (7.5 yards per catch).  He was not drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and has not played in the NFL.

Mister Simpson
High school: Cincinnati (OH) Colerain
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #20 RB; Scout 3-star, #53 RB
College: Michigan Cincinnati Jail
Other notable offers: Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Maryland
Scoop: Simpson redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  He left the program prior to the 2006 season and transferred to Cincinnati, where he never saw the field due to a little problem called “burglary.”  His most recent arrest, as far as I can tell, was in January 2011.  His football career appears to be over.

Rashawn Jackson
High school: Jersey City (NJ) St. Pater’s
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #7 FB; Scout 3-star, #46 RB
College: Virginia
Other notable offers: Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, USC
Scoop: Jackson began his career at running back in 2005, but switched to practicing at linebacker halfway through the season; he didn’t play in a single game and redshirted.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, he remained at linebacker and made 7 total tackles on special teams.  He moved back to fullback in 2007 and ran the ball 20 times for 72 yards (3.6 yards per carry) while also catching 6 passes for 42 yards (7 yards per catch) and 1 touchdown.  As a redshirt junior in 2008, Jackson ran the ball 16 times for 62 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and caught 14 passes for 79 yards (5.6 yards per catch).  As a fifth year senior in 2009, he became the team’s feature back and ran the ball 96 times for 461 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns; he also snagged 25 passes for 222 yards (8.9 yards per reception).  He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft but signed as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers, for whom he played 2 games in 2010 without accumulating any statistics.

Conclusions
Biggest bust: Kevin Grady.  Not only did he never have a 100-yard game, but he rushed for less than 800 yards over five years and had multiple off-the-field issues.  As far back as the recruiting services go (2002), Grady might be Michigan’s biggest recruiting bust.

Biggest miss: Rashawn Jackson.  He’s the only choice, but since he’s the only one of the four to sniff the NFL, I guess he fits here.

Best in class: Jonathan Stewart.  Stewart ran for 2,981 yards and 27 touchdowns at Oregon.  Then he was a first round pick of the Carolina Panthers.  He has 3,500 rushing yards for the Panthers and 26 rushing touchdowns.

All offers are recorded on the 2005 Offer Board.

Review of 2005 Recruiting: The Quarterbacks

Left to right: Tate Forcier, Jason Forcier, Some Guy, Chris Forcier (image via MGoBlog)

The Offerees
Jason Forcier
High school: San Diego (CA) St. Augustine
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #15 dual-threat QB; Scout 4-star, #8 QB
College: Michigan Stanford
Other notable offers: Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin
Scoop: Jason Forcier became more famous for his younger brother Tate’s starts at Michigan than anything the elder Forcier did in college.  Jason redshirted in 2005.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, he appeared in mop-up duty and completed 3/3 passes for 30 yards and rushed for 14 yards.  However, prior to the 2007 season, he transferred to Stanford because Chad Henne had nailed down the starting job and Ryan Mallett, who had enrolled in January 2007, seemed to be the heir apparent.  Forcier sat out the 2007 season due to NCAA transfer rules.  As the #3 quarterback in 2008, he went 5/13 passing for 62 yards with 1 interception.  He transferred back to Michigan for graduate school in 2009 and tried to get a waiver to join the football program, but failed to do so.  He was not drafted.

Harrison Beck
High school: Clearwater (FL) Countryside
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #3 pro-style QB; Scout 4-star, #11 QB
College: Nebraska North Carolina State North Alabama
Other notable offers: Florida, Florida State, Miami
Scoop: As a true freshman in 2005, Beck played in two games and went 1/10 passing for 21 yards and 1 interception.  After the season he transferred to North Carolina State, where he was forced to sit out the 2006 season due to NCAA transfer rules.  In 2007 he started for half a season, finishing the year 85/160 (53.1%) for 903 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.  He was demoted in 2009, when he completed just 34/80 passes (42.5%) for 592 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.  He transferred to North Alabama, an FCS school, for the 2009 season.  As the starting quarterback, he went 293/505 (58%) for 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.  He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and his football career appears to be finished.

Rob Schoenhoft
High school: Cincinnati (OH) Xavier
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #6 pro-style QB; Scout 4-star, #17 QB
College: Ohio State Delaware
Other notable offers: Florida, Michigan State, Notre Dame
Scoop: Schoenhoft redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, Schoenhoft played in two games and went 1/1 for 5 yards.  In his 2007 redshirt sophomore season, he backed up Todd Boeckman and completed 17/25 passes (68%) for 129 yards.  He then transferred to Delaware of the Football Championship Subdivision, where he completed 83/160 passes (51.9%) for 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Conclusions
Biggest bust: None of these guys did anything of note. Forcier at least remained anonymous throughout his career, at least to the general population.  Schoenhoft couldn’t get on the field at the FBS level, then proceeded to throw 10 picks and only 6 touchdowns for a solid FCS program.  All three guys were moderately ranked recruits, but none were high enough ranked to be monstrous disappointments.

Biggest miss: None.  Forcier was probably a decent enough backup who was never needed because of the presence of Chad Henne and Ryan Mallett.  Even if Michigan had pulled in Beck or Schoenhoft, neither one would have been able to run Rich Rodriguez’s zone read option offense.  In fact, the biggest miss was losing Forcier to a transfer, because he was the most mobile of the three and would have had the best chance to succeed under Rodriguez.  He very well could have been Michigan’s starter in 2008 and 2009.

Best in class: Mark Sanchez?  There weren’t many great quarterbacks in the class of 2005, but Sanchez had a very solid college career.  It was good enough for him to leave USC early for the NFL and get picked by the New York Jets.  He’s just a mediocre NFL quarterback, but NFL success is somewhat secondary to this blog’s interest.

2005 Offer Board

56 total offers

QUARTERBACK (3)
Jason Forcier – San Diego, CA (Michigan)
Harrison Beck – Clearwater, FL (Nebraska)
Rob Schoenhoft – Cincinnati, OH (Ohio State)

RUNNING BACK (4)
Andre Criswell – Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Kevin Grady – Grand Rapids, MI (Michigan)
Mister Simpson – Cincinnati, OH (Michigan)
Rashawn Jackson – Jersey City, NJ (Virginia)

WIDE RECEIVER (10)
Antonio Bass – Jackson, MI (Michigan)
Mario Manningham – Warren, OH (Michigan)
LaTerryal Savoy – Mamou, LA (Michigan)
Rendrick Taylor – Bennettsville, SC (Clemson)
Nate Boateng – Brooklyn, NY (Florida)
Mohamed Massaquoi – Charlotte, NC (Georgia)
Andre Amos – Middletown, OH (Ohio State)
Eric Huggins – Conway, SC (Oklahoma)
Kevin Cousins – Richmond, VA (Penn State)
Selwyn Lymon – Fort Wayne, IN (Purdue)

TIGHT END (2)
Carson Butler – Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Ed Dickson – Bellflower, CA (Oregon)

OFFENSIVE TACKLE (5)
Justin Schifano – Webster, NY (Michigan)
Andy Kuempel – Marion, IA (Iowa)
Dace Richardson – Wheaton, IL (Iowa)
John Jerry – Batesville, MS (Mississippi)
Alex Boone – Lakewood, OH (Ohio State)

OFFENSIVE GUARD (5)
Tim McAvoy – Bloomington, IL (Michigan)
David Moosman – Libertyville, IL (Michigan)
Cory Zirbel – Murray, KY (Michigan)
Ronnie Wilson – Pompano Beach, FL (Florida)
Hivera Green – Conway, SC (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE END (5)
Eugene Germany – Pomona, CA (Michigan)
Chris McLaurin – Orchard Lake, MI (Michigan)
Allan Smith – Kansas City, MO (Boston College)
Kyle Moore – Warner Robins, GA (USC)
William Wall – Chatham, VA (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (4)
James McKinney – Louisville, KY (Michigan)
Marques Slocum – Philadelphia, PA (Michigan)
Terrance Taylor – Muskegon, MI (Michigan)
Craig Bokor – Bedford, PA (Pittsburgh)

LINEBACKER (2)
Brandon Logan – Lexington, KY (Michigan)
Jerome Hayes – Bayonne, NJ (Penn State)

CORNERBACK (11)
Brandon Harrison – Dayton, OH (Michigan)
Chris Richards – North Hills, CA (Michigan)
Johnny Sears – Fresno, CA (Michigan)
Lionel Mitchell – Chatham, VA (Alabama)
Avery Atkins – Daytona Beach, FL (Florida)
Anthony Wiseman – Hyattsville, MD (Maryland)
Demetrice Morley – Miami, FL (Miami)
Kendell Davis – Alliance, OH (Michigan State)
Jamario O’Neal – Cleveland, OH (Ohio State)
Justin King – Pittsburgh, PA (Penn State)
Kevin Thomas – Oxnard, CA (USC)

SAFETY (4)
C.J. Byrd – North Augusta, SC (Georgia)
Chris Rowell – Warrensville Heights, OH (Iowa)
Nic Harris – Alexandria, LA (Oklahoma)
Victor Harris – Highland Springs, VA (Virginia Tech)

KICKER/PUNTER (1)
Zoltan Mesko – Twinsburg, OH (Michigan)