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| Antonio Poole was the first one to drop. |
I recently put up a post over at Maize ‘n’ Brew on how Michigan might fill out the remainder of its recruiting class. Take a gander over there if you’re interested.
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| Antonio Poole chose Michigan instead of someplace worse. |
Antonio Poole, an outside linebacker from Cincinnati, OH, committed to Michigan on Tuesday after receiving an in-home visit from new defensive coordinator Greg Mattison on Monday. Poole is a 6’1″, 215 lb. prospect with other offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Purdue, among others.
Poole is a 4-star prospect and the #13 outside linebacker to Scout, but a 3-star to Rivals and ESPN. Rivals ranks him as the #26 player at his position and ESPN puts him at #41. There’s a bit of a wide spread in the rankings, but overall, it seems that Poole is a solid prospect for Michigan to pull at this point in the recruiting cycle. I’m encouraged by Poole’s offer from Louisville, since head coach Charlie Strong (a former University of Florida defensive coordinator) clearly has a good idea of how to run a defense. I would tend to agree with Scout more than the other two here. I don’t see what Rivals and ESPN dislike about the kid’s game.
Poole reminds me a bit of Chris Graham in body stature, who played weakside linebacker for Michigan a few years ago. The thing I like most about him is that he’s a very physical tackler. Graham had a couple de-cleaters as a Wolverine, but he was never a standout. (On a related note, Graham is currently playing middle linebacker for a pro football team . . . in Germany.) Unlike Graham, however, Poole plays downhill and seems to diagnose quickly.
I think Poole could play either weakside linebacker or middle linebacker. He’s an excellent tackler and wades through the trash well. Much like Graham, it seems like Poole would fit best as a good two-down weakside ‘backer. He blitzes well and he’s a good run stopper, but I expect Mattison to use nickel corners (a position that disappeared the last few seasons) in obvious passing situations, and Poole might be lifted when offenses try to spread the field.
This gives Michigan 16 commits for the class of 2011. Linebackers Frank Clark and Leilon Willingham are rumored to be silent pledges, so Michigan should be done at the linebacker positions. There should be four or five scholarships left to use in this class, which will likely be used on a couple offensive linemen , a defensive tackle, a running back, and perhaps a fullback.
TTB Rating: 82
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| Russell Bellomy probably thinks what I think: “Purdue coach Danny Hope is a tool.” |
Russell Bellomy, a quarterback from Arlington, TX, committed to Michigan on Tuesday. He had previously been committed to Purdue but hadn’t been offered by Michigan until Brady Hoke took the head coaching job at Michigan. Bellomy is a 6’3″, 180 lb. prospect who also holds offers from Boise State, Colorado, Marshall, Minnesota, and South Florida, among others.
Bellomy is a 3-star prospect to all three recruiting services, and mostly viewed as a dual-threat quarterback. Scout ranks him as the #39 overall quarterback, while ESPN puts him at #35. Rivals has no opinion on the matter, but at least their site looks pretty.
Watching highlights of Bellomy, his high school team runs an offense that looks a lot like Auburn’s. It’s somewhat surprising that Rich Rodriguez, who needed a quarterback in the class of 2011 after Kevin Sousa decommitted, didn’t pursue Bellomy. Bellomy has some serious wheels and escapability. He only completed approximately 59% of his passes over the past couple seasons, but he threw very few interceptions (seven total from 2009-2010) and ran the ball for 1,200 yards over those two seasons.
Interestingly, Bellomy is a bit like offensive coordinator Al Borges’ old protege, Cade McNown. Bellomy is a little bit taller than McNown, but he’s mobile, has somewhat erratic mechanics, and lacks great arm strength. He shares those qualities with McNown, although the former UCLA quarterback also lacked some leadership qualities. Judging by a couple interviews I’ve seen of Bellomy, he seems to be a very grounded, respectful, humble young man.
I expect Bellomy to redshirt in 2011. Michigan has two capable-to-fairly capable quarterbacks in junior Denard Robinson and sophomore (or redshirt freshman) Devin Gardner. There’s no need to get Bellomy game experience as a true freshman. Experience is only necessary if he’s expected to play in the near future (like freshman Ryan Mallett in 2007, who would presumably have taken over once senior Chad Henne graduated). If injuries to Robinson and Gardner occur in 2011, Michigan’s chances of winning likely go down the drain, whether Bellomy gets a few garbage snaps or not.
The Wolverines are almost certainly finished with quarterback recruiting for 2011. Three scholarship quarterbacks is the minimum number a team should carry, but having four quarterbacks spread out over only three classes would cause a bit of a logjam. Expect to see Michigan pursue another quarterback or two in the class of 2012.
TTB Rating: 74
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| San Diego kicker Matt Wile |
Matt Wile, a 6’2″, 210 lb. kicker from San Diego, CA, committed to Michigan on Saturday. Wile is a 2-star recruit to Rivals and ESPN but unranked to Scout. He also holds offers from Air Force, Nebraska, San Diego State, and Washington.
Originally recruited by Brady Hoke’s staff when they were at San Diego State, Hoke honored the scholarship offer when he got the job at Michigan. Wile is the fifth kicker in the history of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl to choose Michigan, making Michigan the most frequent destination for USAAB kickers. The other four have been Garrett Rivas, Zoltan Mesko, Brendan Gibbons, and Will Hagerup. And when Wile enrolls later this year, he will be a fifth-generation Michigan Wolverine.
As a junior, Wile went 9-for-12 on field goals with a long of 48. He also kicked the ball into the endzone 89% of the time. In his senior season, he finished 10-for-13 with a long of 49 and a touchback percentage of 91%. He also played linebacker for his high school team, and you can see some of his tackling/blocking talents in the video below.
Michigan kickers (the aforementioned Brendan Gibbons, who is on scholarship; and walk-on Seth Broekhuizen) combined for a 4-for-14 season in 2010. Rich Rodriguez successfully recruited a kicker in the 2011 class, convincing Matt Goudis to flip from Boise State; however, Goudis obviously makes a habit of indecision, since he changed his commitment to Miami a couple weeks later. New coach Brady Hoke obviously still saw a need for another kicker, which is why he’s also committing a third scholarship to a specialist. All three scholarship kickers on Michigan’s roster are USAAB alumni, but it’s somewhat rare that a school has to commit three free rides to specialists.
I know very little about kicking, so I won’t pretend to have much criticism here. What I do know is that Michigan’s field goal accuracy in 2010 (29%) paled in comparison to Wile’s over the past couple seasons (76%). If giving out a third scholarship to a kicker means that Michigan can attempt more field goals – and make a higher percentage of them – then I’m okay with it. You can’t just throw a crappy kicker out there, cross your fingers, close your eyes, and hope. Wile’s presence will either spur Brendan Gibbons (whose work ethic has been questioned) to fight for his job or give Wile a shot to kick as a true freshman.
Punter Will Hagerup took over the kickoff duties late in the season, and he did a better job than either Gibbons or Broekhuizen. Even though Wile averaged over 41 yards per punt as a high schooler, Hagerup’s job as punter probably won’t be challenged.
What should Michigan fans expect? Wile has been practicing kicking off the ground for a couple seasons, so the transition to college shouldn’t be extremely difficult for him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wile kicking field goals in 2011. Gibbons couldn’t beat out some mediocre kickers as a true freshman in 2009 and redshirted. In 2010 he sat most of the time and watched another walk-on beat him out. It’s not a stretch to imagine that Gibbons will once again be watching from the sideline this coming season.
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| Highland Park defensive back Raymon Taylor |
Raymon Taylor, a 5’10”, 170 lb. defensive back from Highland Park, MI, committed to the Wolverines on Saturday. He had been committed to Indiana for a couple months, but when Hoosiers coach Bill Lynch was fired at the conclusion of the 2010 season, Taylor began to rethink his commitment. Taylor had always been a Michigan fan, but he did not receive an offer from the Wolverines until nearly the end of the Rich Rodriguez regime.
Taylor is a 4-star recruit to Rivals and a 3-star to both Scout and ESPN. Rivals and ESPN rank him as an “athlete” and Scout thinks he’s the 49th best cornerback in the country. In addition to Indiana, he had also been offered by Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Pittsburgh, Toledo, and Wisconsin.
It’s unclear what position Taylor will play at the next level. He reminds me of outgoing senior cornerback James Rogers. Rogers was a standout receiver/running back with great speed in high school, but he wasn’t all that sudden of a player. Much like Rogers, Taylor doesn’t exactly make quick cuts but catches the ball well and can run away from opponents. One thing Taylor has on Rogers, though, is that he’s a little more physical.
Some analysts think Taylor is destined for safety, but I’m not a big fan of playing small-ish cornerback types at free safety. Receivers ought to be terrified of going across the middle, and while Taylor is an adequate tackler, he’s not going to scare opposing wide receivers. Due to his lack of size, I expect Taylor to play cornerback at Michigan. That might also allow some current Michigan cornerbacks who lack a little bit of speed (J.T. Floyd, Cullen Christian) to move to free safety. Neither Floyd or Christian is a great hitter, but each might benefit from a change of position.
Michigan is still recruiting 4-star defensive backs Stefan McClure and Floyd Raven, but those are highly rated recruits with many options. I think the Wolverines coaching staff would accept a commitment from either one, but I don’t expect that Brady Hoke will pursue any new leads on cornerbacks. Unless one of those two players wants to commit, defensive back recruiting should be finished for 2011.
TTB Rating: 67