Tag: 2014 recruiting

Recruiting Update: May 20, 2013

Missouri City (TX) Ridge Point linebacker Cameron Townsend

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Mesquite (TX) Poteet linebacker Malik Jefferson was offered by Michigan.  Jefferson is 6’3″, 215 lbs., and has offers from Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M, among others.  As a sophomore in 2012, he had 105 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries.  He also claims a 4.43 forty, a 35″ vertical, and a 305 lb. bench press.  While he plays linebacker and appears to be recruited as a linebacker, I would not be surprised if he grows into a weakside end prospect.  The Longhorns appear to be the leader in his recruitment.

Missouri City (TX) Ridge Point linebacker Cameron Townsend was offered by Michigan.  He’s a 6’0″, 195 lb. prospect with offers from Baylor, Houston, and Texas.  He plays like a SAM linebacker, but his size indicates more of an inside linebacker prospect.  He’s a very heavy hitter whose position might become clearer if he hits a growth spurt, but for now, I see him as a MIKE.

OFF THE BOARD
Nashville (TN) Montgomery Bell offensive tackle Alex Bars committed to Notre Dame.  I had written a scouting report on Bars a couple weeks ago and liked what I saw.  His older brother Blake plays offensive guard at Michigan, but he has another brother at Penn State and a father who played for the Fighting Irish.  Michigan seemed to be the other leading option for Alex, however, and the Wolverines don’t have any other offensive linemen who seem heavily interested, although Chandler (AZ) Hamilton’s Casey Tucker has voiced interest after decommitting from USC and Florissant (MO) Hazelwood Central’s Roderick Johnson visited this spring.  Perhaps we will see the coaching staff send out some more offers.

East St. Louis (IL) East St. Louis linebacker Kyron Watson committed to Kansas.  Watson had been hinting for weeks that he would commit to Michigan as soon as he visited campus, but that visit was postponed a couple times and re-scheduled for this past weekend.  Just before the visit, however, Michigan’s coaches reportedly told him that he no longer had an offer.  There are some rumors that Michigan thought he could play SAM but then backed off once they found out he measured in at a shade under 6’0″, but I find that hard to believe; it’s clear from his recruiting profiles and his highlights that he’s not very tall.

MISCELLANEOUS
I wrote up a scouting report on Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson linebacker Chase Winovich.

Scouting Report: Chase Winovich

Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson linebacker Chase Winovich (image via Detroit News)

Name: Chase Winovich
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 215 lbs.
Position: Linebacker
High school: Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson
Class: 2014

Notes: Holds offers from Akron, Arizona, Arkansas, Boston College, Bowling Green, Florida State, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Northwestern, Ohio State, Pitt, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee, Toledo, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia . . . As a junior in 2012, had 77 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and 4 fumble recoveries . . . Claims a 4.65 forty . . . ESPN 3-star, 73 grade, #30 OLB . . . Rivals 3-star, #30 OLB . . . Scout 3-star, #28 OLB . . . 247 Sports 3-star, 87 grade, #49 OLB

Strengths: Good speed for an outside linebacker . . . Shows good discipline and fundamentals on stance and pre-snap positioning . . . Quick feet . . . Able to side-step blockers to make plays in backfield . . . High-effort player capable of tracking plays downfield and sideline to sideline . . . Willing to be physical . . . Does well at avoiding trash in traffic

Weaknesses: Very slight . . . Lacks some functional strength . . . Struggles to take ball carriers down initially . . . Does not use hands well to shed blockers . . . Could stay lower and drive his feet through contact . . . Sometimes just latches on and goes for a ride

Projection: Outside linebacker.  Winovich clearly needs to add bulk to his frame, since he is reed thin and has the lower body of a safety.  Although pass coverage is not highlighted in his film, his length and change-of-direction skills should make him at least decent in that area.  He has a good nose for the ball and should be plus pass rusher if he can work on using his hands and, of course, add strength and mass to his frame.  There is also a slight concern about how much weight he will be able to add without losing his best qualities, which are his quickness and speed.  At his height he should end up around 240-250 lbs. by the time he’s a college upperclassman.  Since there’s so much physical development in the works, it’s hard to project what kind of athlete he might be; however, I think he could be a BCS all-conference type of player if he can maintain his athleticism.

Reminds me of: Shawn Crable. Crable had chicken legs but good length and a very developed upper body; he also had good speed and a knack for getting skinny to avoid blockers and shoot gaps.

Likelihood of committing to Michigan: Ohio State and Michigan appear to be the front runners, with Pitt running third. Winovich visited Michigan last weekend and left with positive vibes, but he grew up as a Buckeye fan.  A friendship with committed linebacker Michael Ferns III may prove to be beneficial for the Wolverines’ chances.

You can view Winovich’s highlights here.

Recruiting Update: May 13, 2013

Cleveland (OH) St. Edward cornerback Shaun Crawford

COMMITMENT
Southfield (MI) Southfield defensive end Lawrence Marshall committed to Michigan.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
St. Paul (MN) Cretin-Derham Hall defensive end Jashon Cornell was offered by Michigan.  Cornell is a 6’4″, 230 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC, and Wisconsin, among others.  Notre Dame is thought to be the leader because of a couple relatively recent alumni heading to South Bend (WR Michael Floyd, WR James Onwualu), but it’s also the alma mater of OT Seantrel Henderson, who first committed to USC before ending up at Miami.  As a sophomore in 2012, he had 52 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles.

Lakewood (OH) St. Edward cornerback Shaun Crawford was offered by Michigan.  He’s a 5’9″, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Arkansas, Florida State, Miami, Penn State, and Tennessee, among others.  As a sophomore in 2012, he had 66 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery; he also had 24 catches for 438 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Warren (OH) Harding defensive end Hjalte Froholdt was offered by Michigan.  He’s a 6’5″, 265 lb. prospect with no other offers at this time.  Froholdt grew up in Denmark and played his first season of football in America (though he played the sport in Denmark, too) as a sophomore last season.  Harding is the alma mater of former Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham, linebacker Prescott Burgess, and linebacker Carl Diggs, as well as a couple recent Michigan signees who flamed out (LB Davion Rogers, WR D.J. Williamson).

OFF THE BOARD
Upper Marlboro (MD) Wise safety Marcus Allen committed to Penn State.  In case you’re wondering, I can find no indication that he’s related to the  Marcus Allen . . . you know, the one who ran for over 2,300 yards in one season at USC, won the Heisman, and was the second best Los Angeles Raiders running back in Tecmo Bowl.  The younger, unrelated Allen never showed significant interest in Michigan.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a list of the visitors from this past weekend.

Lawrence Marshall, Wolverine

Southfield (MI) Southfield defensive end Lawrence Marshall

Southfield (MI) Southfield defensive end Lawrence Marshall committed to Michigan on Saturday morning.  He chose the Wolverines over offers from Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, among others.

I wrote up a scouting report on him just . . . uh . . . yesterday.  That has pretty much all the information you might need.

As I mentioned in said scouting report, Marshall looks like a guy who could start off at weakside end as a youngster and eventually bulk up into being a strongside end.  In my opinion, he’s not an elite pass rusher, and he lacks a variety of moves that would help him circumvent college left tackles.  Those pass rush moves can be taught, however, and Marshall does have decent athleticism and pretty good straight line speed.  People have asked me if I think he can add enough weight to play on the strong side, but current starting weakside end Frank Clark came in at about 6’2″ and 215 lbs. and is now almost 280 lbs.; Marshall will be coming out of high school 10-20 lbs. heavier than Clark did and with an added inch or two in height.

You can see that I have some questions about Marshall, and there’s also evidence that kids who change their commitments during the recruiting process often struggle to find success at the next level.  Maturity and level of commitment come into play when talking about kids who make such big decisions rashly.  Hopefully, for Marshall and Michigan’s sake, he breaks that trend.  In the above linked scouting report, I made comparisons to Craig Roh – who started off at WDE before bulking up to SDE – and Tim Jamison, who remained at WDE throughout his career.  Jamison was a better athlete than Marshall coming out of high school, but the weight he added in college seemed to slow him down just enough to prevent him from becoming a top-notch player.  However, Jamison has been a fringe NFL player, and Roh signed with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent, so following in their footsteps would be a pretty decent achievement.

Marshall is the ninth commitment in a class that is probably going to be in the upper teens or maybe even reach twenty, so we’re about halfway home.  Michigan is also looking to take at least a couple defensive ends in the 2014 class, with guys like Detroit (MI) Loyola’s Malik McDowell and Woodbridge (VA) Woodbridge’s Da’Shawn Hand still on the board.  The only other defensive lineman currently committed is Salt Lake City (UT) Highland’s Bryan Mone, a defensive tackle.

TTB Rating: 72 (ratings explanation)

Visitors: May 10-12, 2013

Cleveland (OH) St. Benedictine athlete Jerome Baker

Jerome Baker – ATH – Cleveland (OH) Benedictine: Baker is a 6’1″, 205 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Ohio State, Penn State, and Tennessee, among others.  He also claims a 4.52 forty, which is impressive for a rising junior of his size.  The class of 2015 prospect does not yet have a Michigan offer, but he will probably get one on the visit.  Baker plays running back and linebacker for Benediction, but he looks most like an inside linebacker (MIKE or WILL) from Michigan’s eyes.  UPDATE: Baker is no longer visiting this weekend.


Michael Ferns III – LB – St. Clairsville (OH) St. Clairsville: Ferns committed to Michigan last August. He recently accepted an invitation to play in the 2014 Under Armour All-American Game.


Drake Harris – WR – Grand Rapids (MI) Christian: Harris committed to Michigan last month.  He was recently invited to Nike’s The Opening and will also play in the Under Armour game.

Lawrence Marshall – DE – Southfield (MI) Southfield:  Marshall is a 6’4″, 225 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, among others.  He committed to Ohio State for a couple days, but he’s no longer considering the Buckeyes.  He recently announced a top five of Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and USC, but most analysts think MSU leads with Michigan a step behind.

Wilton Speight – QB – Richmond (VA) Collegiate: Speight committed to Michigan in February.  He, too, will play in the Under Armour game.


Maurice Ways – WR – Detroit (MI) Country Day: Ways committed to Michigan last month.


Chase Winovich – LB – Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson: Winovich is a 6’4″, 215 lb. prospect with offers from Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, and Pitt, among others.  He claims a 4.65 forty and checks in on 247’s Composite ranking as a 3-star, the #41 OLB, and the #551 player overall.  Winovich was offered by the Wolverines in early April, immediately after a couple other SAM prospects (Kyle Berger, Sam Hubbard) committed to Ohio State.  He visited Michigan last fall and shortly after being offered last month, so this will be his third visit in the last seven months.  Ohio State and Pitt appear to be the two biggest contenders, along with Michigan.