Tag: 2014 recruiting

Recruiting Update: March 4, 2013

Grand Rapids (MI) Christian wide receiver Drake Harris visited Michigan this past weekend.

COMMITMENT
Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake offensive guard Mason Cole committed to Michigan.

OFF THE BOARD
Virginia Beach (VA) Bayside safety Quin Blanding committed to Virginia.  Blanding is one of the top few prospects in the class of 2014 and got invited to Nike’s The Opening in the summer of 2012, an invitation that only gets extended to a couple underclassmen.

Mansfield (TX) Timberview safety Edward Paris committed to LSU.  His defensive backfield teammate Brandon Simmons also has an offer from Michigan, but he’s a longshot, too, because he wants to play closer to home.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a list of unofficial visitors from this past week.

Here’s my scouting report on Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius outside linebacker Kyle Berger.

Visitors: March 1-3, 2013

Grand Rapids (MI) Christian wide receiver Drake Harris

Joshua Alabi – DT – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Alabi is a 6’5″, 245 lb. prospect for the class of 2015 with offers from Michigan and Michigan State.  He and classmate Mikey Weber received Michigan offers in recent weeks.

Jayru Campbell – QB – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Campbell is a 6’3″, 190 lb. prospect who recently added a Michigan State offer to his offers from Alabama, Eastern Michigan, and Notre Dame.  He has led Cass Tech to two straight state championships and still has two years left to go in high school.  I have heard that Michigan wants to see him improve some of his skills before offering, and at this time, it’s unclear whether he’ll receive one from the Wolverines.  Brady Hoke offered just three quarterbacks in the class of 2013 and just one (so far) in the class of 2014, so the coaching staff is very careful about whom they offer.


Rob Dowdy – OT – Westerville (OH) South: Dowdy is a 6’6″, 260 lb. offensive tackle from the class of 2015.  He actually visited on Wednesday, but I’m tossing him in this group anyway.  He has not been offered by Michigan yet, but he does hold an offer from Indiana.  You may remember that Michigan made a run at his teammate Marcus Ball, a safety/linebacker from the class of 2013 who was committed to Wisconsin before flipping to Arizona State.


Drake Harris – WR – Grand Rapids (MI) Christian: Harris is a 6’4″, 180 lb. wideout who recently added Georgia and Penn State to his offers from Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, etc.  As a junior in 2012, he had 91 receptions for 2,015 yards and 25 touchdowns.  He will likely be one of the top ten wide receivers in the 2014 class, and that’s probably a conservative statement.  This is the second time in three weeks that Harris will visit Michigan, despite the fact that he’s a soft commit to Michigan State.


Mikey Weber – RB – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Weber is a 5’10”, 190 lb. prospect with offers from Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, and Syracuse.  He had 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2012.  He attends the pipeline of Cass Tech, which has also sent guys like William Campbell, Thomas Gordon, Terry Richardson, Jourdan Lewis, and Delano Hill.

Chase Winovich – LB – Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson: Winovich is a 6’4″, 215 lb. outside linebacker with offers from Florida State, Northwestern, Pitt, and West Virginia, among others.  Michigan has not offered him, but they’re talking to him about the SAM linebacker position.

Scouting Report: Kyle Berger

Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius linebacker Kyle Berger

Name: Kyle Berger
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius
Position: Linebacker
Class: 2014

Notes: Holds offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, and West Virginia . . . As a junior in 2012, had 44 tackles for loss and 10 sacks . . . Rivals 4-star OLB, #204 overall . . . 247 Sports 4-star OLB, 90 grade, #22 OLB . . . Attends alma mater of Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan and former Michigan players Pat and Mike Massey, among others

Strengths: Good speed for a kid his size . . . Quickness is impressive, but straight line speed is even more so . . . Has good length . . . Plenty of room to fill out to 240 lbs. or so . . . Uses hands well to shed blockers . . . Very disciplined player . . . Stays home and doesn’t overpursue . . . Stays very balanced in pass rush and pursuit

Weaknesses: Has a tendency to false step . . . Needs to play more on balls of feet . . . Could work on hand placement and getting hands on inside of blocker’s frame rather than outside . . . Would ideally need a year or two to fill out physically . . . Can get outmuscled in the run game

Projection: Outside linebacker.  Berger is too long and lean to play inside, but he looks like an ideal fit at outside linebacker in a 4-3 Under defense.  He has good pass rushing skills and would be a disciplined run stopper.  He’s not the most explosive athlete, but he has good speed and plays with tenacity.  I like his demeanor on the field.  If he gets too big or is needed at weakside end, he could eventually play there, too.  He looks like a high level BCS player.

Reminds me of: Jake Ryan. I know it’s kind of an obvious pick, but the frame and playing style are very similar.

Here are Berger’s highlights on Hudl.

Initial TTB Ratings for 2014

For the last few years, I’ve been putting together ratings for Michigan’s commitments.  When coming up with a rating, I generally try to picture how the player will fit into Michigan’s scheme and depth chart.  Certain wide receivers might be all-conference at one school but second-stringers at another.  Here’s a link to the explanation of the ratings.  I reserve the right to change these ratings throughout the recruiting cycle, but here’s where Michigan’s current four commits will start:

OG Mason Cole: 87 (commitment post)

LB Michael Ferns III: 83 (commitment post)

DT Bryan Mone: 79 (commitment post)

QB Wilton Speight: 77 (commitment post)

Mason Cole, Wolverine

Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake offensive guard Mason Cole

Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake offensive guard Mason Cole committed to Michigan on Monday.  He picked the Wolverines over offers from Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC, among others.  He visited Ann Arbor over this past weekend.

I wrote a scouting report on Cole a few weeks ago, so there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel.  Since then he has been ranked the #107 overall recruit by Rivals.

Since you can see my thoughts on Cole in the link above, there’s not much more to say.  I really like Cole and think he should be a quality starter down the road.  He may have to wait a few years because of the talent ahead of him, though.  In addition to the value of his commitment, he also attends school with 2014 wide receiver offeree Artavis Scott and 2015 wide receiver offeree George Campbell.  Cole and Scott have talked about being a “package deal,” so this would seem to help Michigan with wide receiver recruiting.

Cole represents the first time Brady Hoke has dipped into Florida for a commitment, and he’s the first Floridian to choose Michigan since Tony Posada (who committed to Rich Rodriguez in the class of 2011 but quit football almost immediately).  Cole is the fourth member of the 2014 class.

TTB Rating: To be determined

Here’s a link to his Hudl highlights.