Visitors: Michigan vs. Northwestern

Tag: 2014 recruiting


11Nov 2012
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Visitors: Michigan vs. Northwestern

Leon McQuay III is the highest touted uncommitted prospect
headed to town this weekend

Adam Bertke – QB – Marion (OH) Local: Bertke is a 6’5″, 190 lb. prospect for 2014.  He threw for about 2,300 yards and 25 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2011.  He has no offers at this time.

Jacob Betschel – TE/LB – Jackson (OH) Jackson: Betschel is a 6’4″, 230 lb. kid from the class of 2014.  He has no offers at this point.  As a sophomore in 2011, he had 33 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 3 fumble recoveries. (Highlights.)

Ian Bunting – TE – Hinsdale (IL) Central: Bunting is a 6’7″, 215 lb. tight end prospect from the class of 2014.  He has good speed and obviously a large frame, and he could be a U-back prospect in the same vein as freshman Devin Funchess.  He has a lone offer from Purdue. (Highlights.)

Daniel Cage – DT – Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods: Cage is a 6’3″, 265 lb. defensive tackle from the class of 2014.  He has offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, and Tennessee, and he attends the alma mater of redshirt freshman linebacker Antonio Poole. (Highlights.)

Jamitreus Crockham – RB – Fishers (IN) Hamilton Southeastern: Crockham is a 6’2″, 205 lb. back from the class of 2014.  As a sophomore in 2011, he had 131 carries for 1,009 yards and 16 touchdowns.  His lone offer comes from Toledo. (Highlights.)

Cario Davison – S – Galion (OH) Galion: Davison is a 6’2″, 190 lb. safety from the 2015 class.  He is teammates with Dareian Watkins, a junior prospect who could very well be on his way to an offer.

Garrett Dickerson – TE – Oradell (NJ) Bergen Catholic: Dickerson is a 6’4″, 240 lb. tight end from the class of 2014 who holds offers from Maryland, Northwestern, Ohio State, Pitt, Stanford, and several others.


Logan Dziak – DT – Delaware (OH) Buckeye Valley: Dziak is a 6’3″, 275 lb. defensive tackle from the class of 2014.  He has no offers at this point, and does not appear to be a Michigan-caliber athlete. (Highlights.)


Andrew Ford – QB – Camp Hill (PA) Cedar Cliff: Ford is a 6’3″, 190 lb. signal caller from the class of 2014.  He has no offers at this point, but he has visited Michigan previously and is the teammate of 2013 tight end Adam Breneman, who was offered by Michigan but committed to Penn State.  As a sophomore in 2011, Ford had 1,362 yards passing, 12 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and completed 67.3% of his passes.  (Highlights.)

Bruce Hall – OT – Leslie (MI) Leslie: Hall is a 6’5″, 255 lb. offensive lineman with a preferred walk-on offer. (Highlights.)

Nathan Hall – S – Sylvania (OH) Southview: Hall is a 6’3″, 200 lb. prospect for 2014 with offers from Bowling Green and Toledo.  He’s the former teammate of freshman safety Allen Gant. (Highlights.)

Jaleel Hytchye – CB – Cincinnati (OH) La Salle: Hytchye is a 5’11”, 170 lb. cornerback with offers from Arizona State, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Penn State, Pitt, and several others.  He’s the teammate of 2014 wide receiver Derek Kief, who may (or may not) be offered by Michigan.

Jake Johnson – QB – DeWitt (MI) DeWitt: Johnson is a 6’2″, 170 lb. prospect for 2015.  He grew up as a Michigan fan and visited back in April, too, so he could be an in-state prospect to watch down the road.

Da’Mario Jones – WR – Westland (MI) John Glenn: Jones committed to Michigan last week.

John Kelly – S – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Kelly is a 5’11”, 180 lb. prospect for 2015.  He has no offers at this time.

Derek Kief – WR – Cincinnati (OH) La Salle: Kief is a 6’5″, 185 lb. receiver with offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, and Northwestern.  As of a couple weeks ago, he had 856 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in his junior campaign.  Kief has visited Michigan previously and really seems to be angling for an offer, but he hasn’t received one yet. (Highlights.)

Josh Krok – OT – Warren (OH) Harding: Krok is a 6’8″, 310 lb. tackle for the class of 2014.  He does not have any scholarship offers at this point, and he looks more like a preferred walk-on type of recruit. (Highlights.)

Jared McCray – OG – Minford (OH) Minford: McCray is a 6’4″, 305 lb. guard from the class of 2014.  He has offers from Akron and Kent State, but I don’t think he’s a Michigan-caliber lineman. (Highlights.)

Leon McQuay III – S – Seffner (FL) Armwood: McQuay is a 6’2″, 185 lb. safety/big corner with offers from just about every powerhouse program in the country.  Florida State, Michigan, USC, and Vanderbilt have been mentioned as possibilities recently, with FSU receiving an uptick in optimism lately.  As a junior in 2011, he had 66 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 12 pass breakups.  Here’s a scouting report I wrote up on him from July.

Bryan Mone – DT – Salt Lake City (UT) Highland: Mone is a 6’4″, 315 lb. tackle for the class of 2014. He put on a bunch of weight between his sophomore and junior seasons, getting up above 300 after being about 260 last year.  Mone was the first class of 2014 prospect to have been offered by the Wolverines, and he’s the former teammate of freshman fullback Sione Houma.  As a sophomore in 2011, he had 39 tackles and 3 sacks. (Highlights.)

Brent Morris – WR – Warren (MI) De La Salle: Morris is Shane’s class of 2014 brother.  He has no offers at this time, and I would not expect him to receive a Michigan offer.

Shane Morris – QB – Warren (MI) De La Salle: Morris committed to Michigan last year. Here are his junior highlights.

Kyle Rachwal – TE – Lapeer (MI) East: Rachwal has visited Michigan several times periously.  He’s a 6’3″, 225 lb. tight end for the class of 2014.  He has no offers at this time. (Junior highlights.)

Travis Smith – QB – Ithaca (MI) Ithaca: Smith is a 6’2″, 200 lb. prospect for 2014.  As a sophomore in 2011, he had 2,378 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions; he also ran for 969 yards and 25 touchdowns.  He has no offers at this time, but he looks like a kid who will be getting some attention from the MAC schools, if not the higher levels. (Highlights.)

Scott Sypniewski – LS – Ottawa (IL) Marquette: Sypniewski committed to Michigan back in June.

Logan Tuley-Tillman – OT – Peoria (IL) Manual: Tuley-Tillman committed to Michigan back in February.  Here’s a look at highlights from his senior season.

Jared Wangler – S – Warren (MI) De La Salle: Wangler is the son of former Michigan quarterback John Wangler.  He might be a future walk-on player at Michigan, but he likely doesn’t have the talent to be offered a scholarship.

Dareian Watkins – WR – Galion (OH) Galion: Watkins is a 6’2″, 192 lb. wide receiver prospect from the 2014 class.  He has offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Northwestern, and Purdue, among others.  As a sophomore playing quarterback in 2011, he had 100 carries for 559 yards and 10 touchdowns, along with 1,256 yards passing, 16 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.  Watkins isn’t a real blazer, but he is a decent runner after the catch and is solidly built; he looks like a guy who could come in and play in the slot for Al Borges.

Parrker Westphal – CB – Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook: Westphal is a 6’0″, 180 lb. prospect for the class of 2014.  He has offers from Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and several others.  As a sophomore in 2011, he had 56 tackles, 20 pass breakups, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries.  He’s a solidly built corner with decent speed, and it sounds like the coaches want him to play boundary corner and/or slot corner.  Michigan reportedly set the tone for his visit experiences and is generally considered to be his leader.  Former Michigan cornerback Todd Howard is his position coach at Bolingbrook. (Highlights.)

Csont’e York – WR – Harper Woods (MI) Chandler Park: York committed to Michigan back in May.

6Nov 2012
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Recruiting Update: November 6, 2012

Elijah Hood (image via Charlotte Observer)

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Norfolk (VA) Lake Taylor defensive tackle Nyquan Harris has earned a Michigan offer.  He’s a 6’3″, 285-pounder with offers from Alabama, Clemson, and NC State.  He’s a kid with a thick lower body who looks like a future nose tackle. (Highlights.)

Charlotte (NC) Catholic running back Elijah Hood has been offered by Michigan.  He’s a 6’0″, 212 lb. back with offers from Clemson, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech, among others.  As a junior this season, he has approximately 2,000 yards rushing and 33 touchdowns.  Hood has very good balance and decent speed; he definitely looks the part of a Brady Hoke-approved tailback.

MISCELLANEOUS
Last week I got around to linking recruiting profiles on the offer boards, so if you click on the names of the 2013 and 2014 commits on their respective offer boards, it will take you directly to their commitment posts; uncommitted prospects’ links will take you to their highlight videos.

23Oct 2012
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Recruit Tracker: Denzel Ward

August 25, 2012: Chicago (IL) Hales Franciscan beat Oak Park (IL) Fenwick by a score of 45-0.  Hales Franciscan is now 1-0.

September 1, 2012: Hales Franciscan beat Chicago (IL) Leo by a score of 20-12.  Hales Franciscan is now 2-0.

September 8, 2012: Hales Franciscan beat Chicago (IL) Julian by a score of 34-8.  Hales Franciscan is now 3-0.

September 14, 2012: Hales Franciscan beat Chicago (IL) Gordon Tech by a score of 18-13.  Hales Franciscan is now 4-0.

September 22, 2012: Hales Franciscan beat Lake Forest (IL) Lake Forest Academy by a score of 34-14. Hales Franciscan is now 5-0.

September 28, 2012: Hales Franciscan lost to Chicago (IL) St. Rita by a score of 45-12.  Hales Franciscan is now 5-1.

October 5, 2012: Hales Franciscan lost to Chicago (IL) St. Ignatius by a score of 20-14.  Hales Franciscan is now 5-2.

October 12, 2012: Hales Franciscan beat Westchester (IL) St. Joseph by a score of 69-8.  Hales Franciscan is now 6-2.

October 19, 2012: Hales Franciscan beat Cahokia (IL) Cahokia by a score of 13-0.  Hales Franciscan is now 7-2.

23Oct 2012
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Recruiting Update: October 23, 2012

Denzel Ward and Chantel Jennings

COMMITMENT
Chicago (IL) Hales Franciscan offensive tackle Denzel Ward committed to Michigan.

MISCELLANEOUS
You can check out how the 2013 and 2014 commits are doing this season with our recruit tracker posts.

Here’s a list of visitors from Saturday’s game against Michigan State.  I’ve updated a few things since it was posted originally, so you may want to check it out again if you haven’t seen it since it first went up.

21Oct 2012
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Denzel Ward, Wolverine

Denzel Ward

Chicago (IL) Hales Franciscan offensive tackle Denzel Ward, a 2014 prospect, committed to Michigan on Saturday.  He chose the Wolverines over an offer from Purdue.

Ward is 6’9″ and 290 lbs.  He is not ranked by the recruiting services, and testing results are unavailable at this point.  Ward is in his first year of playing football, and he hasn’t released any film yet.  He was offered by the coaching staff last weekend when he visited for Michigan’s game against Illinois, and he returned this weekend to give his commitment.

It might be obvious to say, but I have no strong opinion on Ward because I haven’t seen any film of him.  I do find it a little surprising that Michigan’s coaching staff is taking a flyer on a kid who is so new to football when they have such a great 2013 offensive line recruiting class already in the fold.  It seems like they’ve established a desire and ability to recruit truly elite talents, so Ward must look like a Hall of Fame athlete if they’re willing to take the time to develop him.

If Michigan gets back up to 85 scholarships with the class of 2013, then 17 current Michigan juniors will be scheduled to graduate after the 2013 season.  So Michigan’s 2014 freshman class looks to be 17 strong, but as always, the number will probably grow between now and February 2014.  Ward joins linebacker Michael Ferns as Michigan’s only other 2014 commit.

UPDATE: Here’s a link to Ward’s junior highlights and a scouting report.  Film wasn’t released until about a month after Ward committed, so these two items were added later.

TTB Rating: 86