Tag: 2014 recruiting

Recruiting Update: January 6, 2013

Minneapolis (MN) Washburn running back Jeff Jones

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Minneapolis (MN) Washburn running back Jeff Jones was offered by Michigan. Jones is a 6’0″, 196 lb. prospect who “committed” to Minnesota in March 2013, but he has been looking around almost the entire time and took an official visit to Iowa State a few weeks ago. He also holds offers from Florida, Michigan State, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Jones has set an official visit to Florida, and he’s also tentatively planning to visit Ann Arbor and East Lansing. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #9 running back, and the #111 player overall. In the Under Armour All-American Game on Friday, he led Team Nitro with 43 yards rushing, adding 4 catches for 35 yards and 1 touchdown. Against admittedly weak competition in Minneapolis as a senior, he had 167 carries for 1,525 yards and 34 touchdowns, plus 17 catches for 493 yards and 8 touchdowns. He isn’t the biggest or the fastest back around, but he has a good combination of quick feet, surprising power, and good vision. I’ve been thinking Michigan should offer Jones for a while, and although it’s late in the process, the Wolverines have a chance. I don’t think Jones will end up signing with Minnesota, but I don’t have a solid guess on what his final choice will be, either.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Scottsdale (AZ) Saguaro wide receiver Christian Kirk was offered by Michigan. He also has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, and numerous others. Kirk is a 5’10”, 180 lb. prospect who is a pretty polished player, along with being very fast and athletic. I have yet to see a better wide receiver in the 2015 class, and that includes former Michigan commit George Campbell. As a sophomore in 2012, he had 43 receptions for 1,003 yards and 12 touchdowns. According to 247’s Composite ranking, he’s a 5-star, the #1 wide receiver, and the #32 player overall.

OFF THE BOARD
Lewisville (TX) Hebron safety Jamal Adams committed to LSU at the Under Armour All-America Game. Actually, he committed to “the University of LSU,” which caused a big uproar on Twitter and message boards. Personally, I think it’s silly when people flip out about the language high school football players use when announcing where they’re going to play football.

New Orleans (LA) St. Augustine running back Leonard Fournette committed to LSU during the Under Armour All-America Game. Fournette is generally considered to be the top running back in the 2014 class, if not the best overall player. He flirted with Michigan a little bit and even scheduled a visit at one time, but he and his family famously never got on the plane, which caused Michigan’s portion of the internet to break.

Cleveland (OH) Glenville defensive backs Marshon Lattimore and Erick Smith committed to Ohio State during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Some smoke came out on Friday that they might be committing to Michigan, far-fetched as that was. Both have long been considered to be OSU locks, but it was thought that the Buckeyes might not have room for both of them. Smith in particular looked good in the all-star game when he led the East team with 6 tackles. However, he announced first and let the cat out of the bag that Lattimore would be joining him in Columbus, which took some of the wind out Lattimore’s commitment sails.

Oakley (CA) Freedom running back Joe Mixon committed to Oklahoma as the climactic announcement of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Mixon was also considering Wisconsin, which could have been bad news for the rest of the Big Ten.

Crete (IL) Crete-Monee linebacker Nyles Morgan committed to Notre Dame. After Crete-Monee products Anthony Standifer and Laquon Treadwell stiffed Michigan in the past couple classes, I barely paid attention to Morgan throughout the process. I do think it would have been oddly interesting to have Michigan’s current middle linebacker take a breather only to be replaced by this guy.

Olathe (KS) North outside linebacker Jimmie Swain IV committed to Oregon. Swain had been committed to TCU at one point, but he opened up his recruitment only to become a silent commit to the Ducks several weeks ago.

Washington (DC) Friendship cornerback Jalen Tabor committed to Arizona during the Under Armour All-America Game. In a surprise move, Tabor picked the Wildcats over Alabama and Maryland. He’s a 247 Composite 5-star, the #4 cornerback, and the #24 player overall. Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez has had problems with 5-star defensive backs in the past (Demar Dorsey, Justin Turner), so for his sake, hopefully Tabor at least plays a down or two of football.

Gardena (CA) Junipero Serra linebacker Dwight Williams committed to UCLA during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Serra is a powerhouse school, and Williams was considering a visit to Michigan at one point, but it never came through. He was #1 on my wish list for a weakside linebacker in the 2014 class, and I think he’ll have a good career for the Bruins. His teammate, highly touted cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, tweeted out a top six the other day that did not include Michigan, just in case you were still holding out hope that the Wolverines could pull off a miracle.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here are my thoughts on the play of Michigan’s commits in the Under Armour game.

With only Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake’s Mason Cole playing in the Army game, I didn’t write up a separate post. Cole started at left guard and played some right tackle in the game, although I read in several places that he looks like a guard through and through for the next level. Cole looked somewhat undersized out there, and I imagine he’s somewhere around 275-280 lbs. right now. I did see him have trouble with the huge defensive tackles on the West roster, such as Bijhon Jackson, who’s listed at 6’2″, 327. But overall, he showed nice footwork, good knee bend, and decent strength, and Rivals named him the #6 overall performer on the East team.

In case you’re wondering, here’s a link to the relevant roster players for each of the weekend’s notable All-America games:

Under Armour
U.S. Army
Semper Fidelis
Offense-Defense

2014 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl rosters

Illinois linebacker Kyron Watson was close to committing to Michigan at one time

The Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl will take place on Sunday, January 5th, at 9:00 p.m. It will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1. Last year’s game included current Michigan freshmen Maurice Hurst, Jr. and Ross Douglas, but this year no Michigan commits are playing in the game. Here are the guys who were offered by Michigan:

EAST
Saeed Blacknall – WR – New Jersey (Rutgers)
Orlando Brown, Jr. – OT – Georgia (Tennessee)
Mattrell McGraw – S – Louisiana
Darrion Owens – LB – Florida (Miami)
Jimmie Swain IV – LB – Kansas
Kyron Watson – LB – Illinois (Kansas)

WEST
Steven Parker – S – Oklahoma
Adarius Pickett – CB – California (UCLA)

2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl rosters

Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake offensive guard Mason Cole is Michigan’s lone commitment in the Army Bowl.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl will be broadcast at 12:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, January 4, 2014. Here’s a list of participating players who were offered by Michigan:

EAST
Bryson Allen-Williams – LB – Georgia (South Carolina)
Dante Booker – LB – Ohio (Ohio State)
Khairi Clark – DT – Florida (Florida)
Mason Cole – OG – Florida (Michigan)
Elijah Hood – RB – North Carolina (North Carolina)
Jalen Hurd – RB – Tennessee (Tennessee)
Demarre Kitt – WR – Georgia (Clemson)
Marshon Lattimore – CB – Ohio*
Josh Malone – WR – Tennessee (Tennessee)
Montae Nicholson – S – Pennsylvania (Michigan State)
Artavis Scott – WR – Florida (Clemson)
Erick Smith – S – Ohio*
Bentley Spain – OT – North Carolina (North Carolina)
Nic Weishar – TE – Illinois (Notre Dame)
Richard Yeargin III – DE – Florida (Notre Dame)

WEST
Mark Andrews – WR – Arizona (Oklahoma)
Jalen Brown – WR – Arizona (Oregon)
Demetrius Knox – OG – Texas (Ohio State)
Christian McCaffrey – RB – Colorado (Stanford)
Malik McDowell – DE – Michigan
Joe Mixon – RB – California*
Nyles Morgan – LB – Illinois*
Edward Paris – S – Texas (LSU)
Brandon Simmons – S – Texas (Stanford)
Solomon Thomas – DE – Texas
Damon Webb – CB – Michigan (Ohio State)
Dwight Williams – LB – California*
Kenny Young – LB – Louisiana

*Announcing their college commitment during the game

Also announcing their college decisions are California TE Bryce Dixon, Kentucky DT Matt Elam, Texas WR Frank Iheanacho, Virginia WR Jamil Kamara, Georgia DT Elisha Shaw, and Missouri OT Brian Wallace.

2014 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl rosters

Lawrence Marshall

The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl will be taking place on Friday, January 3 at 5:00 p.m. and will be streamed online. There are a few guys playing who were offered by Michigan, including two Michigan commits.

OFFENSE
Juwann Winfree – WR – New Jersey (Maryland)
Daniel Helm – TE – Illinois (Tennessee)

DEFENSE
Lawrence Marshall – DE – Michigan (Michigan)
Andrew Williams – DE – Georgia
Petera Wilson – LB – Tennessee
Chase Winovich – LB – Pennsylvania (Michigan)

2014 Under Armour All-American Game analysis

Michael Ferns, Wilton Speight, Jabrill Peppers, Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Bryan Mone, and Jared Wangler at the 2014 Under Armour All-American Game

The 2014 Under Armour All-American Game took place on Thursday afternoon, and it was a showcase for four current Michigan commits. All of Michigan’s commits were on Team Nitro, which lost the game by a score of 31-21. Some brief analysis of what I saw:

LB Michael Ferns: Ferns didn’t even record a single tackle in this game. Probably because he sat it out due to injury.

QB Wilton Speight: Speight was named a captain for Team Nitro and earned the start at quarterback. He finished just 2/6 for 63 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He also had 3 carries for 8 yards. Offensive lines consistently struggle in these games because they don’t have time to work together, and that was pretty obvious as Speight never really had a chance to set his feet and scan the field. I thought Speight did a nice job of keeping his eyes downfield when the pressure was coming, which was often. He shows a little bit of mobility, but that’s mostly going to be when defenses completely forget about him being 6’6″ and able to run a little bit. He’s a better runner than John Navarre was, but perhaps a notch below Steven Threet. Speight has a nice overhand delivery from the pocket that defenders will probably struggle to bat down, but he can throw from different angles on the move. He made a poor read on a redzone passing attempt that resulted in a pick for Gardena (CA) Junipero Serra cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, but he also made a very nice throw while running to his right for a long gain.

CB Jabrill Peppers: Peppers didn’t really make any highlight-reel plays in the game, but he didn’t get embarrassed, either. Well, except for one play on which he showed very nice change-of-direction skills only to dive at the Team Highlight receiver’s ankles and miss the tackle. Aside from coming up quickly, what I liked about that play was that Peppers hopped right up and attempted to chase down the receiver as he raced down the left sideline. The New Jersey native ended the game with 2 kickoff returns for 65 yards, 3 tackles, and 1 pass for -2 yards out of a Wildcat formation in the first half. Peppers also blocked a field goal at the end of the first half, but that’s not exactly allowed in all-star games like this one. Overall, it was a solid but unspectacular showing.

OT Juwann Bushell-Beatty: Of the guys who played, I thought Bushell-Beatty looked like the biggest project. He looked overweight, out of shape, and slow of foot. Of course, he’s a high schooler coming off of a long run to a state championship, so I don’t expect him to be in peak physical condition at this point in the year. However, he looks like he has a long way to go. He was standing up way too high while run blocking, which severely limited his lateral movement and left him flailing at air. He was also beaten badly on a speed rush that resulted in getting Speight blindsided. It should also be noted that Bushell-Beatty is generally considered a 3-star prospect who was facing some elite talent, and I don’t think it’s a stretch or an insult to say that he was overmatched.

DT Bryan Mone: I saw less of Mone than anyone else, partly because it was just difficult to see jersey numbers at times. He’s large and solidly built, but he’s more about power than anything else at this time. Mone has added a lot of weight in the past year or so, and he’s lost some of the athleticism that made him such a beast as an underclassman. He does not appear to be a huge threat to be a penetrator, as he mostly eats space at the line of scrimmage. That resulted in 2 tackles during the game.

LB Jared Wangler: Wangler was wandering the sidelines due to a separated shoulder.

WR Drake Harris (not pictured): Harris sat out his entire senior season due to a nagging hamstring injury. Since he was not going to be able to play, he did not attend the game.