Rivals updated its top 250 players for the class of 2017 (LINK). Yesterday I had a post on the top 100 (LINK). Here’s what it looked like back in February (LINK). Movement for Michigan commits:
Hit the jump for the rest of Michigan’s targets:
J’Marick Woods
A question from UM_1973 got me to respond to something I have been meaning to address for a couple weeks now:
Thunder, I noticed that our current group of commits are made up of mostly 3 stars. However, unlike last year’s bunch of early commits, you seem to be more impressed by this year’s bunch than last year’s. Based on that, do you expect that there will be less decommitments in this year’s class compared to last year’s class?
To start off here, it’s obviously important to take a look at the current 3-star commits and last year’s.
2017 3-stars committed: S J’Marick Woods, RB A.J. Dillon, DT Phillip Paea, FB Chase Lasater, RB Kurt Taylor, TE Carter Dunaway, CB Benjamin St-Juste
2016 3-stars committed by the end of August 2015: RB Kingston Davis, RB Kiante Enis, LB Devin Gil, LB Dele’ Harding, LB Dytarious Johnson, TE Sean McKeon, S Josh Metellus, LB David Reese, CB Antwaine Richardson, CB Sir Patrick Scott, QB Victor Viramontes, DE Rashad Weaver
Hit the jump for more on the differences between the two classes.
Clearwater (FL) Clearwater running back Adarius Lemons
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
Collierville (TN) St. George’s running back Chase Hayden was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’11”, 180 lb. prospect with offers from Tennessee and Vanderbilt. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #33 running back, and #436 overall. Hayden is the son of Aaron Hayden, who grew up in Detroit and played running back for the Tennessee Volunteers before an NFL career with the Chargers, Packers, and Eagles (784 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns in his career). The younger Hayden has the Volunteers on top, but he is still near the beginning of his recruiting process.
Clearwater (FL) Clearwater running back Adarius Lemons was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’1″, 185 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, and Louisville. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #23 running back, and #289 overall. Lemons is a speedy back who’s shifty and does a nice job of fighting for yardage. Michigan is offering some talented running backs in 2017 and trying to get in on them early so they can supplement the current roster.
Hit the jump for a player who committed elsewhere and some random bits.
read more
Benjamin St-Juste
August 21, 2015: Montreal (Quebec) Vieux beat Montreal (Quebec) Andre-Grasset by a score of 21-16. St-Juste had 3 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
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| Benjamin St-Juste |
Montreal (Quebec) CEGEP du Vieux cornerback Benjamin St-Juste committed to Michigan last week at the Wolverines’ Exposure U camp, although the news just came out publicly. He does not have any other offers listed.
St-Juste is a 6’3″, 170 lb. corner.
RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: Unranked
Scout: Unranked
247 Sports: Unranked
I had heard last week that St-Juste had a positive showing at the Exposure U camp. When I went to look up some more information, there wasn’t much out there. Supposedly, he was offered and accepted during the camp.
There is very little film on St-Juste, and what film there is lacks much clarity. He is tall for a corner, and he does a good job of using his hands and long arms to disrupt receivers’ routes, raking the ball out of receivers’ hands, and batting down passes other corners might not reach. He changes directions fairly well for a big corner.
St-Juste lacks great speed, and he could get burned in the open field. He will probably be limited to boundary corner at the next level, or he might move to safety. He shows some aggression when blocking and defeating blockers, but he is not a great tackler and needs to get stronger in both the upper and lower body. He also does not show great instincts for the ball and settles for breaking up passes rather than intercepting them. I find these things concerning since he does not play against great competition and his opponents are not coached extremely well, although that lack of great coaching probably applies to St-Juste as well.
Overall, this is a questionable pickup for a Michigan team that needs speed and field corners in the defensive backfield. It’s unclear whether St-Juste will be a 2016, 2017, or later recruit. He attends a CEGEP in Montreal, which means that he is basically in what Americans would call a prep school. Most CEGEP students are at least 17 years old already, and when he will finish his education there is a little murky. Until we get some clarity, I will assume he’s a 2016 prospect.
The Wolverines have a need for speedy corners, and the combination of St-Juste and Antwaine Richardson doesn’t offer a great deal of explosiveness in the defensive backfield. Aside from Keith Washington, Michigan is basically putting together a bunch of corners who are big and physical. That concerns me for the long-term, because it limits what the defense can throw at record-setting offenses.
It doesn’t happen often, but this is not the first time that Michigan has dipped its toes into Canadian waters. Over the years, Michigan has recruited running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka, tight end Deitan Dubuc, defensive end Alain Kashama, defensive tackle Renaldo Sagesse, and others from America’s top hat.
TTB Rating: 51 (ratings explanation)
