Name: Chris Bryant Height: 6’5″ Weight: 330 lbs. High school: Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, IL Position: Offensive guard Class: Freshman Jersey number: #58 Last year: Bryant was a high school senior (commitment post here)
TTB Rating: 87
I’m an unabashed fan of Bryant. He might be one of those boom-or-bust prospects, but I’m leaning toward boom. He’s a huge kid with a mean streak on the football field. My hope is that he can get and keep his weight and conditioning in a good enough spot to be a game-changing offensive guard. The talent is there. What happens from January through August is the biggest question.
With all my high hopes aside, I still think Bryant should redshirt in 2011. Michigan is stacked with experienced guards (four players who are redshirt juniors), and playing the young guy this year would be a waste. Bryant is the most college-ready of the freshman linemen, but ideally, all three will watch from the sideline this season.
Best overall recruit: OG Chris Bryant
Bryant has the size, strength, footwork, and athleticism to be a great offensive lineman at Michigan. As long as he can get rid of some of his bad weight and stay well conditioned throughout his career, I think he’ll be an All-Big Ten player by the end of his career.
Best offensive recruit: Bryant
See above.
Best defensive recruit: CB Blake Countess
Countess isn’t the biggest or fastest kid out there, but he’s got a good quality for a cornerback – sticky. Receivers just don’t seem to get away from him. He probably needs to bulk up before playing (we all saw what happened to Courtney Avery and Terrence Talbott last year), but he could be a slot corner early in his career before taking over on the outside after a year or two.
Recruit most likely to make an early impact: K Matt Wile
If former walk-on Seth Broekhuizen or redshirt sophomore Brendan Gibbons steps up his game, then Wile might not be needed as a freshman. But those first two combined for 4-for-14 on field goals last season. It’s also entirely possible that Wile will redshirt as a freshman, but Michigan returns the vast majority of its two-deep from last season, so a lot of these 2011 recruits will probably be redshirted. Wile seems like the best candidate.
Fastest recruit: CB/S Raymon Taylor
Taylor reminds me of departing cornerback James Rogers in many ways. While Taylor is probably more physical, he has good straight-line speed and a smooth stride.
Strongest recruit: Bryant
Bryant reports a bench press of 395 pounds and a squat of 420. Even if he couldn’t bench press Charlie Weis, all Bryant had to do with most high schoolers was get a hand on them and they fell to the ground, begging for mercy.
Best under-the-radar recruit: LB Desmond Morgan
Michigan has a good history with linebackers from western Michigan, and I like the fact that Morgan was a bulldozing quarterback in high school. Quarterbacks just seem to understand the game better. I think there will be a good battle for the middle linebacker job between Morgan and classmate Kellen Jones once redshirt junior Kenny Demens graduates.
Most overrated recruit: LB Frank Clark
The problem with this “award” is that nobody’s rated very highly. And while my choice if Rich Rodriguez were here would be Justice Hayes, I actually think Hayes will fit better in Hoke’s system than that of Rodriguez. I don’t think Hayes is a threat to start anytime soon, but he could be a very good change-of-pace back. So I’m going to go with Clark, who is only a 3-star. But I haven’t seen anything from Clark that shows me he’s going to be a successful college football player, especially as a linebacker. If he were rated as a 2-star recruit, I probably wouldn’t bat an eyelash. He has some potential with his size and speed, but he needs a lot of coaching.
Personal favorite recruit: LB Antonio Poole
This kid looks like the future at weakside linebacker. He can run, he can hit, and best of all, he plays downhill. He might have to bide his time for a couple years, but he might be the second coming of Larry Foote.
Yes, Chris Bryant’s high school team
was the Wolverines, too.
Chris Bryant, a 6’5″, 330 lb. offensive lineman, committed to Michigan on Friday night. It had been rumored for many months that Bryant was a Michigan lean, and he finally made the public announcement. Bryant is from Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, IL.
The hulking lineman is a 4-star prospect to Rivals (which projects him as an offensive tackle), but both Scout and ESPN give him a 3-star rating (as an offensive guard). He also had offers from Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Stanford, among others. The other finalists for his services were Arizona, Illinois, and Pitt.
I find the above rankings to be a little funny. Bryant’s body type obviously leans toward playing guard at the next level, but the two sites who project him as a guard gave him only three stars. Conversely, the one site that oddly ranks him as a tackle gives him a very high rating. That seems to be backward, but oh well.
Clearly Bryant has some work to do on his body. There’s a humorous quote from a Scout.com interview where Bryant says, “I’m not a sloppy 330, I’m built.” Well . . . he’s a little bit sloppy. Not too many high schoolers are 330 lbs. and “built.” In fact, I might even go out on a limb and say zero of them are. High school kids don’t have the hormones, time, or inclination to be a built 330 lbs. So Phil Pfister he’s not, but if a kid wants to think he looks sexy with a big belly, who am I to stop him?
The bottom line is that Bryant is a very powerful kid. He has a reported bench press of 395 lbs. His squat number of 420 lbs. isn’t extremely impressive, but when you consider the fact that he’s lifting his own 330 lbs. plus another 420, well, that’s not bad. When you watch Bryant’s film, it’s evident that he plows over defensive linemen. He’s the type of lineman that demoralizes you by blocking you into the ground and then hitting you again and again when you try to get up. Eventually players just bide their time until the whistle blows. He’s not quite to the level of Taylor Lewan in nastiness, but he’s pretty close.
The thing I like most about Bryant, though, is his footwork. For such a big kid, he moves his feet superbly. Unlike fellow class of 2011 behemoth Aundrey Walker, Bryant keeps his feet moving throughout the play. Whereas Walker gives opponents a shove or two and expects them to give up, which they often do, Bryant drives his man or keeps his feet moving laterally in short, choppy steps. (Bonus: I ranked Bryant just ahead of Walker and just behind recent USC commit Cyrus Hobbi back in January.) His excellent footwork and potentially overwhelming size and strength should turn him into an excellent offensive lineman at Michigan.
Bryant will need to play a little bit lower and condition his body, but from all accounts, he is a high character kid. I expect that he’ll get his weight under control, improve his lower body strength, and be a multi-year starter at Michigan. He’ll almost certainly redshirt in 2011 and watch Patrick Omameh and Ricky Barnum man the guard positions in 2012, but as a redshirt sophomore in 2013, Bryant should be in line to step into the starting group. He’s not the all-around athlete that former 5-star William Campbell is, but as strictly an offensive lineman, I would take Bryant 2011 over Campbell coming out of high school.
This is commitment #17 for Michigan. There are three or four spots remaining in this class, one of which would likely be reserved for Traverse City offensive lineman Jake Fisher. A commitment from Fisher would likely end offensive line recruiting, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the coaches pursue a lower level player over the next few days if Fisher doesn’t give off positive vibes to the Michigan staff.
TTB Rating: 87
The link HERE is a good highlight film but can’t be embedded, so here are some clips of him at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp in Ann Arbor:
Here’s a breakdown of my wish list for offensive linemen in the 2011 recruiting class. It disregards how likely each player is to commit to Michigan (for example, #1 Cyrus Hobbi is a severe longshot to come to Ann Arbor). I favored players with the ability to play tackle because Michigan needs tackle prospects more than guards or centers.
Just to stem any questions, I have been asked in the past to rank each offered player. However, Michigan has offered 31 offensive linemen in this recruiting cycle, and I don’t intend to analyze/rank that many kids. Sorry.
On to the list:
1. Cyrus Hobbi – Guard/Tackle – Scottsdale, AZ
Hobbi has great feet but he’s excellent with his hands. His initial punch is stellar, and he does a good job of getting extension with his arms, which prevents defenders from getting their hands on him. He reminds me of Patrick Omameh.
2. Chris Bryant – Guard/Tackle – Chicago, IL
Bryant is thickly built, has good feet, and looks like a demoralizing blocker. He would be an ideal guard, but has the length and athleticism to play tackle at the next level, as well.
3. Aundrey Walker – Tackle – Cleveland, OH
Walker is about 350 pounds and an absolute mauler. He has surprisingly nimble feet for someone his size, but doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of a zone-blocking tackle. Some of that bulk would have to be sacrificed to play at Michigan, and I’m not sure if that’s in Walker’s future.
4. Josue Matias – Tackle – Union City, NJ
Matias has a thinner frame than Walker, but he’s not as good of an athlete. He doesn’t move his feet very well laterally and lets defenders slide off his blocks at times.
5. Errin Joe – Guard – Lakeland, FL
Joe is a bit more lumbering than the tackle prospects, and at only 6’4″, he’s more of a guard. He does stay on his blocks well, but he’s not an extremely aggressive blocker.
According to TomVH from MGoBlog, several 2011 prospects are headed for Ann Arbor on Saturday. Among them are linebacker Antonio Kinard (maybe), offensive guard Chris Bryant (maybe), offensive tackle Jake Fisher, tight end Jack Tabb, linebacker/wide receiver Kris Frost, and outside linebacker Ryan Petro.
Petro is a new face on the Michigan recruiting scene from Winter Springs, FL. He doesn’t yet have an offer, but interest is picking up. He could be a weakside linebacker or Spur prospect down the road. Here’s some video on Petro:
