Chase Winovich, Wolverine
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| Michigan commits Michael Ferns III and Chase Winovich |
Clairton (PA) Thomas Jefferson outside linebacker Chase Winovich committed to Michigan on Saturday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida State, Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, among others.
I wrote a scouting report on Winovich in mid-May, so you might want to check that out for comments on his play.
The other two finalists for him were Pitt and Ohio State, in that order. Michigan was the last of that trio to offer, but he made a few trips to Ann Arbor and felt more comfortable there. His older brother Peter was a quarterback-turned-fullback at Bowling Green from 2004-08.
Winovich was recruited by Michigan for the SAM outside linebacker position, which he fits pretty well at approximately 6’4″, 215 lbs. He’ll have to add bulk, obviously, but he has good length and skills for the position. Friend and fellow 2014 commit Michael Ferns III was recruited to play middle linebacker, but he also has the size and skill set to play SAM down the road if needed.
When Winovich arrives on campus, Cameron Gordon will have graduated, Jake Ryan will be a redshirt senior, and Mike McCray II will be a sophomore. McCray’s size and skills for the SAM are in question, too, so there might be an opportunity to surpass him or bump him over to MIKE.
Michigan is now up to eleven commitments for the class of 2014, a class that should reach 16 or more. They could settle with two linebackers, but they could also take the “best available” guy at any of the three positions, such as Junipero (CA) Gardena Serra’s Dwight Williams or Orange Park (FL) Oakleaf’s Darrion Owens. With depth and competition somewhat thin at SAM, I would like to see the coaches continue to pursue Owens; Williams, who would play WILL, would just be a luxury at this point.
I’ll be interested to see how Winovich performs as a senior once he has presumably added a few pounds, but for now I’ll give him a TTB Rating of . . .
TTB Rating: 79 (ratings explanation)