Recruiting Roundup: Quarterbacks

Tag: Cornelius Jones


17Nov 2009
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Recruiting Roundup: Quarterbacks

I am a bad Michigan fan, because I have been unable to watch the last two Michigan games (Purdue and Wisconsin). It’s not for a lack of desire, but our varsity football team had its regular season finale (loss) and its first round playoff game (win) the last two Saturdays, both of which were played at 1:00 p.m. It would be ridiculous of me to analyze a game based on highlights and box scores, so that’s why you haven’t seen write-ups for either of those games.

But as the season is winding down, so is recruiting, so I thought I’d do a series of posts outlining where we are with regards to recruiting each position. First up – quarterbacks.

Michigan currently holds two commitments at the quarterback position, Devin Gardner (Inkster, MI) and Cornelius Jones (Spartanburg, SC). Gardner ranks as the top overall quarterback to Rivals. A solid commitment, Gardner hopes to enroll in January if he can get all his academic ducks in a row. Gardner’s mechanics are questionable, but his athleticism is off the charts. I used to think he was a sure-fire redshirt, but now I think it all depends on Denard Robinson. If Robinson can improve enough in the offseason to warrant staying at quarterback, then Gardner should redshirt in order to put two years between him and incumbent starter Tate Forcier. But it seems the coaches have realized that Denard isn’t a competent passer at this point, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him change positions by 2011.

Cornelius Jones is a bit more of a project. In fact, recent newspaper articles from South Carolina have stated that Jones committed to Michigan as a defensive back. While I don’t think that’s true, it goes to show what most people think of his abilities. Whether he plays quarterback or safety at Michigan, he’s probably headed for a redshirt in 2010.

The other prospects remaining on the board are Jeffrey Godfrey (Miami, FL) and Christian Green (Tampa, FL). Godfrey was considered a Michigan lean early in the process, but Michigan took two quarterbacks and Godfrey still hasn’t pulled the trigger. He’s another diminutive quarterback when Michigan already has two (Forcier, Robinson) on the roster. Meanwhile, Green has maintained that he wants to play wide receiver in college, and he’ll probably take his talents to Florida State.

VERDICT
Barring any postseason coaching staff shake-ups, Michigan is done at the quarterback position. The Wolverines were still recruiting Munchie Legaux until he recently committed to Colorado, but from this point on, they’ll concentrate mostly on defense.

17Jun 2009
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2009 Summer Camp visitors

Monday – June 15, 2009
Marcus Beaurem, WR – Sterling Heights, MI
Greg Brown, CB – Fremont, OH (Class of 2011)
Ashton Broyld, QB – Rochester, NY (Class of 2011)
Calvin Caldwell, CB – Greenville, SC (Class of 2011)
De’Shon Dixon, RB – Flint, MI
Chris Frost, WR – Mathews, NC (Class of 2011)
Justice Hayes, RB – Grand Blanc, MI (Class of 2011)
Ronnie Howard, Jr, RB. – Sharon, PA
Bill Ivan, OL – Charlevoix, MI
Jeremy Jackson, WR – Ann Arbor, MI (Michigan commit)
Cornelius Jones, QB – Spartanburg, S.C. (Michigan commit)
Edwin Limmitt, RB – Warren, MI
Andrew Marcotte, OT – Williamsburg, VA
Kyle McAvoy, OL – Bloomington, IL (Class of 2011)
Luke McAvoy, OL – Bloomington, IL (Class of 2011)
Justin Moss, DE – Canton, MI
Drew Phillips, RB – Boaz, AL
Jewone Snow, LB – Canton, OH
Alexander Waters, CB – Hoover, AL
DeVante Woods, RB – Fremont, OH
Matt Zakrzewski, LB – Traverse City, MI
Anthony Zettel, OG – West Branch, MI (Class of 2011)

Bobby Swigert and Kurtis Drummond, Class of 2010 safeties who have been offered, both visited unofficially on Monday.

Tuesday – June 16, 2009
Dakota Anderson, TE – Xenia, OH
DeAnthony Arnett, WR – Saginaw, MI (Class of 2011)
Courtney Avery, DB – Lexington, Ohio (Stanford commit)
Marcus Beaurem, WR – Sterling Heights, MI
Trey Bennett, WR – Alexander City, AL
Tyler Brause, QB – Bucyrus, OH
Eduardo Clements, RB – Miami, OH
Garret Davis, OL – Ypsilanti, MI
Tevon Eatmon, TE – Bucyrus, OH
Kyle Foster, WR – Ann Arbor, MI (Class of 2011)
Kris Frost, WR – Matthews, NC (Class of 2011)
Christopher Gallon, WR – Oviedo, FL (Class of 2011)
Devin Gardner, QB – Inkster,MI (Michigan commit)
Justice Hayes, RB – Grand Blanc, MI (Class of 2011)
Nick Hill, RB – Chelsea, MI
Bill Ivan, OL – Charlevoix, MI
Shaquille Jefferson, DB – Lexington, OH
Percy Johnson, LB – Madison Heights, MI (Class of 2011)
Taiwan Jones, WR – North Branch, MI
Daniel Lindsey, RB – Inkster, MI
Nathan Lindsey, RB – Inkster, MI
Ricardo Miller, WR – Orlando, FL (Class of 2011)
Wayne Pettus, CB – Melvindale, MI
Drew Phillips, RB – Boaz, AL
Jerald Robinson, WR – Canton, OH (Michigan commit)
Terrence Stevens, DB – Inkster, MI
Johnathan Taylor, WR – Inkster, MI
Vorheese Zanders, WR – Inkster, MI
Anthony Zettel, OG – West Branch, MI (Class of 2011)

16Jun 2009
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Cornelius Jones, Wolverine

Spartanburg High School athlete Cornelius Jones committed to become a Michigan Wolverine on Monday night. Since he received an offer from Michigan in January, he claimed that the Wolverines were his leader. Jones finally visited Michigan’s campus early this week for the Wolverines’ summer camp and committed before he was to leave on Tuesday morning.

It’s been difficult to track down specifics on Jones’s statistics. Supposedly, in his first year playing quarterback in high school football, he threw for 1,100 yards and rushed for 656 more yards. According to this page from Maxpreps, Jones had only 1 passing TD and 11 interceptions. (EDIT: Jim Stefani’s site says this: “As a junior QB, he completed 89 of 185 passes (48.1%) for 1,020 yards and 2 TDs and had 226 carries for 736 yards (3.3ypc) and 7 TDs”) That doesn’t look very promising, but I don’t know how much to trust Maxpreps. Those statistics seem incomplete, and I wouldn’t be surprised if (i.e. I’m hoping) those two categories were flip-flopped.

I have been unable to find video of Jones, so I won’t offer much of a scouting report. According to Rivals, he threw very well at camp on Monday; he doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he was accurate and threw a tight spiral. I’m guessing he has some fundamentals to work on, considering his junior year was his first year playing quarterback.

I would not be surprised to see the Wolverines continue recruiting the quarterback position. Uncommitted players like Munchie Legaux, Jeffrey Godfrey, and A.J. Derby are still out there, although Legaux and Godfrey’s interests have fallen off and Derby has never seemed that thrilled with the Michigan offer. But Jones had stated a couple months ago that the Wolverines were recruiting him as an “athlete,” not necessarily as a quarterback. At 6’2″ and 197 lbs., he’s a guy who could end up at safety or even linebacker; he also worked out at wide receiver at the camp on Monday.

I would also keep an eye on in-state schools like Clemson and South Carolina. Jones’s coach stated that Jones looked in-state first but didn’t get any offers, so he started searching outside the state. Nothing I’ve read about Jones indicates that he’s still searching for those offers, but if he has a good senior season and the Tigers or Gamecocks see something they like, that could be a factor down the road.
(Picture via Rivals.com)