Tag: Garrett Taylor

ESPN 300 for 2015 updated

Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s cornerback Garrett Taylor is Michigan’s top-rated commit

ESPN released its updated top 300 players for the class of 2015. Here’s what it looked like back in November.

Movement for Michigan commits:
– Garrett Taylor appears at #106. He did not have an offer in November, so I’m not sure where he was ranked.
– Shaun Crawford fell from #73 to #154
– Tyree Kinnel jumps into the top 300 at #182 overall

3. Kevin Toliver II – CB – Florida (LSU)
4. Josh Sweat – DE – Virginia
6. Terry Beckner, Jr. – DE – Illinois
7. Mitch Hyatt – OT – Georgia (Clemson)
10. Tim Settle – DT – Virginia
11. George Campbell – WR – Florida
12. Kendall Sheffield – CB – Texas
13. Justin Hilliard – LB – Ohio
16. Jashon Cornell – DE – Minnesota
17. Rasheem Green – DT – California
18. Keisean Lucier-South – DE – California
19. Josh Rosen – QB – California (UCLA)
20. Iman Marshall – CB – California
22. Shy Tuttle – DT – North Carolina
24. Jeff Holland – LB – Florida
26. Tyron Johnson – WR – Louisiana
27. Damien Harris – RB – Kentucky
31. Minkah Fitzpatrick – CB – New Jersey
37. Jarrett Stidham – QB – Texas (Texas Tech)
38. Malik Jefferson – LB – Texas
45. Christian Kirk – WR – Arizona
48. Jacques Patrick – RB – Florida
50. Ronald Jones II – RB – Texas (Oklahoma State)
54. Blake Barnett – QB – California (Notre Dame)
55. Adonis Thomas – LB – Georgia
56. Hale Hentges – TE – Missouri
58. Drew Richmond – OT – Tennessee
63. DaMarkus Lodge – WR – Texas
65. Sterling Jenkins – OT – Pennsylvania
66. Jerome Baker, Jr. – LB – Ohio
69. Devonaire Clarington – TE – Florida
70. Soso Jamabo – RB – Texas
76. Anthony Wheeler – LB – Texas
80. Johnny Frasier – RB – North Carolina
81. Hjalte Froholdt – DT – Ohio (Arkansas)
83. Jake Fruhmorgen – OT – Florida (Clemson)
90. Jalen Dalton – DE – North Carolina
93. Keenan Walker – OT – Arizona
95. Christian Pellage – OT – Florida
100. Ryan Bates – OT – Pennsylvania (Penn State)
101. Clelin Ferrell – DE – Virginia
104. Chris Clark – TE – Connecticut
106. Garrett Taylor – CB – Virginia (Michigan)
116. Devante Peete – WR – Florida
122. Osa Masina – LB – Utah
135. Ty’Son Williams – RB – South Carolina
136. Jordan Whitehead – CB – Pennsylvania
137. Brian Cole – ATH – Michigan
152. Michael Weber – RB – Michigan
154. Shaun Crawford – CB – Ohio (Michigan)
158. Joshua McMillon – LB – Tennessee
159. Darian Roseboro – DE – North Carolina
162. John Reid – CB – Pennsylvania
181. Juwan Johnson – WR – New Jersey (Penn State)
182. Tyree Kinnel – S – Ohio (Michigan)
219. Rashard Causey, Jr. – CB – Florida
235. Grant Newsome – OT – New Jersey
250. Cameron Townsend – LB – Texas
265. Darrin Kirkland, Jr. – LB – Indiana
283. Josh Barajas – LB – Indiana (Penn State)
300. Asmar Bilal – LB – Indiana

Initial TTB Ratings for 2015

Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s CB Garrett Taylor

Here are the initial TTB Ratings for the class of 2015 (ratings explanation).

CB Garrett Taylor – Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s: 85
Taylor has the makings of being a very good player. He has size, speed, leaping ability, physicality, and is reportedly a quality kid. I’m not sure if I see the coverage instincts to pop him up into the 90’s, but he should be a very good cornerback or perhaps safety in a few years. (Commitment post.)

CB Shaun Crawford – Lakewood (OH) St. Edward: 79
I like Crawford as a prospect. He has great speed, and he is also very physical for someone his size. I do have some questions about whether he can play man coverage, because he doesn’t have a ton of experience doing that in high school. I think a 79 here is a baseline, but if he attends an event like The Opening or the Rivals 5-star Challenge, he could show some of those man coverage skills to sway me upward. (Commitment post.)

S Tyree Kinnel – Huber Heights (OH) Wayne: 74
When I look at Kinnel, I see a high school version of Thomas Gordon. He doesn’t wow me with his athletic skills, but he comes up with some solid tackles and seems to be in the right place at the right time. He looks like a solid safety prospect but does not appear to be a star. (Commitment post.)

OG Jon Runyan, Jr. – Natrona Heights (PA) St. Joseph’s: 73
Runyan is a decent athlete, but for being the son of a former NFL player, I think he’s lacking somewhat in football instincts. He comes out of his stance a little high, doesn’t seem to have a great deal of power, and gets overextended at times. As a legacy player, he seems like someone who would stick around, so he would have a while to develop. He’s not a player who leaps off the screen, though. (Commitment post.)

K Andrew David – Massillon (OH) Washington: N/A
I don’t really know enough about kickers to evaluate them. (Commitment post.)

Recruiting Update: March 31, 2014

Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius defensive end Dre’Mont Jones (#86) (image via 247 Sports)

COMMITMENT
Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s cornerback Garrett Taylor committed to Michigan last Monday.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius defensive end Dre’Mont Jones was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 250 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Ohio State. He’s also a 247 Composite 4-star, the #14 strongside end, #294 overall, and the #15 player in the Buckeye State. Jones is quick off the ball but he could be one of those guys who grows into a 3-tech defensive tackle. Michigan has gone after several St. Ignatius prospects in recent years, but the last one they landed was linebacker Jake Ryan in the 2010 class. Jones himself appears to be leaning heavily toward Ohio State.

OFF THE BOARD
Merrillville (IN) Andrean linebacker Josh Barajas committed to Penn State. Michigan had been in his top three, but Penn State pulled ahead on a recent visit. This may open the door for a player like Indianapolis (IN) Lawrence Central linebacker Darrin Kirkland, Jr. to be offered, and Michigan would likely jump to the top of Kirkland’s list.

Dallas (TX) South Oak Cliff safety Prentice McKinney committed to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish and Michigan were supposedly his top two, but obviously, the Irish pulled ahead. He has yet to visit South Bend, and sometimes those types of commitments are a little iffy before all is said and done.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a short list of this past weekend’s visitors.

I did a scouting report on Lawrenceville (NJ) Lawrenceville School offensive tackle Grant Newsome.

Over at Recruiting Season, I profiled Avonte’ Bell, Parker Underwood, Shahid Bellamy, Cameron Lewis, and Thiyo Lukusa. If you have a teammate or player who’s a Division I prospect and has yet to be profiled, drop me an e-mail or leave a comment.

Garrett Taylor, Wolverine

Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s cornerback Garrett Taylor (image via 247 Sports)

Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s cornerback Garrett Taylor committed to Michigan on Monday afternoon. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

He’s a 6’1″, 188 lb. player who claims a 4.5 forty. As a sophomore in 2012, he had 24 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 4 interceptions; he also had 14 catches for 260 yards and 2 touchdowns. I have been unable to find stats from his junior year.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 82 grade, #7 CB, #73 overall, #4 in-state
Rivals: 4-star, #6 CB, #41 overall, #1 in-state
Scout: 4-star, #36 CB, #282 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 96 grade, #6 CB, #79 overall, #4 in-state

Taylor, who is friends with Michigan freshman quarterback Wilton Speight, visited Michigan last summer after Speight had already committed to the Wolverines. Despite not having an offer from the Wolverines, Taylor maintained interest. When the offer came a few weeks ago, Taylor promptly scheduled another unofficial to Ann Arbor for mid-March. He decided to commit on that trip and announced it via Twitter.

Taylor is a tall, lanky cornerback who can match up well with the bigger receivers he might face. He uses his long arms well to disrupt receivers and to rake the ball out from receivers who might be able to reel in catches against corners with a shorter wingspan. Taylor also has good leaping ability and times his jumps well, so he can be effective in the redzone and on back-shoulder throws. One of his best qualities is his hitting/tackling ability, which makes him a force off the edge and against wide receiver screens, bubble screens, etc. As a tackler I think he might be on par with the likes of Leon Hall or Ty Law, two Wolverines from yesteryear who were tough to run through.

As for negatives, Taylor has some things to work on and is not a finished product. He plays a little high, which slows down his transition time. He also crosses up his feet sometimes, so there are lots of footwork issues. Fortunately, cornerbacks are typically such good athletes that learning footwork is just something that takes time and repetition. Taylor also lacks great speed and reminds me a little bit of safety Thomas Gordon in his gait. Gordon ran a 4.49 at his recent pro day, but he wasn’t the fastest safety around.

Overall, Taylor is a quality prospect whose physicality and length should make up for a slight deficiency in speed. He would project to boundary corner in a field/boundary system, although Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison went more with a left cornerback/right cornerback system in 2013. He could also play safety with his size and physicality, but I think he has the natural skills to stick at cornerback.

Taylor is the fifth commit in the class of 2015 and joins Shaun Crawford as the two committed cornerbacks. In a class that is roughly 13 strong right now, I doubt that Michigan would take another corner. The Wolverines have had pretty good success in recruiting cornerbacks lately, and there might be two open spots for the 2015 season after Raymon Taylor graduates and with Blake Countess a potential early entrant into the NFL. Of course, Garrett Taylor will also have to contend with talented young players in the form of Channing Stribling, Jourdan Lewis, and Jabrill Peppers. Michigan has had quite a bit of success in Richmond lately with 2013 running back Derrick Green and 2014 quarterback Speight, to go along with past players like David Terrell and Brandon Minor.

TTB Rating: I will not assign TTB Ratings until the 2014 class is completed. So basically, I’m waiting to see what Malik McDowell does.

Recruiting Update: March 24, 2014

Sumter (SC) Crestwood running back Ty’Son Williams (image via SC Now)

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Sumter (SC) Crestwood running back Ty’Son Williams was offered by Michigan. Williams is a 5’11”, 200 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, Georgia, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and South Carolina, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #24 running back, and #313 overall. As a junior in 2013, he had 81 carries for 848 yards and 15 touchdowns, plus 8 catches for 118 yards. Williams has some good speed and decent vision, but sometimes he seems to lack the necessary balance for the cuts he wants to make; he’s a little stiff and often seems to be about to fall down.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s linebacker Daelin Hayes was offered by Michigan. Hayes is a 6’3″, 225 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan State and Tennessee. He missed a large part of his sophomore season due to injury. Hayes is the cousin of Michigan redshirt junior running back Justice Hayes, but he’s also teammates with Tyson Smith (class of 2015, committed to Michigan State) and Joshua Ross (class of 2017, uncommitted), so there are pulls in multiple directions. The younger Hayes plays running back, too, but the Wolverines offered him as an outside linebacker.

OFF THE BOARD
Charlotte (NC) South Mecklenburg safety Stephen Griffin committed to Tennessee. Griffin picked up the Michigan offer about a month ago but did not appear to be strongly interested.

Glassboro (NJ) Glassboro wide receiver Juwan Johnson committed to Penn State. Johnson is a tall, physical receiver with pretty good speed, so Michigan will have to contend with him for the next several years. Johnson had expressed passing interest in the Wolverines but was not likely to join the class at any point.

Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco quarterback Josh Rosen committed to UCLA. His pledge was not a surprise at all, but he had made a surprise visit to Ann Arbor the weekend before announcing his commitment. The visit went well but he was always someone who wanted to stay close to home and disavowed the cold weather he would face in Michigan. Some sources have suggested that if Jim Mora, Jr. leaves for another job or if Bruins starter Brett Hundley sticks around for his senior year in 2015, Michigan (and others) might be back in the hunt for Rosen’s services. By the time any of that transpired, however, the Wolverines would likely already have a commitment from another quarterback prospect.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a list of visitors who made it to Ann Arbor this past week/weekend.

I did a scouting report on Detroit (MI) Cass Tech running back Michael Weber.

Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s cornerback Garrett Taylor is announcing his college decision at 12:30 p.m. today via Twitter. Most people expect him to choose Michigan with Stanford being the other possibility.

Last week I posted profiles on Trevon Avery, Khari Willis, Dior Johnson, Junior McMullen, and Grant Perry on Recruiting Season.