Tag: Kurt Taylor

Visitors: Michigan vs. Hawaii

Tarik Black (image via Eleven Warriors)

2017

Tarik Black – WR – Cheshire (CT) Cheshire Academy: Black is a 6’3″, 204 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Stanford, and UCLA, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #17 wide receiver, and #131 overall. The U.S. Army All-American will be taking his official visit this weekend. Michigan held a camp at Cheshire Academy this summer, and Black is one of a few targets Michigan is heavily in the mix for right now. As of Wednesday night, the Crystal Ball is 62% in favor of the Wolverines for Black.

Corey Bolds – DT – Paramus (NJ) Catholic: Bolds is a 6’3″, 276 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, and Rutgers, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #38 defensive tackle, and #462 overall. He’s a teammate of 2017 linebacker Drew Singleton (see below).

Carter Dunaway – TE – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice: Dunaway is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Ja’Raymond Hall – OT – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Hall is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Brad Hawkins, Jr. – WR – Suffield (CT) Suffield Academy: Hawkins is a 6’1″, 202 lb. prospect who signed with Michigan in the 2016 class. He was an NCAA non-qualifier and is now headed to Suffield Academy for a prep year. He graduated from Camden (NJ) Camden, where he was a teammate with freshman defensive end Ron Johnson, Jr. Here’s Hawkins’s commitment profile from the summer of 2015 (LINK).

Hit the jump for more visitors.

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2017 Recruiting Update: June 8, 2016

Ft. Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas WR Michael Harley (image via 247 Sports)

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ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
Ft. Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Michael Harley was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’9″, 155 lb. prospect with offers from Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #68 wide receiver, and #488 overall. He’s a shifty guy with great acceleration who maybe doesn’t have the greatest top-end speed, but he could work in the slot, return punts, etc. Michigan offered him after his performance at the St. Thomas Aquinas satellite camp, and they’re also going after several of his teammates, not only in the 2017 class but in the upcoming years, as well.

Miami (FL) Columbus cornerback Christopher Henderson, a Miami commit, was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’1″, 175 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, and USC, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #14 athlete, and #247 overall. Henderson plays running back for his high school team, and he has some serious speed. He’s a bit thin at 175 lbs., so I have him listed as a cornerback, but he could play anywhere from running back to wide receiver to corner to safety. He attends the alma mater of incoming freshman Joshua Uche.

Orlando (FL) Bishop Moore defensive end Donovan Winter was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 235 lb. prospect with offers from Pitt, South Florida, Tennessee, and Western Michigan, among others. He’s currently unranked. Winter earned a Michigan offer after attending a satellite camp last week, and he earned the Tennessee offer after camping in Knoxville. He has some decent junior film, but it’s nothing exceptional. However, he doesn’t look 6’5″, 235 in his film, so maybe a recent growth spurt and/or some work in the weight room has contributed to an uptick in interest recently. Winter is the son of former Syracuse defensive end Blaise Winter, who was a 2nd round pick in 1984 and went on to play for the Colts, Chargers, and Packers.

Hit the jump for a bunch of miscellaneous bits and pieces.

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Mailbag: Are these 3-stars better than the old 3-stars?

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.

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MGoFish guest post: 2017 Best Guess Recruiting Class – Offense

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech WR Donovan Peoples-Jones (image via Rivals)

The following is a guest post from Garrett Fishaw, the owner/managing editor of MGoFish.

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With Harbaugh’s first full recruiting class in the books, all eyes turn to 2017 to see how Harbaugh will follow up his top five finish in 2016.

The staff has put in a ton of early work to set themselves up for a great return. And it’s clearly paid off. They’ve already landed the top quarterback on their board and look to be among the favorites for a handful of elite members of the class.

But how will it finish? That’s almost impossible to predict this early, especially after the craziness that took place the last two cycles. So, take this prediction with a grain of salt as there will likely be more decommitments and targets that emerge later in the process.

1. QB Dylan McCaffrey, 6’5” 200lbs. Littleton, CO (Valor) 

• McCaffrey committed to Michigan in mid-February after having the Wolverines out front for almost a year. His addition to the class is huge as both a prospect and recruiting asset. Expect him to be a big reason why UM lands several top targets in 2017.
• Michigan’s Chances: COMMITTED

2. RB Kurt Taylor, 5’9” 200lbs. Covington, GA (Newton) 

• Taylor committed to Michigan in October and, like the rest of rest of the current commits, looks to be as solid as can be in that pledge. UM lost the commitment of his teammate WR Jeremiah Holloman earlier this month but that shouldn’t change anything in Taylor’s status. The only thing to watch with Taylor is his development throughout the cycle, as he already looks to have just about hit the peak of his physical build.
• Michigan’s Chances: COMMITTED

Hit the jump for the rest of Garrett’s offensive best guess list.

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Recruiting Update: October 21, 2015

Kurt Taylor

COMMITMENT
Covington (GA) Newton running back Kurt Taylor committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison defensive end Khalid Kareem decommitted from Alabama. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #9 strongside end, and #195 overall. When Harrison originally committed to the Crimson Tide, Michigan thought they might secure his commitment and got surprised. The Wolverines continued to recruit him, but now they feel as if they have a good chance at some other players, so they have not been recruiting Kareem. Notre Dame looks like a legitimate option.

Hit the jump for a new 2017 offer, some guys who went off the board, and some random bits.

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