Tag: Martavious Odoms

2010 Countdown: #62 Kelvin Grady

Name: Kelvin Grady
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 167 lbs.
High school: East Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, MI
Position: Slot receiver/running back
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #19
Last year: Not ranked.

The brother of former Michigan running back Kevin Grady, the younger Grady came to Michigan to play basketball. But he didn’t quite fit in Coach Beilein’s system and left the basketball team. Grady then decided to walk on to the football program in 2009 after having been a star high school running back. Grady was impressive enough that he earned starter-level playing time early in the season. He caught 10 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown, but was surpassed late in the season by Roy Roundtree; Grady started dropping passes and then didn’t even play in the final three games of the year.

The word from insiders is that Grady will be given a shot to earn playing time at either slot receiver or running back in the fall. Without a returning starter at the running back position – and underwhelming performances during the spring game – Grady might offer some depth. I’m not expecting much from him this fall. He’s too slight to play running back in the Big Ten, and there are better options there; and the combination of Roundtree and Martavious Odoms at slot receiver is potentially deadly, not to mention up-and-comers Terrence Robinson and Jeremy Gallon. It’s a good thing for Michigan that someone with Grady’s talent might be its fifth best player at the position; it’s a bad thing for Grady himself.

Prediction for 2010: Scarce duty as backup slot receiver. He won’t match the stat totals from 2009.

2010 Countdown: #78 Drew Dileo

Name: Drew Dileo
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 175 lbs.
High school: Parkview Baptist Christian School in Greenwell Springs, LA
Position: Slot receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Prediction for 2010: Redshirt

Another controversial Michigan commitment, Dileo will play slot receiver and potentially return kicks at Michigan. He played for a successful high school program and was a jack-of-all-trades type who played running back, receiver, cornerback, and kick returner. But he’s small-ish and 175 lbs. might be on the generous side, as he has a pretty slight build.

Dileo’s most likely contribution for the Wolverines will be as a return man, but that probably won’t happen this year. He needs to put on some weight, and there are plenty of guys ahead of him. Martavious Odoms, Darryl Stonum, Jeremy Gallon, and Terrence Robinson appear to be the front-runners for the return jobs for now.

2010 Countdown: #83 DJ Williamson

Name: Deaver (D.J.) Williamson
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 172 lbs.
High school: Harding High School in Warren, OH
Position: Slot receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Prediction for 2010: Redshirt

When Williamson wasn’t attempting to be Usain Bolt – both in speed and hubris – he was playing wide receiver for Harding High School. Despite his excellent speed, he’s somewhat small-ish and raw as a receiver.

Williamson revealed on Signing Day that he was recruited to play slot receiver, a position that is jam-packed with veteran players, most notably Martavious Odoms and Roy Roundtree. It would be quite a feat for Williamson to even break the five-deep this season, so I expect him to redshirt.

2010 Recruiting Grades: Slot Receiver

New England Patriot receiver Drew Dileo

The first is Drew Dileo, a 5’10”, 175 lb. player from Greenwell Springs, LA. Despite not having overwhelmingly impressive offers, Dileo can fill a role at Michigan – punt returner. Since Steve Breaston left after the 2006 season, Michigan has suffered from poor to mediocre punt returning. The role was assumed by guys like Donovan Warren (who took a lot of chances), Greg Mathews (sure-handed but slow), Martavious Odoms (whose butterfingers only show on punt/kick returns), and Junior Hemingway (again, slow). Dileo can play slot receiver, but his earliest chance to contribute will probably be on special teams.

It’s a good thing this photographer had a high-speed shutter.The second commitment at slot receiver comes from D.J. Williamson, from Warren, OH. Williamson is listed at 6’1″ and 172 lbs., meaning he’s thin and willowy. He has state championship track speed, but unfortunately, that speed hasn’t necessarily shown itself on the football field. Since his commitment, he struggled through a senior season in which he was injured and his quarterback play was subpar. He could play out wide or in the slot, but said on National Signing Day that he’ll start off inside.

Predictions: Dileo reminds me of New England Patriots receiver . . . Troy Brown. He’ll probably redshirt in 2010, as guys like Odoms and Jeremy Gallon could handle the punt returning duties. But at some point in his career, we’ll likely see Dileo deployed as a sure-handed, occasionally exciting returner. Williamson as a slot receiver intrigues me. When he appeared to be an outside receiver in the making, I thought he would get outmuscled and I’m not impressed with his route running. He has reportedly suffered from the dropsies at times, but if he can get that problem worked out, Williamson could be a speedy Roy Roundtree in the slot working against slower linebackers and safeties. As it is, I don’t see him contributing for a couple years.

Grade: B. Neither player is an immediate-impact sort, but they don’t need to be with guys like Martavious Odoms, Jeremy Gallon, Terrence Robinson, and Roy Roundtree ahead of them (in addition to Teric Jones and Kelvin Grady, who could play slot). Dileo fills a hole, and Williamson has the speed to make a few big plays before all is said and done. Ultimately, this is a position/class where Rodriguez could afford to “miss” with a player or two and not suffer greatly in the future.

Statistical Analysis of 2010 Recruiting: Part III

As I was keeping track of Michigan’s recruiting efforts throughout the 2010 cycle, I began to wonder where Michigan has the most success in recruiting. The obvious answers would be “in state” and “near home” and those answers held true, to no one’s surprise.

You can see in the above chart (click to enlarge) that Michigan got the best bang for its buck in contiguous states like Wisconsin and Ohio. Pennsylvania is #5 on the list.

Sitting there at #4, though, is Louisiana. Michigan got two of the six prospects who were offered, slot receiver Drew Dileo and safety Carvin Johnson. The other four were WR Trovon Reed (Auburn), QB Munchie Legaux (Cincinnati), DE Jordan Allen (LSU), and CB Ronnie Vinson (LSU). Of those four, only Legaux didn’t have an LSU offer. As I said in yesterday’s post, kids in the deep south tend to stay in the deep south if a decent local program offers. Reed spurned LSU for a school in neighboring Alabama, but Allen and Vinson jumped at the opportunity to play in the Bayou.

Moving on to Florida, that percentage might be a bit alarming. The Wolverines extended more offers to Florida than any other individual state by far – 46 offers in all, beating Ohio by 16 – but Michigan’s success rate in the Sunshine State was just below 7%. With all three commitments from Florida being 4-stars (Demar Dorsey, Marvin Robinson, Richard Ash), the kids Michigan has stolen have been elite talents. But this is something to watch in the coming years. If Rich Rodriguez continues to offer a high volume of kids from Florida, hopefully the commitments he gets remain elite players. I would hate to see the coaching staff spend such significant time and effort on Florida only to get middling recruits from the state. That being said, the coaches have done a good job there over the past couple years. They’ve established a pipeline from Pahokee (Martavious Odoms, Brandin Hawthorne, Vincent Smith, Richard Ash) and could be in the process of building a pipeline from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando (Ricardo Miller transferred from Dr. Phillips to Ann Arbor Pioneer after committing, and 2011 prospects Demetrius Hart and Hasean Clinton-Dix have both been offered).

Rodriguez knows what side his bread is buttered on. He’ll continue to get a high volume of recruits from Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and he’ll try to pluck a few elite talents out of Florida. Those efforts will be complemented by an occasional commitment from various other states.