2016 Recruiting Update: June 15, 2015

Tag: Rashad Weaver

15Jun 2015
Uncategorized 4 comments

2016 Recruiting Update: June 15, 2015

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback Victor Viramontes (image via Press Enterprise)

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COMMITMENTS
Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic cornerback Antwaine Richardson committed to Michigan on Friday (LINK).

Cooper City (FL) Cooper City defensive end Rashad Weaver committed to Michigan on Sunday (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Carson (CA) Calabasas safety Marquel Dismuke decommitted from Cal. He’s a 6’1″, 180 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan and Nebraska, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #10 safety, and #246 overall. Dismuke was an early offer by the Jim Harbaugh staff, and he committed to Cal surprisingly early when Michigan thought they had a chance. The Wolverines still might be able to pull him in, but the decommitment came a couple weeks after Nebraska offered, and the Cornhuskers have 89% of the Crystal Ball votes.

Norco (CA) Norco safety Troy Dye was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 200 lb. prospect with offers from Colorado and Oregon, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #41 safety, and #634 overall. He earned his offer at the satellite camp in Mission Viejo. Listed as a safety, he moves like a linebacker and should probably be reclassified by 247 Sports. Regardless, he has some upside as an outside linebacker and still probably slots in as a 3-star prospect. Michigan was his favorite school growing up. His father was born in Michigan and played football at San Jose State (so why not go play for Al Borges and Greg Robinson?), where he also had a baseball career that led to the Houston Astros organization.

Cartersville (GA) Cartersville tight end Miller Forristall was offered by Michigan and then committed to Alabama. He’s a 6’5″, 220 lb. prospect who’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #20 tight end, and #486 overall. As a junior in 2014, he caught 32 passes for 600 yards and 8 touchdowns. The home state Bulldogs never stepped forward with an offer.

Hit the jump for a couple more 2016 offers, some guys who committed elsewhere, and some random bits and pieces.

Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan safety/linebacker Devin Gil decommitted from Miami. He’s a 6’1″, 205 lb. prospect who also holds offers from Colorado, Louisville, and South Florida, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #63 safety, and #941 overall. Gil visited Michigan with a couple teammates this past weekend, and he decommitted from the Hurricanes during the visit, saying he wanted to see who else would show interest in him. He plays safety and that’s where 247 Sports has him pegged, but he looks like he’ll be a linebacker at the next level. His Crystal Ball is 100% in favor of Michigan right now.

Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan safety Josh Metellus decommitted from Georgia Southern. He’s a 6’0″, 187 lb. prospect with offers from Florida International, Miami-OH, Middle Tennessee State, and South Alabama. He’s a 247 Composite 2-star, the #139 safety, and #1957 overall. He is a teammate of Gil and 2016 linebacker Devin Bush, Jr. and visited Michigan this past weekend.

Norco (CA) Norco quarterback Victor Viramontes was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 220 lb. prospect with offers from Colorado, Nebraska, Washington State, and Wisconsin, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #48 athlete, and #676 overall. A teammate of Dye’s, Viramontes attended the second California satellite camp, in Fresno, and earned his offer after Harbaugh saw him run and throw. As a junior in 2014, he was 123/228 passing (53.9%) for 1,784 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions; more impressively, he ran the ball 214 times for 1,757 yards (8.2 yards/carry) and 18 touchdowns. Even better is that his nickname is “Vicious Vic,” so if he ever decides to pursue MMA, he’s got a pretty nice, alliterative name for it: Vicious Vic Viramontes. (You can hear Michael Buffer saying that name, can’t you?) Anyway, Viramontes is a veritable virtuoso on the field who has various valuable skills, like vision and a vibrant arm, to victimize a defense on his way to taking a viselike, victorious grip on a quarterback job. (That’s my way of saying that Vicious Vic can probably go somewhere and be The Man at quarterback in this class, rather than possibly playing second violin fiddle to Brandon Peters.) If quarterback doesn’t work out for him, he could probably play running back, fullback, H-back, linebacker, or maybe strong safety at the college level.

Fort Lauderdale (FL) Cooper City tight end Rashad Weaver was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 245 lb. prospect with offers from Illinois and Syracuse, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 2-star, the #112 defensive tackle, and #1803 overall. He claims a 4.9 forty. Weaver has decent speed but has a lot of technical holes in his game; he’s also a big body who could project anywhere from tight end to defensive end to defensive tackle to perhaps even offensive tackle. He reminds me of New Jersey athlete Jake Pickard from the 2015 class, who was committed to Wisconsin, earned a late offer from Michigan, and ended up signing with Syracuse. Weaver almost immediately named Michigan his top school. The Wolverines are recruiting him as an “athlete” but saying he can play tight end to start his career.

OFF THE BOARD
Manor (TX) Manor defensive end Erick Fowler committed to LSU. He initially showed some interest in the Wolverines, but nothing had transpired in recent weeks between the two parties.

Cranford (NJ) Cranford offensive tackle Will Fries committed to Penn State. He had recently visited Michigan and put the Wolverines in his top group, but that seemed like a formality before a looming commitment to the Nittany Lions.

Mechanicsville (VA) Atlee safety Jaqui “J.J.” Givens committed to South Carolina. The co-defensive coordinator at South Carolina is Jon Hoke, the older brother of former Michigan head coach Brady Hoke.

Converse (TX) Judson defensive end Alton Robinson committed to Texas A&M.

Byesville (OH) Meadowbrook offensive guard Josh Sills committed to West Virginia.

New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin tight end Irvin Smith committed to Texas A&M on an unofficial visit. He is the son of former Notre Dame and NFL tight end Irv Smith. He is also a teammate of 2016 tight end Peyton Aucoin and 2017 linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling, both of whom have Michigan offers.

Chesapeake (VA) Indian River linebacker Jaquan Yulee committed to Alabama. Despite listing Michigan early as one of his top schools, he never visited. Recently, the Wolverines dropped out of his top five, and then he became a Crimson Tide. Which sounds weird.

MISCELLANEOUS
Here’s a list of some (but not nearly all) of the participants in Michigan’s Exposure U camp (LINK).

Here are the notable prospects who took part in Michigan’s 2015 Summer Swarm tour, which ended last week (LINK).

Here’s yet another list, this one of visitors from this past weekend and Sound Mind Sound Body campers (LINK).

Scout released a new top 300 for 2016 (LINK).

Houston (TX) Aldine MacArthur defensive end Isaiah Chambers named Michigan to his top ten.

Abbotsford (BC) Abbotsford tight end Chase Claypool named Michigan to his top three.

Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Rancho Santa Margarita wide receiver Dylan Crawford named Michigan to his top ten.

Los Angeles (CA) Loyola cornerback David Long, Jr. named Michigan to his top ten. The guys at 247 Sports have said at times that Long is the staff’s top cornerback target.

Avon (IN) Avon quarterback Brandon Peters, a Michigan commit, was named a finalist for the 2015 Elite 11.

Florence (AL) Florence fullback/linebacker Erroll Thompson named Michigan to his top five. Michigan is recruiting him to play both positions. He is believed to be a strong Alabama lean, however.

Over on Recruiting Season, I updated profiles for:

15Jun 2015
Uncategorized 13 comments

Rashad Weaver, Wolverine

Cooper City (FL) Cooper City defensive end Rashad Weaver (image via 247Sports.com)

Cooper City (FL) Cooper City defensive end Rashad Weaver committed to Michigan on Sunday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Air Force, Illinois, Syracuse, and Temple.

Weaver is 6’4″, 245 lbs. He claims a 4.9 forty, a 4.66 shuttle, and a 27″ vertical.

RATINGS
ESPN: Unranked
Rivals: 2-star WDE
Scout: Unranked
247 Sports: Unranked

Weaver was a total unknown to me until he participated in the Florida satellite camp. It looks like he was also unknown to most of the recruiting world. But when a player is looking at offers from the ones listed above plus some FCS schools, a scholarship from Michigan looks pretty darn good. Weaver was thought to be considering an immediate commitment to the Wolverines, but he ended up taking about a week before pulling the trigger.

Weaver has a thick frame that looks like it will probably continue to fill out and add weight. He has a long wingspan and can get his hands in the throwing windows. He also shows some decent speed in the open field if he can beat the blocker in front of him. He can be an aggressive hitter who makes the quarterback or running back feel some punishment if he gets a clean shot.

Unfortunately, he is also a very raw player. When it comes to technique, virtually everything needs to be tweaked – from his stance to his initial steps to his hand placement to the angles he takes to the ball. He plays 3-4 defensive end in high school, which is probably pretty similar to what he will play in college. However, he often fails to get his second step down unless he’s speed rushing on the outside, and he tends to stand up too high off the snap. He does not use his hands well and instead tries to shoulder past offensive linemen.

Overall, Weaver seems like a boom-or-bust prospect in more ways than one. If he cleans up his technique and adds the necessary strength, he could be a very good strongside end in a 4-3 or a 3-4 end. In fact, his body type is pretty ideal for those types of positions. With the way his body is built, he could even turn into a 300-pounder, because I think he looks a little like Chris Wormley coming out of high school. On the other hand, his technique and the way he plays reminds me even more of another Ohio defensive end, Chris Rock, who left Michigan early and walked on at Ohio State, where he never played a meaningful snap. Weaver also has a chance to play some tight end, where he would presumably more of a blocking tight end, although offensive highlights are few.

Michigan now has twelve commits in the 2016 class. He is the first defensive end in the class, and it’s a position that needs some replenishing. Michigan took two defensive ends in the 2015 class, but the position is rather thin with senior Mario Ojemudia and junior Taco Charlton the only experienced ends at this point. Michigan is even more in need of Buck linebacker types who can speed rush the passer. After Rich Rodriguez concentrated heavily on Florida, Brady Hoke focused his efforts on the midwest. Jim Harbaugh is back to a more national approach, and this is the fourth commitment in the 2016 class from the deep south (two from Alabama, two from Florida), joining the four who committed near the end of the 2015 cycle (three from Florida, one from Alabama).

TTB Rating: 45 (ratings explanation)