Tag: Rashan Gary

Michigan 51, Central Florida 14

(image via PCH)

Wilton Speight is the real deal? I still don’t know. Speight went 25/37 for 312 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions while taking 2 sacks. He spent much of the day hitting crossing routes or checkdowns; his deep balls included a couple misses, a 35-yard gainer to Jehu Chesson, and a touchdown to Amara Darboh. Central Florida got more of a pass rush than they should have and made things tough at times. Perhaps Speight’s best play of the day was when he was in the hands of a blitzing UCF safety, but the 6’6″, 243 lb. QB spun around to find wide-open fullback Henry Poggi in the flat, who then rumbled through a couple tackles for an 8-yard gain. Speight was also more efficient than the numbers suggest, because normally sure-handed tight end Jake Butt dropped a couple passes. It was a very good day for Speight, but I thought Jedd Fisch’s passing game created some nice windows to throw the ball.

Hit the jump for more thoughts on Michigan vs. Central Florida.

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2016 Season Countdown: #23 Rashan Gary

Rashan Gary

Name: Rashan Gary
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 287 lbs.
High school: Paramus (NJ) Catholic
Position: Defensive end
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #3
Last year: Gary was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 55 tackles, 13.5 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles.
Final TTB Rating: 100

There’s not much to say about Rashan Gary that hasn’t been said a hundred times. He was: an All-American, an Under Armour All-American, a Paramus (NJ) Catholic product (the alma mater of Jabrill Peppers and the former team of current linebackers coach Chris Partridge), and the consensus #1 player in the country. Everybody and his mother thought Gary was the most college-ready defensive lineman they’ve seen in years. He’s big and fast and athletic and – everyone’s favorite descriptor – he’s technically sound! Yeah! Michigan seemed like the front-runner for a long time until Clemson made it scary at the very end. He said later that he didn’t know whether he would pick the Wolverines or Tigers until he walked out on stage to announce on national television, but luckily he picked the good guys.

Unable to enroll early, Gary didn’t arrive on campus until June. Early reports on his abilities have been positive. Sam Webb issued a gut feeling this summer that Gary would start at Anchor (a.k.a. strongside defensive end), and that makes some sense. Michigan is a little thin at the defensive end positions, and Taco Charlton has moved to weakside end. That means the Anchor position will probably be a rotation of Gary and Wormley, and the next option would be to move Charlton to Anchor while inserting Chase Winovich and/or a freshman at weakside end. That being said, there are other guys who could probably play strongside end in a pinch (Matt Godin, Maurice Hurst, Jr.), and Gary is likely to have a few growing pains while getting used to Big Ten competition. Even if he’s not an All-American right off the bat, he should give the Wolverines some fun moments this year.

Prediction: Starting Anchor; 35 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5 sacks

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Visitors: March 18-20, 2016

Westerville (OH) South running back Jaelen Gill

For no good reason except he’s the top-rated prospect in modern Michigan recruiting history, I’ll note that 2016 defensive tackle signee Rashan Gary is spending this week – his spring break week – at the University of Michigan.

2017
Richard Bowens III – CB – Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s:

Brendann Brown – RB – Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison:

Devin George – CB – Detroit (MI) Western International: George is a 5’9″, 170 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.

Ja’Raymond Hall – OT – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Hall committed to Michigan in December of 2015 (LINK).

A.J. Harris – S – Madison (AL) Bob Jones: Harris is a 6’0″, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, Nebraska, and Ole Miss, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #21 safety, and #284 overall. It seems like he wants an Alabama offer, but the Crimson Tide have yet to extend one. Michigan will be holding a satellite camp at Bob Jones High School in June.

Ralph Holley – DT – Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s:

Derrick Hubbard – LB – Ann Arbor (MI) Pioneer: Hubbard is a 6’2″, 202 lb. prospect with offers from Iowa State and Toledo. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #72 outside linebacker, #1010 overall, and #26 in the state of Michigan. He’s a teammate of 2017 linebacker Antjuan Simmons (Ohio State).

Hit the jump for several more 2017 and 2018 offers.

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Visitors: March 18-20, 2016

Westerville (OH) South running back Jaelen Gill

For no good reason except he’s the top-rated prospect in modern Michigan recruiting history, I’ll note that 2016 defensive tackle signee Rashan Gary is spending this week – his spring break week – at the University of Michigan.

2017
A.J. Harris – S – Madison (AL) Bob Jones: Harris is a 6’0″, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, Nebraska, and Ole Miss, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #21 safety, and #284 overall. It seems like he wants an Alabama offer, but the Crimson Tide have yet to extend one. Michigan will be holding a satellite camp at Bob Jones High School in June.

LaBryan Ray – DE – Madison (AL) James Clemens: Ray is a 6’5″, 283 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #5 strongside end, and #176 overall. So far he has four Crystal Ball picks for Alabama and zero for anyone else.

2018
Jaelen Gill – RB – Westerville (OH) South: Gill is a 6’0″, 165 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and UCLA, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #1 all-purpose back, and #18 overall. He is considered to be a strong Ohio State lean, but with National Signing Day almost two years away, there’s plenty of time to make a decision.

Taj Mustapha – WR – Southfield (MI) Lathrup: Mustapha is a 6’1″, 170 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.

Dwayne Thompson – WR – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice: Thompson is a 6’0″, 174 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. He claims a 4.73 forty, a 28″ vertical, and a 4.15 shuttle. He’s a teammate of 2017 Michigan TE commit Carter Dunaway.

A History of #1 Rated Recruits

Jadeveon Clowney was the #1 overall prospect in 2011

I’m going to be doing some giveaways/contests on the site to promote the Forum (LINK), so right now there’s a Pick the Score contest going for Wednesday’s basketball game against Minnesota (LINK).

In recent years, Michigan has received commitments from top-ranked running back Derrick Green and cornerback Jabrill Peppers. In response, I posted a look back at the #1 rated tailbacks (LINK) and cornerbacks (LINK). This year Michigan got a commitment from the #1 overall recruit, New Jersey’s Rashan Gary. So below you will find a rundown of #1 recruits going back to the year 2000, which is as far back as the 247 Composite rankings go.

Hit the jump for the #1 all-time recruits, including Adrian Peterson, Vince Young, Jadeveon Clowney, and Dorial Green-Beckham.

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