Terry Talbott, Wolverine
Late last night GoBlueWolverine.com reported that brothers Terry and Terrence Talbott, from Huber Heights, OH, committed to play for Michigan.
Terry is a defensive lineman whose position is a little blurry. Rivals lists him at 6’4″ and 265 lbs. Scouting Ohio lists him at 6’4″ and 245 lbs. It’s possible that Scouting Ohio is a bit outdated, but on the plus side, at least they agree on his height. The websites list him as a defensive tackle/nose tackle, but I’m not sure that’s the best fit for him. He seems more like a defensive end for Greg Robinson’s 4-3 under defense. Rivals is notorious for having overstated sizes (Anthony Lalota was 6’6″ and 260 lbs. until he got on campus and the spring roster listed him as 6’4″ and 235), so I’m more inclined to trust Scouting Ohio.
Even more so than his size, Terry plays like a defensive end. He uses his quickness off the ball to beat blockers to his gap. He’s long and lean and uses his hands well to fight off blockers. I wouldn’t define him as a speed rusher, but he looks like a 3-4 defensive end to me.
A 3-star prospect to Rivals, Terry chose Michigan over offers from Illinois, MSU, UCLA, and Wisconsin, among others. I expect that Michigan will still pursue at least one true defensive tackle prospect (Sharrif Floyd and Louis Nix, to name a couple). Even though Michigan’s defensive tackles are young, there are only three scholarship players on the roster (Mike Martin, Will Campbell, and Renaldo Sagesse). Perhaps more dire is the defensive end position – Brandon Graham graduates this year, and both Adam Patterson and Greg Banks are redshirt juniors. Anthony Lalota is the only DE behind them.
Scouting Ohio video is here.