Tag: Su’a Cravens

Recruiting Update: June 11, 2012

Henry Poggi

COMMITMENT
Baltimore (MD) Gilman defensive tackle Henry Poggi committed to Michigan.

Ottawa (IL) Marquette long snapper Scott Sypniewski committed to Michigan.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2013
San Diego (CA) Horizon wide receiver Darren Carrington was offered by Michigan on Wednesday.  The 6’3″, 180 lb. athlete does a little bit of everything for his high school team.  As a junior in 2011, he was 55/104 passing for 613 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions; ran 58 times for 290 yards and 1 touchdown; caught 37 passes for 640 yards and 6 touchdowns; and made 49 tackles, forced 1 fumble, and caused 1 fumble.  His father Darren played college ball at Northern Arizona before moving on to a career as a safety for the Broncos, Lions, Chargers, Jaguars, and Raiders; as a Charger, he was on the team that lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

McDonough (GA) Eagle’s Landing Christian defensive end Isaac Rochell has a Michigan offer.  The 6’5″, 260 lb. end is likely to stay in the southeast or pick Notre Dame, so Michigan doesn’t seem to have a strong chance here.  Rochell attends the alma mater of Avery Walls, a 2011 defensive back that was strongly considering Michigan before he committed to Cal.



ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Wellington (FL) Palm Beach Central offensive tackle K.C. McDermott was offered by Michigan.  He’s a 6’6″, 285-pounder with offers from Auburn, Florida, Miami, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and several others.  Miami appears to be the front runner.  McDermott had an older brother who played for Michigan offensive line coach Darrell Funk when Funk was at Colorado State, but he also has a brother who currently plays for the Hurricanes.


OFF THE BOARD
Murrieta (CA) Vista Murrieta safety Su’a Cravens committed to USC.  This was not a surprise, since he was known to love USC and trips to Michigan and Ohio State never materialized before his announcement date.  However, he has stated that he still plans to visit Michigan and Ohio State.  I have my doubts about whether those visits will actually take place, but it’s a glimmer of hope.

Matthews (NC) Butler wide receiver Uriah LeMay committed to Georgia.  His brother Christian is a quarterback for the Bulldogs, and the bigger surprise is that it took the younger LeMay so long to commit.

McDonough (GA) Eagle’s Landing Christian defensive end Isaac Rochell, whom I mentioned above, committed to Notre Dame.

Sugar Land (TX) Dulles cornerback Maurice Smith committed to Alabama.  Smith was offered just a few weeks ago, so the coaches are clearly looking for another corner.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see some more offers go out to cornerbacks in the 2013 class in the coming weeks.

Recruiting Update: June 4, 2012

Maurice Hurst, Jr.

COMMITMENT
Westwood (MA) Xaverian Brothers defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr. committed to Michigan.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2013
Geismar (LA) Dutchtown wide receiver Shelby Christy was offered by Michigan recently.  Christy is a 6’3″, 175 lb. wideout with offers from Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, and Northwestern.  As a junior in 2011, he had 25 receptions for 400+ yards and 7 touchdowns.  LSU hasn’t come forward with an offer yet, but if they do, expect him to be a Tiger.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Hendersonville (TN) Beech athlete Jalen Hurd was offered by Michigan on Wednesday.  He also has offers from Alabama, Nebraska, Ohio State, Tennessee, and several others.  As a freshman in 2010, he had 57 carries for 459 yards and 3 touchdowns.  As a sophomore in 2011, he had 1,606 rushing yards and 437 receiving yards to go with 27 total touchdowns.  The 6’2″, 190-pounder could play running back or receiver, but I’m listing him as a running back because he’s built a little bit like 2013 running back target Ty Isaac.  Alabama looks like the early leader for Hurd, however.

Midlothian (IL) Marist tight end Nic Weishar was offered by Michigan.  Weishar is a 6’5″, 200 lb. wideout/tight end with offers from Illinois, Iowa, Notre Dame, Purdue, and Wisconsin, along with a few others.  As a junior in 2011, he had 77 receptions for 1,160 yards and 13 touchdowns.  (Highlights here.)

OFF THE BOARD
Lemont (IL) Lemont offensive tackle Ethan Pocic committed to LSU.  Back when Michigan filled up on offensive linemen, I was a little disappointed that they wouldn’t have room for Pocic, who was strongly considering Michigan up to that point.  Pocic was also considering Illinois (where his brother Graham plays) and Ohio State, so having him play in the SEC means Michigan has just a small chance of facing him at any point.  I think Pocic is going to be a very good player.

Fort Wayne (IN) Bishop Luers linebacker Jaylon Smith committed to Notre Dame.  Smith’s brother Rod is a running back for Ohio State, and it seemed from the beginning that this would be a Notre Dame vs. Ohio State battle; Smith never showed interest in going to Michigan.  On the camp circuit this spring, Smith has been consistently mentioned as one of the top performers, working out as a linebacker, defensive end, and even cornerback.  I’ll be curious to see how Notre Dame uses him, but hopefully he plays poorly against the Wolverines.

PENDING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Murrieta (CA) Vista Murrieta safety Su’a Cravens scheduled a college announcement for Wednesday, June 6th.  He stated several weeks ago that he would still take visits to a few Big Ten schools, including Michigan, but when a kid sets an early announcement date without having visited some of his “finalists,” the writing is probably on the wall.  In Cravens’s case, a lot of people are going to be eating crow if he doesn’t commit to USC.  In any case, here’s the scouting report I put together on Cravens.

Baltimore (MD) Gilman defensive tackle Henry Poggi has scheduled a college announcement for 10:00 this morning.  He will reportedly decide between Alabama and Michigan.  He has visited Michigan multiple times (for the Purdue game last year and in March), but his most recent visit was to Tuscaloosa.  Here’s the scouting report I put together on Poggi back in March.

WEEKEND VISITORS
There were a couple weekend visitors, including Hurst.  Cedar Falls (IA) Cedar Falls offensive tackle Ross Pierschbacher, a 2014 prospect, is going to visit Michigan today.  He’s a 6’5″, 275 lb. kid with offers from Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, but he doesn’t have a Michigan offer yet.  He was the offensive line MVP of the Illinois NFTC this past weekend.

Scouting Report: Su’a Cravens

Su’a Cravens

Name: Su’a Cravens
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 205 lbs.
Class: 2013
Position: Safety
School: Murrieta (CA) Vista Murrieta

Notes: Holds offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Boise State, Cal, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin . . . Rivals 5-star safety, #5 overall . . . Scout 5-star safety . . . 247 Sports 5-star, 98 grade, #1 safety, #9 overall . . . ESPN 4-star safety . . . As a junior in 2011, he had 100 tackles, 11 tackles, and 3 interceptions; also had 673 rushing yards for 15 touchdowns and 339 receiving yards for 4 touchdowns

Strengths: Solidly built . . . Looks like a college safety already . . . Not afraid of contact, both as a defender and runner . . . Reads plays well . . . Doesn’t get himself out of position . . . Keeps shoulders square when taking on kick-out blocks . . . Wraps up ballcarriers rather than going for kill shots . . . Strong tackler . . . Good top-end speed . . . Versatility to play multiple positions . . . Gets upfield quickly as a runner . . . High effort player who won’t settle for going down on first contact . . . Runs with great body lean

Weaknesses: A bit raw as a runner . . . Carries ball too loosely away from body . . . Good but not great speed for a defensive back . . . Makes some nice plays with ball in air, but also looks slightly uncomfortable catching ball at times

Projection: Running back, strong safety, or weakside linebacker.  I don’t usually hedge on projections, but he could play any of those three positions at the next level.  I’m afraid he might outgrow the safety position, but he would be perfect for Michigan at strong safety.  I feel that’s his best position if he doesn’t grow too much.  Michigan is reportedly recruiting him as a running back (EDIT: Cravens has stated that Michigan wants him primarily as a safety), and that’s his second best position.  Despite looking a little uncomfortable catching the ball, he’s a punishing runner who can get into the open field by breaking tackles, outrunning some linebackers, and overpowering defensive backs.  I could easily see him playing at about 220-225 lbs. as a college runner.

Reminds me of: Willis McGahee

Recruiting Update: December 26, 2011

Su’a Cravens

COMMITMENT
St. Louis (MO) Ladue Horton Watkins wide receiver Jehu Chesson committed to Michigan last week.  The 6’3″, 185 lb. wideout is the 24th member of Michigan’s class, leaving four more spots open.  Here’s a link to his commitment post.

ADDED TO THE BOARD
Murrietta (CA) Vista Murrietta safety Su’a Cravens, a 2013 prospect, has been offered by Michigan.  Cravens is a 6’1″, 205 lb. strong safety with offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Cal, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Stanford, USC, Washington, and others.  As a junior this past season, he had 96 tackles, 11 sacks, and 3 interceptions.

Ramsey (NJ) Don Bosco Prep defensive end Al-Quadine Muhammad, a 2013 prospect, has also been offered by the Wolverines.  He’s 6’4″, 230 lbs. and has offers from Boston College, Colorado, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Rutgers, South Carolina, and others.  Muhammad is the teammate of several Michigan targets from the 2012 class, including defensive back Yuri Wright.

OFF THE BOARD
Lee’s Summit (MO) Lee’s Summet West offensive guard Evan Boehm re-committed to Missouri last week.  The 6’3″, 290-pounder, who is considered one of the best interior linemen in the country, de-committed from Missouri several weeks ago and flirted with going elsewhere, but he’s sticking close to home.

Texas linebacker Derek David has been re-classified as a 2014 recruit due to some legal issues stemming from an alleged sexual assault.  He had been offered by Michigan early in the process, but never visited and had only limited contact with the Wolverines.  David was committed to Texas Tech prior to his legal troubles.

Eden Prairie (MN) Eden Prairie offensive tackle Nick Davidson committed to Stanford.  The 6’6″, 275 lb. lineman is the son of Jeff Davidson, an NFL offensive line coach and offensive coordinator who has floated around the league for several years.

Monroe (NC) Sun Valley wide receiver Jody Fuller committed to South Carolina back in July.  I happened to be on a two-week vacation at the end of July, which is probably why I never updated his status.  Plus I never really cared about Fuller because he didn’t show any interest in Michigan’s offer.

Inglewood (CA) Inglewood wide receiver Derrick Woods committed to Oklahoma back in November.  I must have missed this news due to Thanksgiving and the excitement surrounding the Ohio State game, but the 6’1″, 180 lb. speedster is off the board.