Taco Charlton, Wolverine

Tag: Taco Charlton


19Feb 2012
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Taco Charlton, Wolverine

Pickerington (OH) Central defensive end Taco Charlton poses with
fellow 2013 commit Shane Morris
(image via Twitter)

Pickerington (OH) Central defensive end Taco Charlton committed to Michigan on Saturday.  He chose the Wolverines over offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pitt, Purdue, Syracuse, and UCLA.

Charlton is a 6’6″, 240 lb. outside linebacker for Central, but he projects to start out at weakside end for Michigan.  He claims a 4.8 forty, a 315 bench, and a 345 squat.  He had 40 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 7 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery as a sophomore in 2010.  I have yet to find statistics for his junior season.

Ratings:
ESPN: Unranked DE
Rivals: 4-star DE, #183 overall
Scout: Unranked DE
247 Sports: 4-star OLB, 93 grade, #9 OLB, #143 overall

Charlton was offered by Michigan in September 2011.  It was known that Michigan sat at or near the top of his list ever since the offer, and he was rumored to be on the verge of committing for the last few weeks.  In fact, most message boarders seemed to think that Charlton was the mystery recruit planning to announce on Sam Webb’s WTKA show yesterday at noon, which turned out to be Wyatt Shallman instead.  Charlton waited until late Saturday evening to share his commitment.

Much like with fellow Saturday night commit Chris Fox, there aren’t a whole lot of Charlton highlights available for analysis.  Those that are available show a long, lean, athletic kid with a good motor . . . who’s just kind of out on the field chasing after the ball.  I don’t see a whole lot of football fundamentals or discipline.  He’s a very raw prospect who, I think, needs to work on reading blocks and maintaining gap discipline.

Luckily for Charlton – and for Michigan – the Wolverines brought in a cadre of defensive end prospects in the 2012 class, so Charlton should have the opportunity to redshirt if necessary.  He has the right attitude and athleticism to play at the next level, but he’s a project.  I imagine he will likely start out at weakside end at Michigan, but he could very well grow into a strongside end by the time his career is over.

He is the ninth commitment in the class of 2013 for Michigan.  He was also the sixth player to pick Michigan on Saturday.  In one day Michigan tripled its number of pledges.  Charlton will join fellow Pickerington Central alum Tamani Carter, who will be a redshirt freshman safety this fall.

18Feb 2012
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Weekend Visitors: February 17-20, 2012

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech offensive guard David Dawson will likely get a Michigan offer during his weekend visit.  Here
he is (left, #55) standing over a demolished opponent when he was a sophomore.
(image via Future College Athlete Association)

Sam Webb, from Scout and the Detroit News, has stated that Michigan will receive some “good news” today at noon on WTKA.  And I’m pretty sure he’s not talking about someone getting pregnant.

Anyway, who’s visiting Michigan this weekend?  These guys:

Kyle Bosch – OG – Wheaton (IL) St. Francis: I wrote a scouting report on Bosch a few weeks ago.  Bosch visited Michigan twice during the 2011 season and is headed back to Ann Arbor for more.  He’s the #44 player to 247 Sports and the #60 player to Rivals, so he’s an upper echelon recruit.  Do not expect a commitment from him in the near future, though.

Jake Butt – TE – Pickerington (OH) North: Butt has also visited Michigan previously and has stated that Michigan is his leader “by far.”  Butt wants to take other visits, but the general feeling is that the Wolverines will be difficult to beat.  He could pair with 2013 commit Khalid Hill to make a nice combo of tight end prospects who complement each other.

Taco Charlton – DE – Pickerington (OH) Central: Charlton is a 6’6″, 240 lb. prospect who could play either weakside or strongside end for Michigan.  The Wolverines are considered to reside at the top of his list, and there’s a shot that he will commit to Michigan soon.

Rod Crayton – DT – Dadeville (AL) Dadeville: Crayton is coming all the way from Alabama in pursuit of an offer.  Scout lists him as already holding an offer, but MGoBlog’s Ace Anbender spoke with him recently, and Crayton said Michigan’s coaching staff wants to get him on campus first.  Regardless, I would be surprised if he walked away from Ann Arbor without an offer.  He projects to the nose tackle position for Michigan.

David Dawson – OG – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Dawson has not yet been offered by Michigan, but there’s a very good chance he will be offered when he’s on campus this weekend.  He played the 2011 season in Houston but has returned to Cass Tech, a traditional pipeline to Ann Arbor.  Dawson recently picked up an offer from Alabama, so Michigan may want to get on the offer bandwagon before any other teams have a chance to build up an insurmountable lead in pursuit of the 6’5″, 305 lb. interior lineman.

Ross Douglas – CB – Avon (OH) Avon: Douglas has not yet been offered by Michigan.  He has offers from Connecticut, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Tennessee, among others.  The 5’10”, 180-pounder also plays running back for Avon.  Michigan is recruiting a couple other small-ish athletes, but mostly the Wolverines have been pursuing bigger corners and bigger running backs.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he picks up an offer this weekend, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t.

Kenton Gibbs – DT – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Gibbs is a 6’2″, 290 lb. nose tackle prospect with MAC offers so far.  There’s a chance that Michigan will offer him this weekend, but I’m not sure that they should.  With over eleven months to go until signing day, I think Michigan ought to give elite defensive tackles a chance to get to Michigan.  Gibbs seems like the type who might jump on a Michigan offer almost immediately.

Khalid Hill – TE – Detroit (MI) Crockett: Hill committed to Michigan a couple weeks ago.

De’Niro Laster – WR – Shaker Heights (OH) Shaker Heights: Laster will be visiting Michigan on Monday.  He has yet to receive an offer from Michigan, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect one soon.  More so than wide receiver, it seems like he would be a prospect for the U position at Michigan, which already has one commitment in the form of Khalid Hill.  He does not seem to have the speed to play wideout for the Wolverines.

Jourdan Lewis – CB – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Hill is a 5’11”, 170 lb. cornerback whose recruitment will likely take off in the very near future . . . if he doesn’t commit to Michigan before then.  The general feeling is that he will commit to Michigan in the relatively near future.

Malik McDowell – DE – Detroit (MI) Loyola: The 6’6″, 260 lb. McDowell was supposed to visit Michigan on Thursday, but he did NOT make the trip to Ann Arbor due to illness.  He’s a 2014 prospect who does not have an offer from the Wolverines yet, but Michigan has selectively tossed out offers to a handful of 2014 prospects and McDowell could be the recipient as soon as he reschedules the trip.

Nyles Morgan – LB – Crete (IL) Crete-Monee: Morgan, another 2014 prospect, is a 6’2″, 200 lb. inside linebacker who goes to the same school as 2013 target Laquon Treadwell and former 2012 Michigan commit Anthony Standifer.

Shane Morris – QB – Warren (MI) De La Salle: Morris, one of the top few quarterbacks in the country, committed to Michigan last May.

Donovan Munger – DT – Shaker Heights (OH) Shaker Heights: Munger is a 6’3″, 278 lb. defensive tackle who will be visiting Michigan on Monday along with teammate De’Niro Laster.  He has not yet been offered by Michigan, but with an offer list that includes Auburn, Illinois, Penn State, Tennessee, and West Virginia, it’s not hard to imagine that he’ll get one on his visit.  He could play nose tackle or perhaps offensive guard for the Wolverines if they were to throw their hat into the ring.

Ethan Pocic – OT – Lemont (IL) Lemont: Pocic is a 6’7″, 285-pounder who holds offers from almost the entire Big Ten, including Michigan, and various schools around the country.  He doesn’t speak much to the media, much like fellow Lemont product David Molk.  A commitment should not be expected in the near future, but this is a return trip for Pocic, so his interest in Michigan is serious.

Logan Tuley-Tillman – OT – Peoria (IL) Manual: Tuley-Tillman is a 6’7″, 280 lb. lineman with offers from almost every major program in the country.  He is not expected to commit anywhere soon, but Michigan is considered to be his outright leader, especially since this will be his sixth or seventh visit to Ann Arbor over the last few months.