Kevin Sousa, ex-Wolverine
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| Lake Nona, FL quarterback Kevin Sousa |
Quarterback Kevin Sousa, who had been committed to Michigan since June 2010, has decommitted in favor of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Sousa is 6’2″, 213 lbs., and the #22 dual-threat quarterback to Rivals. Here’s the commitment post I wrote for him a few months ago.
Sousa started to hint that he might be re-opening his recruitment last month when he showed a bit of disappointment that the Michigan coaches were continuing to recruit other quarterbacks, namely Marquise Williams (who was committed to North Carolina and now is a Virginia Tech commit). While Sousa didn’t seem to mind the highly touted quarterbacks already on Michigan’s roster, he was clearly agitated that Michigan didn’t seem to be fully devoted to him as their future quarterback.
So while Michigan’s coaches didn’t seem convinced that Sousa was their guy, they also seem to have struck out on all or most of the quarterbacks ahead of him on their wish list (and mine). The two remaining uncommitted quarterback prospects on Michigan’s board are Cardale Jones (Cleveland, OH) and Tanner McEvoy (Oradell, NJ). Jones hails from Glennville High School, a program helmed by Ohio State-loving Ted Ginn, Sr. He’s a bit of a poor fit for Michigan’s system, and I can’t see him succeeding in an offense predicated on the zone read option. Meanwhile, McEvoy spent his high school career as a receiver before switching to quarterback prior to his senior season. He did enjoy some success this past fall (26 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns at last count), but one can only assume that he would be a bit of a project as a quarterback.
In my opinion, Michigan needs to bring in a quarterback prospect in the 2011 class. Some fans think the Wolverines can get away with avoiding the quarterback position for 2011 and going after some players in 2012. I think that would be a mistake. It’s entirely possible that the coaching situation at Michigan could cause one or more transfers. If Rich Rodriguez remains at Michigan, the chance exists that Tate Forcier might want to go elsewhere; he’s good enough to start at many places in the country. If Jim Harbaugh is hired, I’m not sure how Denard Robinson fits. Meanwhile, it’s unclear how Tate Forcier would feel about playing for Harbaugh. Forcier would seem a better fit for Harbaugh’s system, but Tate’s older brother Jason (also a Michigan Wolverine back in 2005-2006) threw a total of 13 passes under Harbaugh after transferring to Stanford. Even if each of the quarterbacks remains, that gives Michigan only three on the roster (the aforementioned Forcier and Robinson, plus freshman Devin Gardner). One or more transfers would obviously leave Michigan perilously thin at the position.
The decommitment of Sousa leaves Michigan with 13 commitments in the Class of 2011, and Michigan should have 22 to give. Approximately nine slots remain open.