2017 Spring Game Thoughts: Offense

Tag: Tarik Black


17Apr 2017
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2017 Spring Game Thoughts: Offense

Brandon Peters

Brandon Peters (#18) with Michael Onwenu (#50) and Ty Isaac (#32)

SITE NEWS: Right now we have 35 users with avatars uploaded. When that number reaches 50, I’ll do a drawing for a $50 gift card to Amazon.


The Maize team won Saturday’s spring game by a score of 31-29 with a last-second field goal by Kyle Seychel. You can find videos and highlights here (LINK).

Hit the jump for some position-by-position thoughts on what we all saw. (Note: not every player will be mentioned.)

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9Feb 2017
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2017 Recruiting Grades: Offense

Donovan Peoples-Jones (image via Rivals)

QUARTERBACK: A-
Commits (1): Dylan McCaffrey
Decommits (0): N/A
Why? McCaffrey was a U.S. Army All-American and there have been whispers that Jim Harbaugh believes McCaffrey is the best high school quarterback prospect he’s seen in a long time, maybe going back to Andrew Luck. So there’s that. McCaffrey has the height, the bloodline, and the athleticism to be a very good quarterback. However, there are questions about his arm strength and mechanics. So while Harbaugh really likes him, I would have preferred someone like Davis Mills, who chose Stanford instead.

Hit the jump for the rest of the offensive grades.

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18Jan 2017
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Final ESPN 300 for 2017 released

Kai-Leon Herbert

ESPN released its final top 300 for the class of 2017 (LINK). Here’s what it looked like in July of 2015 (LINK). Movement for Michigan commits since that first list:

  • Donovan Peoples-Jones dropped from #12 to #22
  • Kai-Leon Herbert jumped from #265 to #99
  • Dylan McCaffrey jumped from #186 to #117
  • Drew Singleton jumped from #201 to #153
  • Ja’Raymond Hall jumped from #229 to #169
  • Ambry Thomas dropped from #146 to #186
  • Tarik Black dropped from #102 to #225
  • Joshua Ross dropped from #153 to #236
  • Jaylen Kelly-Powell dropped from #243 to #262
  • Corey Malone-Hatcher dropped from #94 to #270

Hit the jump for the full list of targets.

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16Jan 2017
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Final Rivals 100 for 2017 released

Donovan Peoples-Jones (image via Bleacher Report)

I’ve given up updating every single release/re-release of rankings, because with four sites doing constant updates – especially at 247 Sports – it’s just too time-consuming. But it is worth noting final rankings, because these are the ones we’ll be looking back at in three to five years to see if they were accurate as these players graduate or head to the NFL. For reference, here’s the initial Rivals 100 from July of 2015 (LINK) and the Rivals 250 (LINK). Below is the final Rivals 100 (linked here) prospects who were offered by Michigan.

MOVEMENT FOR MICHIGAN COMMITS SINCE JULY 2015

  • Donovan Peoples-Jones jumped from #55 to #12
  • Jordan Anthony jumped from #82 to #26
  • Cesar Ruiz jumped form #156 to #41
  • Drew Singleton jumped from #144 to #52
  • Luiji Vilain jumped from off the list to #74
  • Tarik Black jumped from #112 to #76
  • Dylan McCaffrey fell from #100 to being off the list

Hit the jump for the full list.

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8Jan 2017
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Thoughts on 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl

Donovan Peoples-Jones (image via USA Today)

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl took place yesterday, and there were several Michigan-related players involved – including offensive tackle Chuck Filiaga, who committed to the Wolverines during the broadcast (LINK). Here are my thoughts on the game, which was won 27-17 by the East.

MICHIGAN COMMITS

Cheshire (CT) Cheshire Academy wide receiver Tarik Black was a backup wideout for the East team, but he was the first receiver in off the bench. He earned positive reviews throughout the week of practice for his route-running abilities, something that I noted in his commitment post. The East quarterbacks targeted him a few times, but he ended the game with just 1 catch for 9 yards. One of the incompletions was a back-shoulder fade on which Black failed to adjust (a tough play that almost never works with such little time to build chemistry), and the other was a post route that was thrown too high and broken up by the defensive back. He played about as expected.

Aledo (TX) Aledo offensive tackle Chuck Filiaga was the backup right tackle for the West. To be honest, I did not keep an eye out for Filiaga. He was the backup right tackle, and there were too many other players to watch.

Flint (MI) Southwestern defensive end Deron Irving-Bey was a backup defensive end for the East squad. He’s another player that I did not notice, except for 1 QB pressure. I did record the game, and I’ll go back and take a look before finalizing the TTB Ratings, but for now I have nothing significant to report. I can say that he did not stand out, because if he had, I would have noticed.

Hit the jump for more.

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