Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook linebacker Tyler McLaurin committed to Michigan on Saturday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, and Purdue, among others.
McLaurin is listed at 6’2″ and 210 lbs.
RANKINGS
ESPN: N/A
Rivals: 3-star, 5.7 grade, #27 OLB
247 Sports: 3-star, 88 grade, #37 OLB
Hit the jump for more on McLaurin’s commitment.
Michigan offered McLaurin forever ago, a.k.a. January 2020. The Wolverines previously had a connection at Bolingbrook in former cornerback Todd Howard, who was coaching there at one time, but he has since departed to become the defensive coordinator at Wheaton (IL) St. Francis.
McLaurin has good size and looks to be 6’2″ like he’s listed. He has good arm length, which should help him fend off blockers and get his hands on balls and ball carriers that other guys might not reach. He’s active with his hands and plays physical.
McLaurin plays with a bit of a narrow base, and I think his overall functional strength needs to be improved. His play diagnosis could afford to improve, and he has a little bit of a freelancing that will need to be cleaned up when competition ramps up.
Overall, McLaurin looks like a role player to me. If he were a bit taller, I might suggest a move to weakside end. As things stand right now, he looks like a guy who could play a Noah Furbush role as a SAM linebacker. (He’s not athletic enough to be used as extensively as Josh Uche.) I also do not see him having the sideline-to-sideline speed to man the MIKE or WILL positions. My player comparison would be Prescott Burgess, who was a 5-star safety back in the day, but that evaluation doesn’t translate to 2020. Burgess was 6’3″ and 240 lbs. by the time his career was done, and his 4.88 forty was nothing special, but he did have a short NFL career.
Michigan now has 12 commitments in the 2021 class. McLaurin is the second linebacker, joining Casey Phinney. This would be the first signee from Bolingbrook since Howard in 1998.
TTB Rating: I am not assigning TTB Ratings until I finish the 2020 class.
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Well, the good news is he’s our best defensive recruit in this class! The bad news is that he may never be a starter. I like the Prescott Burgess comparison and think that’s accurate. I can see why his offers are in the “middling” category of non-elite teams. But, he does have decent size, speed is probably better the longer he runs due to long legs but he doesn’t have the explosion you look for in a a linebacker. Not that he’s not aggressive but his short area pop isn’t very good and that’s usually just natural, not something you coach.
It’s rare that a player looks taller than his listed height but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was actually a bit taller. Unfortunately, his lack of quickness won’t let him play on the edge which is unfortunate because he has the length of a DE. Basically, they got a thicker, less athletic Makari Paige.
Probably a 71 on the TTB scale.
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Yeah, if he’s 6’3″ or so, I wouldn’t be surprised. That almost helps the Burgess comparison more, because he measured in at a little taller than 6’3″.
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