Thousand Oaks (CA) Oaks Christian RB Zach Charbonnet
2019
Erick All – TE – Fairfield (OH) Fairfield: All is committed to Michigan (LINK).
Karsen Barnhart – OT – Paw Paw (MI) Paw Paw: Barnhart is committed to Michigan (LINK).
Zach Charbonnet – RB – Thousand Oaks (CA) Oaks Christian: Charbonnet is committed to Michigan (LINK). He’s now a 4-star, the #6 running back, and #100 overall in the 247 Composite.
Eric Gray – RB – Memphis (TN) Lausanne: Gray is committed to Michigan (LINK). He’s a 4-star, the #3 all-purpose back, and #203 overall. UPDATE: Gray is no longer planning to visit.
Mike Harding – TE – Redford (MI) Catholic Central: Harding is a 6’6″, 225 lb. prospect with offers from Bowling Green, Toledo, and Washington. He’s a 3-star, the #84 tight end, and #2005 overall.
Brock Horne – LB – Romeo (MI) Romeo: Horne was recently offered a preferred walk-on spot by Michigan (LINK).
George Johnson III – WR – Stuart (FL) Martin County: Johnson is committed to Michigan (LINK).
Dawand Jones – OT – Indianapolis (IN) Ben Davis: Jones is a 6’8″, 360 lb. prospect with offers from Florida State, Indiana, and USC, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #82 offensive tackle, and #928 overall. He does not have a Michigan offer yet.
Percy King – S – Gahanna (OH) Lincoln: King is a 6’0″, 178 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.
Cole Kosco – QB – Poland (OH) Poland: Kosco is a 6’3″, 210 lb. prospect with no FBS offers at this time.
Kobe Myers – LB – Waterford (MI) Mott:
David Ojabo – DT – Blairstown (NJ) Blair Academy: Ojabo is committed to Michigan (LINK). This is his official visit.
Jalen Perry – CB – Dacula (GA) Dacula: Perry is a 6’1″, 188 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, and South Carolina, among others, and he was previously committed to Georgia. He’s a 4-star, the #19 cornerback, and #172 overall. He visited Michigan a few weeks ago, but his crystal ball is 100% in favor of South Carolina. This is an official visit.
Hit the jump for more visitors.
Amauri Pesek-Hickson – LB – Leawood (KS) Blue Valley North: Hickson is a 6’3″, 210 lb. prospect whose lone FBS offer comes from Michigan. He’s a 3-star, the #56 athlete, and #824 overall. This is an unofficial visit, but he is likely to visit officially on December 8.
Mazi Smith – DT – Kentwood (MI) East Kentwood: Smith is committed to Michigan (LINK).
Joey Velazquez – LB – Columbus (OH) St. Frances de Sales: Velazquez is committed to Michigan (LINK).
2020
Harrison Bailey – QB – Marietta (GA) Marietta: Bailey is a 6’4″, 217 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, and Tennessee, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #3 pro-style quarterback, and #59 overall. The crystal ball is 88% in favor of Michigan, with the other 12% for Tennessee.
Miles Brooks – CB – Jacksonville (FL) Trinity: Brooks is a 6’2″, 171-pounder with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and Oklahoma, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #13 cornerback, and #164 overall.
Jared Bycznski – OG – Berea (OH) Midpark: Bycznski is a 6’4″, 275 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, where his brother plays, and a bunch of MAC schools. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #69 offensive tackle, and #646 overall.
Trey Leroux – OT – Norwalk (OH) Norwalk: Leroux is a 6’8″, 320 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, Purdue, and Toledo. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #65 offensive tackle, and #597 overall.
Tate Mackenzie – OT – Ypsilanti (MI) Lincoln: Mackenzie is a 6’8″, 310 lb. prospect with an offer from Toledo.
Nick Patterson – TE – San Antonio (TX) Christian: Patterson is committed to Michigan (LINK).
Ian Stewart – LB – Gibraltar (MI) Carlson:
Justin Wodtly – DE – Cleveland (OH) Heights:
2021
Robert Army – WR – Detroit (MI) Renaissance: Army is a 6’1″, 175 lb. prospect with an offer from Central Michigan.
Greg Crippen – OG – Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy: Crippen is a 6’4″, 270 lb. prospect with offers from Boston College, Michigan, and Purdue.
Jack Sawyer – DE – Pickerington (OH) North:
2022
Ty Simpson – QB – Martin (TN) Westview:
You need to login in order to vote
Gray will be a better RB than Charbonnet.
That’s my dumb, but maybe correct, prediction based on nothing other than my bias for short RBs. To me that means more than the difference in rankings (#7 vs 14 in RB rankings), which I think are biased by size in the other (wrong) direction. Too bad the sports books don’t have Michigan-oriented prop bets.
You need to login in order to vote
What’s your theory on short RBs? More difficult to tackle? Or they can’t be seen behind the wall of OL and DL until they squirt out? Something else?
My bias tends towards RBs that have great acceleration in their first few steps. Of course, that has to be matched with the ability to see holes to accelerate through. Gordie Bell was that way. Barry Sanders was the best. Both were short … so maybe our biases intersect?
You need to login in order to vote
Easier to make tacklers miss. Smaller target. Lower center of gravity. Emphasis on shiftiness/acceleration and playing in space vs straight-line speed*. Beyond the lines, the game has become increasingly sophisticated to evolve past battles of mass/force . More emphasis on pass game** More rotation***
NFL data backs this up as RBs are getting both shorter and lighter. About a 1/2 inch and almost 10 pounds since around ~2000.
“average running back height has steadily decreased, dropping 1.8 inches from 1965 to 2013.”
“Over the last decade, running backs are getting lighter. This is a pretty noticeable departure from historical trends, and I can’t imagine this feature is being duplicated at many other positions.”
http://www.footballperspective.com/running-backs-getting-shorter-and-heavier/
*Horizontal change of pace favors shorter/smaller bodies. Vertical speed favors taller. Unless you’re hurdling people shorter/smaller is more likely to make someone miss.
**There’s assertions made that shorter backs are better in the pass game. I can’t think of any rational reason why this would be true (harder to ID backfield maybe?) I was never a fan of Ty Isaac’s game but I agreed with Thunder that he had potential as a receiving threat.
***Perception says big backs are more durable. I’m not sure this is backed by any factual data, but maybe you buy it. If so, this perceived durability advantage has been largely negated as rotations became commonplace. Backs are increasingly viewed as disposable cogs so durability is less important.
You need to login in order to vote
Yes. I agree that acceleration is more important in speed. The most productive RBs at Michigan in the last couple decades (Hart, Toussaint*,Smith, Higdon) reflect this. They are mostly guys who were criticized/doubted for their lack of speed while other (presumably) faster players came in with the hype, rankings, and supposed NFL potential.
*Toussaint was pretty fast but worth noting that his time was during the anomalous spread-to-run era.
You need to login in order to vote
Next year will be an interesting battle on this front with contenders featuring:
a 6’2 5-star with ‘prototypical’ 90’s size [Charbonnet]
a lean 5’11 speedster [Evans]
a stocky 5’10 walk-on [Wilson]
Apologies to Samuels, Turner, etc but the fact is they’re behind a walk-on. I don’t doubt they can be capable backs but I do doubt that they’re going to leapfrog Evans to lead the team in rushing next year.
You need to login in order to vote
David Ojabo will be in the House tomorrow
King Ojabo ?
@DavidOjabo
Nov 15
More
going HO〽️E tomorrow #GoBlue
You need to login in order to vote