Y'all got two hours left for the literary event of the century. This morning we sent out a four-pager that we couldn't cram into the book itself to whet appetites and also make Seth less sad about one of his pieces missing the cut. That's how jam-packed with content this thing is. Jam-packed to the gills with mixed metaphors!

If you have been delaying through sheer laziness, now is the time to act. If you were deciding between Hail to the Victors and a ham sandwich, we cancelled ham! NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. If you've already pledged, are a huge ham fan, and are upset that we eliminated it from stores nationwide, now is NOT the time to act. Here's a link to Zombocom instead. Anything is possible at Zombocom, except withdrawing your pledge.

Previously: Last year's profiles. S J'Marick Woods, S Jaylen Kelly-Powell, S Brad Hawkins, CB Ambry Thomas, CB Benjamin St-Juste, LB Drew Singleton. 

Jordan Anthony is the most athletic of Michigan's incoming linebackers, and one of the most intriguing. His physical attributes are evident, and they're paired with tantalizing linebacker skills. The scouting reports here are highly encouraging on their own, but Anthony's relative lack of experience makes them even more so. I can say this despite Anthony's presence at IMG because he spent his junior year at running back before flipping to defense in 2016. Then he had a weird signing day:

BRADENTON, Fla. — Jordan Anthony sat at a table with three of his female IMG Academy classmates.

It was February 1, but there was no signing day drama for him. Anthony was decked out in Michigan gear and ready to sign his National Letter of Intent two months after he made the announcement that he was going to Ann Arbor in 2017. He was one of 21 IMG Academy football players who earned a college scholarship, yet he sat at the table as the odd man out.

Why?

Anthony wasn’t an early enrollee. All of his IMG teammates were already a month into their respective college careers. But Anthony wasn’t held back because of academics or eligibility issues.

He was just a kid who wanted to keep playing baseball.

Anthony was the only two-sport athlete on IMG's team a year ago, and that's time not devoted entirely to his college craft. The junior year spent on offense further limited actual scouting—he performed on offense at many of the camps he went to. As a result there's a relative paucity of information on a consensus four star who Rivals went bonkers over late in the year.

Mike Farrell's explanation of that move:

Elsewhere Farrell asserted that Anthony could be a "blitzing linebacker who can cover like a safety" and was a candidate for "the Jabrill Peppers role" on Michgian's defense. Well then. Rob Cassidy explained in text form as well:

“Anthony is the most active member of an IMG defense that might just be the nation’s best. He moves incredibly well laterally …. as disruptive a linebacker as there is in the class and seems to be in the backfield on most snaps."

That is an impressive evaluation indeed when Anthony spent his time at IMG next to Dylan Moses, an early candidate for the #1 player in the class.

Other sites were more circumspect in their rankings but hit on the same themes. Anthony is a mobile open-field tackler and athletic blitzer:

• Brian Dohn, Scout: "…what stands above all else is his ability to tackle in space. If it 1-on-1 with a running back, he is winning it. He changes direction well, has the ability to find the ball carrier in traffic, and he gets off blocks well.  … very good instincts and should be a tremendous weakside linebacker in college."
• Steve Wiltfong, 247: "a true hybrid backer … can play inside or outside in the Big Ten, certainly lining up in the box or even covering from the nickel spot in space. … 4.7 laser-timed speed … The trait that stands out the most is the physicality and quickness Anthony plays with. He’s a sideline to sideline player."
• Kevin Wright, IMG:  “very, very good athlete … a lot of versatility. …. [You get a lot of guys] physical enough to play in the box yet when you get spread out can’t play outside the box. I think he has the potential to do both of those things.”
• Chad Simmons, Scout: "… decisive, he plants and goes  … sideline to sideline linebacker who can play some in space.  He has a nice burst to the ball carrier and he has shown great instincts and anticipation … smart player who takes good angles to the ball with toughness and speed.  There is not one phase of his game that may blow you away, but he is strong is so many areas."
• Don Brown:"…tremendous position flexibility … extremely sudden and will explode at the point of contact. He is a guy who can play against spread offenses and can play in space. He is a high-motor athlete and chases the ball with great passion. In a word, he is relentless."  
• Chris Partridge: "…phenomenal athlete … very fast and explosive … makes plays all over the field and can play both inside and outside. …will add versatility to the linebacker core."

ESPN's eval is one of their most obvious fire-and-forget moments, mentioning his sophomore season as a linebacker and his junior year at tailback; it was clearly issued before his senior year and never revisited, which is especially irritating in this circumstance. Even so their take on Anthony the linebacker is resoundingly positive:

…very good raw strength. Runs well, but has better short-area burst and quickness than long speed. We like his skill set inside the hashes as opposed to sideline-to-sideline range  …great power on contact and the ability to dish out punishment. Good wrap-up tackler who is capable of being a hard striker and knocking ball carriers back. Does not let up leaky yardage. … Displays a good nose for the ball. … Quick to fill downhill and blow up the inside run play. Beats blockers to the point of attack with inside-out angles.

Their only real critique is that he "may not be elite in terms of speed and suddenness." ESPN tends to bring that up for everyone short of Donovan Peoples-Jones because they seem to judge on an NFL plane; other services think he's real good. 24/7 called him an "explosive linebacker that moved at a different speed from his peers" when he attended an Opening regional; Scout came away from the same event saying that he was "fluid in space and really matched up well with the running backs"; there's a bunch of talk about burst and explosion and sideline to sideline above. Possible that he developed in that regard from his sophomore to his senior year and ESPN missed it.

FWIW, Steve Lorenz has been talking up the LB class about since they signed; in his latest re-iteration he notes that Anthony was very high on Michigan's board from the drop and rose even further after a strong senior year.

Anthony's combination of athleticism, skill, and untapped upside is enticing, and the things he's best at are the things Don Brown prizes most highly.     

Etc.: Had EPIC OSKEE-level commit announce date announcement. Parse that!

Why Darron Lee? There aren't many spacebackers in Michigan's recent history, what with the 3-3-5 and 4-3 under and being terrible against spread offenses. MSU's Denicos Allen and OSU's Darron Lee are good recent comparables. Here are Lee's NFL draft positives:

Quick to diagnose and flow to the ball. Has unusual ability to find the most efficient routes to the ball. Has athleticism and flexibility to contort his body and succeed through difficult tackle angles. Plays with loose hips, quick feet and desired agility of an NFL weak-side linebacker. Former high school quarterback with the change of direction and speed to be a rangy playmaker. Comfortable in space and excels there. Has plus man cover talent. Willing to stand in and take on blockers with a leveraged strike if his gap is being threatened. Capable gap blitzer with ability to get skinny through the holes.

That's pretty close. Lee was more of a "big safety" per NFL.com and Anthony is more of a pure linebacker.

If you're looking for a Michigan comparable, Anthony is a LB/RB hybrid with the ability to play inside and the athleticism to cope in space and at this point it's all but impossible to dodge an Ian Gold comparison. Frame is exactly the same, too. Gold was a very long time ago now and memories of him are no doubt fuzzy for most.

Guru Reliability: High-minus. Consistent scouting, but it's a little light in quantity. Position switch after junior year limited LB film during the critical phase of his rankings. Spread is pretty big for a universally praised croot.

Variance: Low-plus. The RB year is the only blip on his resume. He's had two of his last three years at LB, appears college-sized or close enough already, and has a clean bill of health.

Ceiling: High. Depending on who you talk to, lacks an A+ size/speed combo but that's about it when it comes to negatives. Potential first-round spacebacker type.

General Excitement Level: High. Anthony seems certain to be a contributor and has the look of a potential star.

Projection: Most likely of the incoming LBs to play because he's not coming off an injury and should be ahead of the game after two years at IMG. Still, all are relatively close and it would not shock to see him pick up a redshirt if someone else emerges. Prospects for significant playing time in year one are dim.

Year two sees the MLB spot open up; Anthony will put his name in for it. Projecting who comes out of a wild six-or-seven-way melee for that spot is a futile undertaking; if it's not Anthony, Michigan will probably size him up for SAM and WILL down the road, with SAM looking more likely—he's got fewer competitors out there.

B1G/ACC Challenge Matchups: M Heading To Dean Dome

I guess this qualifies as a marquee opponent.

This year's Big Ten-ACC Challenge matchups were released today by ESPN's Jeff Goodman. Michigan drew one of the marquee games: they'll travel to Chapel Hill to face defending national champion North Carolina. Here's the full slate of games; dates and times are still TBD:

Northwestern at Georgia Tech
Duke at Indiana
Notre Dame at Michigan State
Miami at Minnesota
Penn State at NC State
Boston College at Nebraska
Michigan at North Carolina
Clemson at Ohio State
Louisville at Purdue
Florida State at Rutgers
Maryland at Syracuse
Wisconsin at Virginia
Iowa at Virginia Tech
Illinois at Wake Forest

This will be the first time Michigan has faced Carolina in the challenge, as well as their first trip to the Dean Dome. It's the first matchup between the two programs since a certain game in 1993 that never happened and definitely didn't end horribly for the Wolverines. The nonconference schedule is beginning to come together; M will play in the Maui Invitational, host UCLA, travel to Texas, and face Detroit at Little Caesars Arena.

The UNC squad we'll see in November will look quite different from the one that beat Gonzaga for the title in March. The entire starting frontcourt of Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks, and early NBA Draft entry Justin Jackson is gone, as are key reserves Nate Britt and Tony Bradley.

They still won't lack for talent, of course. ESPN has UNC seventh in their too-early preseason rankings. The starting guard tandem of Joel Berry and Theo Pinson returns and there's plenty of talent coming up from the 2016 and 2017 recruiting classes. In addition, they landed a major piece as a grad transfer, and it's a player Michigan fans had held out hope for...

Cam Johnson to UNC

Pitt grad transfer Cam Johnson, a 6'8" sharpshooter who would've been a great fit at the four in Beilein's system, announced on Tuesday that he'll head to UNC for his final two seasons of eligibility. Pitt coach and noted jerk Kevin Stallings restricted Johnson from transferring to other ACC programs without sitting out a year, but now that Johnson's transfer has been approved he's making a strong push for immediate eligibility:

Johnson also cited an NCAA rule that stipulates graduate transfers be allowed to compete immediately at a given school, or be completely denied the opportunity to transfer to that school. Pitt is allowing Johnson to transfer to UNC, and receive immediate athletic financial aid. And so, Johnson argued, given that he wasn’t prohibited from transferring to UNC, he should be immediately eligible there.

During a recent interview, Johnson said he graduated from Pitt with a 3.9 GPA. In his statement, he wrote that Pitt officials cited his strong academic record in their decision to allow him to transfer to an ACC school and receive immediate athletic financial aid.

Johnson has a strong case and public opinion on his side; I'd expect him to be on the court this season.

This may spell the end of Michigan's pursuit of grad transfers barring another name popping up late. Johnson was the last available player who had confirmed contact with the coaching staff. The Wolverines haven't been mentioned in connection with Illinois State grad transfer MiKyle McIntosh, who's visited Oklahoma, Oregon, and Oregon State. McIntosh appears to be a top priority for the Ducks, who were also hoping to land Johnson.

Ignas Brazdeikis Not Reclassifying

Another possibility for filling the open scholarship was having four-star Canadian wing Ignas Brazdeikis—who's at #39 overall in today's updated Scout rankings—reclassify from 2018 to the 2017 class. While Brazdeikis took that under consideration, he ultimately decided to stay in 2018, per UMHoops' Orion Sang:

Traded texts with Ignas Brazdeikis, a four-star forward in the class of 2018. Brazdeikis told me that he WILL NOT be reclassifying to the class of 2017. He also said he has no visits planned for this summer and that Michigan is "most definitely" still one of his top teams.

While Brazdeikis remains a top target for 2018, he won't help fill the hole left in this season's rotation by DJ Wilson's departure, and it's looking increasingly possible that Michigan will bank that open scholarship. This post on Michigan's post-DJ outlook from a couple weeks ago may be relevant to your interests.

Let's watch a punt. This is a Big Ten blog, after all. This is incoming freshman Brad Robbins:

VIDEO: Michigan freshman punter @brobb713 dropping a 5.0 at our @AIAFootball College Camp #Fab50 〽️ pic.twitter.com/bvmQkmG0vI

— Brandon Kornblue (@KornblueKicking) May 30, 2017

And that's a 5.0 hangtime punt. I'm a little surprised Robbins was headed to Nevada before Michigan had a scholarship open on Signing Day. Seems like a potential Zoltan Mesko.

Rise of the nooners. Michigan/Air Force will be at noon on BTN, the fourth 2017 home game at which toe will meet leather at God's time. The only remaining home dates without times are Michigan State, which seems fated to be a night game despite everyone save TV thinking that's a bad idea, and Minnesota. Minnesota is November 4th. In the past that's meant both participants would have to sign off on a night game, and despite changes to the TV contracts that clause appears intact. Manuel:

“The only difference is, the Big Ten and television can assign us to a primetime game [before November] and it’s not our option. In November, we have the option if we choose to do so. I don’t anticipate that choice being made.”

I would anticipate Minnesota being noon or 3:30 as well.

As a person who likes to watch a lot of college football this is an excellent development. YMMV.

Ready to roll. Steve Lorenz has a piece on Michigan's incoming linebackers that features this piece of good news on Drew Singleton:

He is 100% healthy and ready to go for fall camp according to two sources I spoke with on Monday and Tuesday. Because of his lock status as a recruit and his knee injury, he may be the most under-talked about prospect the Wolverines signed in the 2017 cycle.

He also asserts that all three incoming LBs could be on the two-deep this fall, which is good news for them and maybe less than good news for the extant linebacker corps past the starters.

Yeah, that's a embed of a GIF in a Tweet used as evidence. Didn't see that coming. pic.twitter.com/N8ZY9qEwFu

— Hugh Kellenberger (@HKellenbergerCL) June 6, 2017

Good luck with that. College football twitter set a new record for most "that's a bold strategy, Cotton" references yesterday after Ole Miss responded to their latest NOA by saying 1) we're super guilty and 2) Hugh Freeze is not responsible.

Why is Ole Miss going to these incredible lengths to protect Hugh Freeze?

What the Rebels are going to the NCAA Committee on Infractions with later this year is the kind of defense a school might mount for Nick Saban or Urban Meyer or John Calipari. It is a full-fledged document of support for Ole Miss’ football coach, unequivocal in its admission that major violations occurred but unwavering in its denial of Freeze’s responsibility for any of them.

Ole Miss’ institutional decision to pursue this strategy is puzzling. While Freeze has had some shining moments in Oxford, he’s 19-21 in the SEC and is nobody’s definition of irreplaceable. Yet the school is taking the path of most resistance in defending him, and by doing so, potentially risking the total destruction of its football program for the foreseeable future.

Hugh Freeze draws a lot of water in this town, NCAA.

Poor ol' Barney looks set up to be the fall guy:

“It’s not right,” Loyd added. “It is a betrayal of him. Do I think Barney’s been made a scapegoat? Yes. Based on what I’ve seen and know, they set him up. ‘You are the most unsophisticated, the most expendable, and, tag, you’re it.’ But I have to say, I’m his advocate in this.

“Barney’s thinking is, ‘We were all in this together – what happened to me?’ They were a team, and a team doesn’t abandon their own on the field of play. It’s also not the Ole Miss way.”

Barney Farrar was the guy Laremy Tunsil was told to see in the text messages released on Tunsil's instagram on draft day last year. Told to see by Ole Miss's Assistant AD of Football Operations. Totally without Freeze's knowledge. Uh huh.

It remains a mystery why Ole Miss wouldn't throw Freeze overboard and try to mitigate the damage. His best skill is credulously accepting commitments from guys his boosters bought. Surely whoever's at Arkansas State can replicate that.

Grabbin' grad transfers. Brendan Quinn on Michigan's entry into the grad transfer market:

For a program like Ohio, this is an atomic loss. There is no replacement. There is no recruit that Ohio can discover in the forests of Neverland who will walk in and average 15.9 points and 6.5 assists per game. The roster is not built for attrition, let alone its best player picking up and leaving as a graduate transfer.

Phillips declined an interview for this story.

Beilen, meanwhile, told me he spoke to Phillips twice during the transfer process. At one point, he recalled telling Phillips: 'I just hate how this is happening." Beilein feels for Phillips because Beilein sees himself in Phillips. This is the little guy getting screwed.

It is also, though, the reality of college basketball in 2017.

Simmons was strongly considering attending Ohio State. Other Big Ten schools were circling. Beilein was faced with a dilemma.

"He was going to go to one of our competitors, probably, if he didn't come to us," Beilein said.

It's bad for the lower reaches of D-I but good for the players, and teams who have to fill unexpected holes annually. At this point the grad transfer rule is all but sacrosanct. These days trying to restrict a transfer in any way comes with it a media outcry and a hasty retraction; trying to do away with grad transfers would cause a huge blowup. It is what it is.

Hockey is too random. There's such a thing as too much unpredictability, and hockey has it.

This is basically exactly what you'd expect if we all watched and thought about coin flipping instead of hockey. https://t.co/1tn9tQWplb

— dellowhockey (@dellowhockey) June 6, 2017

Goalies and defensive systems got a lot better; goals plummeted; games turned into a bunch of coinflips. Hockey is now the most random major sport:

Shots and possession don't turn into goals enough. The only solution is to embiggen the nets; otherwise goalie dominance will continue and the NHL playoffs will remain almost totally random.

Etc.: Scouting Akrum Wadley. Jim Harbaugh has a fan. Midlevel Big Ten teams are about to be irritated by Cincinnati. Via Mike Rubin, more on Flin Flon. M players had a month off to be humans. Now that's over.

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REMINDER: HTTV Kickstarter ends in 48 hours! We sold out last year so if you want to make sure you get a book this is the way to get it. If you want to know how the Billy Taylor Touchdown was specifically designed to beat what Ohio State showed, you can go to the Alumni Association’s annual golf outing next year and get Jerry Hanlon a beer, or you can just pick up a copy of our book and you’ll see the play in Bo’s playbook while everyone who touched the ball recounts how they did it. Also it’s probably going to be the only opportunity to get a boot shirt:

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We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

This extra episode was recorded at the Junge Center at the behest of our friends at the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, at their Greater Detroit Club's annual meeting and golf outing, hence all the background chatter. We probably should have mentioned those speeches you hear in the background later are Bo’s top lieutenant Jerry Hanlon, and Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel.

This podcast is presented by the Bo Store and UGP. Rishi and Ryan have been here since the beginning—shopping with them supports us and supports good dudes.

Our sponsors also make this possible so please support them: They are the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Deo Bookkeeping, Michigan Law Grad, and Peak Wealth Management.

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1. Football Items

Starts at 0:55

Position switches: Ben Mason to fullback is obvious, Drake Harris to cornerback and Brad Hawkins to safety says nice things about the receivers. You too can be Richard Sherman.

Grant Perry: Reinstatement means nothing—trial date is July 17th which is before practices start—and probably means they know what the deal is going to be at this point. Three-game suspension seems in the realm of reasonable.

Sunny Odogwu: Injury means he’s going to be playing catch-up but a great use of an open scholarship and could work out very well.

NCAA rule changes: SEC upset about early signing period in late December and visits in summer because it’s good for northern schools, kids, and honest dealers. Early signing resolves Swenson situations in time. The can’t-hire-a-coach rule is stupid.

Michigan State reeling: Not taking pleasure in this. Investigations finally out, three prominent players out with every other pretty good player you can think of either trying to get out or questionably committed. Outlook: 2016 class is hemorrhaging, 2017 class bottomed out, 2018 class is under a cloud, and Dantonio’s build was all about lack-of-attrition so this program could be coming completely off the tracks. Team chemistry a mess. If you’re Pat Narduzzi, would you leave Pitt for this?

2. Gimmicky Top Five: Stupid Things We Are Proud Of, wsg Bruce Madej

Starts at 34:27

We welcome in “Michigan Man Classic” Bruce Madej, the godfather of SID’ing and currently a special advisor to the athletic department. Ace goes first, which means the MGoBlog guys got exactly one good one in before Bruce blows this away. At least Brian and Ace kept the rest of theirs short so we could get to the next Madej thing. If not for Madej you might be impressed that Beilein’s sons were very happy about “We Had Subs It Was Crazy” because that’s exactly how dad their dad is.

3. Bill Wenzel on AAUM’s Golf Outing

Starts at 1:00:37

Why are we here?

4. Hoops & Ace’s Hockey Podcast

Starts at 1:06:49

D.J. Wilson to NBA is depressing but would have been more depressing to lose Wagner because it’s right before he becomes a murderer. Wilson probably promised he’d go in the 1st round.

Simmons: would you trade him for D.J.? Not sure because solving the PG situation is a huge deal for this team. Charles Mathews is the biggest X factor this program has had in years.

Mel: When the floor is this guy you’re getting a really good floor, but adding Bill Muckalt to the staff and retaining Wiseman means this is closer to a ceiling hire. Might be good immediately, probably not great again for a few years.

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MUSIC:

• “The Man Comes Around”—Johnny Cash
• “Play It Right”—Sylvan Esso
• “I Went Outside Today”—Open Eagle Mike, Paul White
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

Previously: Last year's profiles. S J'Marick Woods, S Jaylen Kelly-Powell, CB Ambry Thomas, CB Benjamin St-Juste, LB Drew Singleton.

[ED NOTE: We're retconning Hawkins into a safety because Harbaugh keeps saying that's his likely destiny.]

Brad Hawkins is the first guy Michigan bothered following through prep school since infamous raconteur Marques "Fuck Lion" Slocum, which says something about how Michigan felt about him. It also forces us to consider the odd gray area of post-grad years and their impact on college football rankings. JUCOs get funneled into their own category these days. Prep guys are either left static or dumped into a generic bin without explanation.

In Hawkins's case this odd limbo had the following effects:

• ESPN and Rivals offered him generic four star rankings based on their previous evaluations. They did not give him position or state rankings. Their grades remained the same.
• Scout dumped him down to a generic three star.
• 24/7, by far the most skeptical site originally, gave him an extra point and bumped him up a hundred slots or so.

Only 24/7 appeared to pay any attention to Hawkins's post-grad season, so the highlight video above—which Partridge called "phenomenal"—barely factors in.

Post-grad croot scouting in a nutshell: despite the fact that the only service to re-evaluate Hawkins had an improved opinion, his composite ranking slipped from #294 to #420.

Further complicating our attempts to do something useful here: that position switch. Every service ranked Hawkins as a wide receiver. None broached the idea he might play defense except for a very early 24/7 mention that he has the "range and toughness to be an effective safety" and a tiny aside in his ESPN eval. Hawkins did play the spot in high school, racking up 99 tackles his last two years; nobody even bothered to mention any potential on the other side of the ball. So here's all this stuff about Hawkins the wide receiver.

The main reason everyone ranks Hawkins on offense are his hands. Specifically how they rise up from a thicket of defenders and snag balls that look like bad throws, bad ideas, or both. His junior highlight reel above sprinkles in the occasional defensive play amongst a variety of contested-ball receptions. The grad-year film includes a Darboh-vs-BYU catch and various other back-shoulder spectaculars. This man is a rebounder.

When Hawkins was scouted in camps or at the Semper Fi game, those hands came in for consistent high praise.

• Josh Helmholdt: "he does everything well. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is an all-around wide receiver who can break press coverage, gets on top of defensive backs in a hurry and catches everything thrown his way. The four-star has a basketball background and that came through in the way he was able to high-point the football and out-leap defenders. "
• Blair Angulo: "…made several nice grabs near the sideline, showing a high comfort level on the edge and in tight spaces with defenders around him. Hawkins also had a spectacular diving catch where he adjusted well to a poorly thrown ball."
• ESPN: "Uses his size, height and wide catch radius to gain advantages against tight coverage. … Overwhelms smaller, shorter DBs in a crowd. Looks to have big hands and the ball rarely gets to frame. Times jumps well and high points the ball better than most. Above average body control opening up and adjusting to throws outside strike zone. Tracks deep ball well and fields over the shoulder throws naturally."
• Brian Dohn: "…combination of size, acceleration off the of scrimmage, his ball-tracking skills and his ability to use his body to shield defenders. He is physical and catches the ball at its highest point. He goes over the middle and can out leap defenders to make catches, and he is tough to bring down after the catch. If his speed improves, he will be the total package."
• Clint Brewster: "…nice concentration to catch passes over the middle and in traffic. He's able to use his body to box out defenders and snags the ball away from his body out in front. Really attacks the ball in jump ball situations. He's got the strength to win in jam coverage off the line of scrimmage and get open."

By the end of Hawkins's primary camp season folks were saying things like "had a lot of success on jump balls … made some very touch catches, and that is to be expected." Allen Trieu compared him to Junior Hemingway when he committed, and yup. All scouting reports touch on his size, physicality, and ability to run through tackles in the open field.

A couple other aspects of his game are more divisive. Sites are deeply split about his level of polish. Rivals said his route running is "very advanced" after seeing him at a Rutgers passing camp; Tim Sullivan asserted that he "runs cleans routes and … is patient setting up defensive backs for his solid array of double moves". On the other hand, the NJ 24/7 site contradicted that, saying he "struggles most" with routes and will have to dedicate himself to improvement in that area. ESPN asserts he is "not a disciplined or polished route runner yet." If he's going to play safety, whatever.

A more important critique is Hawkins's overall athleticism. 24/7 was initially as impressed as the other three sites but dumped him way down their rankings after he ran a 4.82 40 at an Opening regional. 24/7 expressed "doubts about his athletic upside." Other sites followed suit, albeit less dramatically; Rivals shoved him down about 50 slots because "there isn't a ton of explosiveness to his game."

On the other hand, Hawkins anchored his high school's 4x100 meter relay and consistently ran times in the low 11s; a number of other evaluations have at least somewhat complimentary takes on his athleticism. Interestingly, a lot of them focus on short-area quickness:

• Kipp Adams: "more fluid and sudden than many might think given his size, especially in tight spaces, where he used double moves to make defenders miss twice in a span of five plays Friday."
• Dohn again: "quick feet and changes direction and accelerates well. That translates into escapability in tight spaces and the ability to gain extra yards after the catch. … Good balance and his burst allows him to get into open space quickly.
• ESPN: "appears to labor a bit as a runner and you question his explosiveness and top end speed. However, the more you watch him, the faster and more sudden he becomes, especially for his size. … deceptively sudden in confined spaces and can shift gears to flash double moves. At times he doesn't look like he's moving all that fast, but then he will shift gears and get behind coverage more often than not."
• 24/7 at that Opening regional where he ran the crappy 40: "Smooth and explosive. Did his thing on this stage and got space and separation several times."  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Offers break the tie here. Michigan's main competition was South Carolina; UNC was another potential fall visit destination. Early offers from powers seemed to be in the "we'd like to see you camp" bin. Hawkins is not likely to be a plus athlete at a higher level.

After all that… I don't know, man. It says something about Hawkins's talent level that Michigan was willing to take him when this was the potentially steep cost…

With Brad Hawkins in the fold, it's very likely going to be one or the other between Tarik Black and Oliver Martin.

…but the total lack of safety scouting and athleticism concerns mean he is one of the class's biggest wildcards.     

Etc.: DJ Wilson replacement if he was a foot taller. Thanks, Obama. Talking with Harbaugh:

“We were on the phone for exactly 27 minutes. For 22 minutes, he talked to me about life and school, didn’t mention football at all,” Hawkins Sr. said. “Everything about the conversations with him was just different [from other coaches].”

Why Junior Hemingway or Jarrod Wilson? As a receiver Hawkins fits in the contested-ball-acquisition category with guys like Hemingway and Amara Darboh. Darboh turned out to be sneaky fast and Hawkins might be a step slower, so Hemingway is the slightly closer comparison. Splitting hairs. Greg Mathews is another potential comparable, albeit a less encouraging one.

Any safety comparison is a wild guess. Mine is Jarrod Wilson, who's approximately the same size and fell to UDFA territory despite a long tenure as a starter because his high 4.5 40s at Michigan's pro day were unexciting. Wilson's career was very boring, with few opportunities to do anything but come up and tackle. Hawkins could be more impactful if he has the range to get over the top of deep passes and display his rebounding skills.

Guru Reliability: Low. All Star game and a fair number of camps; prep year fuzziness and total lack of D scouting.

Variance: High. Zero scouting for newly projected position and some athletic questions.

Ceiling: Moderate-plus. Not the fastest guy in the world; good frame; has a standout skill; while the prep thing isn't a huge deal I'd rather have a safety could have gone Stanford instead of barely missed getting through the clearinghouse.

General Excitement Level: Moderate. Hawkins looks like a useful piece with little shot at being a star.

Projection: Have to think redshirt if he sticks on defense, as there are two safeties in his class who enrolled early and drew praise. Even though Hawkins has played the position have to figure there's an adjustment period, especially in a Don Brown defense. Another year of waiting is highly likely since Michigan will return both starters in 2018.

In year three and beyond Hawkins has some shot at playing somewhere. How much of one and where is anyone's guess. I'd be surprised if he could grab a starting job at S in 2019, with just the Kinnel slot open; he'd have a decent chance the year after since one of JKP/Woods is likely to be in the lineup already and the other one could end up busting.

I wouldn't rule out a return to offense, either. His ability to go get it is impressive and that's best utilized when you've got the ball.