[Isaiah Hole/247]

Last night, Michigan added the son of a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, a five-star defensive lineman, and a potential five-star offensive tackle. They're all the same guy.

Five-star Norcross (GA) Greater Atlanta Christian SDE/OT Chris Hinton Jr., son of former Northwestern and NFL star OT Chris Hinton, made his Michigan commitment public on Twitter last night. While Hinton had a long list of top programs after him—including Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Stanford—he went with the first program to offer him, and in fact had been privately committed to the school before making his announcement last night, per 247's Steve Lorenz:

First things first: we were aware that Hinton planned on committing to the Wolverines, but we expected it near the end of August or the beginning of September. Hinton told defensive line coach Greg Mattison back in July that his eventual plans were to commit to the Wolverines before his senior season officially started.

Michigan has led heavily for Hinton for months. He was one of the prospects in the 2019 class that we felt best about since at least April, when both he and his younger brother were on campus for an unofficial visit. Chris Hinton Sr., who played with Jim Harbaugh in Indianapolis in the NFL. I've added a 247Sports Crystal Ball for Myles Hinton to Michigan; a prospect who will likely be a 2020 five-star when our initial rankings are released.

As noted above, younger brother Myles Hinton, who's accompanied Chris to campus before, is also a top-tier prospect; he's a great bet to start Michigan's 2020 class with a bang.

Chris Hinton is the fourth commit in the 2019 class and the third to drop since last weekend's BBQ at the Big House. He joins five-star KY WDE Stephen Herron, four-star OH OG Nolan Rumler, and four-star IMG ILB Charles Thomas in the class. Hinton is also the seventh Georgia commit since the 2017 class; as TomVH points out, prior to Jim Harbaugh's arrival, Michigan had signed only two Peach State products since 2006.

GURU RATINGS

Scout	Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
5*, #1 SDE, #3 Ovr	5*, #1 SDE, #3 Ovr	NR DT	4*, 96, #2 SDE, #14 Ovr	5*, #1 SDE, #9 Ovr

ESPN hasn't released 2019 rankings, so don't be concerned about the weird unranked outlier there. Hinton is universally considered one of the best prospects in the class, with only 247 keeping him out of the top three overall.

Hinton is listed at 6'4", 265 by Scout and 247, 6'5", 265 by Rivals, and 6'4", 274 by ESPN—I'm inclined to go with ESPN's figure since they also have verified testing results for him. The exact figure isn't too important right now; Hinton already boasts excellent size, has the frame to add quite a bit more, and could still be growing. That makes his future position a question of great intrigue; while he seems set on playing defense, multiple scouts believe his potential is highest at offensive tackle.

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and more.]

Brice Marich

Michigan has just landed a very big fish in the class of 2019:

〽️ Go Blue! pic.twitter.com/YU91TTwCyB

— Christopher hinton (@Thechrishinton) August 6, 2017

That's GA OL/DL Chris Hinton, currently #9 in the 2019 composite rankings and a very likely five star. Hinton had offers from just about everybody; the most relevant suitors were Stanford, OSU, Bama, Clemson, and Georgia. He is a major pull out of Georgia, further establishing Michigan as a force in that talent-rich state.

As a bonus, he's got a 2020 brother, Myles, who is also tracking towards being a big-time prospect.

A full Hello post will appear tomorrow, as if by magic.

Part one of this week's two-part roundup, covering the recent commits, can be found here.

Official Offers Out: Sims Enrolling Early

full res photo here

August 1st was the first day written scholarship offers could go out to the class of 2018. You can see what Michigan's formal offers look like above; over the last couple years they've added the "we expect you to continue to strive for excellence" section as an explicit defense against another Erik Swenson situation.

Offer day came with some news this year: four-star GA CB Myles Sims will take advantage of the new early signing period and sign on December 21st, getting Michigan their top defensive back commit on campus for spring ball.

In other commit news, four-star MI DE Aidan Hutchinson announced yesterday he was selected for the Army All-American Bowl.

After last weekend's BBQ at the Big House, Michigan's odds of holding onto four-star IN OG Emil Ekiyor have improved. Following a recent visit to Alabama, Ekiyor said he'd eventually decide between the Wolverines and the Tide, and it sounded like it might be a coin-flip. He told 247's Isaiah Hole, however, that he's simply covering his bases:

While there's still a long ways to go until Signing Day, Ekiyor reaffirmed that he's taking visits as part of an exploratory process, but that he remains firmly committed to Michigan.

“Michigan is definitely the place that I want to be," Ekiyor said. "But I'm also (taking visits) just to make sure that I'm not being blind to another place, just because I feel so good about Michigan.”

It helps that a fellow Indianapolis native, four-star LB Cameron McGrone, joined the class on Monday. Ekiyor told The Wolverine's Brandon Brown he's "really excited to get up there" and join McGrone (plus Hoosier state products Chris Evans and Brandon Peters) in Maize and Blue:

"It makes you feel more comfortable with everybody up there," Ekiyor said. "We already know each other from being in the same city. You get more people from Indy supporting you too because basically all of the best players are heading to Michigan. It just gives you a level of being comfortable."

While Michigan will have to sweat out more visits, Ekiyor's commitment looks to be firmer than we believed last week.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

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, LB Jordan Anthony, LB Josh Ross, DE Kwity Paye, DE Luiji Vilain, DE Corey Malone-Hatcher, DE Deron Irving-Bey, DT Donovan Jeter, DT Phil Paea, DT James Hudson, DT Aubrey Solomon, C Cesar Ruiz, OT JaRaymond Hall, OT Joel Honigford, OT Andrew Stueber, OT Chuck Filiaga, WR Oliver Martin, WR Nico Collins.

Cheshire, CT – 6'4", 210
		Scout	4*, #90 overall #16 WR
		Rivals	4*, #76 overall #11 WR, #1 CT
		ESPN	4*, #225 overall #33 WR, #1 CT
		24/7	4*, #194 overall #28 WR, #1 CT
		Other Suitors	ND, Bama, UCLA, Auburn, Stanford, Harvard, Yale
		YMRMFSPA	David Terrell
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Ace.
Notes	Twitter. Man, it's a hot one.
Film
Senior:

Tarik Black has been sanded. He was mixed thoroughly before being placed in the pan. He was the subject of that one Sade song. You do not need ice to consume shots of him. You will not get splinters from Tarik Black. His coefficient of friction is remarkably low. Give Tarik Black your heart, make it real, or just forget about it.

Don't take my word for it. Take almost everyone who's ever talked about Tarik Black. ESPN:

long and smooth … quick feet and smooth stride … elusive in traffic flashing the ability to make first tackler miss while his smooth stride and tough finishing effort can eat up chunks of yardage.

Rivals:

"… very smooth runner and you can’t tell how fast he really is. His long stride and smoothness is deceptive. … long-striding, smooth runner.

Nick Baumgardner, taking in one of Michigan's Italy practices:

…no one looked as smooth as Black.

Scout is the king of smooth, though, applying that descriptor to black in no fewer than six different articles, many of them from the Army game. He is a "smooth kid who creates separation." He is a "smooth and cerebral receiver." He is a "smooth athlete with a big catch radius." He's a "smooth route runner for a bigger framed kid." He's a "big, smooth receiver who surprised us with his long strides and suddenness for a big guy." Also—finally—he is "smooth in the open field."

Now I have read the word "smooth" so much that it looks like it's pronounced like "tooth." Good god y'all. Let's take a break from this and what it all means, and talk about the other obvious Tarik Black thing: he, too, is a large man.

A lot of this is going to sound like Nico Collins, because Black and Collins are both gents out of the same loping downfield-contested-ball archetype. Collins is bigger, because Collins asymptotically approaches the theoretical limit of wide receiver size. Black is a bit quicker, a bit thicker, and… well… smoother. They're more alike than different, though, so a lot of these scouting reports could be for either guy. Tim Drevno:

"When you have a player of his size and stature, one advantage is that the quarterback is able to see that big target down the middle of the field. Tarik runs really good routes, has really good hands, and plucks the ball out of the air well, so he has great ball skills, too. He really fights to grab the ball out of the air and we just love his competitiveness."

Bits of ESPN's evaluation that do not include that word:

…wide wingspan and long legs. … could [be] a really physical presence down the road. Top end speed is adequate-to-good  …subtle and very effective when pushing off and muscling his way through coverage. …ball rarely gets to frame. Times jumps well and high points the ball better than most. …fields over the shoulder throws naturally. … Will make his fair share of big plays particularly in the red zone. … terrific measurables, he is sneaky athletic and rangy and he catches the football very well in the vertical passing game. Shows toughness. 

Scout's eval of Black:

…big target who tracks the ball well and high-points his catches. He goes over the middle and can also get down the field. He has big hands to secure the ball and tucks it quickly. He gets off the line well and is quick in and out of breaks. He knows how to use his size.

The "quick in and out of breaks" is the main differentiator here. Collins comes with some concerns about his ability to separate; Black draws a lot of praise for his skills in that department. Exactly how much depends on when the scouting report was written. ESPN's early fire and forget wasn't too enthused…

…still developing as a route runner. Rounds off cuts, gears down into breaks and must become more precise.

…but over the year or so after that it appears he made a lot of progress. Sanded down his rough edges, if you will. Rivals acknowledged that Black had some work to do in that department, and then he did it:

"…very technical route runner too and gets separation in underneath and intermediate routes … rounded out into this great, overall receiver. He has the skills to excel all over the field. He’s become a much better route runner and that’s something that we harped on earlier in his career but he’s really got it now. He’s explosive off of that plant foot and gets open a lot. … can really make tough catches over the middle."

Many later evaluations marvel at his ability to get open at his size. Former ND QB Evan Sharpley:

"I would love, love, love to be able to throw to Black. Big time, physically developed specimen. … He runs quick and clear routes. …  He possesses exceptional balance while adjusting to ball flight and positions himself to high point the catch. Impressive catch radius."

He was outstanding at various camps as a rising senior. He participated in the Rivals Opening analogue, where a reporter asserted he "glides down the field and is very clean in and out of his breaks"; a second take found him the "second most-consistent" WR at the event because "his crisp routes allowed him to create gobs of separation."

By the time the Army game rolled around you couldn't throw a brick without hitting the word smooth, and here we can talk about what that means. His coach provides the clearest translation from scouting jargon to English:

It was clear to me two weeks into his freshman year how special he was going to be. Unbelievable ability to catch the ball, run routes. … I think his route-running ability is freakish, to be honest. He has an innate ability in and out of a cut and create separation, no matter what you're doing.

Also:

“Tarik is as natural a wide receiver as I have ever seen. He's just got an incredible ability to run routes and find ways to get open. He gets in and out of breaks like he's a slot guy and yet he's 6-4 and has the ability to go up and be a true X receiver.”

Black doesn't waste movement, or let his footwork put him in a bad spot, or drop balls. He puts defensive backs in panic situations—just ask Benjamin St-Juste. He outperformed his ranking at the Army game:

…has been a major standout.  Whether running by defensive backs or jumping over them, he has caught almost every ball thrown his way. He has just been too much physically for some of the best defensive backs in the country.  A few Scout analysts suggested he was the top performer regardless of position for the East team on day one.

Other Army-related articles praise his "good, reliable hands and ball skills," "long strides and suddenness," and "ability to get off the line to top gear quickly." Rivals gave him an honorable mention in the "best hands" category—DPJ won it, FWIW—and noted that he got open deep repeatedly.

Black appears to be a player who improved rapidly over his last year of high school, camp season included. By the time he committed Scout was calling him a "complete player":

His size makes him a matchup problem for cornerbacks, he is quick off the line of scrimmage, he has the speed to stretch the field, he gets into and out of his breaks well and he is a red-zone threat. When getting off of the line of scrimmage, Black knows how to set up the cornerback and stick his foot into the ground and make a cut.

While he rose in the rankings you can make the case that he didn't rise enough.

That's in part because Black's stock continued to improve through spring practice. In the spring game he tormented St-Juste on a late drive that was all fade routes; this site got some insider information saying "he's a tough cover with his size and physicality" and used its own eyes to say he's "bouncy, 6'4", and adjusts well to balls in the air."

Reports from the open practices in Rome bordered on effusive. Webb called him "impressive" and noted that the coaches had already started talking about the details that you need to get to great after you're already good:

At this point the coaches are really working him hard on route precision. Rounding off routes... standing up at the top of routes... things that he will improve upon in time. …he's too good right now to not see the field. He'll play. A lot.

And Nick Baumgardner shed his usual grumpiness to near Dick Vitale levels of enthusiasm:

I saw Black work for basically a week of practice. And every time, I kept waiting for him to come back to Earth. Kept waiting for him to drop a ball. Kept waiting for him to botch a drill. Kept waiting for him to miss a route. Kept waiting for him to be a freshman. That moment – at least in the roughly 10 hours of work I saw – never came. …

My biggest takeaway – and probably the best compliment I can pay a receiver – is that he looked absolutely reliable. …he has great hands, great technique, great feet and a great football IQ/knowledge on how to work a route and how to get open.

That is a lot of data, all of it pointing in the right direction. From the moment ESPN put up a positive but not top 100 evaluation Black has gone straight up, resulting in a couple of re-ranks that were insufficient to capture his improvement and a spring session in which he blew Michigan's most experienced returning WR to defense. Dios mio, man.

Etc.: *Santana guitar solo* 

Why David Terrell? Terrell's the best combination of size, downfield chops, and the ability to pop open underneath with quickness you would not expect him to have.

He was the #1 WR in the country back in the day before there was a composite and played like it during a three-and-out career that saw him picked 8th overall, whereupon he was a terrible bust in part because of WR diva behavior. Black is bigger and not the #1 WR in the country; he looks to be about as plug-and-play as Terrell. He displays zero diva tendencies.

Other comparables include Adrian Arrington, if Arrington was less of a stick, and Amara Darboh, if Darboh was a couple inches bigger. Greg Mathews if he doesn't quite work out.

Guru Reliability: High. Army game, camps, no projection. Some spread and early takes appear to be outdated. On the other hand, significant agreement. Especially on that word. You know. That one.

Variance: Very low. Black's already the #3 outside WR at worst. Zipped right past every veteran not named Kekoa and allowed Drake Harris to flip to CB.

Ceiling: Very high. Because he's so smooth. *second, superfluous Santana guitar solo*

General Excitement Level: Very high. Black has the profile of a guy who didn't rise enough because he's from CT and has competition-level issues, and he detonated those issues in spring. That puts him on another level from the rest of the (again, astounding) WR class.

Projection: Probably starting against Florida and not looking back. He and everyone else vying for outside WR snaps is going to be in a fight. Even if a couple guys wash out you're probably going to see a 2016-DL like rotation at some point over the next three years, what with Crawford and McDoom and Schoenle seemingly panning out from the previous class.

[Barron]

Jim said during media days that the three of them [Speight, Peters, and O’Korn] are basically tied. What, in your mind, separates one quarterback from another? Not specifically, but whoever wins out, what’s going to be the difference for them?

“We feel that’s the best player for us to win football games with.”

What are your thoughts on ever having multiple quarterbacks play regularly?
”I think you could do that. At times you have different packages and things. Going into a football game you’re always trying to look for the best way to attack the defense and if that’s something that presents a problem for the team that you’re playing then.”

What do you think about this fall that being an option?

“I don’t know yet. It’s so early in camp. We’re still putting this thing together and putting the offensive concepts together and things we’re doing, so we’ll see as we go.”

Jim talked about maybe ten practices or so to decide, to really know on a quarterback. How about offensive line? How long into camp is it before you get a good sense of that?

“It just depends, you know. Could be practice ten, could be practice 12. We just put pads on yesterday and things change when you put pads on. You know, with the competition of hitting and physicality and moving people off the ball and things moving faster. As we go we’ll make that decision.”

[After THE JUMP: RT possibilities; finding OL six, seven, and eight; how the staff complements each other]

There's enough to cover from the BBQ that I'm splitting this edition of the roundup into two parts. Today I'll cover the five recent commits; tomorrow I'll go over the rest.

If you missed them, the five recent Hello posts: Luke Schoonmaker, Nolan Rumler, Stephen Herron, Cameron McGrone, Sammy Faustin.

Sammy Faustin and When Stars Really Matter

Let's start this roundup with the most recent of Michigan's slew of commits, three-star FL S/CB Sammy Faustin. It was quite clear from the comments that many around here didn't see much past this...

Scout	Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
3*, #75 CB, #876 Ovr	3* CB	NR CB	3*, 86, #74 CB, #730 Ovr	3*, #78 CB, #870 Ovr

...before passing judgment on Faustin and questioning why the coaches would take such a low-rated player this long before signing day. One of the main arguments against Faustin is one we've made many times here: star rankings really do matter.

They do. There's a mountain of evidence to back up that assertion. Context is key, however. The recruiting rankings that matter are the final rankings, once the recruiting services have as much data as they can gather. Nobody is going back to look at rankings at the time of a player's commitment. 

Faustin hasn't even played his senior season. We already have a couple recent examples of who-dat defensive back commits taken by this staff developing into (or being recognized as) solid prospects by the time signing day rolled around. Josh Metellus was either a two-star or unranked on all four services when he committed in the 2016 class; three sites subsequently gave him the Michigan bump to three stars, while ESPN got fresh eyes on him and rated him a four-star prospect with an evaluation to match. Metellus saw the field as a true freshman, impressed, and should start this year. More recently, Benjamin St-Juste was a literal unknown when he committed—initial camp reports got his name wrong—then starred at The Opening and cracked the 247 top 100.

Faustin is skeptical of your armchair scouting.

"Trust the coaches" can be a lazy deflection. Between Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown, though, it's hard to question these guys when they identify a player they want early. At the very least, we should let the process play out a little further. Sometimes it only takes a day; read Scout's post-commitment writeup on Faustin and tell me where you think he should be ranked:

Faustin, who passes the eye test with prototypical size in the secondary, is a versatile defender who does a great job of reading and reacting from his cornerback position. Once dissecting the play, Faustin turns heads with the ability to burst out of his back pedal by pushing off his back foot, flashing impressive acceleration in the process. This is a kid who also shows decent technique for a cornerback of his stature.

Faustin is one who does not shy away from physicality either. Once finding his lane to the ball carrier, Faustin closes on the ball in a hurry while also playing under control. There are times when he loses track of his tackling technique, but for the most part, Faustin is a sound tackler in space who strikes with good pad level. He is not the most explosive kid and can work on his flexibility, but does not have much of a problem flipping his hips and readjusting. Faustin is a defender who provides that pop at the point of attack.

For a safety who'll cover the slot, that's a pretty ideal evaluation. It jives with the junior film, which doesn't look like that of the #78 corner in the country. The Wolverine's Brandon Brown caught up with Tom Lemming for a scouting report, and this one also sounds like it's meant for someone better than a middling three-star:

"Faustin is one of my 'Other Players to Watch' in Florida," Lemming said. "He's 6-2, 175 pounds and has legit 4.5 speed. He has good range, quick hands and loose hips and does a very good job of playing the ball. He needs to add weight and strength but is an exceptional athlete."

In related news, recent tight end commit Luke Schoonmaker got a 14-spot bump in Scout's tight end position rankings, added a three-star ranking from Rivals, and got evaluated by ESPN, which now has him as the #19 in-line TE in the country. There's plenty more in last week's roundup.

If you're going to star-gaze without watching the film, I recommend at least waiting until February.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]