justin turner

Oh my God. Three things combined to make this past week the most frenetic in MGoBlog recruit-trackin' history: Will Campbell, the rise of the UA game as a thing you have to pay attention to, and a flood of articles released for free on both games. Today I'm going to dump about 5k words on recruiting on you; I've split things up into two groups.

This is group one: scouting reports and impressions from the seven committed recruits who participated in All-American festivities over the past week. (There were actually eight but the Will Campbell stuff went in the Will Campbell post.) Group two is a standard, if mondo, version of Tuesday Recruitin'. That's later today.

OL Taylor Lewan

Rivals' Barton Simmons on AZ OL Taylor Lewan:

Lewan's body is still developing but it looks like he has the ability to really be a great offensive tackle. He is lean right now but is extremely long and looks like he has the ability to add weight. Lewan uses his hands well, stays back in his pass set and has the feet for tackle. Lewan will have an extremely high ceiling as he gets stronger and bigger in a college weight program.

Another take from the same guy:

It's hard not to like Lewan's potential at tackle. He is light in the pants right now and he's going to need a couple of years to develop in a college weight program but once he does, he has shown that he has some terrific tools to utilize. Lewan is an athletic tackle with a long frame who looks to be every bit of 6-7. He has good feet and balance and as he gets more weight behind him to allow him to handle power moves, he will be a tough matchup for any pass rusher.

Barry Every's (very similar) take:

ASSETS: Excellent height, long arms, and really athletic feet.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Needs to gain at least 25 to 30 pounds in order to become an effective run blocker.
WHAT WAS MOST IMPRESSIVE IN PRACTICE: His lateral movement and natural knee bend was probably the best of all the linemen on the White team.
CONCLUSION: Lewan has the ideal frame for the strength coaches at Michigan to work with. Lewan is almost definitely redshirt material, but after that watch out. The sky is the limit for this long armed mauler.

This is a consistent chorus: needs a redshirt and might need two years—when he's a redshirt freshman Schilling and Dorrestein will be seniors anyway—but has major upside.

Scout's Brandon Huffman:

"The first person that I saw that really stood out to me was Taylor Lewan," said Scout.com West Coast Regional Manager Brandon Huffman. "You look at him and you see a guy that is really reminiscent of Jake Long. He's ridiculously athletic. I saw him for the first time at a combine back in May. Physically he is as impressive an offensive lineman as you'll see in the country."

ESPN noted a practice battle between Lewan and Oklahoma commit Justin Chaisson, who had two sacks in the game itself:

It was an athletic draw between White offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) and White defensive end Justin Chaisson (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman) during one-on-one pass rushing drills, as both players showed great feet and quickness.

On the downside, Lewan's inexperience and lack of size were occasionally mentioned:

First-year offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) has exciting upside. Still, his limited experience -- he played D-line for most of his prep career -- is being exposed at times against this level of competition.

All told, it sounds like Lewan was better than expected and should be moving up somewhat in revised rankings.

DE Craig Roh

Every again:

ASSETS: High energy guy that plays with passion. He also has incredibly low pad level at the point of attack.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Needs to add at least 25 more pounds to be an effective run stopper in the Big Ten.
WHAT WAS MOST IMPRESSIVE IN PRACTICE: Roh was really quick off the edge and took advantage of the fact that there was no real left offensive tackle on the White team.
CONCLUSION: Roh has a lot of upside but is most likely a redshirt candidate that needs to get bigger and stronger in the Wolverine weight room in 2009.

Some practice notes from ESPN have an approving mention:

Playing next to Brown, Craig Roh (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) has been very disruptive this week with his inside spin move. The heady defensive end showed a nice counter of that by coming back to the outside and having good success against offensive tackle Stavion Lowe (Brownwood, Texas).

Roh then went out and was perhaps the most impressive player in the UA game not named Matt Barkley:

Top Playmaker

TEAM WHITE: Craig Roh – The Michigan commit was constantly pressuring the quarterback. He is great off the edge, he has a big time spin move, and he never slows down until the play is officially dead. He will need to add weight and strength to become better against the run, but he is a pass rush specialist that could make an early impact in Ann Arbor.

Rivals' Jamie Newberg echoed those sentiments:

Roh got better as the week of practice progressed. He had a big first half. Once he gains some size to his frame, watch out.

And the Texas bloggers at Barking Carnival had no reason to mention a kid from Arizona going to Michigan but did anyway:

Craig Roh DE (Michigan)
Straight baller that showed a Dwight Freeney spin on Kelley for a sack and sacked/tackled Russel Shepard in space. Had a handful of QB pressures over the course of the game. Rich Rod got himself a good one.

Roh's pad level was repeatedly mentioned, as he has a unique stance in which he set himself up at nearly the offensive lineman's knees and shoots forward at the snap, which sets up his spin move as OLs are terrified of letting Roh outside of him.

Overall: sounds like a major leap forward for Roh, possibly into the latter half of top-100 lists that he's not too far outside of now.

DE Anthony LaLota

Every:

ASSETS: Excellent height, great frame and long arms.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Really needs to work on pad level at the point of attack. He cannot get by on size and strength alone against this level of competition.
WHAT WAS MOST IMPRESSIVE IN PRACTICE: Seems to be a high-effort guy that really wants to get better as a defensive end.
CONCLUSION: Most likely a redshirt candidate next season as he continues to learn his position and acclimate to playing against stiffer competition. His excellent frame is meant for long-term success.

…and that's all, really. LaLota didn't do much in the Army game, and while that's nothing approaching definitive not standing out means he's probably ranked a little high. There was a Lichtenfels mention that he was a "stock down" guy, but that's behind a paywall.

Lalota may slip some in the revised rankings but shouldn't see his fourth star threatened.

WR Jeremy Gallon

Gallon had a very good week despite being the leetlest man in all the land.

Gallon's coach this week is Terry Smith, who you may remember from the Justin King recruiting saga, and he's big (ha!) on Gallon:

At wide receiver, Michigan commit Jeremy Gallon has been far and away the most productive receiver. He has touchdowns catches in each of the practices and has a knack for getting open and sneaking behind the defense. At 5 feet 8, Gallon is small enough to creep through openings and then pop open for the pass.

"He's a pleasant surprise," Smith said. "We knew he was a good athlete but making the adjustment to receiver was always a big question mark. He's scored touchdowns in every practice and he seems to have the knack to get open and make the play."

When Gallon committed out of nowhere he was in the Rivals 100 because one particular analyst (Barry Every) was over the moon about him. He dropped out soon after for good reasons—he's a smurf and he projects to a position he didn't really play in college—but maybe his strong performance in the slot this week sees him re-enter; he's definitely due for a jump up the Scout rankings, where he's a three-star.

Scout's Bob Lichtenfels' take (warning: "stud" deployment):

"I think Gallon is a stud," Lichtenfels said of the 5-9, 175-pound pass-catcher from Apopka, Fla. "I think for Rich Rodriguez, that's the next Darius Reynaud. He doesn't have elite speed, but his quickness and shiftiness is just out of sight."

Gallon was named "best after the catch" by Rivals, which isn't surprising since he was the only slot guy in attendance, and the #10 player on his team:

Gallon was the star of practices all week and was effective in the scrimmage and during the game itself. He is tiny but he has great quickness and he is smart. He knows how to find space between the cornerback and the safety and catches almost everything thrown his way. He'll be a slot receiver at the next level and will be hard to cover, using his lack of size to his advantage.

Gallon's height will always give people an easy out when it comes time to rank someone else ahead of him, but he answered a lot of questions about his ability to play receiver over the week and should be seeing a bump.

CB Justin Turner

Perhaps the weekend's most encouraging development outside of William Campbell's commitment was the excellent play of OH CB Justin Turner. Though Turner got beat by Pat Patterson for a touchdown, he followed that up with a spectacular diving interception at the sideline. More importantly, during the practices he established himself as one of the best corners at the game. That's important, as if Turner struggled and looked like a future safety Michigan would currently have zero committed corners in a year they need two and would probably take three if they can find enough guys they like.

Rivals put him on his team's "hot 11" for his performance during the game:

Turner is a big corner who can move and support the run and he was all over the field in the game. He led the East with seven tackles, had a big interception and helped keep the ever-dangerous Rueben Randle from breaking any big gains. He's a rarity with his combination of size, speed and ball skills at his position.

Lichtenfels again:

"He's a guy from day one that I lobbied for as one of the top four or five safeties in the nation. I actually think after watching him this week that he can play corner. His skill set is just (unique). He can play safety, he's great in coverage, and he'll come up and he'll hit you. He could play cover corner in the Big Ten easily. Every coach in the country wants a guy that's 6-2 and can cover."

Turner was named the #8 player on his team by Rivals:

Turner is a big kid who was forced into playing cornerback for the East and did a very solid job all week. In the game itself he showed off his tackling ability and ball skills and showed he's either going to be a rare corner who supports the run well or a ball-hawking safety who isn't afraid to come up and hit. Either way Michigan gets a steal.

I don't know about "steal," since Turner had offers from Ohio State and many others early, but I'll take a good player. He was also named the #2 tackler at the entire Army Bowl by Rivals.

K Brendan Gibbons

Gibbons was 3/4 on extra points, with the miss a blocked one due to a combination of a poor hold (from Jeremy Gallon of all people) and a missed assignment, and 1/2 on field goals from 35 (the make) and 46. His kickoffs were long, though.

Kickers don't get much attention, but Gibbons did get a scouting report from an unusual source: NJ OL Eric Shrive, a Penn State commit and Army teammate:

Michigan lost kicker Anthony Fera when he decommitted and signed with Penn State a few months back. But Shrive says the Wolverines landed on their feet in the kicking department. Brendan Gibbons is the East kicker, and Shrive said he was teeing the ball up at the opposite 45-yard line and booting the thing through the uprights and onto the running track beyond the field. That's a 65-yarder with some distance to spare.

"Our kicker is nasty," Shrive raved.

Kickers remain a crapshoot; at the very least Gibbons looked the part.

OLB Isaiah Bell

ESPN is much higher on Bell than either Rivals or Scout and they were the only service to mention Bell this week. Here's a small bit from the UA practices:

With the employment of a lot of Cover 3, this week's practice has showcased several safeties playing down in the box over slots -- and looking impressive. Black's Isaiah Bell (Youngstown, Ohio/Liberty) came into this game with a reputation for his great run-stopping skills, but he has surprised me with his ability to open his hips and turn and run with faster slots.

Put thoughts of safety from your mind, as Bell showed up at 205 and should push 220 by his sophomore year: dude is a linebacker. But he may be one of a new breed of S/LB hybrid sorts that alternate between run-stuffing and covering slots and so forth.

Overall

My guess as to the relative stock levels of the guys performing:

• STOCK UP: Lewan, Gallon, Turner, Roh
• STEADY: Campbell, Bell, Gibbons
• STOCK DOWN: LaLota

If the impressions gleaned here are accurate, that's a net uptick in Michigan's recruits with impressive performances from Turner, Roh, and Gallon outweighing the slight disappointment from LaLota. That goes double because LaLota's relatively new to football and most pundits still said he had excellent upside. We'll see when the rating services release their final revamp for the class of 2009 in a couple weeks.

Update 12/30: Aigh! Will Campbell! And something about otters!

Meanwhile, articles on FL WR Jeremy Gallon (and OH CB Justin Turner), LA LB Barkevious Mingo, another on Gallon, FL QB Denard Robinson, LA DT DeQuinta Jones, CA QB Tate Forcier, PA WR Je'Ron Stokes, OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint.

AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick might visit Michigan, though he remains a huge longshot. I'll put him on the board if he actually visits.

Removed MD DE Jason Ankrah (Nebraska), JUCO DE Pernell McPhee (not M).

As always, some links from Varsity Blue.

Editorial Opinion: Recruiting board lives here. MI panic machine Will Campbell is discussed here and here; don't ask me, I don't know. Other items follow; it's a busy week with the Army All-American game practices in full swing and most of content flowing freely. On with the show.

Gentlemen of a committed persuasion

OH CB Justin Turner, FL WR Jeremy Gallon, FL K Brendan Gibbons, and NJ DE Anthony LaLota are all on the East team; I haven't heard much about Gibbons or LaLota—some of the kids don't get down until later—but the other two have been impressive.

Gallon tore it up the last couple days, catching a number of touchdowns and generally appearing to be the best receiver on his team:

"He's electric," East coach Terry Smith said. "He's very shifty, very athletic. We're trying to get some plays to get some space for him to let him do what he does best."

Michigan recruit and probable Tennessee decommit Je'Ron Stokes echoes the praise:

"He's good," wide receiver Je'Ron Stokes said. "They have him in the slot and the way our offense is run I might want to go to the slot. He's getting a lot of passes thrown his way. He's doing a great job. The thing is they have a receiver lined up on the linebacker. That's a mismatch right there."

Gallon reaffirmed his Michigan commitment recently for those (understandably) spooked about decommits.

Meanwhile, Turner—a safety in high school—is getting reps at corner, where Michigan wants to move him when he gets to campus. He's playing opposite onetime Michigan recruit Darius Winston and living up to his rating (same article):

Michigan commit Justin Turner was at cornerback and even surprised himself with his strong performance after not stepping on the field since his Massillon (Ohio) Washington team lost in the playoffs on Nov. 1. Turner is rated as the third-best safety in the 2009 class but moved to corner because of the missing players.

"I haven't touched the field since we lost in the playoffs so I'm very surprised with what I did," Turner said. "All the great athletes and coaches out there watching, you can't get beat. You don't want to get beat. That was my first time on the field since we lost. I've been lifting. I feel good."

Elsewhere, "Worldofx"—mentioned as a reliable source in the day's earlier Will Campbell post—relates these items on Michigan commits in attendance:

WR: Gallon messed with the secondary most of the day. Stokes had some big plays. Thomas way too stiff to be playing receiver.

CB: Winston was a lot better than everyone here. Turner moved to corner and adjusted fairly well.

Ah, Darius Winston, why did you decommit only to recommit?

Speaking of Stokes

That guy praising Jeremy Gallon up there, PA WR Je'Ron Stokes, appears to be Michigan's best shot at another outside wide receiver in the class, which may or may not be a need depending on the final positions of commits Dewayne Peace (a potential defensive back) and Cameron Gordon (a potential linebacker). Stokes' commitment to Tennessee is flimsy at best:

Philadelphia (Pa.) Northeast wide receiver Je'Ron Stokes is only 50/50 about sticking to his commitment to Tennessee according to good sources. Stokes committed to Tennessee back in April but waivered a bit when new head coach Lane Kiffin decided against keeping Tajh Boyd and Bryce Petty in the 2009 recruiting class. Stokes wants to visit Illinois and Michigan in January and is also looking at Florida and Georgia. His younger brother, 2010 quarterback Malik Stokes, had an offer from the old staff but is being re-evaluated by Kiffin. Stokes has been told that Tennessee will not be taking a quarterback in this class and will go after a big name in 2010.

Far be it from me to question Lane Kiffin's decision to boot a top 100 QB prospect in favor of nobody whatsoever, but some lucky school is going to send him a thank-you note later, and it sounds like either Illinois or Michigan has an excellent shot at following that up with a boquet of flowers.

Mingo the Merciless

There are a thousand reasons to desperately want LA LB Barkevious Mingo, at least 400 of which relate to his name, but it he's unlikely to sign with M despite Michigan being his only scheduled visit:

Though the Wolverines are set for his first visit, Mingo confirmed that does not mean that they're one of his top schools. In fact, they have some ground to make up as the 6-foot-5, 209-pounder currently lists a top three of USC, Alabama and LSU, in no particular order.

If he visits there's a chance and etc etc etc.

Quarterbacking

Unfortunately, Michigan hasn't materialized on the lists of any quarterbacks that weren't already listing them. This leaves FL QB Denard Robinson as the only potential accompaniment for Tate Forcier in this year's class. The latest on him:

"I like Michigan because the old coaches from West Virginia are there," he said. "Coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to install his system there and I think I'd be a good fit. They need a good dual-threat quarterback like me."

Robinson has already visited Georgia and Florida and plans to go to Michigan, Kansas State, and UCF.

Tate Forcier, meanwhile, was on the radio a few days ago and said things. A brief example:

LL: Is there a quarterback that is in college or the pros that you think your game might remind people of a little bit?

TF: My goal is to be a little bit like Colt McCoy. I'm almost nearly the same size and speed. It’s possible I may have a stronger arm than him. That’s kind of a lot to say, but I think if I worked hard I could maybe follow in his footsteps and be the type of quarterback that he is.

More at the link.

Praise for Jones

Good find by Varsity Blue on this one. From NewOrleans.com:

The best defensive lineman in the state that no one ever talks about is Bastrop's Dequinta Jones (6'3 275), who runs a 4.8 forty and can play the game as well as any in the country. Jones is committed to Michigan, and I predict he will start after one year and play as a true freshman for the Wolverines.

LSU got a commitment from teammate Josh Downs, who is 6'1 280 and is more of a true nose guard. I really think Jones is the best defensive tackle on the team and could be as good one day as former Bastrop defensive tackle Claude Wroten as well as current LSU and former Bastrop player Kantravious Aubrey.

Now Michigan just needs to hold onto him; Jones is something of a soft commit and has tentative plans to visit Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Etc.: OH RB commit Fitzgerald Toussaint reaffirms commit, is interviewed by the Vindicator.