2010 recruiting profiles

Previously: S Carvin Johnson, S Ray Vinopal, S Marvin Robinson, CB Courtney Avery, CB Terrence Talbott, CB Cullen Christian, CB Demar Dorsey, LB Jake Ryan, LB Davion Rogers, LB Josh Furman, DE Jordan Paskorz, DE Jibreel Black, DE Kenny Wilkins, DT Terry Talbott, DT Richard Ash, C Christian Pace, WR Drew Dileo, WR Jerald Robinson, WR DJ Williamson, WR Jeremy Jackson, WR Ricardo Miller, and RB Stephen Hopkins.

This might be totally unnecessary. Devin Gardner already has eight pages of posts in the MGoArchives and has been fawned over just about weekly since his March commitment to Michigan. You've seen him in the spring game. You've heard quotes about him from everyone from Tom Lemming to Rich Rodriguez, and if you've been on the site the past year you've seen ridiculous HD clips of him going up against half the schedule. The best this post can do is remind you. But by God, the tabs are open so here it is.

This is what you need to know:

Putting a football in Devin Gardner's hands is like handing a master artist a paint brush and an empty canvas. Within seconds, an array of possibilities present themselves as creativity begins to give way to a breathtaking masterpiece.

Seriously. This is going to happen. At some point in his career Devin Gardner is going to become Football Michelangelo, and Michigan fans will leave the stadium confused because they've obviously been raptured up and Heaven looks just like Ann Arbor. (Attention postcard companies: copyrighted, bitches!) I am not kidding you.

Seriously:

"He had a great junior year and has simply built upon that," said Scout.com Midwest regional manager Allen Trieu. "He is considered one of the top handful of quarterbacks in the country and is firmly entrenched as a five-star prospect. As far as upside goes, I don't see many quarterbacks that have his potential."

Seriously, he's pretty much Vince Young…

On tape the Michigan native resembles Vince Young, starting from the No. 10 jersey he wears and extending all the way through his three-quarters release and sneaky, elusive, long-striding ability to make big plays with the ball in his hands.

…except better! Seriously:

Rivals.com national analyst Barry Every ranked Gardner as the top overall quarterback at the camp based on long-term potential and the ability to win football games.

“I don’t think there’s any question, after having seen him for four days, how hard he competes and how hard he wants to be the best,” Every said.

Every and Biggins agreed Gardner compares favorably at the same stage of his career to players like Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Juice Williams and Dennis Dixon, all Elite 11 alumni.

Holy crap! Whoever put this article together decided to put Vince Young, Tim Tebow, and Dennis Dixon in the same sentence with Juice Williams! Also that stuff about Gardner "comparing favorably" to three spine-tinglingly awesome quarterbacks! And Juice Williams! He's also an "advanced version" of Terrelle Pryor!

Obviously this is true and the rankings above, which are extremely friendly but not exactly better than Vince Young (#1 overall), Terrelle Pryor (#1 overall), and Tim Tebow (top 5) are lies. But what gives? The theory promulgated by this site goes as follows:

1. Junior Devin Gardner is an enormously raw QB prospect in serious need of coaching and development. His throwing motion is the dreaded "shot put." When ESPN wrote him up as a promising Elite 11 ball boy, even Gardner acknowledged it:

After watching him during the week, Gardner will have to learn to be tall in the pocket and take advantage of his height. He says his biggest weakness is his accuracy, which is a direct result of arm placement and how the ball is released. He has a real bad habit of dropping his release point when throwing, as well as sinking his hips and knees when throwing. This happens more when throwing shorter routes, as he tries to guide the ball.

2. Over the summer, Gardner hits every camp imaginable to improve his throwing mechanics and general quarterback things. Gardner is wildly coachable and makes great strides, culminating in the Elite 11 camp where Rivals goes ga-ga over him—for a while he was a top 50 prospect and the #1 QB in their rankings—and everyone else slides him up into that five star area. At that camp he wins "best feet" and "best in the classroom". Allen Trieu gets the pithy quote, this evaluating his performance at the Sound Mind, Sound Body camp two summers ago:

"We all know he's a great athlete and he showed that by doing very well at receiver in addition to quarterback. What has impressed me the most recently, though, is how much he has improved as a passer. His mechanics are like night and day from this time last year and his passes have much more zip. The work he has put in as a passer has paid off."

3. Over the course of Gardner's senior season his mechanical improvement slowly fades as he goes back to what he knows. This is his Flowers for Algernon period. Sites notice this over the course of the year and especially at the Under Armor game and slide him down, saying things like "after watching him in Orlando, I think he needs a redshirt." Rivals sends his ranking back down; Scout sticks to its guns but doesn't move him any higher after he settled in around #40.

Thanks to Tim you can see evidence of this slide with your own eyes. The pushing motion was evident in the state championship game. It was also very prominent in the Friday Night Lights-caught Highland Park game (stick around to 3:50 for a sick back juke, though). When he opened the season against Pioneer it was absent.

That's the theory, and it was borne out by Gardner's performance after he enrolled early. In both the spring game and semi-public fall scrimmage he threw ugly interceptions and struggled to deal with pressure. Your author's impression from the game:

Meanwhile, Devin Gardner looked raw as hell, fumbling snaps, scrambling into trouble, and reverting to that ugly shotput motion whenever he was forced to throw on the run. He looked like a freshman, which is okay because he is a freshman. However, the torrent of spring hype that suggested Gardner would probably not redshirt because he would be Michigan's best quarterback by UConn… eh, not so much. Maybe it was just a bad day. Even if it was an off day, Robinson showed enough to relegate Gardner to the bench for the first couple games and hopefully his whole freshman year.

Gardner did show the his deep touch on a third and long seam to Odoms that was laid in perfectly. Odoms dropped it.

In another spring bits post, Gardner was said to "look like a freshman" and be "clearly behind the two sophomores."

On the other hand, when a couple of trusted observers took in the coaches clinic and the scrimmage associated with that they both reported back about the coaching staff's raves:

As for Devin Gardner, raves about his "incredible feel for the game" from QB coach Rod Smith were relayed via both observers. Other spring hype: "huge," "covers ground without seeming to move" like Vince Young and Terrelle Pryor, and… wait for it… "well ahead of both at this stage." Gardner is a "gym rat" who will happily spend all day watching film. However, he's "nowhere near" having a grasp of the offense and his throwing is erratic. When he's good, he can make deep throws with touch unlike either of the other two, but his overall accuracy lags because of the mechanical issues. His delivery isn't consistent yet. This will not be an enormous surprise to anyone who saw the difference between Camp Devin and Degraded Devin over the course of this high school football season.

That's what we've seen at Michigan. We have some idea what his scouting report looks like, but here's a bunch of tantalizing quotes anyway. Rivals:

Has excellent height, thick neck and shoulders and long arms. His lower half is built like a two-guard and his overall body structure looks line an athletic outside linebacker. He is built similar to a young Jason Campbell when at Auburn.  …  Definitely needs that redshirt year in order to hone his skills and learn the offense. His potential is almost limitless and he could be a major terror for defensive coordinators at the next level. Gardner should be a two- to three-year starter with all-conference and NFL potential.

More from Trieu:

Athletic quarterback with innate ability to feel pressure and elude defenders. Has good change of direction and is very elusive. Has a nice arm and can make all the throws. Needs work mechanically, but shows good touch on his passes, particularly the deep ball. Is a very smart and poised player who is cool under pressure and in the clutch. Shows good command of the offense and understanding of the game.

An Under Armor evaluation:

"(Devin Gardner) really impressed me a lot," [Scout Florida expert Geoff] Vogt added. "He was bigger than I expected him to be. His arm was everything that people made it out to be. He was accurate... He clearly, in my opinion, is the top quarterback on that team... He'd be the No. 1 quarterback in Florida straight out this year and that's really saying something. I think he has a really bright future at Michigan."

Scout also says he's a "superior athlete," something backed up by his performance at that SMSB camp, where he finished third in the 60 meters at that camp behind two 5'10"-ish defensive backs. When he showed at a Scout combine he clocked a 4.57 40—impressive for a guy his size—and won the combine MVP.

And then there's the Graham thing. Gardner has it. After he realized he couldn't get by on sheer athleticism any more, Brandon Graham was indefatigable, constantly working, never depressed, always progressing towards his ultimate destination, and impervious to all the crap Michigan football's been caught up in the last few years. There's a rare resiliency in that kind of work ethic, and it's something Gardner seems to share. The Elite 11 classroom award, the constant drive to make himself better, the early enrollment despite obstacles: these are all indications.

There are also testimonials. JC Shurburtt:

Michigan commit Devin Gardner (Inkster, Mich./Inkster) has also surprised many. His hustle, leadership and athleticism add up to a tremendous maturity that will help him compete early for playing time in Ann Arbor.

Rich Rodriguez:

“One thing we have seen every day, he loves to compete,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a very conscientious guy, he’s a very, very quick learner and he’s shown a few things. He’s got a long way to go as you can imagine any true freshmen would, especially at quarterback, but he’s gotten better each and every day.”

Rivals says he's "very motivated to be the best" and a "high effort guy."

Gardner and his team also gutted out an appearance in the state playoffs by ending the season on a tear. Because their conference disbanded suddenly and they were left in the cold, Inkster played a brutal schedule with eight road games, three of them against Ohio powers. They barely scraped into the playoffs at 5-3 thanks to a road win over Steubenville (OH) and their 68-game home win streak.

Once in the playoffs and then proceeded to blow doors off. Tim took in a 35-7 beating of Southgate; Inkster proceeded to roll to the state championship game, beating their first three opponents by a total of 136-54 with Gardner pouring in eleven touchdowns. Everything fell apart in the state title game, but just getting there was a testament to Devin Gardner's ability.

So now he's here and we'll see how it works out. Every indication is that Gardner will, sooner or later, be the centerpiece of an assault on defenses across the Big Ten. The only thing we don't know is when it starts.

Etc.: "Face in the crowd" on SI. Talks nonsense with baby. Trieu interviews him. Played WR some at the SMSB camp and we should give serious thought to teach him how to run the fade on the goal line. Has an impressive wikipedia page, too. Burned OSU offer.

Why Vince Young? The combination of size, speed, a wonky throwing motion, and the multiple comparisons from gurus tips the balance over to Young, who redshirted despite being the top prospect in the country and didn't come into his own as a passer until he played Michigan in the Rose Bowl—awesome timing!

Guru Reliability: High. Ton of exposure to him. Elite 11 camp, UA game, all that stuff.
General Excitement Level: Towering. Vast. Expansive.
Projection: Should have the luxury of redshirting with Denard's emergence into a viable option. Given Rodriguez's statements on the matter…

There is also freshman Devin Gardner, but Rodriguez said he wouldn't burn Gardner's redshirt if it was for a couple of plays a game.

…you'll probably see him on the bench unless both sophomores struggle. After that it's kind of hard to see him unseating an established junior,  but they'll mix him in when given the opportunity; a lot of people have claimed he's going to be the starter as early as 2011, but I think he'll have to wait until he's a redshirt junior, at which point he should be Awesome Devin through and through.

Previously: S Carvin Johnson, S Ray Vinopal, S Marvin Robinson, CB Courtney Avery, CB Terrence Talbott, CB Cullen Christian, CB Demar Dorsey, LB Jake Ryan, LB Davion Rogers, LB Josh Furman, DE Jordan Paskorz, DE Jibreel Black, DE Kenny Wilkins, DT Terry Talbott, DT Richard Ash, C Christian Pace, WR Drew Dileo, WR Jerald Robinson, WR DJ Williamson, WR Jeremy Jackson, and WR Ricardo Miller.

If you liked Brandon Minor but thought he was too tall, too fast, and insufficiently bowling-ball shaped, you'll love Stephen Hopkins. ABC should bring Keith Jackson out of mothballs just so he can call Hopkins a "hoss" enough for the descriptor to be dubbed over every subsequent run in his career, NCAA XX style ("He used POWER").

Calling him a workhorse is almost insufficient: as a sophomore, Hopkins ran 322 times for Marcus. (They managed to cut him back to 275 as a junior.) People still do, though, with the Dallas Morning News going so far as to call him "the definition of a workhorse" as they named him the area's top back for 2010. He says the things that workhorses say, too:

"We ended up pounding the ball and pounding the ball," Hopkins said. "That was a great team we beat, so it's really satisfying".

All those carries added up to a grinding mountain of stats: 1,663 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore, 1,689 yards and 22 touchdowns as a junior. In his senior year Marcus finally found a couple guys to share the load and Hopkins got a less frenetic workload, but still put up 1282 yards on just over 200 carries. As I was saying: hoss.

Stephen Hopkins is Brandon Minor, but moreso. ESPN doesn't use the word "Minor" but just about says so($):

Hopkins has big-back size with deceptively good feet and lateral agility. … Hits the hole fast and does a job getting north quickly; does not take a lot of wasted lateral steps but shows he can bounce it outside to daylight without losing a lot in transition. At his best when he plants and accelerates downhill behind his pads. … Difficult for smaller defensive backs to arm-tackle when he gains momentum through the second level. However, his high running style hinders his balance, often chopped down low, and yards after contact production. Opens his body to direct shots, which is concern in a high carry role at the next level. Can see and hit the cutback creases, but is not a natural pick and slide zone runner and may be limited to more downhill schemes in college. Shows good initial quicks through the hole but lacks great top-end speed when breaks free in the second level and an extra gear to separate.

Could you craft a better Brandon Minor scouting report than that? No. Also, Michigan's coaches, by way of Hopkins himself, say so:

"They told me I'm a lot like Brandon Minor and the other big backs they've played in their system."

And Hopkins says so too:

“I think I’m a pretty strong runner just like Brandon Minor is,” Hopkins said. “I’m a little bit bigger than he is, but I think I have a lot of the same attributes he does running the ball. He gets tough yardage, breaks first contact, gets a lot of yards after contact. I think I’m a lot like that.”

Jordan Kovacs woozily concurs after getting trucked twice in a row in the spring game. Also he probably says "momma."

We have established the equality of Brandon Minor and Stephen Hopkins, but there's more stuff too, stuff that makes Hopkins seem ever so slightly distinct. One: he's slower. More Hopkins on Hopkins:

Yea, it kind of gives me a disadvantage though too. Sometimes there’s a stereotype that I can’t run fast, but I’m going to improve on that. I recently ran a 4.6 40, so I want to try to get that down to a 4.5. I like that I’m bigger, and don’t want to lose that, but I want to get faster too.

Two: he has even more RAGE. An observer of the coaches' clinic scrimmage:

The guy is just a freaking monster and he breaks tackles. Now, I can’t say he can block, or knows the offense or can catch the ball. Plus, he fumbled twice (once he was hit at the handoff, on the other instance it might have been the QB’s issue). But man is he a tough tackle on the belly if he can get (even) a yard of momentum.

In several different reports, Rivals calls him($) "a physical, punishing back" who "never hesitates" and "goes for positive yardage on practically every carry," praises his($) "tremendous overall size" and ability to "always … fall forward after being tackled," and says almost the exact same things($) in a third game report. (A caveat: report two says "he would have to be a short-yardage and goal-line back in the spread offense run at Michigan" and says he'll probably be a middle linebacker, two things that betray a scant knowledge of both Michigan's roster and the blood-strewn area on the backside of the Michigan offensive line that appeared whenever Brandon Minor had fewer than six broken bits.) Minor was pretty good at getting forward but he was taller and skinnier and more prone to get lit up for running too high. It sounds like you'd pick Hopkins if you had fourth and one.

As a potential bonus, his coach claims he's good out of the backfield and with the blocking and whatnot:

"He's one of those classic downhill runners that gets stronger as the game wears on," Marcus coach Bryan Erwin said. "But at the same time, he does all the other things that you need from an every-down back. He can block. He can catch passes. Whatever you need him to do, he can do it."

A year later, Erwin would say he's "great" at both blocking and receiving and the "most complete back that I've ever coached." He also knocked down that criticism from Rivals above:

"He's a great inside zone runner, which in that scheme, he should do well," noted the Marcus head coach. "When they do get in the I-formation, he's going to be fantastic. He does both those things for us. We still run a lot of I-formation and he's tremendous on tall sweeps and off-tackle plays."

The locals were also impressed. A message board focused on 5A Texas football has a thread in which the denizens say these things:

He is a very impressive player. His size is rare with RBs today. He can run for speed and power. … Physically, he is ahead of the game for his age.

…

When we played them in 2007 we got the ball first and went 3 and out, or close to that. They then ran about 9 minutes off the clock and scored. Pretty much every series was like that. When the other team has the ball for 9 minutes of every 12 minute quarter scoring chances are few.

…

The guys is IMO the best back in the DFW area. … The off-season between his sophomore and junior year saw him put on some size and gain in speed. He has developed into a very patient runner that will wait for the hole to develop and then explodes. His power is unmatched by any back I saw last year. …  Marcus added a inside/outside running game last year and was able to do that with Hopkins. The year before he was limited to getting his yards between the tackles due to not having the game breaking speed, last year that changed and Marcus was able to break the big one on sweeps, off tackles and power plays. One of his strengths is his ability to hold onto the football too.

With the crying need for a hippopotamus back on the roster and Rodriguez's RAGE-friendly belly schemes, Hopkins is going to be a tailback at Michigan all the way. In the I-formation he'll line up behind the fullback and iso like mad. In the spread 'n' shred he'll be the Owen Schmitt (who ran the ball some 57 times as a senior) to someone else's Steve Slaton. The coaches have told him he's not a fullback. He won't be. He will be a horse.

Etc.: With Hopkins looking like a four-year contributor, get used to this:

As a junior, went Biakabutuka (313 yards) in a heartbreaking loss to Southlake Carroll. There is a petition for one Stephen Hopkins to be signed to "Sporting Hinton" permanently. Doctor Saturday as emirate? Random quote:

"If you need me to pick up a first down in a short-yardage situation, I'm your man, but I don't want to be just a power back," Hopkins said.

Hopkins made the All State team in the largest Texas division… second team… and they put four running backs on each team. Everything's bigger in Texas.

Other guy named Stephen Hopkins: Guys named Stephen Hopkins have a rich history in American… uh… history. One of them was on the Mayflower and signed the Mayflower Compact; another was one of Rhode Island's signatories on the Declaration of Independence. Hopkins beats Jeremy Jackson hands down.

Why Leroy Hoard or Brandon Minor? Minor is obvious. As for Hoard: take it from the guy who is cited above as Practice Observer, who was talking with a guy who played with Leroy Hoard, knows Leroy Hoard, watched Hopkins practice, and said "that's Leroy Hoard."

Guru Reliability: High, I guess. No reason a four-year starter at a major Dallas school wouldn't get the crap scouted out of him. Everyone thought Minor was going to be a fullback, too, though, and none of them seem to realize that Michigan has run plays that people other than Steve Slaton can run.
General Excitement Level: Moderate. Obvious, immediate contributor that fills a hole on the roster but unlikely to be a big star.
Projection: Fills a niche in the Michigan backfield that needs filling (see: worst play of the Decade #4) and will play this year. His worst case is the short yardage and goal-line back; his best case is Runaway Beer Truck next to a Vincent Smith.

Previously: S Carvin Johnson, S Ray Vinopal, S Marvin Robinson, CB Courtney Avery, CB Terrence Talbott, CB Cullen Christian, CB Demar Dorsey, LB Jake Ryan, LB Davion Rogers, LB Josh Furman, DE Jordan Paskorz, DE Jibreel Black, DE Kenny Wilkins, DT Terry Talbott, DT Richard Ash, C Christian Pace, WR Drew Dileo, WR Jerald Robinson, WR DJ Williamson, and WR Jeremy Jackson.

It's not quite right to say Ricardo Miller had the biggest disconnect between early hype and late rankings in the Rivals era of recruiting, but that's only because fellow Floridian and mega-offer-toting sophomore Marvin Robinson experienced a decline from probable five star to "you'll take a low four and like it." But it's not far off either.

A couple years ago I was answering some questions after my now-annual trip to New York to tell the local alumni club wildly incorrect things about Michigan's upcoming football season (bowl predictions the last two years: Alamo and Insight) and someone was concerned about Michigan's future wide receiver recruiting in the spread 'n' shred, and I described Ricardo Miller as a "lock" and a high school version of Terrell Owens, except nice. The first bit was accurate—Miller's commitment post above is almost two years old, as he dropped 18 months before Signing Day. The jury is very much out on the second.

It's worth noting the early hype was not limited to Michigan circles that could be prone to overrating a guy presumed to be a lock. He was ranked the #11 player in Florida($) by Scout at one point…

11. Ricardo Miller, WR, 6-2, 200, Orlando (Dr. Phillips)
The Skinny: Physical specimen who is still a little raw. Has great speed at his size and projects to be a #1 WR type who is a go to guy. Has size to make tough catches over the middle. Has great hands, needs to work on his concentration. Very good blocker. Can get down the field and be a deep threat. Played at Dr. Phillips in Orlando as a junior. A player who has the tools to play on Sunday.

…and that wasn't even his high water mark. Florida Football Magazine had him #2 in the state:

Big, strong, and fast, Miller could be playing for a major college right now but he's only a junior. He was the star of many off-season 7-on-7 tournaments.

Top two in the state of Florida should come with some impressive offers and it seemingly did, with Florida and Tennessee cited by multiple sources at the time of his commitment. One article specifically mentioned the magic word "written." In contrast to the skepticism about Jeremy Jackson laundry list of mega-offers, given the surrounding hype I tend to believe that Florida and Tennessee would have happily accepted a commit from Miller. Later claims at Alabama, Notre Dame, and LSU offers are a bit more suspect.

The point is when Miller committed most people following the kid were expecting him to end up solidly inside the top 100. Genuinely Sarcastic has a post from that time with the general consensus:

There are no rankings out on either Scout or Rivals for the 2010 class yet, but the buzz about Miller is substantial. Most have him pegged for the Darryl Stonum type range on Rivals, a high 4-star guy hovering around the top 50 overall.

Naturally, OUTRAGE resulted when Miller debuted at 139, which the math inclined will note is outside the Rivals 100. Speculation centered on how long it would take Rivals to fire the waste of space who made that decision and correct the grievous error. Rivals, naturally, dropped him to a meh three star in their next revamp and finished the year by declaring Miller the #66 wide receiver in the country, a couple spots behind Northwestern commit Rashad Lawrence. Lawrence claims other BCS offers from Duke, Stanford, and Purdue. Vanderbilt stands aloof on his schools list, present but decidedly sans the check mark representing an offer. Miller's fall was precipitous.

What was this based on? The only scouting content($) I can find in Miller's profile:

PERFORMANCE: Led Pioneer in a six-team scrimmage, recording a leaping touchdown grab and a couple of other catches in traffic.
STRENGTHS: Big, strong kid, especially in the lower body. His frame forces one to wonder if he will outgrow receiver spot and play another position, like outside linebacker or strong safety. Great attitude and very intelligent. WEAKNESSES: Struggles getting in and out of breaks. Does not move as well as other top-rated receivers. Had a lapse of concentration by dropping a touchdown pass late in the scrimmage. - G.L.

Just a few months earlier he was second team All Army Combine, but that somewhat lackluster performance in a scrimmage was apparently enough to turn Miller from a four star guy with "huge upside" into just another generic three star. The natural tendency is to scoff.

Evaluations from ESPN and Scout aid in this task. ESPN has him one of the highest ranked players in the class($) and just outside their top 150:

…essentially a wide receiver with H-back size and toughness. He could easily develop into a 225-pound hybrid player with a ton of versatility. … His willingness and ability to come up with big plays over the middle of the field is one of his most impressive traits. What he might lack in great speed, he makes up for in overall talent. He possesses big, reliable, soft hands with very few body catches. Most of his receptions come with great hand positioning and concentration. … He makes great adjustments to the ball, while it's in the air -- especially on over-the-shoulder grabs. What really stands out is his ability to make plays on the jump ball, balls thrown in traffic and adjustments to poorly-thrown balls. Comes off the ball quickly and reaches top speed rapidly for a player of his size.

Concerns are the usual for wide receivers in this class over six foot: raw speed. "Lumbering" makes a repeat appearance, though in Miller case he just does it "a bit."

That evaluation might be a bit generous about the hands, however. Scout's take lists "hands and concentration" as his negative and mentions it in the brief scouting report on his profile:

Is a big bodied, physical wide receiver with good speed for a kid with his size. He can take short passes, break tackles and get into the open field. He has big, strong hands and can snatch passes out of the air, but needs to work on his consistency with catching the ball and will sometimes let passes get into his body. Is a good blocker and a tough, hard working kid.

In addition, Miller's performance at the Sound Mind, Sound Body camp drew some criticism($) in the same area:

Two things were obvious… he could get deep or go up over anyone in attendance.  He was too strong for most DBs he faced, and the speed he possesses at his size made it unfair at times.  Hicks was the only DB that experienced his fair share of success in one-on-ones.  Miller’s biggest enemy on the day was the dropsies.  The short to intermediate passes…i.e. those with some steam on them… weren’t always handled cleanly. 

And a little more form Allen Trieu:

According to Scout.com, Miller is a four-star wide receiver who possesses an unbelievable physical package for a high school athlete.

“He has great size and has worked hard in the weight room. He is stronger and physically ahead of where a high school senior entering college should be. For someone with his size, he has good straight line speed and shows the ability to snatch the ball out of the air.”

“He is a great kid who will be a good ambassador for a program and an excellent recruiting host,” Trieu said of Miller.

Despite the somewhat backhanded compliments for his speed (always "for a guy his size") and occasional issues with dropped balls, Scout places him exactly where ESPN does, the #27 WR nationally. That's considerably higher potential than Rivals (OUTRAGE!) suggests.

Whatever Miller's potential is, he seems highly likely to reach it. Take whatever star-crossed Michigan talent who suffered from a poor home environment and seem to waste his God-given gifts you like and imagine the exact opposite of that. That's Ricardo Miller:

“He’s always in overdrive, always giving 110 percent,” Reagor-Miller said. “I’ve never had to make him do things because he takes the initiative to do it himself. Hard work and commitment pays off, and now he’s learning that.”

Apparently, Miller has an affinity for sit-ups. His mother said they can’t watch a television program together without him throwing himself to the floor during every commercial break from some crunches. Coach Salapa also recalled Miller’s many impromptu sit-up sessions before, during and after practices.

“Sometimes, we have to keep him from working too hard,” Salapa said. “He does everything to the max.”

Ron English will be pleased to know that Miller's parents are still together, and as a bonus are both ex-military. An EMU scholarship offer is in the mail!

Part of Miller's decline can probably be explained by his move from Florida to Michigan. After he committed he knew he'd be enrolling early and decided he'd start the Michigan bit of his life even earlier than that:

"It's basically the fact that it was closer to my school and my mom wanted to move up during this time to be closer to her dad," Miller told SN Today. "It will be a lot easier to have access to Michigan and to help recruit in Michigan. And now all my family will be close by and be able to see me play. That was another big part of it."

Recruiting sites are gaga about Florida and might have looked at whatever scrimmage Miller was at in a more positive light if it was taking place down there. Also, Pioneer's quarterback was not a guy who's going to play in college. Tim after one of Miller's games:

This was the first time I'd seen Miller look truly dominant against high school competition, though he's looked semi-dominant before, he just never gets the damn ball. His quarterback doesn't have the confidence in his own arm to hit Miller on the always-wide-open deep posts (or deep crosses - look how open he is nearly every time he runs a route, but the QB is too scared to throw it), otherwise Miller would have finished with 200+ receiving yards in every single game of his I've attended.

His final numbers were indicative of that: just 31 catches but at almost 20 yards each and ten touchdowns amongst them. In the game against Inkster I saw the Pioneer QB preferred the diminutive outside receivers (Pioneer used Miller as a tight end much of the time) to chancing a safety picking him off. This was actually a slight decrease from his junior numbers 34 catches and 615 yards), but if we've learned anything through this five-receiver recruiting profile journey it's that high school quarterbacking makes receiver stats almost useless for projection.

Etc.: Article on Miller's move to Ann Arbor contains lots of quotes from him but not much in the way of scouting. Already has a hell of a Wikipedia page.

Why a Braylon Edwards/Jason Avant platypus? Braylon was not a big time guy as a recruit, so this is just a comparison based on playing styles. Miller's a big strapping guy who can go up and get jump balls but might have some hands issues. Michigan's listing him at either 6'2", 208 (upon his commitment), or 6'4", 215 (now). Splitting the difference there yields 6'3" and around 210; Braylon is 6'3" and around 215.

Miller doesn't seem to have the same deep speed Braylon does, nor does he seem likely to be a guy who is "not on the same page" as the coach. He is an extreme character guy and program ambassador who should be able to crush guys on slants, make catches with guys on his hip, and generally be a guy who uses muscle and positioning to get open instead of raw speed. This is all Jason Avant.

Now, can you combine those assets of Avant and Edwards and get a great player?

Guru Reliability: Low. Major spread in the numbers, wide receiver with ugly quarterback situation, transfer, early commit, disagreement on a key attribute (hands), uncertainty as to what his best position is.
General Excitement Level: Moderate-plus. Seems to have a cap on his upside since he's already so physically developed—also potentially a reason his stock fell as others improved and he leveled off—but still a guy who seems like he'll have above-average physicality even as a collegian. Slightly worried that a possession receiver with eh hands or a long bomb guy with eh speed makes the guy a WR tweener, but it seems like if there's any way he can improve either he'll work on it until it's better.
Projection: Will probably play this year as Michigan tries to get some outside WR depth; could redshirt if Stokes shows well and Robinson plain beats him out but it will probably be close enough that he gets some time. Not likely to see much in the way of passes while he's in. A Lloyd Carr Memorial Redshirt-Burning WR Blocking Seminar beckons.