brendan radley-hiles
Winter Is Coming
I posted most of the post-Opening evaluations of Michigan commits yesterday, but these highlights of Benjamin St-Juste were published after that went up, and they make it clear why he's almost certainly headed for a ratings bump. St-Juste didn't just test well—though he certainly did that, posting the second-best shuttle time at the combine—he also made a lot of plays on the ball in the 7-on-7 portion, and his quickness is on full display in the drills at the end of the video. 247's Barton Simmons:
"(St-Juste) may have been the best big cornerback at the event," Simmons told Wolverine247. "He moves so well for a guy of his size and was the most impressive cornerback physically as well. He was challenged a lot but was rarely beaten. He was really impressive and really stood out throughout the weekend."
247 hasn't updated their rankings yet; when they do, I'll be surprised if St-Juste is still a three-star. There aren't many 6'3" corners that move like that.
Simmons also went into more detail on Dylan McCaffrey's performance for Steve Lorenz's latest post at the Freep:
"He was an upper-tier quarterback at the event," Simmons said. "The biggest reason for that is the mental grasp he has on the position. He's a guy that was so decisive with his reads. He knows where the ball needs to go and gets it there quickly. In that setting, knowing where the open man is and connecting with him quickly should be routine and he was able to do it all day.
"He has some slight mechanical issues he has to correct, but he has a coaching staff at Michigan that is obviously fully capable of getting him where he needs to be. The coaches at the event raved about his ability to take coaching and wanting to learn about the game. He's far beyond your average quarterback in that regard."
Still no word on the specifics of those mechanical issues, unfortunately, but Simmons clearly isn't too concerned, especially once Harbaugh gets involved—he called the Harbaugh/McCaffrey pairing "a perfect match."
File this away for later: Bleacher Report's Michael Felder, who helps coach at The Opening, had an enlightening exhange with Jaylen Kelly-Powell:
Jaylen Kelly-Powell worked inside CB and S, is strong in his man coverage & is working to feel comfortable in multiple zone looks
— Michael Felder (@InTheBleachers) July 12, 2016
@InTheBleachers Real talk. Have to master my weaknesses
— Jaylen Kelly-Powell™ (@JKellypowell) July 12, 2016
@InTheBleachers Yeah. I'm switching to the up FR this year so I can get use to it. Just used to playing man press/off from the SS and nickel
— Jaylen Kelly-Powell™ (@JKellypowell) July 12, 2016
Playing more free safety should help Kelly-Powell improve on his zone coverage. He's clearly a coachable kid—something that was noticeable at SMSB, too.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
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