2014 recruiting

My scouting report this week is on Chicago (IL) Marist tight end Nic Weishar.  Tight end isn't the sexiest position, but it appears Al Borges wants to bring in several guys and use them in various ways.  Weishar plays wide receiver in high school, so he's used to catching passes, but he's not quite the athlete that someone like Devin Funchess is.

http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/01/scouting-report-nic-weishar.html

So the NCAA has passed a bunch of new recruiting bylaws including one that does this:

So starting with the class of 2014, college coaches can call, text and communicate privately by any methods available without restrictions. No more one-call-per-week. No more dead periods. No more ban on text messaging.

Still on the table and awaiting a decision is this potential new rule:

If 13-2 passes in April, prospects in their junior years can expect up to six visits per institution at home and school from coaches during the contact period, just as seniors experience.

This will only make recruiting even more insane and more competitive, because in addition to all of this you can have coaches that are not full-time staff members make calls for you too, and there are no longer limitations on the number of coaches that can be on the road recruiting.

Essentially, recruiting has been deregulated.  So...as a school with a large budget, do you think this good for Michigan?  Or will the "we play nice in the Big Ten" culture hurt us?  We already know the SEC will go nuts with these rules...

This is a list of the Important targets that have Michigan in their anticipated or stated top 5. I have listed them by importance to the Class of 2014. It’s still early in the process with more offers starting to go out and recruits are narrowing down their choices.

FB, TE, Safety, OLB, are lower priority needs and I did not list them.  DT is a pretty big need and several offers have been given out, but Michigan doesn’t sit too well with the big named prospects as of yet.

The biggest need in this class is SDE.  We have some big name offers given out and Michigan is sitting well with at least 3 of them.

SDE

Da’Shawn Hand  [#1 overall prospect]  (Has Michigan in his top 5)

Malik McDowell  [#2 SDE]  Detroit Loyola kid who is a must get for this class.  (Michigan in top 3)

Bryan Mone [#9 SDE] HS teammate of Sione Houma (Michigan the assumed leader)

QB

David Cornwell  [#8 QB] No offer as of yet (Michigan in top 5)

CB

Jabrill Peppers [#1 ATH] Could play RB/WR as well (Michigan in top 5)

Parrker Westphal [ #11 CB] (Michigan the assumed leader)

D’Andre Payne [#20 CB] (Michigan in top 5)

Nick Watkins [#4 CB] (Michigan in top 5, Alabama the assumed leader)

WR

Mark Andrews [#7 WR] 6’6” target! (Michigan in top 5)

Corey Holmes [#61 WR] (Michigan the assumed leader)

Artavis Scott [#11 WR] (Michigan in top 5) Possible “package deal” Mason Cole, OG

Drake Harris  [#6 WR]  (MSU committ who is opening up his recruiting to focus on football)

OT

Denzel Ward [#41 OT] (Committed to Michigan, but wants to take visits)

Damien Price [#2 OT] (Michigan in top 4)

Tommy Doles [#32 OT] (Michigan the assumed leader)

Alex Bars [#21 OT] (No named leaders. Brother is on current team)

OG

Mason Cole [#5 OG].  (Michigan in top 3) Possible “package deal” with Artavis Scott, WR

ILB

Michael Ferns [#7 ILB] (Committed to Michigan)

WDE

Lawrence Marshall [#16 WDE] (Michigan the assumed leader)

Joe Henderson [#17 WDE] (Michigan in top 4)

*All player Rankings are based on 247 Composite Ratings

I put together a scouting report on Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Corey Holmes, who at one time proclaimed Michigan as his leader.  I was pretty impressed by how ready he appears to be for college, although he checked in at the recent Under Armour combine at 166 lbs., so that's an obvious place for improvement.  Of the 10 receivers Michigan has offered so far, he's perhaps the most polished one.

http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/01/scouting-report-corey-holmes....

I dislike these threads but thought I could start one and title it in a way that would not cause panic. It's January 2013 and Denzel Ward may have committed too soon and that's ok. He spoke to the coaches about taking visits and was told he would need to decommit first but would still be a UM recruit. He's thinking about visiting Florida, Purdue, ASU, Stanford and UCLA. There is no cause for concern. Michigan is on the minds of several big time 2014 OL and the haul will be Tremendous no matter what.

via Rivals $

via ESPN $

Edit: Ward has this to say on Twitter: Denzel Ward ‏@DW75_

Just got done working hard and I come back to tweets and threads about me and my Michigan status, tell the fam and Coach Hoke I'm All Blue!

Imo, this is just another kid who wants to travel for free and capitalize on the opportunity he's worked so hard for. Don't we all wish we had that opportunity? Nothing to see here.

I wrote up a scouting report on Arizona wide receiver Dionte Sykes, one of nine 2014 receivers to hold an offer at this point.

http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2012/12/scouting-report-dionte-sykes....

He looks like another possession type of receiver, the kind that Brady Hoke and Al Borges seem wont to recruit.  They have gone after a few deep threat guys (James Quick, LaQuon Treadwell), but most of their offerees at the position seem to fit the mold of 6'3"/6'4" guys with big frames and not a great deal of speed.

I've always thought that it's important to have a variety of types of players at the wide receiver position to add other dimensions to your offense.  Jeremy Gallon offers things that Jeremy Jackson doesn't, for example.  I have heard that Sykes is likely to end up out west, but I have also heard that his dad really likes Michigan.  Regardless, when it comes to receiver recruiting, I think it would be very beneficial for Hoke to nab a Steve Breaston or Jeremy Gallon type of player in the 2014 class, someone who could help on special teams, run reverses, and catch wide receiver screens.