Hello: Terry Richardson
Though it seemed for a long time like Michigan would not acheeve dream of landing the top in-state trio of LBs Royce Jenkins-Stone and James Ross and CB Terry Richardson, fear not: Richardson sealed the deal today, completing the triumvirate.
GURU RATINGS
Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 24/7 Sports |
4* #10 CB |
4*, 5.8 NR CB, #195 Ovr |
NR CB, 150 Watchlist |
4*, 97, #3 CB, #31 Ovr |
There is a machine hidden somewhere deep in Detroit that pumps out 5-9, 160-pound cornerbacks, and sends them to Cass Technical High School. Terry Richardson is the latest model, following Boubacar Cissoko, Dior Mathis, and Delonte Hollowell.
Richardson was a 2-seed in Sam Webb's March Madness recruiting column for the Detroit News. Allen Trieu on Terry's game:
The question with him is the size. He stands 5-9, 162 pounds, but he is an excellent football player with great instincts and excellent ball skills. His extensive offer list is proof that many of the top programs in the country have seen enough to say, 'We can overlook the lack of size.'
For the record, Michigan has commitments from 1-seeds James Ross and Royce Jenkins-Stone, 2-seed Devin Funchess, and 3-seeds Matt Godin and Mario Ojemudia, and is in good position with a couple other prospects. Michigan State has commitments from... none of the top 16. The report on Richardson is almost the exact same as the three DBs before him: excellent skills, except he's really short (he was a combine-verified 5-8 in 2009, but that's 3 years before he enters college, too). Trieu says he has the best ball skills of the Cass Tech lineage. Sam also profiled him in the fall:
"He's a natural at corner," said Scout.com Midwest regional manager Allen Trieu. "He has tremendous instincts to go along with the quickness and hips to turn and run with receivers. He also has great ball skills. His main weakness is size. I'd like to see him add weight this offseason but his tackling this season has been solid despite that."
Terry's been putting on weight, as he claims he was only 130 pounds(!) as a sophomore:
"I believe last year I was around 130, and right now I am at 165," Richardson reported. "I feel way stronger. My press coverage is looking a lot better. That is something that I just cannot wait to work on this summer during camp season — being more physical in press coverage."
Moving along, Terry talks about himself on his Scout profile:
“I’m a big play guy. When we need a big play, I’ll come through and make it happen. I’m also smart and I can read routes and know what the offense is doing. I’m also always very composed and don’t get rattled. I want to be more explosive and get in and out of my breaks faster. I’m working on being more physically fit and getting stronger.”
Playing intelligently and building strength are HUGE needs for short DBs. Terry is a certified short guy. The only question about Terry is whether he can do those other things well enough to counter sub-optimal height.
It's relevant because all Cass Tech DBs are the same, so check out Brian's Delonte Hollowell profile for the general vibe on Terry, as well. Aside from the differences noted above, Terry is also a liiiittle bit taller than Delonte, and listed quite a bit faster.
OFFERS
Allen gave a little love to his offer list above, and here is a small sampling of schools who aren't too worried about Terry's height to offer: Alabama, Iowa, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, and USC. All of those schools have put guys into the league at the position in the past couple years.
Other offers include Arizona State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Toledo, and UCLA. This is not some under-the-radar prospect. He had interest from Florida, Miami, Oregon, and Tennessee, and if those schools had extended offers, this would be as exciting a prospect as there is in this class.
STATS
Terry Richardson finished his junior season with 35 tackles and 12 interceptions on defense. Offensively, he caught 12 receptions for around 400 yards and five touchdowns.
Richardson had four interceptions, 16 breakups and 20 tackles as a sophomore.
Not bad. Cass Tech ran a spread offense of sorts (though Royce Jenkins-Stone got his share of carries at fullback), and Terry got a few receptions on that side of the ball. Defensively, the Technicians don't play a lot of teams that throw the ball much, and I wouldn't be surprised if those stats are a little... exaggerated.
FAKE 40 TIME
Scout says 4.5, but none of the other sites have listed 40 times. Considering his Scout profile also lists a combine-verified 4.64 (actually not bad with laser timing), I'll have to give two FAKEs out of five.
VIDEO
Youtube highlights:
You can also catch a couple glimpses of #9 in last year's Cass Tech FNL feature, where he impressed me a bit more than 2011 Michigan commit Delonte Hollowell.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
Terry seems like a great corner, but on the other hand, Michigan has plenty of talent in the pipeline. Courtney Avery will be but a junior in 2012, and Blake Countess's class (also including Greg Brown, Tamani Carter, and Raymon Taylor) will just be sophomores or redshirt freshmen. Considering Terry is just a skinny little guy, a redshirt year is probably in order.
Following such a redshirt year, special teams time as a redshirt freshman is the expectation, before the graduation of Courtney Avery and Terrence Talbott opens up a starting spot, for which he'll compete alongside whichever younger guy doesn't take the Woolfolk/Floyd starting spot in 2012.
I would guess Terry has a good chance at that spot, assuming natural development, or he at least gets a chance in nickel packages (though it seems Mattison's current plan is to play a bigger safety type in the nickel). By the time he's an upperclassman, Terry should be getting plenty of time in the rotation, and be a possible all-conference type in his final two years.
Though his size may limit him in the NFL Draft down the road (assuming he's not done growing - don't forget he won't even be in college for another 18 months), he still has enough other skills to be selected after the first round.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
I am shaking in my shoes trying to figure out what other defensive back is going to commit within the next couple days, because I sure don't have the "comes in pairs" post ready to go for another guy (although Shane Morris and Matt Godin started to break up the position-by-position lockstep).
You know the story by now - DT, RB, OL, and WR are the remaining needs. A QB would be very nice, but is no longer imperative, and the remaining slots can go to the best prospects, regardless of position
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure we're recruiting him as a RB.
I thought he was a safety all the way but I could be wrong.
I know TomVH had him listed as a RB in one of his weekly updates, but I always thought he was going to be a S. If he likes Michigan that much, and can persuade his cousin Dunn to come here with him, it would almost be guarenteed that he would be a S.
Thomas is a 2013 recruit not 2012, I believe the question is who would we prefer for the 2012 class.
I would honestly like any of them, but if I had to make one, it would be
1. Jarrod Wilson-we need a true safety, and he has very good size and skillset
2. Anthony Standifer-is a bigger corner/safety, and in his film he was just a complete ballhawk. Also, his recruiting is definintly picking up as other schools are noticing him
3. Armani Reeves-Great athlete, very fluid
4. Wayne Morgan
Just the news i needed today for my inspiration. Great job Terry and welcome to one of the best defenses in the country (in a couple of years)....
Can you imagine what the Spartans are thinking right now?
Now that is a scary proposition...
it goes something like this:
"meh...we knew he was blue all the way. MD doesn't like small guys and really didn't want him. We're recruiting nationally now and we can find better players elsewhere"
something like that.
Recruiting doesn't mean anything. UM is not winning the in-state recruiting. Michigan HS talent is down this year. Dantonio recruits under-appreciated talent. UM is using cheap tactics to get talent. We beat UM in the past! Media = haters.
if you replaced UM with scUM!
The Sparty boards are hilarious.
Apparently Michigan is "NFL-connection cheating", "guaranteeing recruits will start as freshmen", and "threatening to yanks offers if recruits don't commit fast enough".
I swear you can not make this shit up.
The funny thing is, we don't even need to yank offers. Look at Ron Thompson. You delay too much, you get left in the cold. The class is filling like gangbusters, and all the momentum is just feeding on itself, because these recruits want to make sure they're in.
That quote was one dude's entire post word for word. Surprisingly, he didn't use scUM or scum (sometimes they don't even allow us the dignity of capital letters!), but you're right in that they almost always do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGdlJWfx1GA
EDIT: youtube upload fail. Trying again.
EDIT 2: Fail again.
Just going with the link
Thinking.
Can you imagine what the Spartans are thinking right now?
Yeah, probably something like "well, she looked 18!"
This is tremendous. Go Blue!
Let's keep stackin 'em up
.
1) Terry: Welcome to the family. Hail.
2) I'm going to start making films like this of folks who want promotions - video of them kick ass at their desk, dominating at meetings, presenting with poise and professionalism.
3) Here's what the Spartans are thinking right now: "We had a window. Now it has closed."
HELL YES!
How is your eye? I heard there was an incident.
is going to be really good in a few years and State is really going to SUCK in a few years. Good job Hoke and Co.
now we have to get some DT's and a couple more OL's. am i crazy for stil thinking there is hope for o'brien to keep the in-state train rolling????
Probably, Yeah. He's always seemed very sold on Tennessee and word is that the coaches have backed off on him a bit. Kids sometimes want to go elsewhere, but even without O'Brien the instate job the coaches have done is unbelievable and I'm celebrating the guys who are coming here.
Congrats to Terry Richardson and Team Hoke. We want MOAR!
Gotta say the intro to his highlight video is pretty sweet! congrats T-Rich GO BLUE!!!!!
Today, the S on the Sparty helmet stands for seppuku. In-state dominance complete.
We'll take Burbridge too, thank you very much.
Fantastic news,
With Hoke seeming to secure committments in pairs, anyone have any bets on who throws in next or so? Wormley? Burbridge? Kiel? another DB?
Welcome to the family Terry. Help bring in some other top guys like Kiel, Diamond, Pipkins, etc. GO BLUE!
Does anybody know how to listen to the podcast over at WTKA? I don't know how to listen to them with this new podcast page they have.
http://www.wtka.com/pages/9395307.php
Click on the "latest" tab and then "5/19/11 - Recruiting roundup" and it should play on its own
This is great news, Welcome aboard Terry.
and this class will end up easily in the top 10 nationally.
I wonder if the old recruiting game of State caused a little bit of pride which, as we all know, cometh before the fall.
Maybe these kids just don't want to spend time in jail for group beatdowns.
Either way, welcome Terry. We look forward to celebrating those big plays in a winged helmet.
I guess we are getting that dream class zeke pike was talking about... it's just.... we are doing it without him..
Now onto Kiel, Reeves, O'Brien, and Jarrod Wilson.
Onward and upward.
Do you think that Pike sees what we are doing without him and he will reconsider? Seems like we are going after Kiel and see what happens with him, but if we don't get him do you see us going back to Pike and try to get him to flip?
I'm having a hard time finding a 2012 state of Michigan football recruit ranking list online for free.
Anyone have any idea who the top 10 prospects in the state are and where they rank 1-10?
Thanks for the help.
have put together any team rankings yet. Despite the M staff's fantastic success so far, it's still very early in the process.
there is a reference to a top 16 list earlier in this article:
http://detnews.com/article/20110310/OPINION03/103100415/-1/rss29
1. James Ross, LB (MICHIGAN)
2. Aaron Burbridge, WR
3. Royce Jenkins-Stone, LB (MICHIGAN)
4. Danny O'Brien, DT
5. Terry Richardson, CB (MICHIGAN)
6. Ron Thompson, TE
7. Devin Funchess, TE (MICHIGAN)
8. Dennis Norfleet, RB
9. Mario Ojemudia, DE (MICHIGAN)
10. Kelby Latta, OL
11. Matt Godin, DE (MICHIGAN)
12. Leviticus Payne, CB
13. Lester Liston, LB
14. Prescott Line, LB
15. Ruben Lile, S/WR
16. Brandon Berry. LB
I think I answered the wrong question.
Funny that just a little while ago, the only M lock on that list was Thompson. Sparty was supposed to have 3 in the top ten (Burbidge, Funchess, Ojemudia), and a good shot at Godin.
Allen Trieu also has an excellent free article here: http://recruiting.scout.com/3/w2012MichiganPreview.html
And we might get a couple more of those guys yet. I doubt we'll offer anyone below Godin on that list, but I wouldn't be shocked if we ended up with Burbridge, O'Brien or Latta.
Also, accoring to Rivals, we already have as many 4 star prospects (5) as we had last year.
So we're cooling on Thompson? That seems a shame; he looked really talented. Couldn't he have moved over to WR?
It's somewhat of a shame - but it sounds like the coaches wanted one of Funchess and Thompson, and Funchess jumped first. And although Thompson could probably play WR, we probably want a true WR in this class since we're probably only taking one. If we miss on other guys, the coaches might come back to Thompson later in the process, but I think they're looking more at guys like Standford and Burbridge to fill that one WR spot.
People keep saying that Thompson could play wide receiver, but he's 6'4" and 230 lbs. . . . and he's not Calvin Johnson-athletic. I'll be very surprised if he plays anything but H-back/tight end.
All your odd number are belong to us.
...right. I think it's time to start adding in some of those even numbers.
Nice play sir.
I didn't notice the odd number thing until you made note of it. Yes, we need some of the even numbers too!
He has Javier Arena's skill set with a slightly slimmer frame. Yes please.
...IS tremendous. I mean it's REALLY tremendous. The in state recruiting dominance is absolutely stunning.
take down that sarcastic "your shoes sparkle in the moonlight, fancy dancer" tagline that he put up in the banner soon after Hoke was hired. At that time, Brian was openly dismissive about Hoke's fitness to be UM's coach, but he has since gradually acknowledged Hoke's successes in staff formation and recruiting.
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