November 10th, 2019 at 10:39 PM ^
Does this mean he’s good now?
seriously though, thanks for the update. Any other big movers of note?
November 10th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
Not really any big movers but Blake Corum has been steadily moving up since his commitment. Up to #143 in the composite.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
Yes CFraser this means that he is good. Now Harbaugh needs to go undefeated all 4 years that this kid is on campus otherwise he is nothing but a failure & needs to be fired then burned at the stake /s
November 10th, 2019 at 11:59 PM ^
Remember when Beano Cook said Ron Paulus would win four Heisman trophies (or something to that effect)?
November 11th, 2019 at 5:43 AM ^
Miss those Notre Dame exaggerations
November 11th, 2019 at 3:22 PM ^
Beano...
November 10th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
Love it. Always nice when the staff finds a diamond in the rough. Hopefully someday he can be a Michigan great
November 10th, 2019 at 10:52 PM ^
He runs really well for 6’4 230. Definitely a modern TE.
November 10th, 2019 at 10:56 PM ^
I wouldn't say that AJ Henning's ranking is changing, but in the Chicago area, he is the stud. (He's currently ranked 90 in the country at 24-7 sports.) Some quotes from yesterday's playoff win:
There was really just one difference between the Griffins and Notre Dame on Saturday in Frankfort: AJ Henning.
The senior is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Henning had three touchdowns in Lincoln-Way East’s 23-13 win against the Dons in the second round of the Class 8A state playoffs on Saturday.
Henning’s first score was on a two-yard run after Notre Dame muffed a punt. His second was classic AJ Henning. The Michigan recruit caught a short pass from Kyle Quinn and then busted through the Dons’ defense for a 29-yard touchdown. The third score was on a 14-yard pass from Quinn with just seconds left in the first half.
“I always say it is just not fair,” Griffins senior Sean McLaughlin said. “That kid is one of a kind. There is nothing better than seeing No. 3 run down the sidelines. We know that even when he doesn’t have those crazy stat lines he is going to do something to help us win.”
Henning had eight catches for 101 yards and six carries for 19 yards.
November 11th, 2019 at 12:14 AM ^
injuries are the reason he's not top 50. He's great.
November 11th, 2019 at 7:24 AM ^
Are you saying he's been injured a lot? I thought his only (missed time for injury) was last year. Or are you saying the scouting services are injured and they haven't been scouting him?
November 11th, 2019 at 6:15 PM ^
He missed time for injuries last year, and IIRC he had some shin splints during camp season. It's not a major concern, just doesn't have the same exposure as his peers.
November 11th, 2019 at 8:03 AM ^
November 10th, 2019 at 11:01 PM ^
It’s almost like the staff is one of the best in the country at evaluating talent.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:09 PM ^
We haven't seen it on the field.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:48 AM ^
We've seen a number of unheralded guys be big contributors. Haskins, Bush, Bell, Runyan, etc.
November 11th, 2019 at 7:31 AM ^
What about the heralded ones?
November 11th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
Lol fuck off
November 10th, 2019 at 11:18 PM ^
But can’t really use it.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:03 PM ^
Micah Mazzcua is our lowest rated recruit outside of Gaige Garcia (who may or may not be a walk on) and Nick Patterson. He was invited to the Under armour all star game so I’ve been waiting for him to rise in the rankings, but nothing yet.
Also, I’ve heard for a while that Patterson may not be a part of this class. Anyone have any updates on that?
November 11th, 2019 at 12:38 AM ^
Hasn’t been chatter for months on this. Could be one of those situations where all is quiet and then a year into his commitment he flips to another program, but it’s not terribly surprising for anyone, sort of like Eric Gray and Tennessee IIRC correctly
November 11th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
I'm guessing he probably leaves the class and if we get Theo Johnson, then that process will speed up. Someone also said a while back that Mazzcua's offer wasn't committable anymore because it was contingent on Mazzcua improving some things, but that was a few months ago and nothing has come of it, so I guess it wasn't true
November 11th, 2019 at 6:15 PM ^
MM will not qualify academically. Neither he nor Patterson will be a part of this class.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^
A player is not good because of his ranking. A player is good because he makes plays.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:30 PM ^
Wait, Harbaugh may know more about recruiting than we do??? Gasp!
November 10th, 2019 at 11:38 PM ^
Can he block? Can he catch? Can he run fast? If yes to all, I don’t care about his ranking.
November 10th, 2019 at 11:43 PM ^
About every Ivy League team offered him. Must be a very smart kid.
November 11th, 2019 at 12:40 AM ^
Cerebral. Very heady. Intelligent. Moxie. All those other things announcers say that are kind of empty in meaning
November 11th, 2019 at 1:03 AM ^
That kids tape is the bees knees
November 11th, 2019 at 1:54 AM ^
Roman Wilson tested at The Opening like a top 100 player. He must not be getting a bump up, but I think he’s very underrated.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:48 AM ^
5 out of the top 10 Hawaii state recruits go to the same high school. 8 out of the top 20. Wilson is one of those guys.
Basically, Wilson is playing in a relatively low competition state at a powerhouse so while his measurables are pretty dang good, he'll get negged for the other things.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:24 AM ^
I live in West Virginia. Therefore, when I first read the headline I just assumed it was about heroin
November 11th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
Sleeper pick.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
Another interesting note about Hibner: He got named 1st team all-league at tackle and defensive end, and also 2nd team as a punter. Erick All was also an all-league punter, so maybe it's a secret talent that reveals a tight end is going to be good.
Just saw that Jeffrey Persi got bumped up to a 4-star on the composite a couple of days ago as well. The 247 West Coast analysts have been saying he's had a really good season and could be in line for a big rise. Doubt this staff's talent evaluation at your own risk.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:50 AM ^
Just saw that Jeffrey Persi got bumped up to a 4-star on the composite a couple of days ago as well.
Hand't checked 247 in a while, but this is nice to see. People who were crying about Blue Chip ratios, Michigan is sitting at 12/22 guys in that category. I don't count Johnson since he's retiring and Garcia is going to be wrestling primarily.
November 11th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
Im not one who is down on our recruiting, but there is an honest concern being voiced about this class in particular, as the top end of the class isn't all that high. Certainly some talented guys at position of need, which is great.
That said, it's not concern trolling or crying to also acknowledge that we have zero top 50 recruits in the class ( OSU by contrast has 6 guys in the top 50) and one guy in the top 100 right now (RJ Moten at 91). To be fair we have a couple guys just outside the top 100 (McGregor at #106, Morant at #114, AJ Henning at #142 and now Hibner at #158), so there's some very good players in there.
If we want to catch OSU and be in the thick of it with the best of the best, top talent will make that easier and this class is light on truly elite prospects, at least by ranking.
November 11th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Yes, getting better ranked recruits is always preferable to getting lower ranked guys.
Yes, Michigan desperately needs to land a highly ranked CB in this class as well as another DT.
That all being said, people who crap on guys like Hibner or Persi when they commit before their senior seasons because they're "lowly ranked guys, they'll never compete well with OSU" are as incorrect as those who said Derek Green would be the next great RB because he was a 5-star.
OSU is a juggernaut on the field and in recruiting. Michigan won't make significant inroads on OSU until they beat them on the field. 2016, 2017, and 2018 losses resulted in Michigan losing out on Friday, NPF, and Zach Harrison specifically. Michigan can recruit in the top 10 with what they've done up to this point. Beating OSU on the field is going to come before Michigan recruits like OSU.
November 11th, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
Agreed re: not crapping on under-ranked guys as this class seems to have a lot of guys that are undervalued. That said we have had some success getting top 100 guys even as we lose to OSU as well. Hopefully we’ll see both on-field wins and elite recruiting wins yet this year. We are head to head with OSU for CJ Stroud to replace JD Johnson as our qb in the class
November 11th, 2019 at 11:42 AM ^
we have had some success getting top 100 guys even as we lose to OSU as well.
Yes, but that doesn't continue the more times Michigan loses to OSU. Teams that win, especially big games, get better recruits (generally). If you lose games repeatedly to teams you are directly recruiting against, you're not going to win those battles.
MSU got guys like McDowell (in part) because MSU was beating Michigan regularly. Now? I doubt McDowell, or highly ranked guys that Michigan are in on, would choose MSU over Michigan. Dobbs are Barnett not withstanding. Even then, I would put money of Barnett going to Michigan if he were a 2020 recruit after watching MSU implode and lose to Michigan twice in a row (knock on wood).
2016 and 2017 were good classes because of the buzz Harbaugh and Michigan generated. It looked like they were primed to challenge OSU year in and year out. Every season Michigan falls short makes recruiting that much more difficult. It's why PSU has been recruiting so well. They beat OSU and won the Big Ten that one time and all of a sudden they get guys over OSU on occasion. If you can't capitalize on early buzz with big wins over your direct competition, the buzz with fade. That 2016 game specifically set Michigan back 2-3 years in recruiting IMO.
Winning cures all ills. If Michigan can take out OSU this year, recruiting will build. Recruits, at this juncture, aren't going to pick Michigan over OSU in large swaths because OSU is the team that will get them to the playoffs until Michigan proves otherwise on the field.
November 11th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
While it's nice to see individual players shoot up the rankings it feels a bit like cherry picking when we just moved down in the 247 composite 2020 rankings (though I assume that was partially due to the JD Johnson news.) Regardless of the rankings, I think we need a decent QB to feel like this class is a success.