2010 Recruiting: Terrence Talbott

Previously: S Carvin Johnson, S Ray Vinopal, S Marvin Robinson, CB Courtney Avery.

Terrence Talbott's mother had a very busy year in the early 90s during which she gave birth to two brothers nine months and one day apart. Dealing with an infant while pregnant seems like an epic timesink—can't say I've personally experienced it, but I'm harried enough with zero kids, inside or out—so perhaps it's understandable that the Talbott family didn't pore over available baby names. When the time came to name the second child, they stuck with what they knew: Terry, basically.

Both grew up to become Division I-A football prospects, and in late summer last year both committed to Michigan. Thus was created one of the greatest nameplate dilemmas of the century. Will Michigan go with Terry Talbott's entire name? What about Terrance? "Ence"? Will one be T. Talbott and the other Talbott? Will Jon Falk just throw his hands up and forgo any attempt to distinguish between the two, figuring that six inches and 100 pounds is better than a few letters on the back of a jersey anyway?

We'll have to wait until at least the UConn game to find out, and unless you can peer at the players stuck deep on the bench from your seat the wait could be considerably longer. Terrence Talbott, the younger defensive back discussed here, has suffered an array of injuries during his high school career. That combined with a general lack of size and recruiting hype suggests a redshirt beckons.

In fact, Talbott has a recruiting profile almost identical to Courtney Avery: one site sees him a borderline four star. The others are unimpressed. Here, though, Scout is the skeptic and ESPN, which gave Avery a MAC-like 73, rates Talbott a 78. That's the same grade given MSU four-star Mylan Hicks (amongst a host of other four-star-ish recruits the average reader is less familiar with) and solidly within the top 20 the state of Ohio. That's a considerable difference from Rivals (#47) or JJ Huddle (#96!).

Here are ESPN's reasons for optimism($):

Talbott is an explosive, well-rounded corner who is active around the ball in both run and pass support. Lacks great size but masks it well with his hard playing style. Has good defensive back savvy, instincts and ball skills. Displays good footwork and sharp stop-start skill mirroring receivers tightly off the line and out of their breaks. We like his zone scheme skill-set and understanding of the concept. Expertly reads the quarterback, soundly anticipates the pass and times his break precisely. Closes on the ball fast and shows good short-area burst jumping and often undercutting perimeter routes. Sharp out of his underneath breaks with good plant and drive skill and explosion out of his pedal. Demonstrates good leaping skills and athleticism defending the deep ball.

In sum, Talbott is "undersized, yet athletic" and ESPN figures he can be a "solid underneath corner" in college.

Despite the vast difference in their ranking of Talbott, Scout's scouting report is nearly identical:

Talbott is a true cover corner with great hips and the willingness to come up and hit against top competition level. While some question his height, his ability to go up against taller receivers have never been a problem as Talbott has a great vertical leap and is fluid in going from coverage to battle a receiver for the ball. …

Great cover corner prospect who could be one of the best in Ohio for the Class of 2010. Must show he can stay in good health but the sky is the limit.

They follow that by naming him the #109 corner in the country. If you're seeing the three stars next to his name and asking yourself "just how many corners did Scout give three stars?" the answer is a whopping 122, not counting JUCOs. Sucks to be #123 (Middle Tennessee commit Chris Sharpe).

And here's his coach providing a similar assessment:

"He's a true cover guy. He's a great open field tackler with an unbelievable amount of athletic ability. He has a 38-39 inch vertical. He has a lot of great things going for him."

The book on Talbott: short, smart, agile, excellent in coverage but needs a year or two to bulk up for college. A couple of impressive combines echo the agility bit. This one was from before his junior year:

“Terrence ran a 4.47 forty and a 4.08 shuttle at Ohio State last weekend,” said Jay Hooten of Fast Twitch Performance who trains the Huber Heights Wayne cornerback. “Let’s just say he turned some heads with his times and I feel he’ll continue to do well as he’s worked hard and is 100-percent healthy. …

Hooten, who was an assistant strength coach at Ohio State for five years, feels Talbott’s future is bright and one of the best athletes he’s worked with. Often he compares Talbott’s physical tools to that of former Buckeye Chris Gamble.

That's a bizarre comparison since Gamble is a huge cornerback at 6'1" and 200 pounds, but if he's got the same sort of mobility as Gamble that would be excellent.

Depending on how you look at it, Talbott's propensity to get injured is either a reason he might be underrated or a worrying flaw. After losing much of his sophomore year to injury, Talbott missed the first couple games of his senior year—including, unfortunately, the one Tim made it to—with an ankle injury that lingered through much of the season.  I tend towards the former since cornerback is not a position that requires a ton of pounding and none of Talbott's injuries were the variety that tend to recur.

As for Talbott's recruitment, he picked up early offers from Michigan State and Wisconsin and by the time he committed he'd added a few additional BCS offers—Cincinnati, Illinois, Kentucky, UConn, and Purdue along with Michigan. That's a solid list notably devoid of heavyweights. He and his brother picked Michigan in mid-August; Terrence was adamant he was going to Michigan even as his brother flirted with North Carolina late in the recruiting year.

Why Todd Howard? Not a strong comparison here since Michigan hasn't had a whole lot of diminutive corners over the past decade. Howard is about as close as it gets to the same physical stature. He was also excellent in coverage until the instant he was supposed to make a play on the ball; hopefully Talbott will be able to get his head around more than twice in his career.

Etc.: Ace mashes up some Talbotts. Here's Wayne quarterback and presumed future Buckeye Braxton Miller on Talbott after Wayne's first game of 2008, when Talbott was just barely a sophomore:

Early in the third quarter Wayne defensive back Terrence Talbott intercepted West quarterback John Peters and returned it to the Firebirds’ 32-yardline. That set up Miller’s 6-yard TD run and a 14-10 Wayne lead with 9:37 left in the third quarter. Talbott added a second interception late in the period.

"(Talbott) works real hard at the weight room and in practice,” Miller said. “He stays after practice and works by himself on the Jugs machine. He’s going to be a good player.”

Guru Reliability: Low. Big spread, lots of injuries.
General Excitement Level: Moderate-ish. A smattering of good offers, with Wisconsin being the most encouraging, and the ESPN ranking are positives. Size and general "eh" from the recruiting sites bring down the excitement level.
Projection: Redshirt if Dorsey makes it in. If Dorsey doesn't, Talbott is more likely to see the field than Avery since he's spent more time at his college position and is praised for his understanding of the position in scouting reports. Will be thrown into the corner melee after the graduation of Woolfolk. Hopefully a guy you don't rely on until he's an upperclassman, at which point he may or may not develop into a starter.