2017 Recruiting Overview: Defense Comment Count

Brian

Previously: the offense.

Defensive Line

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Joshua Kaindoh is a big-timer at DE

The Need. Defensive tackle is a major priority. Going into 2017 Michigan is down to Mone, Hurst, Dwumfour, and Pallante at a spot where four players are more or less starters these days. Gary can of course fold inside; even so Michigan should be hard after two or three DTs.

End is less of a numerical priority with four or five guys in the past two classes if Reuben Jones and Carlo Kemp have long term futures on the line. I expect that is the case; a couple ends should be expected.

The Prospects. Tackles:

  • NJ DTs Fred Hansard and Corey Bolds are from New Jersey and thus obviously high on Michigan's target list. Despite being a Paramus guy, Bolds is reputed to heavily favor Clemson right now; Hansard is a realistic prospect but a guy who is getting a lot of attention from OSU and the like.
  • UT DT Jay Tufele has an offer and is from an area of the country where Michigan has had some recent success. Oregon has a couple picks on the crystal ball that probably don't mean much.
  • M is trying to get in with five-star TX DT Marvin Wilson but he's a major longshot.

Aaaand that's it right now. This is a bit of a worry, insofar as anything can be a worry in a recruiting class almost a year from signing. Michigan needs two or three guys and has limited priority options right now.

Ends:

  • Instate DE Corey Malone-Hatcher is ranked in the top 200 everywhere and generally expected to end up at M, though ND, OSU, and Alabama are also involved.
  • Five-star FL DE Joshua Kaindoh is originally from Baltimore; he transferred IMG and maintains a top list with a distinctly Midwest flavor. Penn State was an early leader, and these days "Penn State leads" is a big red bullseye for Harbaugh.
  • Five-star FL DE Jarez Parks is actually from Florida and will be a tough pull; Michigan is reruiting him hard all the same.
  • MD DE Chase Young has the full suite of Midwest offers and a few Maryland predictions from the locals. Michigan will be after him; he has given no indication of a leader.

The Projection: Michigan should get Malone-Hatcher; Hansard is an increasingly good bet as OSU has already gotten two DT commits. Past that it's cloudy. Michigan should have a good shot at Kaindoh, especially if Michigan and PSU have the seasons it looks like they will. They'll take two DTs and two DEs.

Linebacker

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Singleton seems familiar somehow

The Need. Michigan got plenty of numbers at linebacker a year ago and can take it easy in this class. They lack top-end prospects, however, so finding a couple potentially elite guys is an important goal for 2017.

The Recruits. This position seems pretty easy to peg. Paramus LB Drew Singleton has been on campus repeatedly; Michigan is a heavy favorite. MI LB Josh Ross is James's younger brother. Michigan is also a heavy favorite with him. Pioneer ATH Antjuan Simmons has offers from the world and is probably an OLB at the next level; he seemed a bit miffed that Michigan waited to offer and has been seeking the proverbial love. He released a top 11 without M in it; we'll see whether that holds up.

Michigan is also chasing a couple of big fish. One is five-star Baylor commit Baron Browning, whose brother played for Harbaugh at Stanford. 2017 #1 Dylan Moses, a linebacker out of Louisiana, has a top six that doesn't include M but

The move to IMG could open a door to another top program, Michigan, which recently made headlines for announcing it would hold a portion of its spring practices at IMG Academy over the spring.

"That would be cool,” he said. "I’ve never really seen Michigan up close like that before and I’ve never visited the school either. It’s just a great opportunity and you know, hopefully I can get an offer from them, because I don’t have one yet.”

…will be around for Michigan's practices at IMG.

The Projection. Singleton and Ross and that's it.

Defensive Back

The Need. You can never ever have enough corners; Michigan will pursue at least a couple. Safety is either a critical need or a modest one depending on where guys like Ahmir Mitchell and Brad Hawkins end up. In a large class they'll probably go with five or even six DBs. They are set to lose that many.

The Recruits. Three-star Canadian Benjamin St-Juste was a camp commit who got pushed back a year because of differences between the Canadian and American school systems.

  • FL CB CJ Cotman was very excited about getting a Michigan offer; he immediately hit up every Michigan recruiting site for articles, fulfilling "who you talk to is important."
  • FL CB Stanford Samuels III is another Florida State legacy out of Flanagan who Michigan will try to steal away from the Seminoles.
  • FL CB Trajan Bandy, a high school teammate of Joshua Uche, has an offer and seemed pretty pumped about Michigan on twitter when Uche pulled the trigger. (He in fact jumped the gun with a celebratory tweet.)
  • MI CB Ambry Thomas goes to King and has been hot and cold on Michigan depending on when you get him. Michigan has to repair some of the after-effect of the Swenson situation. After they do
  • MI ATH Allen Stritzinger could be a corner or safety; we talked about him on offense.
  • Michigan's trying to get involved with five-star TX S Jeffrey Okudah and did manage to slip into a top ten.
  • Fantastically-named UT S Chaz Ah You picked up an offer in October. 
  • Instate safeties Jaylen Kelly-Powell and Scott Nelson are possibly the best bets to end up in the class; Kelly-Powell named Michigan his leader a while back and goes to Cass. Nelson is actually a MSU fan; we'll see if the Spartans get involved. Nelson is a Don Brown guy; he had a very early offer from BC.

The Projection. Nobody other than Kelly-Powell seems 50%+ to be in the class at this instant save St-Juste. They will take a pile of DBs, though.

Specialists

Michigan is unlikely to spend a scholarship on a specialist this year. They picked up Quinn Nordin, the country's top kicker, and Camaron Cheeseman, the #2 long snapper, in the last class. They also added punter Will Hart. A Zoltan-level punter would be the only player Michigan goes after with a precious slot.

This instant's ridiculous class projection you should absolutely ignore

I mean do not pay attention to this at all. A confidence level of "high" means approximately a 50/50 shot they end up in the class. "Low" means this is more or less a placeholder.

State Position Player Approx. Stars Confidence Level
CO QB Dylan McCaffrey 4.5 Very High
GA RB Kurt Taylor 3 Commit
MI RB Allen Stritzinger 3.5 Very High
GA WR Jeremiah Holloman 4 Commit
MI WR Donovan Peoples-Jones 5 Moderate
CA WR Joseph Lewis 4.5 Low
MI TE Carter Dunaway 3 Commit
CA TE Jimmy Jaggers 4 Moderate
MI OL JaRaymond Hall 4 Commit
NY OL Isaiah Wilson 5 High
FL OL Tedarrell Slaton 4.5 Moderate
FL OL Cesar Ruiz 4 Moderate
WI OL Tyler Beach 3.5 Moderate
NJ DT Fred Hansard 4 Low
UT DT Jay Tufele 4.5 Low
MI DE Corey Malone-Hatcher 4 High
FL DE Joshua Kaindoh 5 Moderate
NJ LB Drew Singleton 4.5 Very High
MI LB Josh Ross 4 High
CN CB Benjamin St Juste 3 Commit
FL CB Trajan Brandy 4 Low
FL CB CJ Cotman 4 Moderate
MI S Jaylen Kelly-Powell 4 Very High
MI S Scott Nelson 3 Moderate

Comments

Alumnus93

February 9th, 2016 at 10:43 PM ^

1. still no Ohio it seems. I gotta think there will be a few this year.
2. if a recruit cannot figure out the swenson thing by now then good riddance.
3. this list will be very different than the group that commits, in the end. we will be getting many recruits that we aren't aware of yet

Alumnus93

February 9th, 2016 at 10:44 PM ^

1. still no Ohio it seems. I gotta think there will be a few this year.
2. if a recruit cannot figure out the swenson thing by now then good riddance.
3. this list will be very different than the group that commits, in the end. we will be getting many recruits that we aren't aware of yet

dragonchild

February 10th, 2016 at 7:09 AM ^

How in the world did Camaron Cheeseman not make the all-name team?!  If they're not including long snappers that's not only an inaccurate portrayal of a football roster, it's an oversight that must be fixed immediately.

Edit: Ah, 2017, right.  I initially posted before my morning coffee.  But!  This calls for vigilance.  Whether he stays in our class or not, there's a roster spot waiting on the all-name team for this guy.

Don

February 10th, 2016 at 8:04 AM ^

Sam Webb said everything just short of "gut feeingl" for Dylan McCaffrey this morning. He made it pretty clear without saying directly that DM is going to commit to us.

mgobaran

February 10th, 2016 at 9:01 AM ^

The three Hyphenated-Michiganders seem like important gets. Then ALL THE OL AND DL! Plus McCaffrey of course! 

What are your thoughts on the St. Thomas Aquanis (FL) running back Mike Epstein? Commited to Illinois right now, but seemed pumped about a Michigan offer. 



AND HOW DID I MISS THE TE NAMED JIMMY JAGGERS IN THE OFFENSE OVERVIEW!?!

tlhwg

February 10th, 2016 at 9:30 AM ^

every other elite national program in the country (until NSD).  That said, IMO you're probably in better position to land at least one of Ruiz and Slaton than anyone else right now.  So I think you get at least one of them.

And I agree with the notes in this piece re Kaindoh, I think it's fair to say that you're in his top 5 given he's from Maryland and therefore probably playing in B1G country.

notTHATbrian

February 6th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^

A year out Brian got a 1/3rd of the class right. Plus credit for mention of Ambry Thomas and "A Zoltan-level punter would be the only player Michigan goes after with a precious slot."