Previously: Last year's profiles. S Quinten Johnson, S Daxton Hill, CB DJ Turner II, CB Jalen Perry, LB Joey Velazquez, LB Anthony Solomon, LB Charles Thomas, DE David Ojabo, DE Gabe Newburg, DE Mike Morris, DT Chris Hinton, DT Mazi Smith, OL Jack Stewart, OL Nolan Rumler, OL Zach Carpenter, OL Karsen Barnhart, OL Trente Jones, OL Trevor Keegan, TE Erick All, WR Giles Jackson, WR George Johnson III, WR Mike Sainristil, WR Quintel Kent (probably), WR Cornelius Johnson.

I begged him. I implored him. I exhorted Steve Lorenz to keep Zach Charbonnet's final ranking out of the top 50. I was reasonable about this. Sure, shoot him up 200 spots. Just make sure that he's not a five star or anywhere close. Well, nuts to Steve. Does he have any influence on 24/7 rankings? No. But still!

The reason I held a boombox outside of Steve's house in a futile effort to depress Zach Charbonnet's rankings is Michigan's beyond dismal history with very highly touted high school backs. Seth has a spreadsheet about this. Since Anthony Thomas—the last good mega-recruit back—arrived in 1997 these are the highest-rated RBs Michigan brought in:

• Justin Fargas (1998): was pretty good and a third round draft pick… for USC.
• Kelly Baraka (2001): never enrolled.
• Kevin Grady (2005): converted to fullback.
• Carlos Brown (2006): never had more than 79 carries in a season, fell over if you told him a rumor about cheese.
• Justice Hayes (2011): 63 career attempts before transfer to USM.
• Derrick Green (2013): lost job to De'Veon Smith, transferred.
• Ty Isaac(2014): career backup.
• Kareem Walker (2016): transferred.

Busts, one and all.

Charbonnet slots in between Green and Isaac on Seth's recruiting spreadsheet. I'm going to ignore this and assert that Charbonnet is going to be good but secretly I think we are all doomed and it's Steve's fault.

[After THE JUMP: I'm going to play this straight.]

But seriously folks, Charbonnet's probably going to break this streak. In the midst of watching Charbonnet's film I was frustrated because the player comparison in my head was just right there on the tip of my tongue, and then I suddenly realized he ran like Chris Evans. Evans is slippery in tight spaces, capable of dusting unblocked defenders with change of direction. So is Charbonnet:

There's another change of direction run at 4:30

The thing about Charbonnet is that he's 40 pounds heavier than the high school version of Evans. Charbonnet runs do not end like Evans runs. They end like De'Veon Smith runs. This is often the headline for evaluators:

• Adam Gorney, Rivals: "…physical presence and toughness … does not shy away from contact ever, he looks for it as he’s dragging defenders for more yardage or on the sideline he’ll lower his shoulder" Also: "…gritty, relentless and he takes no prisoners. … can run between the tackles, drag defenders, he keeps his feet moving and falls forward for extra yards."
• Shotgun Spratling, 24/7: "…absolute load. He runs as hard and as physical as any back to come out of the SoCal region in a long time and still maintains the quickness and top end speed to run away from a defense. … ability to make something out of nothing, take a pounding but not flinch and look even stronger in the 4th quarter than he did in the 1st really makes him special."
• Greg Biggins, 24/7: "… load at 6-2, 220 pounds and runs with tremendous power. He shows surprising burst and top end speed for a big back and has the ability to run between the tackles or bounce it outside for plus yards.
• One more from Gorney, who saw Charbonnet a lot: "… runs the football like a man - fearless, tough, he lowers his shoulder and he drags tacklers down the field … embraces contact, knocks people over and keeps on trucking for more yardage. … dominated running the ball in between the tackles … physical nature really stood out."
• 24/7 summary: "…naturally powerful runner. …great pad level and leverage. Has a rare combination of size, strength and speed and runs with decisiveness. … improved burst allows him to run outside. Can run away from a defense as well. … load to bring down in the open field. … Can improve his flexibility and change of direction.

I do not necessarily agree with the police work in that last bolded bit there. Charbonnet appears to have ridiculous change of direction for a guy his size. But because he brings so much burliness to the table evaluations sometimes skip over or downplay the truly outstanding 220-pound-Evans bit of his game. His coach does not:

“He’s tough and relentless … His pad level … power and leverage … he’s not a big stiff guy. He has some wiggle. … ability to make guys miss at his size … people are going to be shocked with how nimble he is.”

Adam:

…sets up hits well, lowering his pads and displaying the all-important balance through contact ….  ability to get to top speed while still behind the line of scrimmage to avoid unblocked defenders is impressive in its own right [1:58], but to then be able to come to almost a complete stop over the course of two yards to force a missed tackle is just ridiculous.… rare ability to accelerate to top speed in just a few steps and the patience to stop himself from doing in order to read his blocks. The ease with which he changes speeds causes defenders to lose their angle and allows Charbonnet to run through contact or, at the very least, fall forward for extra yards … uses his vision and quickness to set defenders up to fail. … can see a gap open backside, change his path to hit it, watch it close, and think to bounce the run outside over the course of two seconds.

Even Gorney, the foremost purveyor of "runs like a man" takes that went light on Charbonnet's giddyup, actually started out highlighting his darting elusiveness:

“…very elusive … In a crowd, he can evade tackles and he has really quick feet allowing him to dart in and out of holes and he has excellent vision. … very good speed. … not an elite flyer … can make people miss and he can really run between the tackles. … a lot of patience.”

Brandon Huffman of 24/7:

“… runs so powerfully, he runs so gracefully, he’s got incredible balance, vision, feel… he sees the hole before it gets there. Then when he gets to that hole and hits that hole, he’s gone.”

And Harbaugh had an interesting NFL comparison/trait:

"… big, tough, hard running player who has light feet and great balance. He has speed. …  can carry a team. He's serious too. It's the rare true freshman that comes in with the attitude that they're a 40-year old guy who has a mortgage to pay. … an Edgerrin James … He can jump a gap. He has the ability to do that."

Also in this vein: "…great feet, suddenness and twitch"; "excellent in tight spaces, has shown great feet and he’s tough to tackle"; "a lot more fluidity then most 215+ pound backs … nose for finding a seam and then exploding through it."

Charbonnet also draws praise for his "good hands" out of the backfield as he was frequently targeted on swing passes and even occasionally lined up in the slot to go downfield. Pass blocking is more of an open question but he's got the size and the attitude for it.

Put all of those things together and you have a five-star back. Charbonnet is one. The "areas for improvement" section that features in a lot of scouting reports usually read like this for Charbonnet: "really aren’t any discernible weaknesses … high end student, a high character kid "

24/7's Brandon Huffman also saw Charbonnet a ton and told Sam Webb that he'd take Charbonnet over composite #2 player Kayvon Thibodeaux, a teammate. He didn't get ranked as a five-star because he did exactly zero camps and sat out the UA game with a meniscus injury. That latter caused him to fall 21 spots on Rivals and 12 on 24/7. Hooray?

The drop was not based on anything he did, obviously. Analysts did mention his dinged-up senior season as a minor red flag:

"… one concern there has been with him is injuries. That’s the reason he missed the Under Armour game. …don’t want to get ridiculous with his carries."

So it seems bad that Charbonnet did not practice after enrolling early this spring. But this was planned, as it sounds like Michigan wanted their doctors to fix his meniscus issue:

“It was expected," [Jay] Harbaugh said. "It was the kind of thing that we knew for quite some time. Based on the expertise of doctors here, being able to do a surgery, rehab, the post-op, everything in house, it’s really reassuring when you can supervise and structure the entire recovery. There’s no downside.

He was still able to get in 215 carries his senior season, but if we're looking at ways Charbonnet will succumb to the Curse Of Fred Jackson that's the most prominent.

Takes from this spring are thus limited to off-field stuff. Those returns are good. Harbaugh:

“…a lot like Ben Mason … strength coaches are saying that he’s a ‘stalker.’ That he stalks them in the weight room all the time, living in there."

Charbonnet cited Ben Herbert as a major reason he committed, which says something. Harbaugh's praise was echoed by Khaleke Hudson ("I really liked the way he conducts himself, and he just goes about his business") and Ben Bredeson ("been working really hard … looks great") at Big Ten Media Days.

The pads have barely been on in fall camp so information is limited there as well, but it has repeatedly been asserted that Charbonnet is not a normal type person. Steve Lorenz relates that sources have called him a "horse" who is "built differently than normal people" and asserted he "looks like a linebacker but runs like gazelle."

I give up. My skepticism is defeated. All aboard the Charbonnet Express.

Why Tim Biakabutuka? Biakabutuka was big back with super quick feet and the kind of read-and-then-burst playstyle Charbonnet has. Both guys have a great feel for how blocks developed.

Charbonnet's bigger; Biakabutuka might have more burst and top end speed.

Elsewhere in comparables: Chris Perry. Perry is the only guy in the same universe as Charbonnet over the past 20 years. Both guys are big, burly backs; Perry checked in at 6'0", 225 in the NFL. Both guys have outside burst that's rare for guys their size, and the stiffarms are comparable. Honestly, though, Perry was a bruiser and a fast guy but when you go back and look at his career it doesn't feature the same kind of close-area agility Charbonnet has:

Chris Perry, but with a jump cut.

Guru Reliability: Very high. No all-star appearance thanks to the injury but guys at Oaks Christian are some of the most heavily scouted in the country.

Variance: Low. NFL-sized back with 400 impressive carries to his name. Senior dings to ankle and meniscus are a slight concern.

Ceiling: Vast. If Charbonnet hits he will be the best Michigan running back since Biakabutuka. His film looks really good in ways that are about his change of direction, not his opposition, and he needs to gain zero pounds to translate his ability directly to college.

General Excitement Level: Fine: vast. I am trying to be vigilant about RB busts past but Charbonnet doesn't have weight issues (Green) or balance issues (Brown) or off-field issues (Grady, Walker, Baraka), so it's just Hayes and Isaac he's fighting, really. Isaac's tape was not at Charbonnet's level, and Hayes was a scatback being used as a cudgel.

Projection: Instantly part of a three-man rotation at running back with Christian Turner and Tru Wilson. Charbonnet will probably have a slower start than desired thanks to his spring surgery, and your author has been banging the drum about Tru Wilson, the importance of pass protection, and his fit in this offense for a while. I don't think he's getting usurped as the nominal starter this year.

Over the long term there's nobody on the roster who has a chance of holding off Charbonnet if he remains healthy. He should emerge into the starter in year two and have a rousing NFL sendoff as a junior.

Or he will be selected for a mission to Mars that leaves tomorrow. One of the two.