Previously: Last year's profiles. S Makari Paige, S RJ Moten, S Jordan Morant, CB Andre Seldon, CB Darion Green-Warren, CB Eamonn Dennis, VP William "Apache" Mohan, LB Nikhai Hill-Green, LB Kalel Mullings.

West Bloomfield, MI – 6'1", 220
		24/7	3*, 86 rating #35 ILB, #22 MI
		Rivals	4*, #245 overall #16 ILB, #6 MI
		ESPN	3*, 79 rating #12 ILB,  #15 MI
		Composite	3*, #462 overall #22 ILB, #14 MI
		Other Suitors	Neb, MSU, UK, Mizzou, IU
		YMRMFSPA	Desmond Morgan
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Seth. Future Blue Originals from Dave and Adam.
Notes	Twitter. Early Enrollee. West Bloomfield (Ron Bellamy coach, Makari Paige teammate)
Film
Senior Year:

I've decided to hold off on any Sleeper of the Year proclamations until this series is complete. However, I am willing to declare this quote of the year immediately:

Ron Bellamy: “[Cornell Wheeler is] a physically intimidating kid, for a high school kid. You know, you’re on the sideline as a coach and, by preparation and game planning, you know when the team’s going to run the screen or going to run the draw, whatever it may be. And he’s on the field screaming out what’s about to happen. And you’re just like, "Oh man. Bless these kids that are about to get hit by Cornell."

That doubles as a neat explanatory paragraph about Cornell Wheeler, football player.

Unlike Kalel Mullings, who preceded him in this series, Wheeler has a ton of experience at his college position. He started four games as a freshman and became a fixture at MLB his sophomore year. His final two seasons he racked up some truly incredible tackle totals: 165(!!!) as a junior, 130(!) as a senior. Then he enrolled early. Add in the fact that West Bloomfield runs Michigan's defense and Wheeler just about has to be the most-prepared Michigan linebacker recruit in recent history.

[After THE JUMP: he hits, and he knows things]

This is Wheeler's, uh, wheelhouse: knowing things. The very first thing said about Wheeler on the internet was Allen Trieu noting him as one for the future because he's "smart, instinctive, and a hitter"… as a sophomore.

Pretty much every evaluation raves about his uncanny ability to get to the spot and then end people once there. Rivals's interview of Lake Orion head coach John Blackstock is the best example:

"… great tackler … knocks people back … great sign of not only explosiveness and strength, but also that he’s a great fundamental tackler … downhill player at the snap of the ball. A lot of kids will sit and wait to figure out a play, but he attacks the line of scrimmage at the snap … has that ‘it’ factor. It’s indescribable and uncoachable — he reads his keys, but also instinctively finds his way to the ball  …full motor every play."

For his part, Bellamy calls him "the leader of our defense" and a guy who "loves football … loves to watch film" and has an "off the charts" work ethic.

Non-coaches have similar takes. Adam in our FBO:

… downhill thumper who reads the run game well and has a good to very good short-area burst. … very good tackler … tipped his hand often when blitzing; … knifes through gaps quickly and is at his best when he's allowed to attack the backfield. … decisiveness shines. … skilled at keeping his eyes on his assignment while taking on blocks.

Touch the Banner:

… little on the short side … thickly built with a strong lower body. … downhill linebacker who doesn’t waste a lot of movement, and he chases well from sideline to sideline. … powerful hitter who plays with good leverage and knee bend. … [needs to] work on his speed and explosiveness …. little film of him dropping into coverage

It should be noted that TTB's take was immediately after his commit in September of 2018, before much or any of his junior film was available.

Allen Trieu after an in-person scout his senior year:

-… continues to show he is a great football player. He may not have big combine numbers, but is one of the best pure football players in the state. …plays fast and he is smart. … always in good position. … classic scouting conundrum but I think he ends up being productive.

That conundrum is hammered in various scouting reports: "finds the football. … always around the action. … never going to be the belle of the ball at [combines]"; "prototypical middle linebacker. …  tackling machine. … won’t dazzle you with his speed." There are more. You get the idea.

The downside that largely confined Wheeler to three-star territory is that certain lack of pizzazz. Only three of those 295 tackles were sacks; 22 were for loss. His coaches had a tendency to compare him to former teammate Lance Dixon, a four star in the 2019 class now at Penn State, so that they could point out he wasn't Lance Dixon. His DC:

[Lance Dixon] is definitely an athlete. He can play any position. Cornell is the type of kid who is going to be a true linebacker and lead the team in tackles. Cornell's going to make sure he's a sideline to sideline player. He works hard on his athleticism because he compares himself to Lance which is a tough one to compare yourself to.

They are of course not downplaying their own player; the coaches were as effusive than coaches always are about their charges. Probably more effusive. It sometimes felt like if you called Ron Bellamy up…

"He’s the best middle linebacker in the state of Michigan," Bellamy said

…to talk about potatoes…

“Cornell Wheeler is the best football player in the state of Michigan hands down,’’ Bellamy said

…Bellamy would shout "CORNELL WHEELER IS THE BEST POTATO IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN" at you.

But even in this context West Bloomfield coaches are drawing a sharp distinction between Wheeler and a whiz-bang 6'3" guy who can claim a 4.4 40. Adam's FBO noted the impact this has on the field:

[Wheeler] doesn’t have the quick-twitch athleticism to sniff out a screen and stick it or erase a guy in the flat but I think he’ll eventually be able to cover the flat. He may cede yards, but he won’t give up long runs thanks to his fundamentally sound angles. … Think of him as a bend-don't-break backer against the pass or outside runs.

That's if he's unable to develop that part of his game. Wheeler is aware of this issue and is attempting to address it:

“I’m just working on getting faster … The game changed, so I definitely need to get my speed up to play on third downs and stuff like that.”

There have been some indications that's working. He garnered a couple of positive camp notes ("covered receivers in space and had success at it"; "surprising in coverage"; ). By the end of the cycle Trieu was calling him the sleeper of Michigan's class because he'd developed into a potential every-down linebacker:

… really took [the athleticism] criticism to heart. … has gotten a lot better in coverage. … West Bloomfield has all these D-1 guys al over the field, no. 44 is still in on every play. And he will absolutely hit you in the mouth. … smart, instinctive, physical, and he’ll run through a wall to make a tackle. But I think the biggest thing for me in projecting him is that he has improved in coverage. … has developed from a guy who was ranked more toward the middle or the back end of the class to a guy who I think is maybe the best bet in this class to outperform a ranking.”

Rivals, the four-star outlier here, already thought this was possible after he attended some of their camps, twice getting "edged out" for linebacker MVP despite operating in an environment that doesn't favor thumpers. The praise was measured—"he'll surprise people with his movement abilities," "pretty good job in coverage and actually has very good ball skills," that sort of thing. That take approached consensus as Wheeler's high school career concluded.

In some ways this is reminiscent of Aidan Hutchinson, who was an arrow straight up after an early commitment. Wheeler stayed stuck at about the same ranking while Hutchinson blew up, so I don't want to overstate the case, but it seems like Wheeler has done a lot to resolve the major issue that would otherwise give one pause.

Etc.: Bellamy absolutely loves him:

“The kid … the last words, when we broke down as a team, and our captains get to talk – and Cornell’s a two-year captain for us – he told the team, ‘Thank you for the opportunity, allowing me to be your captain, allowing me to play.’ And then he broke down in tears. He was like ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t bring a championship to West Bloomfield.’

“That’s the kind of kid he is. It’s championship or bust, for him. He wears his emotions on his sleeves, he plays for his program and he plays for his teammates. You can’t ask for nothing more of a kid.”

Why Desmond Morgan? First note that this site is Desmond Morgan stan central. Morgan was an emphatic middle linebacker with dead-stop tackling ability. Folks who met Morgan got 0 YAC and liked it. He lived on his smarts and physicality; he was not Devin Bush but was decent on zone drops and generally coped in space.

Physically this is a pretty tight comparison, as Morgan was a hair under six-foot and 230 at Michigan's Pro Day when he was a senior. He put up a 4.8 40, 4.2 shuttle, and 33" vert. Wheeler was 6'0", 228 when he weighed in at an Opening regional. We only have a vert for Wheeler (36") but that's the picture of a guy with short-area explosiveness and questionable long speed. Maybe Wheeler gets up to 240; I'd guess his weight sticks more or less where it is.

Also in this vein: James Ross, a somewhat undersized middle linebacker with spooky read and react that gets him to the right place virtually every time. Ross got early playing time when he was extremely undersized—he was more or less a safety when forced into situations where he was supposed to tackle Iowa mooseback James Weisman. Wheeler isn't going to be under 210 on the field.

Guru Reliability: High. Not a ton of camps and a fair bit of spread but this is one of the more heavily scouted guys in the Midwest, and the local guy for 247 (Trieu) seems to be about where Helmholdt is even if 247's ranking doesn't reflect it. This is a spot where 247's rankings focus on NFL draft viability underrates Wheeler as a collegian. The scouting itself is good and reliable.

Variance: Very low. Healthy, weight no issue, massive experience at his collegiate position. Even knows the defense already.

Ceiling: Moderate-plus. Probably tops out as a very good college player who's of limited interest to the NFL.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. Michigan needed a high floor guy in this class and Wheeler's it. In an ideal world he cools his heels behind Bush 3.0 for a bit and then emerges into a plus starter as an upperclassman.

Projection: As with the other ILBs, the two-deep is wide open and a freshman will be on it. Wheeler's in a good spot to be that freshman, but even if he does nose ahead of his classmates this is a situation where I wouldn't assume that means he keeps his nose in front of a guy like Mullings.

Early playing time depends on whether McGrone and Ross are early-entry caliber. If one is Wheeler will be a contender with Thomas and Mullings and probably lose that battle to a more experienced or more explosive guy. By the time there's a second opening, whenever that happens to be, Wheeler has a strong shot at being the guy who does all the pointing and yelling on the defense while whichever human jetpack busts through gets all the glory.