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

Worchester, MA – 5'10", 173
		24/7	3*, 88 rating #36 ATH, #5 MA
		Rivals	3*, 5.7 rating #82 WR, #5 MA
		ESPN	3*, 79 rating #39 ATH, #5 MA
		Composite	3*, #482 overall #36 ATH, #5 MA
		Other Suitors	Syracuse, PSU, Duke, GT
		YMRMFSPA	Chris Evans
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Ace.
Notes	Twitter.
Film
Senior Year:

Dennis was announced as a receiver when Michigan signed him, but according to Sam Webb he's going to play corner. One glance at the depth chart at slot is enough to confirm the wisdom of this idea, so we'll cover him as a DB. That presents a problem since the vast majority of his scouting talks about him as a receiver.

Also presenting a problem: New England Recruiting Blindness Syndrome. The first mention of Dennis in a Rivals article was two days before he committed. I'm sure the Michigan site was mentioning him, but a lot of their content is on the message board and therefore not retained. Dennis had close to zero national profile of the sort that generates useful scouting bits. The dearth of defensive scouting and highlight tape that's 94% offense led me to throw up my hands on the You May Remember Me From Such Players As and pick Chris Evans (who I incorrectly but reasonably projected would end up in the secondary). It's a little thin.

[After THE JUMP: how's that for a "must click through" sell?]

What scouting does exist is largely about how Dennis is a fast guy doing fast guy things. It would be hard for a paragraph about a football player to be more generic than this:

"Dennis brings a lot of speed to the Wolverines and Josh Gattis' new offense," Friedman said. "He can be used in a number of ways. Dennis has shown off very good hands but the way he makes defenders miss in the open field should encourage Michigan to get him the ball as much as possible. As an all-purpose back, you could see Dennis get targeted for screen passes and other short routes and be allowed to create big plays with his feet."

He later added that the slot guy wasn't tall and would have to add mass.

Dennis did attend an Opening regional at which he put up a 4.52 40, 4.33 shuttle, and a 40 inch vert, so his athleticism isn't just running by overwhelmed chowder scions. He can go. If you believe internal program numbers, which you probably shouldn't, that 40 is now being clocked in the 4.3 range. Even if that's exaggerated it's worth noting that he's standing out on a team that's got some fast guys on it.

That was enough for Sam Webb to pick Dennis as his sleeper of the year, and he had some backing from 24/7's Brian Dohn:

… very similar [to Mike Sainristil]:  Eamonn’s really fast, runs well, you could see him playing on defense.  … if you’re putting him in the slot and you want to run him on that short cross, if he gets that little separation, that six-yard cross can turn in 25 yards really fast.

And Dohn points out that NERBS (NERBS!) had an impact on his recruitment and his rating:

"…people are going to be like, ‘hey, where did this Eamonn Dennis kid come from?’ He was good the whole time, it’s just that maybe you overlooked him because his recruitment wasn’t really public."

"And so for me, he’s just so athletic.  And again, Michigan got on him early, he loved Michigan, and bang – they wrapped it up. So, you didn’t hear a ton about him in the recruiting world.  So, for me he’s really a kid to watch."

People were similarly skeptical when Michigan picked up Kwity Paye, especially since they had a ton of highly touted DE prospects on their board. NERBS is a recruiting inefficiency Michigan is exploiting.

Other than that, there's a take from his coach with a very weird assertion…

“…great straight-ahead speed … great vision … has the ability to accelerate and decelerate and see the field develop in front of him.  … may wind up in the slot, you can put him outside the numbers, he can take it out of the backfield, he can carry the ball. He’s a guy who could with a little weight, could play the VIPER on defense.”

…another take without that assertion…

“… high football I.Q. and the maturity level to come in and grasp our system [as a freshman]. … electric athlete with great vision and sub-4.5, 4.4 speed … He has the ability to break away from defenders ."

…and a couple of scouting bits from 24/7 that don't go into too much detail ("fast and quick and a big play in waiting  …elite speed"). There is one report that goes into a little detail, but I don't know where it came from. Steve Lorenz wrote up Dennis's signing day capsule but usually the reports in them are quoted from elsewhere. In any case:

…explosive offensive athlete … potentially elite player on special teams. … ability to engage defenders in small spaces and drive his legs forward for a few extra yards. He looks comfortable on the football field and flashes a calm explosiveness when working into his first burst or first move at the second level. Works well in small spaces and appears to have plus vision at the second and third levels.

His highlight tape does show a guy who is plenty willing to put his foot in the ground and cut up into the interior. He's a natural running back who can also play wideout, a strong spread H candidate. But Michigan's got those coming out its ears now so they're going to take a spin at CB.

For what it's worth, Dennis said things like this whenever someone asked him about his position at Michigan:

 

“They want me on the offensive side of the ball with Coach Gattis,” Dennis said. “Coach Brown really wants me to play defense, but I told him I’d rather play offense. It’s cool though the whole coaching staff wants me. They want certain spots I can do with them, which is really great.”

This might be more than a flier move.

Why Chris Evans? As mentioned I give up on picking a defensive player since there is no defensive scouting and close to zero tape. As an offensive player Dennis is very similar to Evans. Both guys are hybrid RB/WRs. Some guys can moonlight at one spot or the other; Evans and Dennis are guys with good interior running instincts who can also take the top off a defense when split out wide. Evans had a similar athletic profile.

If Dennis works out as a CB he'd be similar to Lavert Hill: smallish but not tiny, solid outside corner who can flip in to play over the slot.

Guru Reliability: Minimal. Rivals analyst's take reads like he knew nothing about the guy and watched his hudl film. Dohn is really the only guy with an opinion based on anything. Also: now he's a corner.

Variance: Very High. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ceiling: Moderate-plus. Not super enthused about the 4.3 shuttle but that might be an outlier given Dennis's other numbers and his film—he's clearly got better stop-start than 6'3" Makari Paige, who posted the same shuttle. Height also a bit of an issue.

General Excitement Level: Moderate. I like Dennis in a vacuum. On a roster with Giles Jackson and Mike Saintristil a class ahead and AJ Henning in the same class he's potentially redundant, thus a speculative move to corner.

Projection: N/A. Almost certain redshirt; is going to need a large amount of work at CB before he's anything other than a panic button option. Could move back to offense, which wouldn't necessarily be a terrible sign since the depth chart virtually demands Michigan takes a swing. It would just mean he's not a cornerback.

If he sticks in the secondary he'd probably get his first shot at a starting job after Vincent Gray exits. This would be as a redshirt junior. That's a nice long runway, at least.