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, LB Cornell Wheeler, LB Osman Savage, DE Aaron Lewis, DE Jaylen Harrell, DE Braiden McGregor, DT Kris Jenkins, OL Reece Atteberry, OL Zak Zinter.

San Juan Capistrano, CA – 6'7", 275 302
		24/7	4*, 90 rating #26 OT, #27 CA
		Rivals	4*, 5.8 rating #35 OT, #28 CA
		ESPN	4*, 80 rating #36 OT, #30 CA
		Composite	4*, #323 overall #24 OT, #26 CA
		Other Suitors	USC, UCLA, Wash, NW, Stanford, OU
		YMRMFSPA	Taylor Lewan
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Seth.
Notes	Twitter. Early enrollee.
Film
Senior Year:

I've probably blathered about this concept enough that I can say three words and many of you can walk away from this post with the full knowledge of its content: Greg Frey tackle.

That's Jeffrey Persi. Like Ryan Hayes, Jalen Mayfield, Mike Schofield, and Taylor Lewan before him Persi is a frame to throw muscle on. Yes, he played a bunch of tight end before destiny moved him to tackle. Yes, he's raw. Yes, he arrives in Ann Arbor in need of at least one and probably two years of beefening. Yes, after that Michigan has a good shot at an NFL tackle. No, Greg Frey didn't recruit him. But still!

If this does not satisfy all of your curiosity, there's more behind the jump.

[After THE JUMP: more exact contours]

Persi's evaluations overflow with mentions of upside and equally numerous clucks about technique and strength. This is because the large bulk of Persi evaluations came after his junior year, when he had a grand total of one season playing OL. Prior to that he was a tight end. Then Pat Harlow, a former USC and NFL OT, wandered into the room and said some stuff:

When you first saw him and worked with him, was it apparent you had a Power 5 recruit on your hands?

Well, he thought he was a tight end and I said, ‘you’re not a tight end, you’re an offensive tackle.’ He had all the attributes for a big time college player at that position: length, he was over 6’7” with long arms, could run and move his feet.

Was it tough to get him to buy into the position switch?
It wasn’t a very hard sell. I said ‘you’re not a college tight end but definitely a college tackle’ and it did not take a whole lot from there.

A year after the move Persi was committed to Michigan; Harlow was asserting that he's "still really raw" but his "ceiling is really, really high." This opinion is a consensus one. Greg Biggins took in Persi's first start:

…played right tackle and looked very good. His feet, lateral mobility and overall athleticism really jumped out … easy to see Persi’s upside is tremendous.

Biggins would revisit Persi for the opening game of his senior year, whereupon he'd made a lot of progress and still hadn't come close to scraping his potential:

... so long he's tough to get around. … long arms, good feet and moves laterally very easily. … good in one on one pass protection, was dominant in the run game and made some really nice blocks when he got out and pulled, showing very good athleticism … not even close to reaching his ceiling … we like his upside a lot.

24/7's UCLA site after seeing him at the local Opening regional:

… still looks like a tight end transitioning to offensive tackle … best frame at the event from a projection standpoint without a question. … can handle 40-50 more pounds of good weight with little problem. …showed some of the best feet going through the kick step drills and pulling drills … looked comfortable and balanced coming out of his pass blocking sets. His lack of functional strength was apparent on a couple reps where defenders got into his chest and pushed him backward … bounced back in later reps as he was able to set his feet and use his length effectively to shield the pass rusher to the outside of the pocket.

When 24/7 bumped him to four stars late in the cycle they cited his "desirable movement skills and short area quickness" and his "upside and developmental curve."

Those movement skills are best defined in a single number, a 4.75 shuttle Persi put up. That was close to tops nationally amongst high school OL in 2019. OL testing is usually not very indicative but the one thing that seems to matter is the shuttle. When Rotoworld analyzed the NFL combine to discover what matters and what doesn't they found that of the top 22 OL shuttle testers from 2010 to 2018 all but three were drafted and even the eight day-three picks ended up starting 85% of their games. Greg Biggins:

… the kind of frame and athleticism that projects very well to the next level. A lot of the analytics of recent NFL Drafts have shown the tackles taken high were those that weighted in the 250-270 pound range in high school with shuttle times in the sub 4.8 range and that’s exactly where Persi falls.

Jeffrey Persi may not be a first round pick, but whoever is a first round pick is likely to have a similar backstory. This is the upside.

Other upside takes included "prototype tackle frame," "great size and great feet—just needs to get bigger, stronger, and more refined" and "body of an elite prospect … tall, long, and put together right." These takes were usually paired with assertions he is a "developmental" prospect and some cautionary notes about where he is right now:

… still really far away in his development … still not very strong, so he loses balance, and tends to topple over rather than be able to bend and maintain a base.

The bulk of these takes come from the summer before his senior year and are more outdated than most because of the way Persi's high school career went. By the time he went to the International Bowl, a B-tier All Star game that still draws a number of high-level Power 5 recruits, his coach had some unqualified praise for his abilities:

"… good space player …  athletic enough and physical enough for him to play on the inside with no issues. …sky is the limit for him … beautiful kick step and really stood out from the others."

There were a couple of slightly dissenting notes. TTB initially compared him to Perry Dorrestein, who was a stopgap tackle during the RichRod years who played largely because there were few other options. Upon revisiting Persi after his senior year his opinion of Persi had improved but remained stuck in a sort of uncanny valley:

… the kind of guy (long and athletic) I normally love at tackle, but he has a raw quality that makes me wonder. … does the right thing initially. … when you watch him react to defenders, he’s a split second late. It’s almost like he’s so preoccupied with performing the correct technique that he forgets to think a step ahead. …. athletic with good bend and initial technique, but he needs to get stronger and doesn’t react well to the changing pictures in front of him.

This can be chalked up to inexperience pretty easily; it is also a thing that might never improve.

Meanwhile Rivals said most of the usual stuff but then asserted Persi "has a narrow frame" to wonder about if he could get to an adequate playing size. "If he's playing in Ann Arbor around 280-285 pounds he should be just fine," said Adam Gorney, their West Coast analyst.

Uh… check.The previous post in this series had a section speculating about Zak Zinter's true weight; this one was about to have one about Persi, and then the phonebooks arrived for the freshmen. Persi is now listed at 302, which places him a year closer to the field than expected. Probably even from Persi's perspective. A couple of 24/7 check-ins detailed his progress. Persi went from a guy who's 265 trying to get to 285…

“I definitely want to get stronger and weigh around 285-pounds (when I get to Michigan),” Persi told The Michigan Insider. “I’m 265-pounds right now.

“We’re lifting everyday and I’m trying to focus on a strict diet of eating around 6K calories a day of good food. I’m training with my team daily, on the field, as well as a couple privates a week to go over position specific drills. I’m also seeing a sports doctor every Tuesday and Thursday to work on soft tissue as well as functional movement areas and strength training on areas needing improvement.”

…to a guy who's 285 trying to crack 290…

“I’m currently at 285-pounds (from 265) and I've been on a heavy training and diet program,” Persi told The Michigan Insider. “Anything above 290 would be a goal for arriving in June, but I want to be sure it's good weight.”

…to 302 in a matter of months. And as the details in the above quotes indicate this was an advanced crash course, not wandering around eating out the contents of the local Taco Bell nightly.

This isn't quite fighting weight for Persi according to Harlow, who should know. In a couple different interviews Harlow said he could "easily be a 320-pound guy [who] moves really well and bends really well." That could happen as early as year two even if Persi added some bad weight. His ability to inflate in an instant once he got locked in with Michigan is reminiscent of Jaylen Mayfield and is a good sign.

Etc.: Persi played at California powerhouse JSerra Catholic, which imported TX QB General Booty last season. This is not a joke.

Why Taylor Lewan? 6'7" left tackle prospect with uncommon agility who committed to Michigan as a 260-pound guy in need of serious inflation. Lewan was an even later riser than Persi after converting from defensive end for his senior year of high school but was ready to go as a redshirt freshman. He hit the NFL combine at 6'7", ~310 and put up a sub 4.5 shuttle and a sub 5.0 40.

Persi doesn't have the wide open depth chart Lewan did and is unlikely to be as good as fast. If Michigan rolls a critical hit here the two guys will be very close.

Ryan Hayes is a very tight comparable as far as recruiting story goes, but we haven't seen Hayes on the field as a finished product yet. Less optimistic comparisons abound. Logan Tuley-Tillman, another Prototype Left Tackle who never broke through, is one. Ben Braden is a similarly massive human who had a late switch to football; he had some early struggles at tackle before becoming a solid guard, albeit one who had a tendency to lean on people even deep into his career. He flipped back out to left tackle after Grant Newsome's injury (and a brief, disastrous Juwann Bushell-Beatty experiment) and held his own there.

Guru Reliability: High. Relatively large number of takes that are all in agreement. A couple even came after his senior season.

Variance: High. Is OL, still a long way away from his ceiling. Reduced from very high due to rapid weight gain.

Ceiling: Vast. Could easily be an early draft pick if he hits.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. Probably the biggest boom-or-bust guy in the class, leaning towards boom since questions about his ability to put on the requisite weight are answered.

Projection: Is OL, redshirt. Might have an opening in year two if Mayfield goes to the NFL but even in that case you have two highly touted OTs a year ahead of him (Trevor Keegan and Trente Jones) plus the possibility Michigan flips either Andrew Stueber or Karsen Barnhart out. If Persi does come out of that as a redshirt freshman starter that's Lewan/Mayfield track and probably a very good sign.

It's more likely that he's got a two or three year wait in front of him and will have his first reasonably likely crack at a job when Hayes leaves. This is the OL we're talking about so transfers and injuries will significantly reshape the roster by that time; if Persi doesn't fall before those hurdles he'll probably be in a fierce two-way battle with one of Jones or Keegan.