Previously: Last year's profiles. S Makari Paige, S RJ Moten.

Oradell, NJ – 5'11", 212
		24/7	4*, #122 overall #9 S, #2 NJ
		Rivals	4*, 5.8 rating #23 S, #7 NJ
		ESPN	4*, #190 overall #9 S, #6 NJ
		Composite	4*, #165 overall #10 S, #5 NJ
		Other Suitors	OSU, PSU, A&M, USC, Bama, Stanford, ND
		YMRMFSPA	Delano Hill
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Adam.
Notes	Twitter. Opening. AA game, but missed due to injury. Dad played in NFL.
Film
Junior Year:

Take it from a person who has scoured more recruiting articles than most: this is not a sentence you encounter much.

Morant plays cornerback for Bergen Catholic after making the transition from linebacker.

That doubles as a fair scouting report since the person who can play linebacker and corner is a very specific sort of football player. You've seen one at Michigan in the recent past, and I wish I could bet on his name coming up in the recruitment of every player vaguely shaped like him. In this case, and few others, I buy it:

“The number one thing Is just his explosion is just off the charts,” Campanile said. “Obviously his tackling is tremendous. He’s really like a five-tool guy. He can cover, he can tackle, he can fly, he’s got incredible size and his mental capacity is off the charts. …

“I think he’s a lot like Jabrill [Peppers] was,” Campanile said. “I think he can do that because he’s a kid who can roll down into the box and play. He’s also a kid who can go outside and cover a wide receiver. He’s played as much corner as he has safety just because of his versatility. We go against some [elite] wide receivers, he’s usually the guy we put on him. His ability to run the alley and tackle and come to balance is rare.”

Touch The Banner:

Morant has a lot of skills that will probably remind you of Jabrill Peppers. … his body type, his change-of-direction skills, and his playing style all remind me of the former first round pick. Morant is an excellent tackler who puts his “eyes through the thighs.” He’s strong in man coverage and can outmuscle receivers. … not quite as explosive and doesn’t have the all-around skill. … one of the top few safety prospects to pick the Wolverines over the last decade or so.

Morant isn't the supernova athlete Peppers is, but this Inevitable Peppers Comparison is the most accurate in the brief history of the genre.

[After THE JUMP: justification for this take]

And Morant's got some testing numbers of his own. These were mostly garnered in 2018. Per ESPN database's Morant's 4.1 shuttle was the best of any safety in the nation that year. Combine that with the highlight tape above and you've got a reasonable Jabrill Peppers comp.

About that tape: it is good tape. Bad tape leads off with moonball interceptions and thumping no-wrap tackles after being unblocked. Good DB tape is all change of direction, getting off blocks, and hitting hard while breaking down. Morant's tape is that.

So is his scouting. Brian Dohn:

… physical kid who really is loose and really just athletically, to me, he’s off the charts … long. We list him at 5-11, but he is long. … has the athleticism to [cover] … has the hips to do it.  … even without the great technique with his feet he was still able to cover and drive on the ball, and he didn’t even understand – at that point – inside shading and everything.  … I really don’t have any reason to believe why he cannot be a corner other than the fact that he can be just a hellacious safety.”

ND analyst Kevin Sinclair:

…Top 100-caliber talent at both cornerback and safety … one skill that catches my eye most is his quickness in closing on the football, on his target, and the power in which he applies contact. This is a fast-twitch athlete with a mature build and sharp instincts, to put it in simple terms.

Vito Campanile, his high school coach:

“…not a whole lot of spots he can't play … tackling ability is unique where you have a kid that’s gifted enough to cover but can also come to the bounds and tackle. … hybrid guy … can play in space, cover the slot. …

We use him as a corner, just to negate that receiver out of the game. He’s covered some of the best players in the state. He gave up three completions last year.”

Dohn after his Opening regional—so this is going to be about everything other than tackling and getting off blocks:

… combination of size, speed and strength made him difficult to content with for receivers. … jammed at the line and was physical, and he showed closing speed. He flipped his hips well, and his ball-tracking skills were impressive. … speed to contend with fast receivers down the field, and the strength to be physical with them.

Vito again:

"super tackler … his explosion and his acceleration is incredible. His physicality as a cover guy is different. It’s really hard to find guys that are 205, 210 pounds that can cover anybody on the field. In my experience, he negates people more than any player I’ve been around in 20 years coaching. He just basically can take guys out of the game. … can cover the inside kid, he can fit into the run game and he can blitz. … legitimately 212 pounds. Wins every sprint. It’s hard to find those guys."

Morant has a superior shuttle that pops out on film and he's 20 pounds heavier than RJ Moten and Makari Paige. After Jordan Glasgow held down the WLB spot last year at 221 you could reasonably project Moten at four different spots. The coaches have thus far restricted themselves to three…

Morant said the trio told him that he could play three different positions – safety, cornerback and viper – because of his 5-foot-11, 212-pound build.

“They told me I would be a great fit in their defensive scheme,” Morant said. “They said I have the speed and cover skills like a corner and I can hit like a safety, so that was really interesting to hear. I think it could be a good fit.”

…and I think his best skills are emphasized at safety. But he's got a lot of, you know, attributes. Veritably laden with them.

There are two items of concern. One was a major drop in 24/7 rankings, where he was once their #1 safety. This appears to have happened right after the Opening but there isn't a whisper of explanation in the multitude of articles about Morant. A hefty drop after a 7-on-7 heavy event like the Opening probably indicates he had some troubles against top-end WRs.

There is a scouting report from Rivals's Adam Friedman that provides some support for the above speculation:

“… very smart player …. I’m a little worried about his speed in the open field moving backwards. He’s going to play centerfield for them. Dax [Hill] is I think going to play further down into the box. Morant, if he plays centerfield, you’ve got to worry about him a little bit, guys getting behind him right now.”

… one of those really, really smart players … not going to blow you away with his physical skills."

These concerns are relatively minor. Both these services still think very highly of Morant. Also Friedman has a history of weird takes* that seem like they're based on a single number—he once justified Rivals's ranking of Khaleke Hudson by saying he was too short(!?)—and the meh 40 appears to be the target there.

Even so it seems clear that Morant has some questions about his top end. He ran a 4.69 40 in the summer of 2018—as a rising junior—and 24/7's scouting profile notes that "Speed is concern after running 4.74 in 40 in April." Morant doesn't look like a guy with speed issues on his tape, so maybe that's just a thing. If it is a thing then he might be limited to the box.

The other issue is Morant's foot. Most of Morant's senior season was wiped out with a serious injury. It's serious enough that it might impact his 2020 season:

 

It turned out to be a Lisfranc joint injury, which required surgery and can take up to a year to heal. …

“The screws were supposed to come out after my freshman season,” he said. “If I decide not to play this season and just get them out and stay out for the whole season and be 100 percent, that’s an option. Time will tell. It’s still up in the air. I want to see how I feel when I get there."

This caused him to miss the AA game as well, so Morant had little opportunity to claw back his ranking.

*[I'd also point out that there's almost no difference in Michigan's safety spots since they interchange on motion frequently.]

Etc.: Yes, Vito is Anthony Campanile's brother. It's a situation.

Why Delano Hill? Morant combines Hill's outstanding open-field tackling with his short-area change of direction. Hill hit the NFL combine as a 6'1", 216 pound safety and then put up a 4.4 40, so there are some testing variances but a dollar says Morant can get near that number after his college years. The other guy who pops out as a comparable is Jordan Kovacs, if Kovacs was a national recruit instead of a walk-on.

Morant is already about Hill's weight at an inch or two shorter, so he could end up inflating a little further and being a viper. I don't think that's the right fit for the roster or Morant's skillset but, yes, Mortal Jabrill Peppers is the viper version of Morant.

Guru Reliability: Moderate. No explanation for the drop at 24/7 that I could find, losing most of your senior year and not hitting the AA game is a big evaluation miss.

Variance: Moderate. Only thing keeping this from low is the injury.

Ceiling: High-minus. Already advanced at a lot of things, A+ shuttle that translates to the field. 40 is an issue.

General Excitement Level: High. Morant is my favorite of the safeties Michigan brought in this year and has the profile of a guy who can both throttle runs and cover without having to shade everything.

Projection: Morant needs surgery to get screws out of his foot; whether or not that happens during or after the season it seems likely that's going to force a redshirt. In that event, Morant's likely to be behind his classmates in the race to replace Brad Hawkins. He will be a very strong contender to replace Dax Hill in 2022, assuming Hill is three-and-out.

Viper is a backup plan if he gets too big or the foot injury saps him of athleticism; that's a decent option but I want to see Morant coming up to fill the alley. One of the best things you could hear about a specific up-and-comer over the next couple years is that Morant is pretty dang fast.