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.

Osman Savage was an important commit for many reasons. One: he fits Michigan's fast shortish LB profile to a tee.

Two: he was Michigan's first commit from the loaded St. Frances program, which had been an unusually tough nut to crack for Michigan despite being coached by former Michigan TE Henry Poggi's dad Biff. Michigan's had a flood of St. Frances commitments since.

Three: linebacker with a nameplate that reads SAVAGE. It's been too long since nameplates like IRONS, STEELE, and GOLD roamed the Michigan defense. SAVAGE is not metallurgical. It is merely awesome.

[After THE JUMP: no the reason it's awesome is not "Brian is a huge Savage Garden fan"]

Michigan had been after Savage for a long, long time. He attended Michigan's camp before his freshman year, and then played at Michigan Stadium against Paramus (remember that?). Webb on that event:

…buzz on the sidelines was mostly regarding a freshman linebacker named Osman Savage. Defensive coordinator Don Brown worked with him personally at the team's satellite camp held at St. Frances Academy earlier that summer and raved about his abilities and potential as a future recruit. This is a guy who was on Michigan's radar when he was in eighth grade.

Michigan offered early, continued an ardent pursuit, and got him to commit early.

And no wonder. 24/7's profile scout has Don Brown's linebacker philosophy summed up in a sentence: "Outside linebacker with inside linebacker mentality." I spent years doing linebacker recruiting takes and 24/7 just obsoleted them with one sentence in a three-star recruit's scouting report.

Unusually for 24/7, that scouting report does not match their ranking. It's not even close:

Strong, powerful frame. Concern about being close to physically maxed out. … Explosive and runs well. Has extremely high motor. Is fearless in filling run gaps. Sure tackler. Plays physical and fast. Changes direction well. Sifts through traffic to find ball carrier. Diagnoses plays well. Good run blitzer. Has hip looseness to cover in man. Has to work on stack and shed. …  All-conference talent at Top 10 school. Day 3 NFL draft potential.

Sometimes you get scouting reports that don't seem to have any relation to the ranking, but they don't often put in a specific "our ranking is not correct" prediction. That evaluation is a little old, last updated in October of Savage's junior year, but when Seth went over the ups and downs of the class's recruiting rankings he found that a few months after that eval he had the same 88 rating that he finished the cycle with. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Our shruggie doubles down once it sees the other scouting notes 247 published on Savage:

• "…physical and fast. … quick to read plays and he was able to get up the field against the run. He showed an ability to drop into coverage and be effective while reading the quarterback. He is explosive and he plays fast. He is fearless, and he excels in space because of his tackling skills and his body control."
• "… high-energy player who runs well, is physical and has a very good change of direction. … high-caliber athlete and he plays hard … ability to play against the run and also cover in the passing game makes him a coveted player."
• "… plays so fast and he can play in the box. … you know how you watch college games and guys are just flying to the ball, regardless of the play… that’s how I feel this kid is.  He doesn’t take plays off, and I really like that about him.  He’s a smart kid and he’s physical.”

24/7 then slotted him in 15 spots behind teammate Nikhai Hill-Green, who they had very little scouting on. What they did have seemed far less enthusiastic than the above. I don't get it.

The other major service, Rivals, put Savage in their top 200. Their scouting is very close to 24/7s. They put out a new top 250 a couple months before the 24/7 scout was posted; afterwards Adam Friedman listed him as the guy he though his own service might have underrated:

"…great speed, flies around the field making a ton of tackles, and a lot of room on his lean frame to fill out. … does need to show a bit more patience and discipline on the field"

And when Brandon Brown caught up with Friedman in the aftermath of Savage's commitment he actually pitched him as a viper:

"…just so fast and plays with a ton of energy … fits in great [at viper] because he’s really fast and he has a frame that they can bulk up a bit. …  great nose for the ball … very physical. … he’s got the mentality that really fits in well with the Khaleke Hudson types."

"We’d love to see him be just a little bit taller if he’s going to play true outside linebacker. We’d like to see him add a little bit of weight for the same reason but again, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case for Michigan."

It doesn't. Michigan's four true linebacker recruits in this class are all listed at either 6'0" or 6'1" and between 224 and 231 pounds by the school. William Mohan, the guy most commonly asserted as the viper in the class, is listed at 189. Savage is going to be an inside linebacker.

This take from a coach who faced St. Frances last year reinforces that. This is the picture of a guy who belongs in the middle of the fray:

“… physical specimen, filled the holes very well, and seemed to be a focused kid … physical presence was what stood out the most to me, along with the way he took on lead blocks and easily got rid of them. … ability to shed blocks, get rid of people and make plays. …

"We tried to catch him from the blindside and trap a little bit, but it just didn’t matter — he took everything head on. Savage never lost his focus or gap responsibilities, and his suddenness in hitting the holes was pretty impressive.

He concludes:

“Savage was the best player on their defense by a wide margin."

That means something on a team as stacked as St. Frances.

FWIW, his coach—at the time of this article Poggi was on a sabbatical—noted that he was "really the only player on our roster that plays both ways" since he was the third option at tailback and that he carried a "3.8, 3.9 GPA." Incoming intangibles:

…. Very talented kid. … very smart kid… leader. He loves to work. He loves to bring energy and passion. As a coach he’s fun to be around, a fun kid to coach. I’m real excited for him.”

The one note of relative skepticism came from Touch The Banner, which saw a guy with some potential who didn't really pop:

"… long-armed linebacker with a solid build. He plays with an aggressive nature, and he has a natural ability to play with good body lean, keeping his chest over his knees. His long arms help him wrap up ball carriers, and he’s a solid tackler. He has above average speed and good instincts, along with good change-of-direction skills.

Not much jumps out about Savage, though. He’s not supremely big or fast or aggressive. He is a player who is good at most things, but not great in any one area."

When TTB revisited Savage for their player countdown, Magnus did say that he "seemed to grow into" has last name as a senior.

Etc.: Savage Garden was a mid-90s electro-pop duo out of Australia with extremely wet hair. For a brief period their music was inescapable. I don't know why. Zoomers: you will feel this way about Doja Cat.

Why Attempted Bush Clone #4? Look, man, I can only dredge up comparisons to so many players before I am confronted by the fact that about 75% of the linebackers Michigan recruits are attempts to clone Devin Bush, because every 10th attempted Devin Bush clone is a superhero.

Savage is in the heart of Bush clone territory: a little short, very fast, smart, squat, able to get under and shed OL.

Guru Reliability: Moderate. Both major services say the same thing on a healthy bit of scouting but the 247 ranking is weird. Also Savage apparently did not do any camps and wasn't at an All Star game so there's no combine data.

Variance: Low. Ton of experience at his collegiate position on a team that played a tough schedule. More or less playing weight already.

Ceiling: High-minus. I feel like there's got to be a catch? Extremely fast, physical, crafty inside linebacker with a high-academic GPA. Gets four stars from one service. Savage is a bit short and might have a cap on his ability as a result, or his speed might not bear out on the college level. That's all I've got.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. My favorite kind of three star rankings are ones that don't make a whole lot of sense. Savage has one of those and a strong advocate.

Projection: Fourth linebacker so you know the deal: Michigan needs bodies, has an open spot on the two deep for a freshman, viability of early playing time depends on how quickly McGrone and/or Ross move on to the NFL.

Wheeler and Savage have the most experience while Mullings may have the most long-term upside, but trying to sift through these guys is close to impossible. It is nice to have four guys coming through now. When this class has to see the field they should be ready to do so.