Previously: Last year’s profiles. P Tommy Doman Jr. S Rod Moore. CB Ja’Den McBurrows. LB Jaydon Hood. LB Junior Colson. LB Tyler McLaurin. DE Kechaun Bennett. DE TJ Guy. DE/DT Dominick Giudice. DT George Rooks. DT Rayshaun Benny.

Garland, TX – 6’3", 306
[Aaron Bills]		24/7:            3.48*	3*, 86, #1026 overall #119 DL, #151 TX
		Rivals:            3.40*	3*, 5.5, NR overall NR DT, NR TX
		ESPN:            3.34*	3*, 75, #266 Midlands, NR ovr #78 DT, #203 TX
		Composite:            3.43*	3*, .8498, #1108 overall #129 DL, #168 TX
		Other Suitors	Texas, Colo (decommit)
		YMRMFSPA	Lorenzo Neal Jr. but athletic.
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by Brian.
Notes	Twitter.
Film:
Career highlights:

It took us until the last commit of the 2021 class, but Michigan finally did that thing we’ve been begging them to do since it worked with Willie Henry: take a flier on a 300-pound defensive tackle. Not a “tackle” like what Macdonald calls 3-4 DEs. Not a “tackle” like the 6’6”/275 guys we were playing at 3-tech. I mean an A-gap, 1-tech, nose on nose, block-eating, non-moving, guy in the way nose tackle. Folks, this may be one of the lowest-ranked guys in the class, but in our hearts this is the most welcome addition since Donnie Edwards. A tackle! A *nose* tackle! Tell me I’m not dreaming.

That Ike Iwunnah was available that close to Late Signing Day was kind of weird. He was two-time all-district, and a Pac 12 commit who was looking at Baylor and Texas before Mo Linguist’s Dallas connections put him on Michigan’s radar. How  could this guy manage to stay below everyone else’s while being a high-performing, multi-sport, 290-pound, people-moving immovable dude at a major (same school as 5-star Bama-bound RB Camar Wheaton) Texas program that literally has its own recruiting coordinator?

That guy explained it was hard to rip the teen’s attention away from homework.

They were just so surprised that he hadn't committed anywhere. … The issue was, he was so wrong in this process, didn't know. … He’s such a really good kid. He only focuses on his classwork. So, you text him or DM him while he's in class, he's gonna read it, but he’s not responding because he's got classwork that he wants to get done, which is not the norm for a lot of kids.

Riiiight. This from Rivals’ Texas guy is more plausible:

Spiegelman: “He’s kind of new to football because this past season was actually only his second year playing varsity football.”

Iwunnah didn’t go to camps, grew into his position recently. He’s not a guaranteed nose freak. He’s a shot at one.

[After THE JUMP: Liking Ike.]

Shoot your nose tackle descriptions directly into my veins. Texas is like Notre Dame in that they have their own cottage industry of people who will actually scout prospects the school’s recruiting, so we have more takes than usual. Gabe Brooks is one of those guys and put his scouting succinctly.

Iwunnah knows his strengths -- which, in fact, is strength -- and plays to it.

Rivals Sam Spiegelman:

Iwunnah was the Texas District 10-6A Sophomore of the Year in 2018 and was an All-District selection at defensive tackle as a junior last season. As a senior, Iwunnah pieced together his best campaign yet, showcasing his first-step quickness, power and agility. … He has a broad frame (6-foot-4, 290 pounds) with raw power and excellent bend for his size. He moves around the defensive line and sees snaps on the interior and on the edge with good closing speed. He plays with momentum and brings a wealth of athleticism to the position despite tipping the scales at almost 300 pounds.

And Spiegelman again:

Iwunnah has violent hands and battles well with them in the trenches. He's adept at absorbing blockers—sometimes double- and even triple-teams—and shedding them to race to the ball-carriers. He plays with a high motor and intensity, and has a deceptively long reach to corral ball-carriers.

24/7’s Mike Roach had Ike in his top-100 among Texans after taking in a game and some practice but his praise comes with more caveats:

A raw but physically intriguing prospect, Iwunnah can be dominant at times with his size inside. Incredible length and good straight line speed stands out, and the way he uses his strength and fame on the bull rush is tough to defend. Iwunnah still has much to learn when it comes to playing the position, but the physical tools suggest a high ceiling.

Roach again:

Iwunnah has a massive frame with good length and a thick, muscular build.

An opposing coach said he chose to double Ike and live with the other stars, to his doom (but also Iwunnah’s).

He commanded a double team on every play, so that helped us take him out of the game a bit. … He threw discuss in district. He’s a great competitor. He’s strong. He has really good feet. He’s fast. He’s also a really great young man.

And here’s more from the 24/7 Texas guy Gabe Brooks:

…impressive functional strength at the point of attack. Iwunnah consistently shows stack-and-shed ability at the line of scrimmage to disrupt the running game. He gets good extension with his arms with the punch to jar blockers onto their heels. … impressive forward power in his bull rush.

The Rivals guys had a roundtable on Signing Day. Tom Lemming—“He is almost the same size as George Rooks” we can skip. Spiegelman though:

Iwunnah has a fantastic work ethic and enormous raw power, and is very agile for a big man. He has also put on a lot of good weight in the offseason that helped lead to a breakout senior year.

The recruiting coordinator said Harbaugh’s staff were “ big fans of his size and strength,” and Ike told EJ Holland Michigan was looking at a big man.

They definitely want big guys. They love how big I am and the weight I have. They love how I would fit and what I can provide for them in the future if I were to go there.

Touch the Banner sees good enough:

Iwunnah is a big body with some good explosion. He has a moderately quick first step. He’s capable of getting into a low, compact stance and shows the ability to both move forward as well as move laterally on loops and stunts. He has heavy hands and does a good job of locking out offensive linemen. I also like that he drives his feet and can push the pocket.

-----------------------------------

But wait, there’s crazy athleticism too: The other thing the recruiting coordinator passed on from Michigan was the upside.

I can definitely speak on why (Michigan is) interested in him and why he is so high on their board. It’s definitely size and strength, he can definitely move and do those things. … he he can go inside a little bit and go outside. …They love the fact that he has a high ceiling.

Roach noted that he's a fan of "finding athletic, big frames on the defensive line and developing them." Iwunnah fits that mold. His coach:

“[colleges] love the fact that he has a high ceiling. A lot of times kids once you get there, your ceiling might not be as high. Well, he has a high ceiling.”

Brooks looked up Iwunnah’s track stats on Athletic.net and noticed some incredible numbers, and more incredible events:

As a junior in Feb. 2020, Iwunnah recorded a discus throw of 131 feet, 3 1/2 inches, and his personal best from his sophomore year is 137-3. Iwunnah also competed at one Feb. 2020 event in the triple jump, which is quite unique for a player of his size and position. He registered a respectable 39-foot, 10 1/2-inch number in that event.

He did the High Jump as well. MaizenBrew said he did the 4x100 relay but when I looked it up that turned out to be someone putting the category in wrong.

He was the real deal in discus though.

Touch the Banner doesn’t see a Hurst-level athlete, but agrees Iwunnah can push his way to the QB at an appropriate timer:

I’m mostly worried about a defensive lineman’s explosiveness and ability to play with leverage, and Iwunnah has those capabilities. He lacks the natural athleticism to be a regular penetrator like Willie Henry or Maurice Hurst, Jr., but he can push the pocket. I don’t see him being the guy who flushes the QB from the pocket, but he could be the guy who finishes off a QB trying to escape.

Brian in the Hello also wrote of an intriguing athlete of athleticness and largeness.

Iwunnah is a shot in the dark at a guy who may emerge into a contributor a few years down the road. He has the right kind of attributes for a flier: he's got an intriguing combination of size and athleticism. A lack of recruiting rankings pop is mitigated by the fact that he didn't have much of a senior season to overturn opinions and what looks like a genuine Texas offer.

Stick him in the weight room for two years and see what you've got.

Jupiter’s most under the radar planet-sized moon. Iwunnah played for Lakeview Centenniel, which is a Dallas-area powerhouse. Rivals Texas Tech guy Ben Golan twice wrote a “Hint hint, maybe we should look at this guy” article when Iwunnah was still uncommitted despite TTU already having three DTs in the class.

Texas was poking around in May 2020, but he was so unscouted that the UT Rivals site pegged him as a possible DE.

A combo defensive lineman who can line up inside or on the edge, Iwunnah’s flexibility is part of the reason schools like Texas have found him so valuable.

He did play a lot of 3-4 DE for his team and list “DE” on his Hudl, but if you, you know, watch the tape I think Willie Henry is about as far from nose as you’d be willing to place Iwunnah.

Requires development. Spiegelman’s negatives were about Iwunnah’s current readiness, which was “not.”

"He’s not necessarily an instant impact type of defensive tackle, but is someone who could be contributing in two or three years. Iwunnah's athleticism for a big man is so impressive, though he’s not necessarily a space filler — he’s more of a three-technique who can get after the passer.

He doesn’t mean it right? The 24/7 Texas guys called Iwunnah a “raw but physically intriguing prospect” and later explained that’s not physical:

He’s raw from a technical standpoint but shows good straight line speed and strong skill in the bull rush. Iwunnah uses his length well and plays with a great motor up front. He does a good job playing with leverage for his size but could improve his consistency there. Iwunnah is still growing as player but has some strong tools to build with.

And later expounded on some limitations that might be physical:

Iwunnah's balance and body control can improve. He occasionally gets out over his feet and compromises his leverage and base, which saps his impressive punch power and shedding ability. Improving overall quick-twitch athleticism, especially from a lateral sense, will make Iwunnah that much more dangerous as a front-line defender. Once he wrestles free and closes on a line, he shows encouraging pursuit ability for a player of his size, but maximizing this area of his game will rely on getting more fluid and sudden from an agility standpoint.

Brooks thinks Ike “will need to expand his move set” and repeated the above. TTB thinks Iwunnah is closer the field because he’s physically that size.

I keep seeing analysts say he’s a project, but I think he’s closer to a finished product than some suggest. I don’t think he will be an immediate contributor, but he’s not far off. He needs to be more cognizant of how offensive players are trying to block him, and he plays a little recklessly, perhaps opening himself up for trap blocks.

…and says Iwunnah “has some technical things to clean up,” and “needs to get better at defeating blocks and finding the ball.”

Etc. Coach describes a quiet, obedient type. Because all three of these guys committed at the end of the cycle, Michigan made all of the positive Signing Day superlatives. Along with Benny, Iwunnah made Gorney’s top-ten stings on Signing Day because Colorado was desperate for “a player who could stuff up the middle,” and Michigan’s late run on DTs earned Mike Farrell’s position deep dive award. Good vibes.

Why Lorenzo Neal Jr. but athletic? We don’t have a lot of NT comps. Henry was a low-rated flier who joined Michigan’s class at the tail end of the cycle but was never a nose and came down to the high 280s as a pro. Iwunnah has some of those characteristics, but not the personality. He’s also broader and ticketed for nose tackle in a system that wants him to soak up doubles. He’s a nose tackle for a 3-4, with some upside if he has to loop or whatever, and a lot of work to do to become a pass-rusher. Bryan Mone isn’t a fair comp because Mone was an instant-impact guy who ballooned into a stay-at-home NT after injuries.

Nobody remembers Larry Harrison (that’s good). So let’s go to the nearest thing lately in the Big Ten, which is Purdue’s 320-pounder who didn’t have great burst nor great balance, but was very large and could push a pile. Neal developed a swim move but his thing was being too big to leave single-blocked.

But athletic because Neal wasn’t ever going to compete in the triple-jump.

Guru Reliability: Low. Their ratings and their scouting don’t line up at all. I think they were probably waiting for a senior tape that came half-complete, and gave up.

Variance: Low. Everybody left him down in the low 3’s.

Ceiling: High-minus. Boom or bust type who fits a very specific mold. I don’t want to go into “High” like Benny because the explosiveness is “pretty good” not ridiculous.

General Excitement Level: Moderate-plus. A nose! One we have to work on for a few years, but nevertheless A NoSE! On the other hand, I'm a little bit worried about a Jalen Perry Effect, where it turns out the reason a guy playing for a big-time program wasn't getting much interest from the locals because they scouted him the most. [Update: Mathlete gave me a historical list that better helped me calibrate. Moderate-plus = 3.75*]

Projection: Give it a year, and then unless Michigan has recruited itself a couple of instant impact guys in the interim (or transfers I guess), Iwunnah is a very likely candidate to take on more snaps at nose guard, first as a rotational guy and by Year 3 (or when Mazi clears off) as the starter. He’s going to keep adding weight, and has a ton to learn, and ideally you have several guys like that in the pipeline because they often just don’t hit, or get hurt and lose the extra step that makes them valuable. One is a necessary good start.