Previously: Last year’s profiles. P Tommy Doman Jr. S Rod Moore. CB Ja’Den McBurrows. LB Jaydon Hood. LB Junior Colson.

Bolingbrook, IL – 6’3", 237
[Via his hudl]		24/7:          3.72*	3*, 88, #570 overall #61 LB, #13 IL
		Rivals:           3.73*	3*, 5.7, NR overall #39 OLB, #12 IL
		ESPN:           3.68*	3*, 78, #63 Midwest #51 OLB, #15 IL
		Composite:           3.78*	3*, .8776, #503 overall #54 LB, #12 IL
		Other Suitors	Stanford, NW, Neb, MSU
		YMRMFSPA	Mike McCray but fast..er?
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by me.
Notes	Twitter. Brother at Iowa.
Film
Junior highlights: Rivals workout (Nov 2020)

The third LB recruit in this class was the first to join, and at the time was the only top-400 commit in the class. Michigan’s added a couple of whiz-bang athletes since. But if we’ve learned one thing from watching various Northwestern teams linebacker spreads to death, you should never underestimate what a big, agile body with a big brain can do at the most cerebral position on defense.

[After THE JUMP: But can he chase a jackrabbit Maryland halfback around the field?]

Athletic, Smart, Long arms. The scouts are in unison in bringing up athleticism, length, and football IQ, not always in that order, when talking about McLaurin. Friend of the site Todd Howard used to coach at Bolingbrook, though he moved to be the DC of St. Francis* before McLaurin transferred to the Brook from Lombard Montini Catholic as as junior. Todd still keep up with things though:

Aggressive, physical player…had one of the hardest hits I've seen in a high school game last year. Smart kid, I think he has a personality that will make him a fan favorite off the field as well.

Allen Trieu’s profile scout tried to hit the Don Brown points but

Can shoot gaps quickly and has good acceleration. Smart and instinctive. … Athleticism and smarts suggest he is a safe bet as a Power Five starter. Solid athlete who shows he can play in space.

Then he gave a comp of Demario Davis, the Saints LB who ran a sub-4.5 forty at the combine but is known around the league for being a major quarterback of the defense kind of guy. Trieu also compared McLaurin to Cam McGrone…but slow:

He shoots gaps quickly and has the fluidity and athleticism to run plays down. He takes good angles to the football. I don't think he is quite as fast as Cam McGrone, but in terms of style and how he will be used, I think he shares similarities with Cam. Very smart kid, instinctive, coachable.

Lorenz called McLaurin the “most ‘classic’ linebacker prospect” of the class and asked if he’s the most underrated. His Michigan comp was “Josh Ross but higher ceiling.” Coach John Ivlow, who was Harbaugh’s teammate on the Bears, is still at the Brook and had similar comments for EJ Holland:

He’s always in the right spot. He’s got that length and long arms. Even when he’s not in the right spot, his arm is in the right spot. He knocks the ball down or tips it. “He has a great football IQ — probably Top 2 in the last 20 years. This kid can go up to the board and draw up everything. We asked: How big of a hitter is this kid going to be during his first year of varsity football? He showed us that.”

EJ Holland reported some glue guy stuff without saying that might have been missing lately:

Even when the game was out of reach, McLaurin was instructing his teammates to keep their heads up on the sideline. McLaurin is going to get to Ann Arbor, bust his ass and help the locker room. At worst, he'll be a contributor and part of the glue that keeps the team together.

McLaurin went around picking up headiness quotes himself.

"He (Erik Link of Missouri) has told me that he likes the physicality and passion I play with. One of my attributes he feel is great is my ability to read and pick plays apart before they fully progress."

Touch the Banner disagreed about the play diagnosis:

He has good arm length, which should help him fend off blockers and get his hands on balls and ball carriers that other guys might not reach. He’s active with his hands and plays physical. His play diagnosis could afford to improve, and he has a little bit of a freelancing that will need to be cleaned up when competition ramps up.

* [St. Francis went undefeated last year and has given up just 5.9 points per game in the last 10 games. Howard knows how to coach.]

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

Good coverage/plays in space. Those who’ve seen McLaurin cover think he’s in Kenny Demens (excellent) territory for a linebacker. Trieu:

Impressed at the showcases in terms of his coverage. He changes directions pretty well and could play moving backwards and dropping better than the other backers at that event.

Trieu noted McLaurin was one of the few who were able to keep up with top performer Scott Presson, a 6’2” TE prospect whose rankings never went above two stars.

McLaurin sort of calls himself a poor man’s Junior Colson in this regard:

“I think that Junior and I bring a lot of versatility when it comes to playing outside due to our ability to play in open space. I feel that it’s hard to find someone better than us at being able to play inside or outside linebacker.

MaizenBrew’s Stephen Ostentoski described a “high floor” guy and thought his best attribute is his coverage.

The thing that pops out to me about his skillset while watching his film is his ability in open space, especially in the pass. It’s usually rare for linebackers in high school to be comfortable working in pass coverage, but McLaurin seems to thrive on it. He has solid hips and instincts in the pass game, putting him in the right location more often than not to help disrupt plays.

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

Is speed an issue? McLaurin himself admits his top speed is an area for improvement:

“I know a lot of the work I've been working on, especially speed,” he said. “Besides that I've been working on a lot of technique things. I feel like, especially at the next level, there's going to be a lot of technique than any type of talent once you get there.”

Trieu said “while speed is not a deficiency, he can still improve on his top end” and that 24/7’s problem wasn’t a lack of speed as much as any way to measure it:

There was not as much verifiable athletic numbers on Tyler as there were some other guys who had gotten timed at an event or run track or another sport. It is not impossible for him to challenge for four-star status, but at the moment, without new information, it is hard to think that will happen until we can see him back out on a field. … McLaurin has flashed every time we have seen him and that includes going against Henning in the fall. While he can still keep pushing his top-end speed and strength into a more elite category, he has really no glaring deficiencies.

Sam asked Josh Newkirk to compare McLaurin’s speed to guys on the roster.

Colson’s probably the most physical specimen in the class; I think [McLaurin]’s maybe a half step behind him. They do think he does have speed, but I’m not going to say: is he a 4.6 guy, 4.5? If you can get him in there running in the high 4.5’s you’ll take that all day. He does have nice football speed, I’ll say that.

Speed is relative. Steve Lorenz points out McLaurin wasn’t getting edged by Michigan’s best edge weapon:

McLaurin has flashed every time we have seen him and that includes going against Henning in the fall.

He did not earn an offer from Wisconsin after attending their Junior Day, which was a surprise. UW, Penn State, and Ohio State were the only Big Ten schools not to.

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

The phonebooks don’t lie (this time). The recruiting industry didn’t know what to do when McLaurin measured 6’1”/215 last year because they’ve been calling 5’11”/185 safeties that for years. McLaurin is Big but Really Big. Coach Ivlow:

“He’s only 215 pounds,” Ivlow said. “He’s going to grow into a man-child. He’s long enough to come off the edge as an end or linebacker. He can do a lot of things. Come watch him play basketball and see him on the court. He looks 6-foot-5, but he’s only 6-foot-3. I don’t know what it is. He’s really long, and he’s got a lot of room to grow.”

EJ Holland($):

McLaurin has plenty of room to add more weight and strength, and he already looks bigger than what he's listed at.

Allen Trieu:

Listed measureables are right on. A true 6-foot-2 and looks bigger than his listed weight, but has the room to add some needed bulk. Is not likely to play much heavier than 225-235 in college though.

That list bit is off or someone is lying on rosters again, because Michigan’s Phonebooks came out last week and had McLaurin already at 237. That’s a believable 237.

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

Is he an ILB or OLB? The size and speed…uh…non-concerns bring up questions of whether he can stay inside or if he will grow into an OLB. Trieu said he’s “capable of playing MIKE or SAM.” Todd Howard told me “I'm not sure about that…might be true Mike, possible SAM. Haven't seen him cover enough.” Before the staff changeout Steve Lorenz expected McLaurin to play the extra linebacker role that was Noah Furbush’s before Uche redefined it.

McLaurin looks destined to be Michigan's SAM linebacker in the 2021 class. The staff really likes his athleticism.

This was Touch the Banner’s assessment as well:

Overall, McLaurin looks like a role player to me. If he were a bit taller, I might suggest a move to weakside end. As things stand right now, he looks like a guy who could play a Noah Furbush role as a SAM linebacker. (He’s not athletic enough to be used as extensively as Josh Uche.) I also do not see him having the sideline-to-sideline speed to man the MIKE or WILL positions.

EJ Holland had McLaurin on his podcast, where McLaurin talked about himself as a fast downhill player who excels against TEs and H-backs. EJ reported the old staff was talking to McLaurin about coming in at WILL, and added his own thoughts:

He told me that he's really been working on hip flexibility this offseason, and it's coming along. That's something I wrote he had to improve when I saw him live a couple of months ago — that and change of direction. There were reports that McLaurin committed to a Michigan at Viper elsewhere, but I mentioned they were bologna. Michigan is talking to McLaurin more and more as a Will linebacker and a little bit at Sam. I still think he has the potential to spin down and play defensive end. He has long legs and long arms, so I could see him adding weight and being solid off the edge with his hand in the dirt.

He updated that more recently to ILB:

“(Macdonald) said he sees me as an inside guy at the Will or Mike position,” McLaurin said. “Based off versatility, size and speed, they can move me outside if need be. I definitely think the scheme fit for me might be equally as good or even better. Just talking through it, it’s easy to visualize how they’re going to use me.”

McLaurin was a hot prospect around the Midwest, which also means they didn’t think Michigan/ND would get serious. Rees Woodcock of Writing Illini found the positional fluidity extremely valuable in the context of a roster short on dudes. Iowa State was looking at him for WLB, the same as the role that was causing so much havoc for Shea Patterson when trying to read Army’s edge defenders. Notre Dame’s guys thought McLaurin fit their hybrid WLB/OLB position:

McLaurin's fit at Notre Dame may be at rover. In watching his most recent film available on his Hudl page, he plays linebacker but is also split out in coverage too, very similar to the how Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah starred for the Irish this fall.

Josh Newkirk came on TMI’s podcast last April after catching one of Bolingbrook’s delayed season games:

I see a guy who could play in the middle, he could play off the edge. He’s going to add some depth to this 2021 class. … He’ll probably be on special teams and might have a chance to get onto that two deep. He showed some strong suits in that game.

The plan as of spring was for McLaurin to come in as an inside linebacker.

“(They’ve been) talking to me, a lot of it has been inside and inside the box flowing, getting in reads and going through plays, especially between the tackles,” he said.

There’s a lot of talk from McLaurin’s camp about his potential to contribute early, but scouts and recruiting folk alike keep trying to pump the brakes. EJ Holland had an extensive take($) after three games, the upshot of which was “when this guy fills out and gets some coaching…”

McLaurin is a smart kid in the classroom and has a high football IQ, but he's still a little raw technically. McLaurin has some issues getting off blockers at times. He has such long arms and needs to use them to his advantage.

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

Etc. Stanford offer; academics not an issue. Handles kickoffs and punts. Plays the saxophone. Never got to “effulgent”:

When Virginia offered in February, McLaurin referred to the Cavaliers as the team from the “opulent” University of Virginia. Texas Tech was the “eminent” Texas Tech University. These descriptions continued right up until he named a “contemporaneous” top five and then committed to the “inimitable” University of Michigan.

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

Why Mike McCray but Fast..er? Traditional linebacker (read: looks like a fullback), heady, smart, glue guy, looked a lot larger than the measured, was way more agile than he was given credit for, always had speed questions despite managing to get to the edge fast enough to prevent a Maryland smurfback from edging him a second time. Took awhile to get used to all the angles blockers could come from but it was hard to get McCray twice. Was never Devin Bush in speed, and felt like a weak link in an otherwise extremely talented defense. Missed when Devin Gil replaced him.

The Noah Furbush comps are there, and might apply if Michigan was playing a true 3-4, but their OLBs are more Aidan Hutchinson and Chase Winovich-like players. He could turn into a Winovich, but that would be far down the line.

Guru Reliability: High-Minus. General agreement. They saw him at a couple of camps as a junior, Bolingbrook is a bigger Chicago-area program that regularly spit out very Big Ten-style players like Tuf Borland. They got out to see him play this spring. Minus because they can’t agree what position he should play.

Variance: None. They all agree he’s a top-15 player in Illinois, nobody was close to moving him significantly off the 3.7 line.

Ceiling: Medium. McLaurin’s a high floor guy for one of the interior spots but he’s too much of a tweener to be more than a very outside shot at turning into a crazy edge defender who can still linebacker. Jake Ryan and Chase Winovich were not quite right in the head, but in a good way. McLaurin’s more erudite, ruminative, astucious, perspicacious even.

General Excitement Level: Abstemious. I do love a good smart guy, but this is a guy the old staff were looking at to do Furbush things, not Bush things (Hood) or Superman things (Colson). Very standard Big Ten linebacker.

Projection: McLaurin wants to get on the field early and the four-games rule should allow him to get on special teams and show what kind of speed he has. There are opportunities to get on the two-deep early, as Colson showed, but it’s one thing for a freaky talented freshman to get on the field before he knows what he’s doing, and quite another for a standard Big Ten LB to pass Hill-Green (a similar prospect with a year of college) and Kalel Mullings (a rawer version of Colson) or any of the Vipers. Thirty years ago these guys were way more valuable as fullback-thunkin edge guys (see: Victor Hobson). By all accounts McLaurin doesn’t have the thunkin power yet even if he looks to have the weight.

The hope here is McLaurin can keep his positive attitude when he isn’t getting playing time early. Smart players have high ceilings in football because they know how to learn and want to. They can’t commit unconscious stuff to muscle memory any faster, however. Harbaugh likes guys to try a few positions, and even if one doesn’t take I think it could benefit McLaurin to take some reps on offense as a fullba—er “tight end” and outside linebacker, though the latter is going to be full of bodies next year.

Give it three or four years and chances are we will be in a similar position to now, where if you’re an upperclassman and team leader you have a spot or a very good shot at one. McLaurin might not need to get much larger if he’s already near 240, but if he is pushing 250 that’s actually a really good fit for the WLB in an Army-style quasi-dime base defense, where the WLB is actually an extra DT who can pop into any gap and won’t stay blocked, or drop right into the middle of Mesh’s crossing routes.