Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson.

Madison, AL – 6'2”, 220
[EJ Holland, via Rivals]		247: 6'2/200     3.47*	3*, 86, #108 LB, #41 AL
		Rivals: 6'2/220     3.40*	3*, 5.5 not ranked
		ESPN: 6'2/200     3.59*	3*, 78, #334 SE #52 OLB, #30 AL
		On3: 6'2/220     3.52*	3*, 86, #35 ATH, #37 AL
		Composite:     3.56*	3*, 0.8560, #1014 ovr #93 LB, #41 AL
		Other Suitors	SEC mids, BC
		YMRMFSPA	Nikhai Hill-Green
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by me.
Notes	Twitter. Instagram.
Film:
Game highlights from Rivals. Junior film (at safety).

From our most scouted 2022 signee to the least!

Now that we've Michigan's incredible secondary class, we have to talk about how Michigan's linebacker recruiting went down. Whereas Don Brown was finding value with his Doom Rodentia, the new staff wanted NFL length, athleticism, versatility, and coverage. Boxy Brown commit Tyler Martin followed Brown out the door, and shoe-in Josh Burnham drifted off to Notre Dame. Despite a valiant, Devin Bush Jr.-level pursuit, they failed to pry system-ideal target/born Ute Lander Barton out of Utah. Michigan puppy dogged after Sebastian Cheeks long after that seemed lost, and seemed sure they would get Jeremy Patton over Texas, right up until Patton chose Baylor. In the meantime they let Aaron Alexander, an undersized, injured, Go Blue guy running back at Belleville, ride at the back of the class until they found him a landing spot with Brown's UMass.

The other LB recruit outside the top-1000 they were keeping in their back pocket was a much better kept secret, and also one they were close to losing when they thought Patton was in the bag. When that went down, Michigan had to dispatch their recruiting A-team to reconnect with a recruit who, on the surface (6'2"/200, #93 LB, #1014 overall), was indistinguishable from Alexander (6'1"/205, #102 LB, #1064 overall). In a rare leak of internal scouting/discord, insiders learned that there was some anger that Spurlock's pursuit had lapsed, especially once they had their hands on the next wave of film.

Despite appearances, Timothy Spurlock II was NOT Alexander. One of several prospects Courtney Morgan introduced them to, a growth spurt shot Spurlock from a faster than average 200-pound safety to a wide-chested, 220-pound (more by the looks of it) linebacker. He lost none of the speed, and his team took advantage of that versatility like a (mid-level Alabama division) high school version of Micah Parsons, allowing him to cover the slot, rush off the edge, or attack inside gaps. Michigan had him up for a workout in early summer 2021 and shot him up their short list. South Carolina was involved when Michigan hopped to the front of the line, Florida made a serious, last-minute run, and Auburn was always on Michigan's heels, including after an offer/visit combo meant to prevent Spurlock from committing in the first place. Had Michigan let off the gas a fraction longer, or not been flooring it to the finish line, they might not have made it.

Sometimes when a program misses out on their A list they take pains to portray Option B as the equal. The vibe from State Street is they thought 4-stars Barton and Patton were the best two LBs in the country, and Spurlock was on par with Cheeks (top-150). Unfortunately they don't make their scouting public, and those who do were so late to this game they barely bothered. Maybe if we read between the lines we can tease out what Michigan thinks they "settled" for.

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He is the very model of a modern Minter linebacker

IE he's athletic as all get-out.

Though Michigan was still riding with Macdonald—who was not, even he would admit, the most engaged recruiter—when this class was inked, Minter came up with Mac on the Ravens defensive staff, and has similar ideas for the position Macdonald coached. The new Rivals staff thinks Spurlock "might be the most deserving recruit of a rankings bump in Michigan’s class":

Modern-day outside backer who can stand up off the edge, drop back and cover, and step up against the run. As fast any linebacker in the country; uses it to rush the passer, chase down the ball carrier, and shines most in his closing speed. Finishes tackles and makes the opposition feel it. High motor, relentless effort. Fits like a glove in Mike Macdonald’s scheme.

The old staff got on a plane. EJ Holland:

Along with his build, Spurlock was tremendous speed and athleticism. He spent a ton of time covering in space and looked comfortable doing so. ... [vs Alexander], Spurlock has more game speed and better change of direction. He's a fluid athlete.

His coach called him "hybrid" who "can play the edge or the middle. He can blitz or play the pass. He can play half-field safety." Michigan was telling him he's ticketed for WILL. 24/7 (this seems to have just been Brice Marich, not one of their scouts) called Spurlock a "sideline-to-sideline" linebacker and "hard hitter" with a "nose for the ball."

Their NFL comp is a bit nuts—De'Vondre Campbell, PFF's most improved player of 2021, and inarguably the best free agent signing of the year, is a huge (6'4"), freakishly athletic WLB with safety speed and ideal wrap tackling. But okay!!! Mississippi State and South Carolina were both talking about hybrid versatility while Auburn and Michigan wanted an ILB.

Touch the Banner was mostly looking at the junior (at safety & WR) film, but agreed Spurlock "seems to be the type of athlete that Michigan wants on defense."

I also like his change of direction skills. He should be a plus blitzer because of his acceleration and change of direction, and he has the speed to run from sideline to sideline. … Overall, I like Spurlock and I was a little confused when Michigan seemed to back off on him later in the summer.

His coach comped him to Bama LB Reggie Ragland, who's from the same area; another school's staffer told Lorenz he reminds them of the guys Clemson recruits, and how Brown looked for athletes they could coach up like Uche and Paye.

See you in a few years

Since Spurlock was a safety and receiver until 2021, there's still a lot to teach him about linebacking, let alone linebacking in Michigan's system. EJ Holland, then with Rivals, called him a "high-ceiling, low floor prospect" who "shows plenty of speed and athleticism" but needs a ton of development, listing athleticism and speed as the attractions. This is out of Spurlock's own mouth:

“I have the talent. And they feel like I was a steal,” he said. “So just keep on improving. Get to work the first year and by the second year, I should be ready to go. It just depends on how I develop. If they feel like I’m ready, then I’m ready. But it’s just how I develop and how I take things to the next level.”

On3's Tim Verghese agrees he "has some work to do in the weight room and will need a bit of an adjustment period to the college level," predicting a few years of special teams before he breaks through as a LB.

24/7 didn't send a scout but Lorenz thought Michigan would be "glad they circled back around" because of the upside. Touch the Banner specified "some technical things" that needed to be improved:

He does not always read plays quickly, and he can take poor angles at times. He can also be a little overly aggressive, so he needs to slow down a little bit, break down, and make plays that are in front of him rather than running wildly into the backfield and then having to change direction at the last second. As players get bigger and stronger in college, they’ll be more likely to break arm tackles.

Sam mentioned Spurlock is a little closer to the field than people realize, but at that time the masses' realization was "uh, 200 pounds?"

And he grew, grew grew and grew

As with Kody Jones, the flurry of scouting produced on Spurlock by his commitment didn't age well. In Spurlock's case it was 2020 (vs 2019) film we were going off of, but he was also playing safety. Touch the Banner did his best to project:

If his 200 lb. listing is accurate, he has a couple years of time in the weight room ahead of him before hitting the 220-230 lbs. he should weigh. But he can run and he’s aggressive.

And then he grew to at least 220. His senior roster listed him at 217; Rivals upgraded him 210 then 220, and On3 followed; ESPN and 24/7 never updated. I say at least because compare the photo Michigan took when Spurlock visited last summer to last December:

Before	After

Production, film junkie.

For a developing prospect nobody's heard of, Spurlock sure stuffs a stat sheet, with 186 tackles as a senior. There was an article in the local paper after the 21-tackle game where Spurlock admitted his preparation is a big part of his game.

Etc. Played soccer and baseball. Academic-minded, plans to major in mechanical engineering or kinesiology. Going to copy-paste this from the hello as a PSA:

Spurlock has suffered from asthma since he was a young boy, and no this is not an issue, in case you want to tell your youngster with an inhaler that all his dreams are still on the table. Spurlock himself would like the boy to know that. Some other athletes with asthma: Jerome Bettis, Dennis Rodman, Emmett Smith, Dominique Wilkins, David Beckham, and six-time track medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Why Nikhai Hill-Green? Late-growing athletic linebacker with some versatility and good high school production that didn't match his lowly rankings. NHG isn't Junior Colson as an athlete, but he's sill "sideline to sideline" with a similar grappling attack to Spurlock's. He's also still putting on weight. Devin Gil is another comp as a safety turned linebacker, but Gil wasn't at all LB-shaped when he arrived. I thought about Roy Manning but most of you probably don't remember him well enough.

Guru Reliability: Low. No camps, just film, and that at safety and receiver. Rivals left him in the pile of their lowest-ranked 3-stars (what we used to call a 2-star). ESPN had him a titch higher than the others, but only because they rate Southeast recruits so much higher. On3 had a real scouting guy take a look but didn't disagree with the other sites.

Variance: Very high. Standard boom-or-bust who was 200 not long ago, and is still learning linebacker.

Ceiling: High-minus. The hit rate isn't high on build-your-own middle linebackers, but every so often you get a crazy athlete.

General Excitement Level: Moderate. Hard to get over the Plan B nature, but let's not disappointment with the position's recruiting cycle against him. I like that they used the spot for a swing at a dude, especially since they seem to have added a guy at MIKE. Highly productive high schoolers often work out much better than you think, and the scouting is basically nil. Blank slates do too, since there's nothing to unlearn. I don't know how anyone can still say he's 200 if they've seen a photo since 2020. They need linebackers now, and Spurlock doesn't give them that, but down the road they might have something.

Projection: Obvious redshirt, ideally followed by a couple years of special teams before he breaks into the lineup. Given the depth chart, this is the time for someone to pop behind the starters and lead the post NHG/Colson generation. That might accelerate Spurlock's path to the field; at best what that looks like is some talk in spring next year. I'm setting the ETA for Spurlock hype at spring 2024. If he's in the rotation by then, he's probably starting in 2025 and 2026. That's pretty likely, again, given the depth chart and how this defense and modern football tend to put its linebacker in decision hell. Since Spurlock can move, he's as good a bet as anyone else on this roster to get the chance.