Casey Phinney has Committed to Michigan
Those of you worried last week that Michigan only had one defensive recruit in the class, and none outside the composite top-1000, can stop fretting. Michigan this morning received word that Massachusetts linebacker Casey Phinney, the #40 ILB and 998th player overall in 247's composite rankings, intends to join the 2021 class.
Excited to announce my commitment to the University of Michigan〽️#GoBlue @FBCoachDBrown @CoachJim4UM @UMichFootball @CoachVoulgaris pic.twitter.com/QBd726auVw
— Casey Phinney (@caseyphinney) April 3, 2020
Like Giudice, Phinney has a lot of impressive academic offers (Harvard, Yale, Penn, Princeton, Army). The old BC staff offered but the new coaches were still evaluating him. The recruiting sites list him at 225, which appears to be a sophomore weight—Phinney's school's roster and most recent hudl video say 235. That video (his junior highlights) was posted just this morning. It shows a thick-ish interior sort with plus acceleration and a lot of strength, which against Massachusetts high schoolers translates to children getting rag-dolled and blitzes that deposit interior linemen in the quarterback's lap. Phinney also plays running back and H-back; if linebacker doesn't work out fullback or thunderback could be a possibility.
It's really hard to project that to the college level, but Phinney is as Don Brown as they come: a linebacker from one of those Massachusetts high schools that sounds like a the name of a law firm. Noble and Grennough School is one to keep an eye on; they sent a tight end (with a late Alabama offer) to Wisconsin last year, and offensive lineman Drew Kendall, a top-100 guard prospect, is the consensus best player in the state. Phinney's older brother Jackson was N&G's quarterback last year and was going to be a freshman on Pitt's baseball team.
Man, if we played in the Ivy League, we'd never lose!
Highest win percentage ever!
9-4 — 11-2 is the best this program will ever do. You want to compete with the big boys? Online classes and some bagmen will help
This has to be a joke. Second kid with no power 5 offers in the class and you expect people to stop fretting? Go look at OSU's class and tell me how taking kids like this helps us beat them?
Everything Steve Wiltfong said about Michigan's recruiting was right. They won't get out of their comfort zone in the Northeast, they continue to take low hanging fruit in kids that have no business being here, and their track record of their 3 stars they have taken is abysmal by and large.
In two years Harbaugh will be back in the NFL so I guess none of this matters but my god this is so depressing as a Michigan fan. Ryan Day is laughing his ass off right now.
Get some help, Shawn
S/he seems to be squarely in the IDGAF stage. No attempt at disguise through the name (which seems like an obvious version of Maizen), no effort toward altering presentation, etc.
This kid is going to get his ass run over by Treveyeon Henderson in 2 years. Henderson will be add 20 lb of muscle and this kid will add 20 lb of “good weight”.
After that they will have a RB running past him in the flat on a mismatch.
They need to stop letting Brown bring in these low ceiling players so early who will be available later on in the cycle.
This kid is going to get his ass run over by Treveyeon Henderson in 2 years. Henderson will be add 20 lb of muscle and this kid will add 20 lb of “good weight”.
After that they will have a RB running past him in the flat on a mismatch.
They need to stop letting Brown bring in these low ceiling players so early who will be available later on in the cycle.
I would give up Don Brown's top 5 statistical defenses for a lesser defensive coordinator who wouldn't pull 40% of the roster from the Northeast
These constant fliers on kids with offers from only Yale and Georgetown have to stop, man
If you actually look at all the three stars Harbaugh has recruited since he's been here the only one he has turned into an NFL draft pick is Josh Uche. But yeah, trust the coaches!
This idea that the coaches have some eye for talent that the recruiting services don't is a myth that needs to stop right here and now.
Ha! What a terrible take.
First of all, Josh Uche hasn't been drafted. Why? Because the majority of 3-stars recruited by Harbaugh since he was hired in 2015 have not even entered the draft yet.
BUT if you assume Uche will be drafted - and I do - then you should also consider other 3-stars who will/could get drafted, like Jon Runyan Jr., Nick Eubanks, Khaleke Hudson, Josh Metellus, Sean McKeon, Andrew Stueber, Brad Hawkins, Kwity Paye, Ronnie Bell, etc.
Actually your post is quite terrible. Runyan was a Hoke recruit. Eubanks, Paye and Hawkins are still in school and all are day 3 picks AT BEST. McKeon and Metellus won't be drafted. Ronnie Bell had the highest drop rate in the country and caught one TD pass last season despite getting free releases against 3rd and 4th string corners all season. If that doesn't scream stud I don't know what does. If only we had an explosive athlete like DPJ to put in the slot and two guys like Nico and Tarik to split outside. You probably thought Higdon was getting drafted too didn't you.
We need better players to beat OSU. We have Paye they have Chase Young. We have Metellus and Hawkins they have Okudah and Shaun Wade. We have Ronnie Bell they have recruited ten top 100 WR's over the last 3 classes.
Jim was supposed to close the talent gap but it's gotten even wider since he took over. The problem with you and other UM fans is that you think our talent is better than it really is. Recruiting rankings matter. Saban gets it, Kirby gets it, Dabo gets it, Day gets it. Our guy doesn't.
Using my calculator (so guys under 4.00 stars) here are the 3-stars Harbaugh brought in so far. Contributors bolded, young guys expected to be high-level contributers have a *, order is by how high they were ranked.
QUARTERBACK: none unless you count two transfers
RUNNING BACK: Chris Evans, O'Maury Samuels, Christian Turner, Karan Higdon, Hassan Haskins, Kingston Davis, Kurt Taylor, Tru Wilson
FULLBACK: Ben Mason, Ben Van Sumeren (recently moved to SAM)
RECEIVER: Eddie McDoom, Mike Sainristil, Nate Johnson, Grant Perry, Quintel Kent, Ronnie Bell
TIGHT END: Nick Eubanks, Ty Wheatley Jr., Erick All, Sean McKeon, Luke Schoonmaker
CENTER: Zach Carpenter*
GUARD: Joel Honigford*, Jack Stewart*, Stephen Spanellis, Ryan Hayes, Ja'Raymond Hall, Andrew Stueber
TACKLE: Jon Runyan Jr, Nolan Ulizio
NOSE: Carlo Kemp, Phil Paea, Julius Welschof*, Michael Morris
TACKLE: Micheal Dwumfour
SDE/ANCHOR: Shelton Johnson, Taylor Upshaw*, Gabe Newburg, Kwity Paye
END: David Ojabo*, Reuben Jones
SAM: Josh Uche, Joey Velazquez
ILB: Devin Gil, Charles Thomas*, Elysee Mbem-Bosse
VIPER: Khaleke Hudson, Michael Barrett*
SAFETY: Sammy Faustin, Josh Metellus, Quinten Johnson, J'Marick Woods, German Green
CORNERBACK: Benjamin St-Juste (all-conf for Minnesota), Gemon Green, DJ Turner, Vincent Gray, George Johnson, Keith Washington (all-conf for WVU)
That's a really high hit-rate for 3-stars. I too don't get the last two commits but your incessant, misguided, tone-deaf and dishonest carping makes it hard for anyone to talk about their frustrations with this program's recent recruiting issues, lest their arguments be taken to mean they think like you.
What are you defining as a hit? When half your roster is made up of 3 stars some of those guys are going to play by default and be productive because. Same thing happened under Rich Rod. Bottom line is most of the guys you bolded aren't NFL draft picks. Listing a bunch of freshman who didn't do anything of consequence is laughable at this point. The list of unbolded guys is quite long which underscores my original point. But lets look at the rest if your list of bolded guys who you think "hit"....
Chris Evans: kicked off the team for cheating on a paper
Karan Higdon: undrafted
Grant Perry: undrafted
St Juste: transferred
Runyan: Hoke recruit
Devin Gil: backup
Spanellis: backup
Steuber: backup, also a 4 star recruit
Washington: transferred
Dwumfour: transferred
V Gray: was bad this year and a clear step down from top 100's Thomas and Hill
Kemp: not going to make anyone forget about Allen Branch or Maurice Hurst. Struggled against good OL's. Not a NFL draft pick currently
Metellus: OSU WR's are still running by him. Won't be drafted
Ryan Hayes: Was actually a 4 star recruit
McKeon: won't be drafted
McDoom: transferred
Ben Mason: good fullback, laughable at DT
Eubanks: jury still out
So the only 3 stars who look like they have "hit" on are Uche, Paye, and Hudson. That's certainly no better than any other staff in America. It's almost as if recruiting rankings matter, A LOT. Also funny how these discussions don't exist on OSU and Bama boards.
You know a lot about football Maizen, and I agree that Michigan either needs better recruits or lower expectations.
However, your delivery is just so fucking abrasive.
Tend to agree with Maizen here. Yes, those are a lot of 3*'s contributing to your football team, but Harbaugh tends to recruit a lot of three stars. It's not like Harbaugh is recruiting massive classes filled with 4-5*'s only to have them consistenly being beaten out by average 3* recruits.
Do those three stars at the peak of their playing days or future days at Michigan start for a program like Bama or OSU? I'd bet 1-2....maybe.
That's a bit of an indictment of the talent level that Michigan is fielding. They lack quality talent at depth. OSU loses a WR, no worries, they're bringing in another 5*. Ditto defensive back. Michigan can't say that and that's why I think Michigan fans are frustrated and annoyed with the recruiting efforts of Jim Harbaugh and Co.
The problem is Harbaugh isn't developing these 3*'s into elite players, but just good to above-average players. That developement gets you what Harbaugh has accomlished at Michigan through 5 years...mediocricy. I think we all would be happy if these recruits turn into elite players that get elite results in college, which translates to high drafts, but that's just not the case for Michigan. Next year's class of 3* heading into the NFL Draft is extremely underwhelming.
We need recruiting of Hoke to go with coaching of Harbaugh.
Hoke was strong in Ohio. Maybe sign of times because going against Fickell...but Hoke recruited better, and I'm surprised about it.
Karan Higdon ran for 1,200 yards, 10 touchdowns, and was First Team All Big Ten..Was he a bust because he didn’t play in the NFL?
Ronnie Bell - 758 yards receiving last year You forgot to mention that.
Thank god we have Carlo Kemp back. He will be a third year starter.
Just imagine what an Alabama level RB would have done in Karan's place.
And? Is Karan Higdon going to make anyone forget about Tony Boles, Tyrone Wheatley, Tim Biakabutuka, Anthony Thomas, or Chris Perry? Is Ronnie Bell and his appalling mediocre hands (he had the highest drop rate in D-1 football last year) going to make anyone forget about Tai Streets, Amani Toomer, David Terrell, Jason Avant, Mario Manningham, Steve Breaston, Marquis Walker, Braylon Edwards, or Devin Funchess?
When half your roster is 3 stars some are going to get on the field and be semi productive. But fans then conflate that as thinking the coaches are some wizards at identifying talent when the reality is Higdon and Bell wouldn't sniff the field at a school like Alabama or LSU or OSU.
So yeah, thank god we have Carlo Kemp back makes me almost forget that the coaches have completely whiffed on DT recruiting over and over and the days or Alan Branch and Maurice Hurst in the middle of our defense area a distant memory.
So we should never take a 3 star receiver then because they aren’t going to be Braylon or Manningham? Braylon wasn’t highly rated. For a guy who only counts stars, you’re not so good at it. You do realize that there are 85 scholarships and you need to build a team with multiple receivers who do different things. “Semi productive” as you say for Ronnie Bell who was the leading receiver on the team last year.
You don’t want Ronnie Bell or Grant Perry on the team. But you will take Brian Cole, Kekoa Crawford, Oliver Martin, Drake Harris, and Freddie Canteen because they are 4 stars?
Ronnie Bell being the "leading reciever" last year isn't helping your point. All it is doing is underscoring what a terrible job the coaches did in utilizing DPJ, Nico, and Tarik. Lets keep forcing the ball to the smallest WR with the worst hands on the team genius idea!
BTW Brian Cole is a safety and going to be a NFL draft pick this year. Drake Harris has injuries. Canteen was a 3 star. Was never high on Crawford. Remind me how Grant Perry's NFL career is going again.
Hahaha so you have an excuse for all of these guys except for Ronnie Bell? It’s not his fault that he ended up being more productive than DPJ and Tarik who get a pass from you for some reason.
BTW Brian Cole played receiver at Michiganhis freshman year.
Canteen was a four star on 247 Composite.
Grant Perry was the most reliable receiver on the team his senior year. Who cares if he played in the NFL?
Also I know you have a really hard time with numbers and basic math (might be a good time to work on that during the lockdown), but Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil are both shorter than Ronnie Bell. It’s getting hard even finding all your mistakes.
You are worried about Ronnie Bell’s drop rate when 95% of what you are saying is inaccurate.
It's a high hit rate as contributors, but how many of them are GOOD contributors? Maybe half of those guys?
Seth, is there no way to just ban this guy? My first thought when this kid committed was the same WTF but the guy who's DAZN5 today and goodness knows what next just ruins any rational discussion. Coming to this board should be a nice distraction for everyone during this awful time yet this preening jackass chooses to carry on like a child. Enough already.
Yep - we can stop fretting alright. We just picked up a top 1000 recruit!
I mean, if there's one thing I don't doubt from the last few years, it's Don Brown's ability to evaluate and develop linebackers. Cautiously optimistic about this one.
Athletically he looks to be an interior DL prospect. He has a long way to go from 6'2" 235 pounds.
The only nice thing Allen Trieu could say about him is that he thinks he could play fullback, a now extinct position in our new offense. Sam Webb said he never even heard of the guy (second time this week after the kid from Jersey with no power 5 offers committed). Brian Dohn said Army was looking at him.
This sucks. Our coaching staff doesn't care about recruiting while OSU is on the verge of signing one of the best classes ever.
Funny how Mel, Bakich, and Howard can all recruit top classes every year but it's too much for our 8 million dollar football coach to do. Damn.
I posted about him back in 2018 when he was offered. He's been on Michigan's radar since the end of his freshman year.
Dude, you are too far over the top, are too often dishonest, fudging numbers to prove your point, and just generally about as much fun as a long car trip with a whiny child.
BUT - the point you make here comparing Juwan's crootin to what JH is grabbing this past week is well taken.
We ALL love Stu & Zack, but we are not complaining that hoops is not going for those guys under Juwan!
I have to agree, these last 2 D commits do not give high hope of slowing osu...
I think that the classroom is important and like that it's part of the evaluation process.
I dont want to win at any cost.
Our recruiting has become completely tiresome. Feels like Jim has just given up.
Because he has. This is another Dantonio level commit. We will be much better off when Matt Campbell or PJ Fleck takes this job. Doesn't matter how good your gameplan is when OSU out athletes you every year. I wanted this to work out with Harbuagh but he doesn't understand the importance of recruiting. Ryan Day does. Nick Saban does. Dabo does. Kirby does. Jim doesn't. UM won't fire him but they won't renew his contract in two years. Thankfully this season will be canceled so only one more year of watching OSU kick our ass before we get someone in here that can recruit top 5 classes like the rest of the coaches on this campus.
The Fleck ship has sailed. Why would he leave Minnesota ? Seriously. He is a king there. And a great place to live, and doesn't have to follow a legacy. Their program is humming right now.
Just pull the cord man. Embrace the dark side with all of your soul. Sell all of your Michigan gear, delete your mgoblog accounts, devote even more of your time to OSU. Take your fandom to Columbus. You’ll be eternally happier, we’ll be happier, it’s an easy decision. You know it’s the right move, no reason to deny it any longer. I honestly don’t see any future happiness for you as a fan of Michigan.
I'm really not sure what to think. Our recruiting on the offensive side of the ball has been fantastic for 2021. Warinner, Moore, Gattis, McDaniels, and Jay Harbaugh have been putting in work. It's just the defensive side of the ball that is looking like an issue
OSU's recruiting on offense has been fantastic. They have a legitimate chance to start a 5 star recruit at every position two years from now. We're merely good. And is anyone really surprised defensive recruiting is going downhill when know dud recruiters like Shoop, Zordich, and Brown are half your staff?
We are stock-piling speed on our defense. Our coaches are definitely reacting well with their plan to compensate for what OSU has been doing to us with all that speed at WR. I love all these Devin Bush/Daxton Hill types we are uncovering.
Our defense is going to be amazing in 3 years!
Old school. Ben Mason 2.0 ... these kind of guys are important to team chemistry. They work harder, hit harder and are excellent students. Role models for the head-case 4/5 stars. Guys like this will contribute at either FB / HB / LB and definitely on special teams, but most importantly as leaders on the field, in the weight room, and in the classroom.
Yea those 4 and 5 star headcases are having such a hard time winning games at Bama, OSU, LSU, and Clemson. They should definitely take more 3 stars so they can be like us who lose 3-5 games a year and brag about our grade point average.
Bama has guys on their team like this, not everyone is going to be 4/5 star NFL material even at a program like Bama. But to compete with Bama we need more 4/5 star caliber recruits no doubt. Just don't lose sight that there are 85 scholarship players each roster and building a team is more than just star gazing.
Bama has multiple guys with zero power 5 offers on scholarship? LOL no they fucking don't.
mongo--- wake up!!! it has been proven time and time again, more stars = more wins.
This site really needs an "ignore user" feature.
I believe someone built a plugin or something with such a feature.
Is that intro paragraph the very definition of gaslighting?
Pretty obvious what has occurred over the past 5 yrs.
Initially, Harbaugh swung for the fences going after many 5* types. He lost almost all of those battles (too numerous to name them all but think: Leatherwood, Wilson, Weber, Harris, Becton, etc etc etc - the list goes on).
Now he’s changed tactics and going after guys who will be 5 years in the system with the hope that a handful turn out to be productive. Basically, Wisconsin.
Comments