Future Blue Originals 2012: Out-Of-State Primer Comment Count

Ace

Previously: In-State Primer

Yesterday, I went over the schedules of Michigan's in-state commits, highlighting certain matchups for this fall's Future Blue Originals. Today's out-of-state primer is going to look a little different, mostly because I didn't want to embed 20-something tables into this post. Last year we got some great reader submissions of scouting reports, photos, and even video of Michigan commits for games I could not attend. We'd love to get even more of those this year, so I've compiled a couple of handy resources that should make this easy to organize.

Handy Map



View Future Blue Originals Commit/Target Map in a larger map

Say you live in—to take a completely random example—eastern Ohio, and you're wondering how you could help the blog. Well, wonder no more. The map above features the high school locations for each of Michigan's 23 senior commits, as well as Detroit Loyola (Malik McDowell) and St. Clairsville (Michael Ferns). If you live close to any of the above locations and think you could contribute a passable scouting report, mark it down on the...

Handy Master Schedule

...master schedule for each of Michigan's commits and select targets. It's a Google Doc that I've made editable by the public (please use this privilege wisely); as you can see, games I'll be attending are in bold, followed by my name. If you plan to attend a game and submit a report, photos, or video, mark it down in the same fashion. If you're willing, please also include your email; if you (understandably) don't want it on a public document, just shoot me an email, but please make sure to still mark the game you're attending so others know what's covered as well.

If you're one of those people who watches a lot of football but you aren't sure you've got the chops to do a detailed report, please contact me anyway; I'm happy to give a few pointers about what to watch for a particular position or prospect. If we get enough user-submitted reports, I'll either include them in each week's FBO post or compile them in a weekly feature.

Now, on to the primer itself, broken down by region.

Eastern Ohio/Western Pennsylvania

CB Ross Douglas (2013 Commit), Avon High School, Avon (OH): Avon is coming off a 13-2 season that ended at the hands of Mike McCray, Cam Burrows, and their Trotwood-Madison squad in the Division II state title game. Douglas plays running back as well as corner for the Eagles, so there will be plenty to scout if you check him out.

LB Ben Gedeon (2013 Commit), Hudson High School, Hudson (OH): Hudson finished 10-2 in 2011, bowing out in the second round of the OHSAA playoffs. Gedeon does a little bit of everything, playing tight end, H-back, wide receiver, kick returner, and even quarterback. He might be the recruit I most wish lived three hours closer to Ann Arbor.

CB Gareon Conley (2013 Commit), Washington High School, Massillon (OH): Perennial powerhouse Massillon Washington had a down year by their standards in 2011, going 7-3 and missing the state playoffs. Conley managed to record four interceptions and nine PBUs last year despite playing much of the season in a cast; there's a good chance he'll be making big plays if you decide to head to a game.

RB DeVeon Smith (2013 Commit), Howland High School, Warren (OH): Howland's perfect 9-0 regular season in 2011 was spoiled with a first-round exit from the Division II playoffs. Smith has combined for just under 4,000 rushing yards over the last two seasons; if you're looking for a prospect that's easy to scout and will have plenty of opportunities to show his stuff, it's probably Smith.

S Dymonte Thomas (2013 Commit), Marlington High School, Alliance (OH): Marlington posted an 8-2 record in 2011, which wasn't quite good enough to earn them a spot in the state playoffs. Thomas rushed for 875 yards and 13 TDs as a running back while tallying 102 tackles and an interception on defense. In fact, I'd say he's the best guy to scout over Smith, but safety play is a little tougher to evaluate than a running back.

LB Michael Ferns (2014 Commit), St. Clairsville High School, St. Clairsville (OH): St. Clairsville finished 10-2 last season, going down in the second round of the Division IV playoffs. Ferns tallied 136 tackles at linebacker and also was a very dangerous weapon at both running back and tight end.

OL Patrick Kugler (2013 Commit), North Allegheny High School, Wexford (PA): North Allegheny advanced all the way to the state semifinals before suffering their first loss of the season in 2011.

Columbus Area

TE Jake Butt (2013 Commit), Pickerington North High School, Pickerington (OH): Despite an 8-2 record, Pickerington North failed to make the playoffs last season. Butt starred at both tight end and defensive end, tallying 427 yards and seven TDs on offense and ten sacks on defense. I'm planning to watch North take on their cross-town rivals, who feature...

DE Taco Charlton (2013 Commit), Pickerington Central High School, Pickerington (OH): Central not only defeated North last season, they made it all the way to the Division I title game before falling to St. Ignatius. Charlton had 60 tackles and seven TFL as a situational player last year and should see his role expand this season.

WR Jaron Dukes (2013 Commit), Marion-Franklin High School, Columbus (OH): The Red Devils went 13-1 in 2011, losing only to Trotwood-Madison in the Division I state semifinals. Dukes contribted 36 catches for 673 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Marion-Franklin faces off against Pickerington Central on August 31st at 7:30 pm; I'll be in Dallas, so if someone could cover that game it would be a huge help.

Definitely Not The Columbus Area*

LB Mike McCray (2013 Commit), Trotwood-Madison High School, Trotwood (OH): Trotwood-Madison captured the Division II state title last season over Douglas's Avon squad to cap off a perfect 15-0 season. McCray had a big year statistically at linebacker—88 tackles, two forced fumbles, five interceptions, and three defensive touchdowns—and also contributed heavily at tight end. They open on August 26th with a televised game against Ft. Lauderdale University School.

*Apologies, Trotwood natives.

Illinois

OL Kyle Bosch (2013 Commit), St. Francis High School, Wheaton (IL): St. Francis went 8-3 last season, falling in the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs. Bosch earned all-area and all-state honors and should do the same this season.

OL Logan Tuley-Tillman (2013 Commit), Manual High School, Peoria (IL): Manual struggled to a 3-6 record last season. Tuley-Tillman will once again start at left tackle; his development is one to watch closely given his raw talent.

LS Scott Sypniewski (2013 Commit), Marquette High School, Ottawa (IL): Marquette finished just 2-7 last fall. Scouting the long snapper is probably quite unnecessary, but if you'd like to, it's a free country.

Elsewhere

OL Chris Fox (2013 Commit), Ponderosa High School, Parker (CO): Ponderosa finished just 4-6 last season. Fox starred on both the offensive and defensive lines.

DT Maurice Hurst Jr. (2013 Commit), Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood (MA): Xaverian Brothers went 6-5 in 2011. Hurst was a first-team all-state defensive tackle, and perhaps more impressively also toted the rock as a massive running back. Fat guy touchdowns, ahoy!

DT Henry Poggi (2013 Commit), Gilman School, Baltimore (MD): Gilman, coached by Poggi's father Biff, finished 10-1 in 2011 against an impressive schedule, with Henry posting ten sacks. This year Gilman opens against three powerhouse programs: Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (8/26), Our Lady of Good Counsel (8/31), and Don Bosco Prep (9/8). Any one of those games would be great to attend and scout.

CB Channing Stribling (2013 Commit), Butler High School, Matthews (NC): Butler capped off an 11-2 season with a run to the Class 4AA state quarterfinals in 2011. Stribling excelled on both sides of the ball, catching eight touchdowns as a receiver and intercepting six passes at corner. As one of Michigan's least-scouted prospects, I'd love to hear reports on him, as well.

If you're able to attend any games for the above players—or the in-state recruits, as well—update the Google doc and send me an email. I'll be in contact with those who express interest in scouting as the season approaches.

Comments

a non emu

August 16th, 2012 at 3:38 PM ^

I work pretty much across the street from Xaverian Brothers. Was really excited when Maurice committed. I was going to check out a couple of their games in the fall regardless. But since you've put the request out there, will try to give my uneducated opinions on how he looks.

BrownJuggernaut

August 16th, 2012 at 3:48 PM ^

Do you know which games you're planning on going to? I have yet to decide what games to come down for, so if we could tackle a wider scope of his games, it'd be sweet. It'd help me narrow down which games to go to. Part of me really wants to go to the Xaverian-Everett game to watch him against Notre Dame commit John Montelius, but it's on a Saturday and it'll probably have some overlap with the Michigan-Illinois game. I'm not exactly in the Westwood neighborhood.

a non emu

August 16th, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^

The only ones I can get to are St. John's on 10/27 and St. John's prep on 11/22. Not sure why they play all their home games on Saturday. Most of their away games are on a Friday. Friday evening home games would have made my life a lot easier. I wonder if they don't have lights for their field. I could maybe do the game at W. Roxbury. That's only a 10-15 min drive from work.

Michiganfootball13

August 16th, 2012 at 3:40 PM ^

Looking at the map...I think that Michigan should start pushing harder on the west side of the state...IMHO that is where most of the premire talent is in the state of Michigan

WolvinLA2

August 16th, 2012 at 3:59 PM ^

I love it that this post was tagged "funny." Was it meant to be a sarcastic post? Because I grew up in GR and played HS football there, so of anything my bias would be in favor of West Michigan, but that's just not where the bulk of the talent is. There are good players who come from there, Ben Braden last year, Drake Harris next year, but it just doesn't pump out the players on a consistent basis like the east side of the state does.

WolvinLA2

August 16th, 2012 at 5:22 PM ^

Is Grand Rapids Christian a pipeline?  Before 2014, I can't think of a single D1 kid coming out of that school. 

Really none of them are pipelines at all.  The bigger schools will take turns putting out one kid a year, or so.  Rockford had Braden, West Ottawa had Desmond Morgan the year before, Muskegon kicks out one every now and then, East had the Gradys and not much more. 

According to Rivals, the top kid from West Michigan is Corey Willis, an ATH out of Holland who is committed to CMU and the #15 kid in the state.  There is one other kid from the top-30, and he's an OL from Portage who is going to Toledo (#26).  So I'm not sure that warrants recruiting a lot more on that side of the state. 

Crazy thing - Cadillac High School has more kids in the top-30 than Greater Grand Rapids. 

Bronco648

August 16th, 2012 at 3:42 PM ^

For those in Chicago-land that would like to scout Kyle Bosch, five of his football team's games will be played at College of DuPage (between Butterfield and Roosevelt Roads, west of I-355 in Glen Ellyn - in other words, pretty easy to get to). I may try to make it down there for a game. Here's a link to St. Francis' Football schedule: LINK.

TheDirtyD

August 17th, 2012 at 10:06 AM ^

Honestly I'm a pilot  working for a airline and I do a lot of over nights in these areas so I will try to cordinate with you ACE and Brain for which games need to be covered and if I will be there. I can try to jumpseat out to Colorado on a day off. I enjoy just randomly going places and this would accomplish two things at the same time. Going to some random place and scouting a Michigan guy out. Feel free to send me more info. I get my schedules a month ahead of time.

m1jjb00

August 16th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^

When Seth carved up Ohio

http://mgoblog.com/content/dear-diary-carves-ohio

http://mgoblog.com/content/dear-diary-carves-ohio-again

 he noted that: 

Southeastern Ohio: (0 Players rated 4-stars+)

The area has produced very little in the way of top talent.

 

Well, unless I can't read a map (always a possibility, go ask my wife), Michael Ferns is from Southeastern Ohio--barely, but it looks like there's enough space north of I-70.  That would make Michigan the first and only school to collect a touted recruit from each region, yes?

Yeoman

August 16th, 2012 at 5:37 PM ^

My family's from Trotwood and the suggestion that it's in the "Columbus Area" is extremely offensive. Inaccurate, too (it's closer to Cincinnati than to Columbus), but mostly it's offensive.

If you don't want to have a "Dayton Area" call it Southwestern Ohio or Western Ohio or Cincinnati Area...ANYTHING but that unmentionable you used.

MaizedOUTinoh

August 16th, 2012 at 5:45 PM ^

Shouldn't have a problem getting out to see him. I live about 15 minutes from Hudson. Dymonte might not be too hard either to get out to see. He is scrimmaging my home town team this weekend. If I can get out I will definitely give some amature scouting reports on the games.

ldoublee

August 16th, 2012 at 10:48 PM ^

I live in the area.  I don't believe his team will be as good this year, so I think his numbers may suffer some.  There were even rumors of him transferring to Youngstown Ursuline, but those appear to have been false.

SamGoBlue2

August 19th, 2012 at 4:02 PM ^

If we plan to go to a game that someone has already bolded on the schedule (take this Friday's De La Salle/Pioneer matchup) should we even bother adding our own name?