Hello: Carter Dunaway
Carter Dunaway (R) with his brother, 2015 walk-on Jack Dunaway.
Michigan picked up its first commitment of the 2017 class last week in Birmingham (MI) Brother Rice tight end Carter Dunaway, who was offered while visiting for the spring game and didn't wait long to make his decision.
It's not surprising Dunaway jumped at the chance to play for Michigan. His father, Craig, played tight end under Bo Schembechler. His brother, Jack, is a preferred walk-on defensive end in the 2015 class. With former high school teammates Alex Malzone and Grant Perry also joining the program, Dunaway had plenty of motivation to make a commitment, and he told The Wolverine's Brandon Brown he didn't see any reason to wait ($):
"Obviously when I got the offer it was a big shock," Dunaway said. "I wanted to talk about it with my family and go over everything with them. After I was able to do that, I realized that I'm going to end up at Michigan anyway. Why prolong the whole recruiting process? I wanted to get it over with right now and focus on my high school season and get my goals straight. It was just a good time for me to get that done and go down there and talk to Coach [Jim] Harbaugh.
"I actually went to his office to tell him in person. He was actually at the Tigers game before I got there but he was just hanging out, talking with a couple of coaches. I went into his office and talked to him and that's when I committed."
Dunaway plans to do some recruiting of his own, especially in-state, now that he's made his decision.
GURU RATINGS
| Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 247 | 247 Comp |
| NR TE | NR TE | NR TE | NR TE | NR TE |
Dunaway isn't ranked by any of the four sites, and there are very apparent reasons for this: he played a backup role on a senior-laden Brother Rice squad last season, to the point that there isn't any sophomore film freely available on him—it'd be short, anyway, as Dunaway had one reception in 2014. It's safe to say there's a lot of projection in this offer from Jim Harbaugh's end, with Dunaway's 6'6", 230-pound frame playing a significant role.
SCOUTING
As mentioned above, Dunaway wasn't a significant part of the Brother Rice offense last season, as he was stuck behind a pair of productive senior tight ends; Michael Roney and Dylan Fortin combined for 40 catches from that spot, and with Alex Malzone's favorite wide receiver, Grant Perry, accounting for another 105 receptions, there were only so many targets to go around.
Dunaway hasn't made a significant mark on the camp circuit, either. There's only a short video of him going through drills at last May's Midwest Elite Camp...
I have no idea what to make of this.
...and him giving a self-evaluation to GBW's Josh Newkirk afterwards ($):
Only a freshman, Dunaway put his talents on display this past Saturday in the Midwest Elite Camp. The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder was impressive, as he showcased good coordination and catching ability throughout the camp.
"I think I am doing okay," Dunaway said. "I have made a couple good catches. I'm working hard out here. I am going as fast as I can in every drill. So I think I am doing pretty well."
Right now, we have a frame and a legacy. We'll know a lot more this fall, when Dunaway projects to be a major part of a Brother Rice offense replacing six of its top seven receivers.
OFFERS
Michigan was the only school to offer Dunaway before his commitment. The Wolverine reported he had interest from Boston College, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and some Ivy League schools. Dunaway expressed interest in exploring the Ivy League; he should be just fine academically.
HIGH SCHOOL
I probably don't need to tell you much about Brother Rice, which won three straight state titles from 2011-2013 and has a long history of success, mostly under legendary former coach Al Fracassa. A trio of 2015 freshmen—Malzone, Perry, and Jack Dunaway—all come from the program.
STATS
Dunaway had one reception for nine yards in 2014.
FAKE 40 TIME
None listed.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
I mean, your guess is as good as mine here. Dunaway has the frame to be a solid in-line tight end who can handle the physical aspect of the position from an early juncture—he's already at 230 pounds with two full years of high school remaining. There's nothing to glean from his very limited on-field resumé except he wasn't such a precocious talent that he could jump a pair of trusty seniors, one of whom (Michael Fortin) landed a scholarship from Eastern Michigan.
It's still too early to even project the depth chart at tight end for 2017. Michigan will have a redshirt senior Khalid Hill, a redshirt junior Ian Bunting, and either a true junior or redshirt sophomore Tyrone Wheatley Jr. at the position, plus any 2016 tight end recruits that they bring in—Michigan will add at least one in this cycle. Here's an early guess at a redshirt for Dunaway, with any other projection not worth making based on the lack of available evidence.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Michigan will have a 2017 class, and Carter Dunaway will be in it.
What is the other reason he got offered then at this point? There are plenty of 6'6, 200+ pound guys that have less than or equal to one catch in high school football.
We had 6'4 220 pound LT's that could do that. I really want to see his junior film this year before I go and compliment him on control of his body, blocking technique, good hands etc. etc.
Just so we're clear - 6'4" 220 still isn't the same as 6'6" 230. And it's possible that one clip of film that MGoBlog has isn't necessarily all of the evidence of that kid's skills, right? Maybe, just maybe, Harbaugh and his staff have more evidence to go on than we do. That's possible, right?
How do I know this kid has control of his body? I don't know for sure, but the one bit of evidence I have in my corner is that Jim Harbaugh offered him a scholarship. So the burden is kind of on you to prove that he doesn't. And if you think so poorly on our coach then you might as well find another team to root for because we're not getting anyone better than him.
"How do we know this kid does? We've seen a minute film of him catching like five passes."
This is precisely my point. "We" (mgoblog posters) know virtually nothing about him. The coaches that have watched him, talked to him, and offered him, know FAR, FAR more about this particular player than we do. They decided to offer him.
If we get to the point where Jim Harbaugh has shown me that his whole career up to this moment was a false indicator, and that he actually sucks as a football coach and an evaluator and developer of talent, then I will start not trusting his judgment. We are not there. We are at the point where every data point shows him to be an excellent evaluator and developer of talent, and it seems absurd to me to, ABSOLUTELY ABSURD, that you, based on this trivial bit of film, would say that you have a pretty fair notion that Harbaugh and his staff are wrong.
Am I suggesting nobody should have an opinion that contradicts the coaching staff? Nope. But man, I'd think that at minimum, you'd want to get to that opinion cautiously, thoughtfully, and based on actual positive evidence, not simply a lack of input, such as we have in this case.
Rob
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No, you're a troll who is wasting his time.
Are you saying that it would be better to spend the next year and a half recruiting a 5* who might be with team 3 years than have a 2* that has been catching passes from Alex Malzone since he was a freshman in high school?
what this kid is going to think of the Michigan fanbase when he reads this thread?
If Habaugh thinks he's good enough to offer, who the hell are any of us to disagree? JH has performed like a damn miracle worker at every place he's coached. I think he knows what he's doing.
So congrats Mr. Dunaway. Do a good job in HS and try not to get hurt.
He's going to think that there are mostly reasonable fans who look big picture at Harbaugh's success in both college and the NFL and assume he has some credibility in giving the offer. He's also going to think that there is an irrational bunch of jackass fans around who post negatively (he's going to search "three star mafia" on Brian's site) who are motivated by irrational anger at the team's performance since 1997, who feel entittled to "all the starzzzzz" and for whom Trieu, Wiltfong and top 247 lists are the only true arbiters of talent.
It is what it is. Three Star Mafia fans are the worst.
I know, right? How dare people look at objective factors like the statistical significance of recruting rankings, offers from other programs, and career stats. They should of course rely on overused cliches like "trust the coaches" instead.
Okay, now you're just being ridiculous. You are intimating that starzzz are an objective factor?. Exactly how do you think the sites arrive at star rankings, anyway? Jeebus.
FWIW, there is a rather large difference between trusting the coaches and expecting them to do their job. Harbaugh is well compensated at $6 mil per year and part of his job description involves bringing the best talent to Michigan so he can coach them to win games. Period.
The interesting thing is that he and the staff ultimately decide what that means in terms of "best" and his job performance (like Brady Hoke's) will ultimately be determined in wins/losses. I never said "trust the coaches" but I will say, as I have said before, that it is my expectation that Harbaugh does his job and brings in talent to win games. If he wants to pin his credibility on this young man and the others he recruits, well, fair enough...it's on him.
He certainly has the track record to back up picking tight ends.
Troll on fella, troll on.
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They always are around, but most are afraid of saying anything because it will expose their ignorance and overall assholeness. But heaven forbid a kid accepts an offer from Michigan when "there are better dudez out therez!" that's a siren call they simply cannot ignore.
This happened during Austin's commitment, but since even fewer people here follow college basketball recruiting they stayed away.
I actually kinda feel bad for Carter - kid probably felt like a million bucks when he committed to UM and then he'll undoubtedly stumble on this page where a bunch of grown-ass men and women take anonymous shots at him behind the false veneer of "concerned" fans because they only know he's a sophomore and assume that because he hasn't recorded a bunch of catches he must suck, context be damned.
Why can't they have both?
At 6'6 230 already plus having 3.5years to work on timing with Malzone before his red shirt frosh year, Carter will fit nicely next to that top 30 stud.
I got carried away ranting about this earlier, but I'll just say that it makes absolutely no sense to take an unranked recruit with one career catch almost two years before signing day. Yes, Harbaugh is a good evaluator of talent, but are we really supposed to believe that the 127 other FBS coaches are just completely missed on this guy? Why wouldn't we wait to see his junior year productivity before accepting a commitment?
Maybe, but you can't deny that it's a little frustrating to see other top programs already reeling in 5-stars for 2017 while we have to hope that Harbaugh is finding diamonds in the rough.
No, this happens to lots of teams every year. I've seen lots of CA kids that USC picks up before anyone else offers who end of being high 3-star or 4-star players. They can do that because they have a lot of knowledge into talent rich schools and insiders telling them which kids are legit. And many times the top coaches (like Harbaugh) are able to find the good players before the recruiting sites do.
Here are some other top programs around the country and who they have committed for 2017:
Florida: nobody
Nebraska: nobody
Oklahoma: nobody
Texas: nobody
UCLA: nobody
Obviously, there are some schools with one or a few good commits (Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, etc.), but every class is bound to have some highly rated guys and some low-ranked guys. Add to that the fact that Michigan's 2017 class is going to be 26 players strong - or more - and we're bound to take some flyers on a few guys.
Taking Dawkins and MAAR late in their senior years meet my definition. Taking a sophomore with one career catch does not. Being a fan of your TTB content, surprised you endorse flyers so early for 2017.
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April 20th, 2015 at 10:15 PM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
I'm not endorsing flyers. I'm not endorsing Dunaway. I'm also not against taking him, either. I essentially have zero information to go on other than what we all know, which is that he's big, a sophomore, and didn't play much this past year.
I'm simply acknowledging that a) the 2017 class is going to be large and will undoubtedly include some lower rated guys and b) saying "other programs are taking 4- and 5-star recruits" is misleading when it's also true that other programs don't have any recruits committed at all.
April 22nd, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
Too many people are talking extremes here. Harbaugh should get the same second guessing that Carr, RichRod and Hoke got on this board--otherwise where is the fun in debating opinions? Seems to me the same people that said Harbaugh was going to bring in nothing but 4/5 stars from all over the country are now defending a NR legacy recruit in the backyard with no other offers. The trust in Harbaugh crowd has already become a formidable set of Internet bullies. Fun times! By the time this kid plays a down as a likely RS freshman, Harbaugh will have had three seasons, be 15M$ richer, and a success, or not.
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There's nothing wrong with questioning, though when you question someone who is measurably better than you at something, you better have good evidence, and there just isn't a lot of good evidence here. Until Harbaugh proves otherwise, don't you think he should get the benefit of the doubt?
But a point can be made by extending this offer more broadly. If half the 2017 class were filled this summer by NR recruits, are you OK with that? Also, Harbaugh is starting to show a bit of a trend regarding not searching hard for the best but going with familiar. Hiring his coaches from Stanford and 49er days, hiring his son Jay, legacy walkons, hiring Momma Gwen and transferring in her son on scholarship. Perhaps these are all good options, but I am not convinced they are the best he could have done. Do you have any evidence where Stanford got a commitment from a NR 15 year old that became a starter under Harbaugh? Probably can't, since Harbaugh was only there 4 years.
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Harbaugh has an incredible track record, so anything he does will be OK by me until proven otherwise. Will I prefer he sign 10 NR recruits in this class? No. And I doubt that will happen, but until Harbaigh proves he's not good at identifying talent, I am going to assume that he is. I'm surprised more people are extending him that latitude.
Everyone wants to hire this great coach, but then they complain when he doesn't do things exactly the way they would do it.
1. He has a great frame. Might even outgrow TE.
2. He has barely played so far and has only a couple (maybe even only one) catches to his name.
3. He graduates in 2017 and has 2 years of HS football left to change #2.
4. The only video we have of him is of him working out, and he gets tired halfway through. So we might have to reserve judgement considering we haven't seen him play too often.
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everything about these comments disgust me.
I don't like blind faith.
I don't like Star fuckers.
I don't like offering scholarships to 15 year olds either.
yuck!
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April 20th, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^
Pretty astonishing that people have nerve to give Harbaugh shit about offering a kid, and at freaking TE out of all positions..
Did the guy not send like 4 or 5 guys to the NFL at the position in 4 years at Stanford?
The kid still has two full seasons of varsity H.S. football to play. Once he grows into that frame, I wouldn't be suprised if he ends up a 4*.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
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