Hello: Elysee Mbem-Bosse Comment Count

Ace



Photo: 247Sports

Ellenwood (GA) Cedar Grove ILB Elysee Mbem-Bosse and Miami (FL) Columbus DE/OLB Joshua Uche both announced their commitments to Michigan this evening, becoming the 23rd and 24th members of the 2016 class. Tonight's commitment post features Mbem-Bosse; Uche's will go up tomorrow morning.

Mbem-Bosse is the third inside linebacker in the class, joining Devin Bush Jr. and Dytarious Johnson at a position of significant need. He chose Michigan over Auburn and Oklahoma, among others.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
3*, #26 ILB 4*, #15 ILB 4*, 80, #13 ILB 3*, 86, #31 ILB,

#837 Ovr
3*, #17 ILB,

#487 Ovr

There's a split in Mbem-Bosse's rankings; Rivals and ESPN each list him as their second-to-last four-star among ILBs, while Scout and 247 place him well into three-star territory.

He brings plenty of size to the position. Scout and 247 list him at 6'3", 232 lbs., Rivals at 6'2", 228, and ESPN at 6'3", 230.

SCOUTING

The consensus is Mbem-Bosse has the size, power, and tackling ability to potentially see the field early; the question is whether he's fluid enough in coverage. ESPN isn't so sure:

Will move laterally and keep his shoulders square to take on blocks and locate ball carrier but shows some tightness opening and turning in pursuit. Uses his hands to shock blockers and disengage to wrap up ball carrier. Shows good instincts and diagnosing skills versus full flow power-schemes with downhill action.

Has short area power to deliver a heavy hit when in proper position. Has the ability to jolt runner and use hands to dislodge the ball. Shows the ability to drag down runners with strong hands.

Shows good awareness in underneath zone coverage. Gets to the ball quickly with his ability to react to routes developing in front of him. We do not see the hips or fluid transitional skills to project high as a man coverage LB at the next level.. Shows good timing to blitz between the tackles.

Mbem-Bosse is a thumper ready to make the jump physically to the college level and has a lot of tools desired in an upper-tier middle linebacker. With continued flexibility through his hips he should climb our board.

In this film evaluation, Auburn legend Pat Dye's former offensive coordinator, Jack Crowe, calls Mbem-Bosse a "big, dominating player at the second level" over clips from his junior highlights, which mostly feature him stuffing the run but also show a deep zone drop and hit on a receiver:

UGASports.com surveyed the state of Georgia in March of 2015 and identified Mbem-Bosse as a promising prospect flying under the radar—though not for long:

Mbem-Bosse is starting to catch the attention of colleges all over the country. He is a physical, downhill linebacker that can run. Gets sideline to sideline quickly, and is not afraid to come up and strike. Has the length to play on the outside also and speed to play on the inside. Alabama and Georgia has been showing a lot of attention as of late.

The Tide eventually came through with an offer, though given they're the favorites for two five-star linebackers (Ben Davis and Lyndell Wilson), it's doubtful that offer is committable.

Son of a Coach's Jamie Uyeyama has a lengthy, free evaluation of Mbem-Bosse's junior tape that is a highly recommended read. It's detailed and critical, but there's still plenty of good in there:

There aren’t going to be as many players who can stuff the inside run quite like Mbem-Bosse. He does a great job of scraping through the trash to find the football and arrives at the ball violently when he gets to it. He is a very good tackler that [hits] through people.

He needs to use his hands better to not let blockers get to his chest, but he attacks them and is not afraid to take on a guard or fullback. He will absolutely blow up the iso. My main concern with him versus the inside run is that he sometimes will take false steps and does not recognize his keys in terms of pulling guards or down blocks on a consistent basis. He isn’t a good enough athlete to recover with false steps at the next level and must improve in this area.

He concludes that while Mbem-Bosse "has the tools to be a solid starting inside linebacker eventually," it could take him "a year or two" before he reaches that level. Like ESPN, he likes Mbem-Bosse as a blitzer but has questions about his ability in coverage.

Mbem-Bosse's profile reminds me a bit of Desmond Morgan's; he has a couple inches on Morgan with a similarly stout build, and based on his film I think he has a higher ceiling.

OFFERS

Mbem-Bosse holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Duke, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Mizzou, Nebraska, NC State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, and Wisconsin, among others.

HIGH SCHOOL

Cedar Grove boasts another 2016 four-star in Auburn DT commit Antwuan Jackson. They've sent 16 other prospects to Power 5 programs since 2002, per the Rivals database, including former NFL tackle Marcus McNeill (Auburn).

STATS

High school stats weren't readily available.

FAKE 40 TIME

Mbem-Bosse's Hudl page lists an unverified 4.58, which gets three FAKEs out of five.

VIDEO

These highlights are dated from December 2014 but it appears there are clips from his senior season in there:

Single-game reels from his senior and junior years can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Mbem-Bosse will get an opportunity to crack the two-deep right away with Ben Gedeon as the only returner with significant experience at inside linebacker on the roster. He'll compete with Mike McCray, Chase Winovich, Noah Furbush, Reuben Jones, and Devin Bush Jr. for playing time. Ideally, he'd be able to take a redshirt year and work on his reads and coverage, but the roster may not afford that luxury, especially if Mbem-Bosse proves he can at least be a two-down run-stuffer from the outset.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Mbem-Bosse and Uche bring the total number of commits to 24 in a class that looks increasingly likely to reach 30. Mbem-Bosse's commitment should end Michigan's pursuit of linebackers Jonathan Jones, who's expected to wind up at Notre Dame, and Dontavious Jackson, for whom Michigan has seemed to be an afterthought even though they made his final five.

Top remaining targets include DT Rashan Gary, ATH Jordan Fuller, CB Lavert Hill, DT Boss Tagaloa, TE Devin Asiasi, WDE Connor Murphy, S Khaleke Hudson, TE Chase Allen, WR Eddie McDoom, WR Donald Stewart, NT Michael Dwumfour, WR/DB Pie Young, and K Quinn Nordin. It looks very likely DT commit Jordan Elliott ends up at Texas, and with other attrition still expected, Michigan could have as many as 10-11 spots to fill to wrap up the class.

Comments

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 8:31 PM ^

I've gotta say I'm really happy with the direction that our LB corps is taking. Both D Bush and Elysee go straight to the ball and give a hit that will knock the stripes right off your helmet. Just great news. I think we're really going to be happy to have these young men wearing blue and gold . . .

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 8:46 PM ^

Neg away, those who feel important for doing so. But not only did I say this while I went there, yeah, WENT there, not watched on tv or whatever, but the however many members of my family who went there did as well as plenty of other students. But if it's a big deal to you and makes you feel better about yourself, go nuts . . . 

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 8:53 PM ^

Obviously I do know our colors, so you lose there, but the overly defensive part seems fair enough, so you win on that one.

Do I get to neg you for being wrong that I don't know the colors? Jk, no interest in negging you - I just think the constant negging here is a bit much.

schreibee

January 24th, 2016 at 9:25 PM ^

Y'know what Rocky? The constant frickin superior to thou negging on this blog is, like, way much over the top, and not in the good way Michigan people are rightly proud of, but in the overly priggish "Michigan arrogance" way that gets us mocked by others.

All THAT being said - you don't come on a Michigan blog and call our colors Blue & Gold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then get defensive and call other people out, as if you're a genuine Michigan man while those ribbing you are "Wal-Mart Wolverines" or whichever pejorative you favor.

AS a man, just say "Whoo boy, my bad, brain fried for a sec" - or whatever you can say when committing such an obvious faux pas.

But going on the attack is just such a weak move, so -  Hmmmm... sparty of you we have to wonder!

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^

You came on and make actual intelligent points instead of calling names, so I should probably respond. Yes, I am fed up with the attitude you describe. That's why I've got an attitude right now. And I think you're right - all sides in this "discussion", me included, are showing an attitude in this case.

I think though, that maybe we differ on one thing. I can't think of anything that seems more like an arrogance meets Walverine thing than bashing the actual alums for using the same words that we have for generations. If you don't want to say it, fine, but the color police? Really? Just seems childish to discuss that rather than the players who just committed. And as already said, even my admissions officer said "blue and gold".

So i appreciate your points (and that you actually made points), and they are well received. But I have no intention of changing my vocabulary and I won't be suggesting it to any other alums. We've earned the right to use whatever word for yellow we want. I did a lot while at the school and i've done a lot for it since then.

So, yeah, anyone that is that petty can consider the aforesaid to apply to them.

And no, I don't even whine when people say "Big Blue", even though I do think that goes more to Kentucky or IBM.

 

Gentleman Squirrels

January 24th, 2016 at 10:08 PM ^

Mate, we are all excited about getting two great prospects. But the colors are the colors. As a current student and a long time fan, no one calls it blue and gold. If you said blue and yellow, i'd understand. Sometimes I say that too because you know our colors are not really maizeish anymore. Even one of our school songs are "The Yellow and Blue." Thats definitely understandable. But gold is not one of our colors. Even if you used to call it that, others have pointed out to you that no, gold is not right. Just accept that you made a mistake and let it be. 

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 10:22 PM ^

I don't have a lot to add to what I said, but I just wanted to congratulate you for speaking directly to me instead of simply running around and negging posts of mine that have nothing to do with anything this. Seems cowardly to me, but it makes them feel brave.

Anyway, like I said, points well made, but I have no plan to change what I have said for longer than many of these posters have lived, let alone been fans, let alone attended the school, let alone graduated, let alone consistently donated. But definitely, thanks for addressing me.

schreibee

January 24th, 2016 at 10:40 PM ^

Rocky - I have tried to keep this somewhat respectful. But your continued insistence that you've always called our colors Blue & Gold, and for longer than most of us have been alive (having not a single clue how old most of us are), that your family has always used Blue & Gold (as if it's an "old-timey" thing the rest of us born in the 20th Century wouldn't understand), that you intend to continue using Blue & Gold, and that you do not give a good fuck what anyone else says, or what the University itself calls our colors - well, decenly has its limits, Man!

NO ONE has ever called our colors Blue & Gold - not going back to Goddam 1817! My grandfather came to Michigan as a student-athlete in 1924 - and our family has been involved with the University ever since, and one generation or another have been Ann Arbor residents ever since. And not a single one of any of them has ever said Blue & Gold.

Being raised in the Wolverine manner, I tried to talk you down in a civil manner - but Jesus man, you're not having it! I just don't know whether to take you seriously or not or if the entire thing has been a grade-A Troll all along?!!

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 11:09 PM ^

You've been one of the few civil ones, I appreciate that, and I returned it. But I'm not going to lie and say that somehow this experience has caused me to reevaluate and change terms when I don't plan to do so. 

I didn't say all of you are young, look back. I said many because I think most of the neggers are on the young side. I am reasonably literate and can tell that you aren't in high school or whatever, and I didn't generalize you personally, nor did I mean to include you in any particular group.

You say "the University itself" calls it one thing, I say "university administrators" have called it differently. You use your family as a specific example. I don't use just mine, others also, but I take your point. I think my personal examples are just as valid as yours though, and I won't be saying otherwise.

I don't mean any of this response in reference to the original, and I think played out question of what word goes to what color, but only in that I think of have shown you at least the same level of courtesy and respect that you have shown me. If you disagree, feel free to tell me why. Like I said, I appreciate that you took the time and addressed me. Seems more mature than whoever is running around and negging everything I ever said, as opposed to whatever it is that they actually object to.

I was of the opinion that discussion was allowed here, and until I am no longer allowed to, I will continue to express myself. (not a reference to you) I do see a lot of mindless auto-negging, and while I can't stop it, it doesn't impress me. Yes, all of you WD bashers, I'm thinking of you. 

Anyway, I'm rambling. Done.

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 11:53 PM ^

Look at my posts and you'll see that they're (at least for a while now) not about whatever word for whatever color, but just going back and forth with a couple of people about who's being ruder when we've been debating back and forth.

Nobody's brought the initial debate up in a while now. Save me your embarrassment. I'm just giving people who wish to talk at me (as opposed to faceless negging) the opportunity to do so, as I am with you.

I think the colors went out the window a while ago. I'm just giving a few more minutes for people who want to say something to me to do it, and assuming it's more than just name calling or making fun of retarded people, as one poster did, I'm glad to respond. Not defending any color stuff.

rockydude

January 25th, 2016 at 12:19 AM ^

I probably do. And I don't mean this in a dick way, but I prefer the people who are calling me asshole or arrogant. Just don't say retarded, as it's uncool. I'm almost certain you didn't mean it that way, and I'm probably just typing to hear myself type, as you said. But I'm sure you know what I mean. (in this case)

6tyrone6

January 25th, 2016 at 12:05 AM ^

just dead wrong and have dug yourself into a hole. Blue and Gold is Notre Dame, Maize and Blue is Michigan, I didn't have to go to either school to know that, just keep my head out of my ass and some things are obvious, at least to most of us.

Don

January 25th, 2016 at 12:18 PM ^

"The Yellow and Blue" is the official alma mater song of Michigan, which is why it would have been on some printed material you received.

Maize became one of the official colors back in 1867, a full century before Bo got here:

"Meanwhile, Scott’s friend, Charles Mills Gayley, 27, was in a more contemplative mood. As he wrote the lyrics of his own entry, he was thinking of the school colors—”azure blue and maize,” chosen by a committee of students in 1867—and the look of farmers’ fields around Ann Arbor at harvest time."

http://michigantoday.umich.edu/a8617/

schreibee

January 24th, 2016 at 10:10 PM ^

It is true, when people say "Big Blue" I do not correct them - I take it as a form of respect. Even if it's not something anyone from Michigan ever grew up saying or uses themselves.

But were someone to say Blue & Gold I would definitely say "We're Maize & Blue - I think you're thinking of Notre Dame. Or  Cal... maybe UCLA?"

 

 

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 10:19 PM ^

I don't know too many people who say that, I just mean that I can't see any reason that their choice of words would be a big deal to me. Whatever works for them. Actually, most of the people that I have heard say it were alums, but much older alums. So, I kind of figure that they are entitled to say whatever they want. They built the place, I just got to coattail off of their efforts.

The Mad Hatter

January 24th, 2016 at 10:55 PM ^

And coming from me, that's saying something.

You are the worst kind of Michigan "fan". That stadium of ours would be half empty every Saturday if the "Walverines" didn't love and support the program. You honestly should be ashamed of yourself. You sound like an MSU grad.

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 11:29 PM ^

How am I the petty one? Again, I made a comment, and heard not one comment about the subject, just my choice of words. I don't see how I'm the petty one.

Also, I'm not the one who brought out the Walverine thing. I agree that all fans are helpful and should be appreciated. Go back and look at my own words, not those of the others.

Ashamed of myself? Really? Please explain why. You sound more than a little too worked up over nothing, kind of like a big drinking night or something. 

And you really think your one weird example makes me the worst kind of "fan"? Doesn't that seem like a bit of an overgeneralization based on an awful little?

You might think about cooling that fire down just a bit . . . 

rockydude

January 24th, 2016 at 9:23 PM ^

So we get pretty darn good news, worth writing about, which I do, but the more important issue that you're interested in is which word I use for a given color? Check your priorities if that's really the case. Seems pretty petty to me. It would be like me negging you for saying "bettet" when I know what you mean . . .