Michigan nabbed its first 2024 commitment this week in 4* OLB Mason Curtis of Nashville (TN). Curtis made an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor last weekend, and then quickly tossed his commitment to Jim Harbaugh & Co. 

 

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 6'3/185	ESPN: 6'3/205	247: 6'4/200	On3: 6'2/190	247 Comp
4*, 5.8, #219 Ovr #14 LB, #4 TN	no rating	4*, 90, #233 Ovr #15 LB, #5 TN	4*, 90, #164 Ovr #12 LB, #1 TN	4*, 0.9216, #203 Ovr #14 LB, #2 TN
4.20	n/a	4.13	4.36	4.22

Last row is Seth's conversion to a five star scale. Links are to profiles.

A bit of uncertainty over Curtis' dimensions right now, which is something we'll discuss in the scouting section. The sites diverge on height somewhere between 6'2" and 6'4", and on weight between 185 and 205. It's pretty up in the air, but this is a young prospect who is not fully on everyone's radar when the main focus in the recruiting world is 2023, not 2024. Curtis is a consensus 4* prospect, inside the top 300, and there isn't a ton of variation between the sites when it comes to rankings. One of the tighter ranges that I can recall in writing these posts. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: what position is this masked man?]

 

SCOUTING

The scouting on Curtis is not the easiest to find because we are far out from the meat of the 2024 cycle, but some has flowed in post-commitment. Most is not organic intel from the sort of non-partisan scouts you pay for on sites like 24/7, but rather articles published on those sites citing people who do know about Curtis. Here's EJ Holland of On3 with Curtis' high school coach ($): 

(Curtis) is freakishly athletic. He’s long. His football IQ is really high. He understands the game. He understands playing in space, leverage and angles. 

Okay, well, that was as glowing as I expected. EJ gave us clarification on the height thing that the scouts disagreed on, though it's not clear whether this is coming from Curtis himself or the coach (for the record, Curtis has been corroborating this anecdote through his Twitter RTs): 

Curtis is currently listed at 6-foot-2 but recently hit a growth spurt and is now a legitimate 6-foot-4. Michigan originally recruited him as a traditional linebacker, but his height, length and athleticism will give him an opportunity to move around in defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s defense

That's something that comes up pretty quickly when you read any of these scouting reports, that Curtis could play a multitude of positions hypothetically. What say you, Mr. High School Coach?: 

“(Curtis') body is not even close to fully developing. He’s so long. He’s tried to add weight, but he keeps growing vertically. He’s a hybrid guy. He’s physical and can play in space. He can play the EDGE, but you have to like his athleticism at linebacker. He can play some safety as well ... On defense, there are so many places to play him at." 

The coach also acknowledged that Curtis has played some offense as well, in addition to all of his different positions on defense. Given that the height has gone from 6'2" to 6'4", is Curtis really an LB or is he an EDGE? Steve Lorenz of 24/7 doesn't tell us where Curtis is better at, but does tell us what the staff thinks ($): 

Michigan is recruiting Curtis as an edge prospect. That's where they believe his highest ceiling is

Something that comes up in many of these vaguely scouting-like pieces is the sense that Curtis will need to add weight. Given that Michigan sees him more at EDGE and he currently is 200 lbs., that would make sense. Zach Libby of Rivals ($): 

At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Curtis is a little bit on the thinner side but that'll improve once he works with Michigan's strength and conditioning program to get to that ideal frame.

Given that he will need to add weight, right now it's the athletic package that is carrying Curtis' appeal. Libby again: 

Athletically, Curtis has tight footwork and quality speed to be an excellent playmaker in coverage out in the flats. He can shed blocks using a variety of moves and can lower the shoulder to get underneath receivers and ball carriers to prevent positive yardage.

Touch The Banner has a few takes on Curtis, echoing the praise about Curtis' speed and length on film matched with speed and quickness. What I found interesting was the comp. thrown out by TTB: 

Overall, Curtis is a good prospect who I would put in a category with Noah Furbush. Furbush was a linebacker/defensive end prospect who looked like an edge guy but really turned out to be more of a blitzer Michigan would find mismatches for inside, coming from depth.

Michigan would obviously like to have Curtis develop into a player that is usable in more scenarios than Furbush was, but it was definitely a thought provoking comparison to describe where Curtis is right now. What is also worth pondering is where he will be when he arrives on campus in two years. Will more of the filling out happen in HS, or in college? And how long will it take? That remains to be seen. 

OFFERS

The earliest offers for Curtis were the usual suspects for a Tennessean, schools like the Vols and Memphis. Then he started to get more diverse offers in the spring and by the time of this writing, Curtis holds offers from roughly half the SEC (more the lower tier schools... none from 'Bama or Georgia yet) and some in the north. MSU, BC, Michigan, and Cincy are among the northern schools to extend offers to him. 

HIGH SCHOOL

Curtis currently attends The Ensworth High School in Nashville, TN. Ensworth has generally been a winning program over the past several seasons (save for a disastrous 2020 where they went 2-7), but are not a juggernaut. The 2021 edition of the team went 7-4 overall and 4-1 in their district, finishing first in Division II-AAA West. Ensworth, as you can probably guess from that pretentious name, is a private school. The elementary and middle have been around since the 50s, but the high school is pretty  new, popping up in 2004. The high school is a small school, 475 students total, but they are competitive in sports, having pumped out several guys who reached the NFL (including Purdue/LA Rams' TE Brycen Hopkins). James Wiseman, who you may recall at Memphis and then as the #2 pick of the Warriors in the 2020 NBA Draft, played two years of HS basketball at Ensworth, before transferring to a HS in Memphis, where he could be under the influence of Penny Hardaway. 

This is all a long way of saying that Curtis is at a school with solid athletics and a decent football program, but it is far from a powerhouse, and he's not playing at the big, 700 kids per grade public HS that many top prospects are. Curtis' team has some FBS prospects, including one of his team's top WRs, Shamar Porter, who is a top 300 prospect in the 2023 class committed to Kentucky. 

STATS 

MaxPreps has Curtis down for nine games played in 2021, with 30 solo tackles and 4 assisted tackles for 34 total tackles. He registered five TFLs in those nine games and had one sack. There are no stats for his freshman season in 2020. 

FAKE 40 TIME

There is no 40 time listed yet and it's worth remembering that we are a long way away. Curtis is just a rising junior and has plenty of time to cook up a fake 40 time and/or go to the kind of camp where we could get an electronically timed reading. 

VIDEO 

Here is Curtis' end of season highlights for the 2021 season via his Hudl: 

His page continues several other highlight videos if you'd like to see a bit more than just this singular 2:27-long reel. 

ETC 

Brother Devyn is a LB for Tennessee State. Dad played at Clemson but is unfortunately recently deceased. Curtis is a dual-sport athlete, also playing basketball. Evidence. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Curtis is a bit of a shape-shifter right now, because his body is literally shifting shapes. Curtis is a versatile piece who is being lined up all over the field in high school because of his mix of size and athleticism. Eventually, Michigan will need to pick a position for him to play and build him up to that size, which right now sounds like EDGE. Even then, versatility will be one of Mason Curtis' strong points. If you remember that ill-fated play against Ohio State last fall when Michigan tried to ask David Ojabo to cover Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Mason Curtis may be a much better fit as an EDGE to play in those sorts of situations. 

This is one of those kids where there will be a good bit of change over the next couple years before he arrives in Ann Arbor. He may keep growing, and he will likely get bigger. Then there may be a further adjustment period once he arrives as Michigan puts more weight/muscle on him and he marinates while they decide exactly how to use him. Does he end up being a stand up edge rusher? Or more of a Furbush type who's a linebacker but can be used in different rush packages to line up either at the second level or over a DT? Some decisions have to be made, but the speed and the frame are exciting and the recruiting rankings indicate a player you're definitely happy to have in the class.  

UPSHOT FOR THE CLASS

As stated earlier, Curtis is the first commit in the 2024 class as of the writing of this piece. Hard to really say what the upshot is other than it's nice to have an early commitment, given how wide open the board is for '24. Hopefully there will be more good players in the class moving forward, but the focus is on 2023 right now.