With basketball on pause and the 2022 class and Orange Bowl now completed, we've been a bit starved for content and realized recently that none of the '23 recruits that committed in December got proper Hellos. So, here we go on that over the next week or so. First up today is Florida LB Raylen Wilson. 

GURU RATINGS

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

(NOTE: these are junior year rankings, which generally are more likely to drop than rise) 

Quite a bit of disagreement here on how tall Raylen Wilson is, with 6'0, 6'1, and 6'2 all listed as options, but where there isn't much disagreement is the question "is Raylen Wilson good at football?". The answer to that is an emphatic "yes". All outlets have him as a legit 4* prospect, though there is a tad bit of divergence with Rivals seeing him well outside the top 100, while the other three have him all closing in on the top 50. He is a consensus top seven LB prospect in the 2023 class, and just for LOLZ, you may notice how he's a top 60ish prospect, yet barely in the top 15 of prospects in Florida. And somehow, a state with that level of talent saw none of its three flagship programs win more than seven games this past season. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Time to Frankenstein a new Devin Bush]

SCOUTING

For the scouting section of this, let's begin with On3, which has the most detailed overview summary out there, before we dig into specific viewings (emphasis mine): 

Lean, athletic off-ball linebacker with instincts for the position. Has a strong production profile as a high volume tackler. Adept at sifting through traffic to make stops as a run defender. Tested well in the combine setting prior to his junior season. Also makes plays as a punt returner. Does not have a large frame at around 6-foot, 205 pounds, but does have good length. Will need to continue adding strength to aid in taking on blockers and finishing plays.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Wilson feels like the perfect linebacker recruit for both what Michigan looks for, and what modern football demands. I cannot say that Wilson would be able to hang with Brock Bowers, but he'd probably have been a better answer for Georgia's receiving backs in the Orange Bowl. He's a lightning quick LB who can play in space, but should, assuming he bulks up, have the meat to play in a physical conference like the B1G. Obviously there is some amount of concern that he could lose quickness as he transforms his body and gets bigger, but Wilson has the athleticism that is going to be needed across the defense if Michigan wants to actually try and compete with a Georgia or an Alabama in the 2020s. Moreover, Wilson's intangibles, as a guy with a football pedigree and who valuables academics, fits the desires of this coaching staff. 

The Devin Bush comparisons are easy, and Junior Colson is another, more recent one. We haven't gotten to see Fully Optimized Colson yet since he's only been in the program for a year, but I firmly believe Colson could be electric very quickly. Wilson is in that mold as an athlete. It's just not every day you get a linebacker who returned kicks and punts for his high school. Bring him in, hopefully he sits for a year or two and learns the scheme/gets physically ready, and then unleash him to terrorize the conference.  

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS 

Wilson is one of the first pieces in this class, someone who wanted to get his recruitment over with early and I don't see him as a kid who is going to be a bumpy seesaw the rest of the way until signing day (unlike Joel Starlings). In terms of the optimal piece to start building a top five recruiting class for 2023, "elite athletic LB from Florida inside the top 100" is pretty close to exactly that. There are only four recruits in the class, and only two on defense now (Starlings and Wilson), so we're in the early stages, but a top 100 guy like Wilson bodes well for where the rest of the 2023 class is headed.