Yesterday Michigan grabbed another 2024 commit by landing in-state 4* DB prospect Jacob Oden out of Harper Woods. He is Michigan's 6th signee of the class and their 5th 4* commitment. Let's get to know Jacob: 

 

GURU RATINGS

RATINGS BY SITE
247: 6'1/188	On3: 6'0.5/185	Rivals: 6'1/187	ESPN: 6'2/195
4*, 90, #191 Ovr #24 ATH, #6 MI	4*, 90, #247 Ovr #22 S, #6 MI	4*, 5.8, #132 Ovr #13 S, #5 MI	4*, 82, #153 Ovr #13 S, #4 MI
4.04	4.04	4.27	4.30
COMPOSITE RANKINGS
247 Composite	On3 Consensus	MGoBlog
4*, 0.9344, #160 Ovr #17 ATH, #5 MI	4*, 91.45, #173 Ovr #14 S, #5 MI	4*, #289/776 Ovr #30/73 CBs since 1990
4.34	4.15	4.16

Oden is a consensus 4* prospect who checks in comfortably within the to 200 of three of the four outlets, as well as both composites. All four outlets have him nestled in the top 250. Among our database, Oden clocks in 30th out of 73 corners since 1990. If you want to classify Oden as a safety (which may be smarter based on what the scouting says), he would check in as 21st out of 54. As for the measurements, everyone agrees he's in the neighborhood of being a shade over six feet and between 185 and 195 lbs. Nothing too exciting there. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: A rock solid four star]

 

SCOUTING

EJ Holland starts us off with a solid look at what Michigan sees in Jacob Oden ($): 

Oden is being recruited as a nickel take in the same mold as Rod Moore. Oden is a little longer and more technically sound than Moore but not necessarily as physical or explosive. Oden is who he is. He’s a very high floor prospect that projects as a multi-year starter. He’s also a coach’s kid with a great football IQ and natural instincts. 

247 got a quote from Oden saying that Michigan sees him in a variety of roles, though they may be recruiting him in the same mold as Moore: 

"They literally said I could play anything in the back five," (Oden) said.

The same article brought in analyst Chris Singletary who built off that point, emphasizing the versatility that Oden brings, enhanced by his experience playing both sides of the ball in HS: 

He's a player that doesn't mind coming up and putting his face in the fan and he has two-way snaps so you see his athleticism with some of the snaps he gets at receiver. So you're not getting a one-trick pony, you're getting a player with versatility, high football I.Q., playmaking ability and someone who is still scratching the surface of where he will probably be

Singletary seems higher on Oden's upside due to his ability to add muscle mass:

I love the makeup of Jacob Oden. When you see him and his physical development over the last two years, he has impressive length and has developed in his physical stature and adding muscle mass

EJ goes the other direction on upside, referring to Oden more as a high floor, low ceiling prospect, lacking truly elite athleticism: 

He’s one of the safest takes in the class. He doesn’t have elite speed or athleticism, but he makes up for that with his technique and knowledge of the game.

However, they both agree that a major factor in Oden being a high floor player is the fact he's a coach's kid and knows the game inside and out. 

Lucas Reimink of Rivals goes a little further looking at the specifics of Oden's game (emphasis mine): 

Oden is a solid athlete, with solid foot speed, good agility/COD, solid acceleration, and good physical strength. He is a physical, willing tackler who’s not afraid to stick his nose in there between the tackles, yet is also athletic enough to cover TE’s and slot WR’s in space. He also plays hard and with a certain aggressiveness to him, which projects well to the safety position. 

Reimink praised Oden's processing speed in both the run and the pass game, noting there are areas to iron out (hip fluidity and aggressiveness in the run game), but overall concurred with EJ and Singletary on the assessment of Oden as a safe prospect. 

OFFERS

As a sought after 4* prospect on lots of people's radars, Oden has all the offers you'd expect. He had B1G offers from MSU, PSU, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, as well as Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Colorado, Louisville, Auburn, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The contenders in his publicly released top five were Michigan, MSU, PSU, Iowa, and Tennessee. 

HIGH SCHOOL

Oden attends Harper Woods HS out in Harper Woods, MI, just northeast of Detroit. Harper Woods is coached by Jacob's father, Rod Oden, and they are a part of the Oakland Activities Association, meaning their conference schedule consists of top notch programs Rochester Adams and West Bloomfield. Right now Harper Woods is a notch below those schools, going 3-6 in 2021 and losing soundly in their head-to-head matchups, but the level of competition leaves Oden relatively wll prepared and has allowed him to form relationships with other top in-state prospects like current Wolverines Semaj Morgan and Amir Herring from West Bloomfield. 

STATS

I was not able to find any stats on Harper Woods football unfortunately. 

FAKE 40 TIME

Oden has done plenty of camping and thus we have some decently reliable, unbiased measurements. Allen Trieu reported that Oden clocked in with a 4.56 forty + a 4.2 shuttle and a 40-inch vertical while visiting PSU/Michigan camps in the summer. That time seems.... totally reasonable for a 4* prospect with not elite athleticism? We give it one FAKEs out of five. 

VIDEO 

Here is Oden's junior Hudl tape: 

Brice Marich went to see Oden live in September and came back with some tape: 

Despite the loss, Harper Woods (Mich.) 2024 four-star ATH Jacob Oden (@JacobOden4) made several impressive plays on both sides of the ball tonight.

Will be visiting #Michigan for their season opener vs. Colorado State. pic.twitter.com/sMSaxkKTHr

— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) September 3, 2022

EJ saw Oden doing 1v1 drills at a different event: 

Top 2024 Michigan DB target Jacob Oden (@JacobOden4) wins this 1v1 rep #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/qQGEYM8I2M

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) March 20, 2022

ETC

Father Rod is an alum and coached Brandon Graham at Detroit Crockett. Family has existing relationships with Ron Bellamy and Steve Clinkscale, who was the lead recruiter for Oden. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Oden is a pretty unsexy prospect, a guy Michigan had to have given his in-state residency and familial ties to the program, and they got him. He's also a fine football player and a rock solid 4*. Not a guy who will threaten to be a 5*, but also not someone pushing towards 3.5* status the other direction either. If you build a class out of Jacob Oden type players at each position, you will have an excellent class that will be far better than what Michigan did in 2023. That's a strong start for 2024. 

As for the player himself, Oden's what you want a solid 4* to be, a safe, projectable take who figures to be a multi-year starter without requiring too much projecting to get there. He may need to come in and add a bit of muscle mass first, tweak a few things with his technique, but this is not a high-upside flier of the kind that littered the '23 class. Oden is a player with football pedigree as a coach's kid, who already has ties to the staff, and if you got him as an early enrollee, would be a shot to play as a true freshman (as Rod Moore did). He's more NCAA ready than many prospects, and his scouting reports reflect a well-rounded player without any glaring weaknesses. He plays in a solid HS league, is going to camps, and is receiving a special level of football training through his father. It's very easy at this point in time to see Jacob Oden getting rotational snaps as a true freshman and then growing into a multi-year starter in the Maize & Blue. Sign me up for that. 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Oden is the first DB in the 2024 class and he's a big cornerstone to get, no matter if he's a corner or a safety (the latter seems likelier). On defense, Oden is the fourth commit, joining Manuel Beigel and Ted Hammond at DL and Mason Curtis at the shape-shifting EDGE/LB position. Michigan took three or four DBs in the 2023 class in corners Jyaire Hill and Cameron Calhoun, as well as DJ Waller Jr., who may be a corner or a safety, and Jason Hewlett, who could end up at safety but may be likelier in the front seven. Seth said Michigan should get ~3-5 corners and 1-2 safeties on the recruiting board and that feels fair. In other words, Oden is the first of what should be many DB signings in 2024. They are still after plenty of DBs in the '24 class, in-stater Jalen Todd, Ohio targets Bryce West and Aaron Scott, and plenty of others. 

Oden is the type of piece you build a class around, not unlike Will Johnson in the '22 class as the anchor around which the six man DB class was built. Oden will also help in pursuit of other in-state targets like Rochester Adams TE Brady Prieskorn and Belleville LB Jeremiah Beasley, among others. An important get in the early stages of constructing the 2024 class, no way around it.