Hello: James Hudson Comment Count

Ace



[Photo: Sean Scherer/247]

Three-star Toledo (OH) Central Catholic DT/SDE James Hudson committed to Michigan this afternoon, capping off a recruitment that turned wildly unpredictable, as those who followed the ever-changing Crystal Balls have noticed.

Hudson nearly committed to Michigan on an unofficial visit in June. Michigan State then surged into contention and perhaps the lead on a late July visit. Things really got weird this weekend—the insider buzz pointed to Michigan heading into his BBQ visit, MSU in the immediate aftermath, and this morning had turned back to the Wolverines. Insiders can only work with the information they're given, and the information in this case went back and forth as both programs pushed for Hudson's commitment; a final effort from Michigan's staff last night sealed the deal.

[Performs tap dance.] Crootin!

After all that, Hudson is the 19th commit in the class of 2017 and the third at defensive tackle, joining Aubrey Solomon and Phillip Paea.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
3*, #32 DE 4*, #8 SDE,

#229 Ovr
4*, 80, #30 DE 4*, 91, #7 SDE,

#220 Ovr
3*, #13 SDE,

#340 Ovr

Hudson is ranked as a four-star on three of the four sites (albeit a low one on ESPN), and he's pretty close to making the cut in the composite rankings—the last four-star on there is #318 overall. There's a decent split between Rivals/247 and Scout/ESPN, with the former pair considering him a top-250 recruit.

Hudson is listed at 6'5" and 270-280 pounds on all four sites. Michigan is recruiting him as a three-tech DT, and he could also end up as a SDE (Anchor) in Don Brown's defense; those two spots are relatively interchangeable.

SCOUTING

I'm pretty sure Scout just added their free eval this week:

Evaluation

Big kid who offers some flexibility because he can play on the edge or move down inside depending on situation and package. Light on his feet for a big guy and naturally powerful. Can bend well enough to get the leverage needed to use that strength. As he's gotten bigger, in our view, he's transitioned from more of a pure edge guy to a five-tech or potentially even a true tackle depending on the scheme.

Strengths

  • Body Control and Balance
  • Size
  • Strength

Areas to Improve

  • Suddenness

The sticking point with Hudson is his feet, and specifically whether he's got enough explosiveness to stick on the defensive line. Scout calls him "light on his feet" above, and when he gets moving he's pretty nimble, but they also note "suddenness" as an area for improvement. Looking at his film, Hudson doesn't get a great jump off the snap—he's no Mo Hurst in that department. After MSU's lineman camp following Hudson's sophomore season, Scout's Dave Berk went so far as to suggest he should play on the offensive line:

We watched Hudson in his teams state championship game this past season and liked what we saw. Great frame with long arms has many feeling the Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic product is a future stud along the defensive front.

However, after watching his during drills and one-on-ones, we feel his future is brighter as an offensive tackle as he didn't show the feet needed to be elite along the defensive front. Some might recruit Hudson as a defensive lineman but a future tackle with a bright future is what we see.

Michigan State obviously disagreed, but Berk isn't the only one who's mentioned Hudson could be more viable on offense. On the plus side, Berk and others like Hudson's potential as an offensive tackle. Scout's Bill Greene also noted that possibility when Hudson committed to Kentucky last summer (he decommitted when bigger offers came in). His scouting report called Hudson a "big, quick, agile athlete" whose "best football is years down the road," before bringing up the issue of burst off the snap:

There is a question about explosion off the football, and that is probably why Kentucky sees him as an inside defensive player. People also think he will eventually have to move to the offensive line because he might be a tweener on defense, but to me that's a positive not a negative. I've always thought he could be an excellent offensive tackle, and consider his versatility a plus, not a minus.

Greene concluded that "the ceiling is high" for Hudson; he doesn't seem too concerned. The O-line talk has mostly subsided since then—notice there's no mention of it in Scout's own eval—and there was even one analyst who liked Hudson's first step; here's Rivals's Josh Helmholdt after taking in last year's regular season finale:

The 6-foot-5, 271-pound Hudson is one of the most impressive physical specimens in Ohio's 2017 class and he was able to toss opposing players with east during Friday night's game. He played exclusively at defensive end in the first half, before platooning in at left tackle and helping spur his offense's second-half comeback. Defensively Hudson has a great first step and registered several big tackles for loss, especially late in the game when Central Catholic needed stops. He still needs to polish the rough edges, but the Kentucky commit's raw tools are exceptional.

Rivals subsequently bumped Hudson into their top 250, with Helmholdt saying he "looked like a man among boys."

As ESPN evaluation indicates, strength is the, er, strength of Hudson's game:

Stout and physical defender that demonstrates he can fire out low and uncoil and when he wins with quickness and leverage can hold ground one-on-one and at times against current competition even knock blockers back on their heels. When he shoots hands displays upper body strength to press and disengage, but can be quite inconsistent with bringing his hands and struggle to quickly get off blocks. Needs to work on anticipating and taking on the double team. Capable on occasion of powering through contact and disrupting with some penetration.

Power is his strength at this stage and will likely be greatest asset in his arsenal in college. When fires out low and can get into blockers frame can deliver a pop with hands and push them back. Outside of trying to power his way through, looks to lack plan and needs to better utilize his hands.

While they peg him as "a bit of a tweener," they conclude he's a "player with tools to develop into tough presence especially against the run."

OFFERS

Hudson holds offers from Alabama (likely an "offer"), Bowling Green, Cal, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami (YTM), Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Tennessee, Toledo, and West Virginia.

HIGH SCHOOL

Central Catholic is one of the best programs in Ohio's Division III, winning the state title in 2014 and making the championship game again last season. The program has only produced a couple four-star prospects of late, however: Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer and Jayme Thompson, a 2013 recruit who signed with Ohio State, transferred, and is now at Indiana.

STATS

According to 247, Hudson recorded 82 tackles, 25 TFLs, and 8.5 sacks in his junior season.

FAKE 40 TIME

Hudson's Scout profile lists an estimated, unsourced 40 time of 5.05 seconds, which gets three FAKEs out of five.

VIDEO

Junior highlights:

Sophomore highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Hudson projects as a three-tech, and while his temporary hangup with committing to Michigan reportedly stemmed from concern about the depth chart, there's an opportunity for him to see the field early. With Chris Wormley and Matt Godin set to graduate, Mo Hurst is the only scholarship three-tech on the roster slated to return in 2017, though Rashan Gary can obviously chip in some snaps there.

That would put Hudson in an immediate competition with classmates Aubrey Solomon and Phillip Paea for a spot in the rotation. With Hurst gone by 2018, all three of those guys should see at least rotational snaps early on in their careers. Hudson has the added advantage of potentially being able to play SDE, as well, which increases his chance of seeing the field early—there's not a lot of depth on the roster there, either.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan is now at 19 commits in a class that should reach the upper 20s. They're probably set at DT, but they could look to add another SDE type—four-star in-stater Deron Irving-Bey is still a take and Michigan reportedly made a strong impression on him at the BBQ. Other positions of need include WR, TE, OT, OC, OLB, CB, and S. Here's the class as it currently stands:

Comments

boliver46

August 8th, 2016 at 1:34 PM ^

I am also interested in the "General Excitement Level".

I've seen a few folks down on Hudson and whether he would be a 'take'...and some hoping we would NOT take.

I guess I am not feeling a lot of excitement coming from this Hello post.

I'm excited because I live in Toledo and enjoy seeing the local guys going Blue...but I don't feel that excitement coming from this Hello post.

I love lamp?

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OwenGoBlue

August 8th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but Chris Wormley was also a Toledo SDE/3 Tech who got by in high school by being bigger and stronger than everyone else. Wormley was twitchier off the ball and was a more touted recruit, but Hudson has been a late riser and is already bigger than Wormley in high school. Seemed like the board was mostly high on him until we thought he might go to the bad guys..

Central Catholic is a rising program and a good one to get in on. I have friends who coach in the area and CC has been recruiting well against the other Catholic schools (helps that they're the co-ed one) as well as tapping Toledo City schools more effectively; hence the state title games.

boliver46

August 8th, 2016 at 2:28 PM ^

Thanks for the feedback!

I won't ask what school you coach for, but it's cool to know other UM fans in the area!  The stench of O$U extends pretty far north some days!

Your comment about our perception of him changing when we thought he was going elsewhere seems pretty spot on.  Some other bloggers as well seemed to be less high on Hudson than you'd expect for some reason.

And FWIW, I wanted to go to Central Catholic for the sports - but made no sense to pay Sylvania taxes and then pay for Catholic school on top of it (partial scholarships notwithstanding).  

I had no desire to go to the mono-gendered establishments. :)

OwenGoBlue

August 8th, 2016 at 6:35 PM ^

Thank you. My friends are the ones who are doing the coaching, but their loyalties are true. I haven't been back to the area in a while; sorry to hear those mouthbreathers are creeping back up! Have a Paco for me.

Steves_Wolverines

August 8th, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^

Welcome to Michigan!

I want Michigan to get DPJ, Ambry Thomas and Oliver Martin so bad. Not only because they are studs, but to continue recruiting dominance over MSU. Deron Irving-Bey would also be a nice addition.

Wolverheel

August 8th, 2016 at 12:41 PM ^

We currently have the #7 class for football and #4 class for basketball in the 2017 cycle and have two recruiting be wins over MSU the last 2 days. It truly is great to be a Michigan fan right now.

ak47

August 8th, 2016 at 1:27 PM ^

I'd rather have OSU's last 4 years than MSU's.  Having a team capable of beating Alabama and winning a national championship> squeking by osu/michigan and getting blasted by Bama in the playoffs because you don't have the talent to hang with them.

Albatross

August 8th, 2016 at 9:04 PM ^

I am not a fan of lowering the bar. If you are a true Michigan fan then the goal and expectation is that you beat OSU on the field and in recruiting. My biggest criticism is we haven't won too many head-to-head recruiting battles with OSU. We shoudln't be patting ourselves on the back when we are beating MSU for recruits, it would be a problem if we aren't. Right now OSU is recruiting on a different level than us, and that question should be, how do we bridge that gap? Because it will show up on the field. It always does.

EGD

August 8th, 2016 at 12:47 PM ^

Is a player's first step/explosiveness something that can improve with coaching and technique work, or is that something where you basically either have it or you don't? 

Magnus

August 8th, 2016 at 2:32 PM ^

It can improve, but other guys improve, too. If you're a 6/10 and your teammate is 8/10 and you both improve by one increment, then the other guy is still 2/10 better than you. So I don't know if Hudson can become a really explosive player, but he can get better.

Ann Harbaugh

August 8th, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^

I think he has a good chance of not ending up in the class. He seemed conflicted on who to choose and could always decide that MSU or another school is the better choice

Pit2047

August 8th, 2016 at 1:13 PM ^

For me that would be it for the DL unless we can pull Jay Tufele away from OSU/Utah. That guy is going to be a beast and we could use another NT as insurance against Mone leaving for the draft. That would put us at 6 DL for the class to go with the 4 OL we have committed with the possibility of adding 3 more (Ruiz, Wilson, and Slaton please). That would put us at 13 commits in the trenches to make this the beefiest class I can remember.

bronxblue

August 8th, 2016 at 1:47 PM ^

Nice pickup. Said this in the board post as well, but looks like a solid depth guy on the line who could sniff conference 2nd team recognition as an upperclassman if the depth chart shakes out.

Lou MacAdoo

August 8th, 2016 at 1:55 PM ^

This kid looks like a bully out there. I feel bad for his competition. He looks like he could have a future collapsing the pocket and blowing up run plays.

Rabbit21

August 8th, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^

Solid pick-up, local guy who can cover multiple positions on the D-Line and has the versatility to play multiple positons.  I like this a lot.  Welcome Aboard Mr. Hudson!