Hello: Jared Wangler Comment Count

Ace



Commitment Vine (that's a first) via Scout's Josh Newkirk

After talking matters over with his (Maize-and-Blue-blooded) family, Warren (MI) De La Salle linebacker Jared Wangler announced on Twitter that he's chosen to switch his commitment from Penn State to Michigan today after unexpectedly receiving a Wolverine offer last week. Wangler, the son of former Michigan quarterback John and brother of 2013 preferred walk-on receiver Jack, becomes the fourth linebacker in the 2014 class and the 15th commitment overall.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
3*, #53 OLB 2*, NR OLB 3*, 77, #63 OLB 3*, 88, #38 S 3*, #69 S,

#843 Ovr

Wangler has a pretty bizarre recruiting profile in that, despite the middling rankings above, he earned offers from Penn State (Linebacker U, remember), LSU, and Michigan, not to mention an invite to the Under Armour All-American Game. This may have to do with his status as a tweener — he's transitioning from safety to outside linebacker, and at 6'1", ~215 lbs. (the general consensus of his size from the four services) might be a little undersized as a linebacker.

As for what linebacker position Wangler will play, that's yet to be determined; he told Steve Lorenz that Michigan is looking at him at two different spots after his visit yesterday ($):

"Coach Hoke, Coach Manning, Coach Mattison and Coach Mallory all were talking with us," he said. Wangler's dad made the trip as well. "They like me at both SAM and WILL linebacker and showed me the depth chart at linebacker for the future. It was something I had questions on going into the visit and I didn't realize that the opportunity for playing time at Michigan may be there for me earlier than I thought. We went over my film (a lot of it from his 7v7 work this off-season) and they talked about how they would like to use me and that they like my versatility. It answered a lot of the questions I had."

Given his skill set, I think Wangler makes more sense at WILL, but where he ends up may be determined by how Michigan's linebackers develop in the classes ahead of him.

SCOUTING

As a safety-turned-linebacker, Wangler is pretty athletic for his position and well ahead of the game when it comes to his coverage skills; he's also a very willing and impactful hitter, which is good to see considering the concerns about his size. Scout's Allen Trieu lists those three areas as Wangler's positives on his free profile, with block shedding as the only negative, and provides this take on his game:

Former safety who has transitioned his athletic tools into the linebacker position. Is able to play over the slot and does a nice job in coverage, both in man to man and dropping into zones. Has good closing speed to the football and is a good striker who explodes into his tackles. Having just transitioned into playing in the box, he simply has to continue to get stronger and work on getting off blocks. Likely a WILL in college. - Allen Trieu

ESPN is a little more bullish on Wangler's ability to shed blocks, though with the (relatively safe) assumption that he'll continue to add strength:

Reacts quickly to the run and pass demonstrating the agility and balance needed to move through traffic and play downhill to the football. Fashes [sic] the ability to shiver, shed and keep his feet free when working in traffic. Added bulk with improved playing strength will accelerate his take-on and shed skill. Displays the foot quickness needed to avoid blockers and make plays in tight spaces.

The WWL is also very high on Wangler's pass coverage and tackling ability, citing his "relentless desire to chase down the football" as a means to get on the field as a special teams demon. With a redshirt year to add bulk, ESPN thinks he's got the frame and athleticism to be a productive outside linebacker. It's a very positive scouting report overall, and it should come as little surprise that ESPN televises the Under Armour game — though it is surprising, given all of the above, that Wangler isn't rated higher on ESPN. Fire and forget, I guess.

Penn State's 247 outlet had SpartanTailgate's Sean Scherer provide his scouting report on Wangler after his initial commitment, and once again his coverage skills come in for high praise ($):

"Wangler is a very versatile linebacker that will be effective in both the passing game and running game. I expect him to play outside backer, which will allow him to cover tight end, running back, fullback or even a slot receiver but also be effective in stopping the run. Wangler already does an excellent job of keeping his opponent in front of him and uses outside shoulder to help contain his target. By always chopping his feet, he's in constant motion, which allows him to create great angles and make a play."

Wangler participated in various camps and 7-on-7 tournaments over the last couple summers, and while he usually gets just a passing mention, the same couple positives keep popping up. Here's Trieu again after this year's Columbus NFTC ($):

Penn State commit Jared Wangler is another who may not be quite as big as some of the aforementioned guys, but is a smart kid, who, as a former safety, can run well.

247's JC Shurburtt, at the same event:

Penn State commit Jared Wangler (Warren, Mich./De La Salle) continues to add bulk and plays well in space. He also displays a high football IQ.

247's Steve Wiltfong from the Adidas Showcase at Grand Valley State:

Warren (Mich.) De La Salle linebacker Jared Wangler was one of the more fluid and athletic linebackers on site.

Wiltfong again from this year's Sound Mind Sound Body camp:

Penn State linebacker commit Jared Wangler showed good speed and strong cover ability against the running backs in 1-on-1s.

I think it's safe to say Wangler is athletic for a linebacker and solid in coverage. When asked to do a self-evaluation in the wake of his Penn State commitment, Wangler's report echoed those of the experts, along with a promising tidbit about his work ethic ($):

"The position I'm going to play is a lot like Mike Hull, number 43. They like my versatility, that's big for them. Right now, I weigh about 218 and have ran a 4.6 forty, so they think I have quick feet and play well in space. They also like my hands, They see me as someone that will most likely cover tight ends, maybe slot receivers. They also think I can grow into the type of player that can be physical enough to play in the box and make a tackle. Versatility is big, they feel like they can mold me into whatever they need, I just have to do my part and learn from the coaching, which I will. I know I won't have any problems with weight lifting. I love that and Coach Fitzgerald is the man. He'll have us all in shape."

Later in that article, Wangler mentions block shedding as the area he most wants to improve; he also says he currently maxes out at 325 pounds on the bench, with the hopes of getting that up to 350 before this season, so he's not joking when he says he loves the weight room.

OFFERS

Wangler's marquee offers came from LSU, Michigan, and Penn State; he also held offers from Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan, and Yale. That last offer is a pretty solid indication that Wangler won't have any academic issues.

HIGH SCHOOL

Warren De La Salle, as you probably well know, is the school that produced current freshman quarterback Shane Morris, as well as walk-on receiver Jack Wangler. They play in the Catholic League, so Wangler faces some of the strongest competition that one can find in Michigan.

STATS

Per 247, Wangler recorded 76 tackles, 15 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, and an interception (which he returned for a touchdown) as a junior.

FAKE 40 TIME

None of the recruiting sites list a 40 time, so all we have to go on is Wangler's self-reported 4.6 from the interview with PSU's Rivals outlet. That's really impressive for a linebacker, so despite Wangler's excellent athleticism, without any confirmation I'm giving that a solid three FAKEs out of five.

VIDEO

Junior highlights ahoy:

Wangler also posted some 7-on-7 highlights from this summer that feature a some very impressive catches on both sides of the ball:

YouTube user DETROITNATIVECB has a bevy of single-game cut-ups, which are very useful for judging Wangler's real in-game impact. There's even more, as usual, at Wangler's Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Given Wangler's coverage ability, athleticism, and size (a little short for the strong side), I expect he'll end up at WILL when he gets to Michigan; that means Michigan has all their linebacker spots covered in this class with Michael Ferns at MIKE, Chase Winovich at SLB, and Noah Furbush potentially able to plug in at any of the three.

When Wangler gets to campus, James Ross and Royce Jenkins-Stone will both be juniors; the only other player on the roster currently projected to WILL is Ben Gedeon, who'll be either a redshirt freshman or true sophomore (likely the former) in 2014. Assuming Wangler takes a redshirt year, he'll compete for Ross's open spot as a redshirt freshman and go from there. If he ends up at SLB, he'll be working for a spot on the two-deep along with Mike McCray and Winovich; that seems like the tougher path for him to get on the field.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan is very much done at linebacker now, which means CA four-star Dwight Williams is now out of the picture. The focus for the rest of the class will turn to reeling in the big fish: VA DE Da'Shawn Hand, MI DT Malik McDowell, and PA S Montae Nicholson are the most likely guys to end up in Ann Arbor.

Yes, I've left IL CB/S Parrker Westphal out of that for now, and you may have noticed that my Crystal Ball prediction for him has changed to Northwestern; that's not going on anything concrete (I was torn between predicting Northwestern and Vanderbilt), but it's looking more and more like Michigan may not have room in the class for Westphal, since they're done at corner and seem to like Nicholson more as a safety prospect.

Michigan will also continue to recruit CA ATH JuJu Smith and Glenville teammates ATH Marshon Lattimore and S Erick Smith; at the moment, those guys appear to be longshots, though it'll be interesting to see what happens with Erick Smith if Ohio State is indeed full at safety for the 2014 class.

Comments

Mr Miggle

August 9th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^

and Michigan was not recruiting any similar players in his class. Norfleet, a similar, but by all accounts but one, a more talented prospect, only got a very late offer in the previous class. Wangler had offers from PSU, LSU and MSU and still only got an offer after we missed out on several prospects. I don't see enough similarities in their situations to warrant suspicion.  

TakeTheField

August 9th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^

We're taking a fourth LB in a class that only has about 16 spots in it right now, and may only ever get 2-3 more, especially someone low rated and lightly regarded. Just seems like we had more pressing needs for the precious few spots we have left. Four linebackers, only two OLs and no RBs seems very unbalanced, especially when we've had good hauls at LB lately.

Bleeding maize and blue is all very well, but it doesn't do much for you if the guy is on the scout team..

alum96

August 9th, 2013 at 3:28 PM ^

If Jamarco Jones had committed to Michigan that would been your OL spot.  He did not so a spot was open.  There were no other OL that seemingly were similar in stature to Jones that Michigan was interested in.  I don't think you are going to attract a horde of OL after two classes where you brought in an entire 2 deep. I am sure they will go back to OL next year in a number of minimum 3 and potentially 4 now that there will be some space between that 2 year haul and 2015.   It seems "early" to me as well but maybe after the BBQ the tea leaves are that the 2 kids from Ohio that we overly got our hopes up for since they "enjoyed themselves" is just typical fan (over)reaction at any hint of interest, and the coaches know better.  As for RBs they already have a top guy in the 15 class and 2 high end guys in this years class.  I dont get the point of having 5-6 RBs myself as that is the situation this year and a whole host of them are going to end up being nothingburgers or special team players at best.   Last, we have no idea how Mr Wangler will turn out.  Jake friggin Ryan had no offers but MAC until Michigan offered and is the best player on the defense.  Mr. Wagner could turn out to be the best player on the defense in 4 years or middle of the pack or a non starter or a special teams player.  You don't know, I don't know, no one knows - it is just educated guesses by everyone here.  So I wouldnt judge just by rankings and stars and all that normal jazz - and yes I get that we celebrate all the 5 stars etc but nothing is guaranteed with these kids.  Nothing in the report you just read above is gospel - go back and read a dozen other such reports from 2011 and earlier and see how many sounded like X and instead turned out to be Y.

MidnightBlue

August 9th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^

That was my initial reflex however lets not forget the Jake Ryan recruirment. Even Hoke at SDSU didnt want him and admitted so. And everyone including OSU wanted his teammate McVey instead. Well, I can say I think Ryan had a late spurt and now hes arguably our best defender.

WolvinLA2

August 9th, 2013 at 3:45 PM ^

I've read reports saying that the increased interest in Wangler is partly do to him "growing." Nothing I read specified height, but that's what I inferred from it. Although 6'4" is a great height for a SAM, 6'2" is pretty good and 6'3" is just fine. So if he's added and inch or two, we're in good shape. FWIW, Rivals lists him as 6'2".

Space Coyote

August 9th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^

And tend to think the differences in inches is often over-rated. If he can get up to 6'2" or 6'3" he'll at least be fine. 6'3" - 6'4" (with a lean toward the latter) is probably optimal and above that you start having to worry about leverage problems for a guy not starting with his hand on the ground.

WolvinLA2

August 9th, 2013 at 5:35 PM ^

If we assume he added an inch when stating his height on his highlight tape, but also assume that that was before his reported "growth" (it seems like I'm being dirty when I put that word in parentheses but I'm not) then we have to assume he is at least 6'2" right now, maybe taller.

Elmer

August 9th, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^

Just read all the comments and several good points were raised about his potential fit at the WILL and SAM.  After watching his video, all I see is a kid who makes plays and I'm willing to bet he finds a way to succeed at Michigan. 

STW P. Brabbs

August 9th, 2013 at 6:54 PM ^

So I'm basing this off of old highlights.

But this is the first thing that came into my head as soon as Wangler came up with the INT in the first highlight: he runs just fucking like his dad.  Same long legs, same almost off-balance looking stride.  Uncanny.

Sethgoblue

August 9th, 2013 at 8:34 PM ^

... Ace is predicting that James Ross will bolt for the NFL after his junior year: 

When Wangler gets to campus, James Ross and Royce Jenkins-Stone will both be juniors ... Assuming Wangler takes a redshirt year, he'll compete for Ross's open spot as a redshirt freshman ...

I'm pretty sure I'm reading the first part correct, that Ross will be a senior when Wangler is a redshirt freshman, but if Blue's human missle blows up to the point where he's ready to jump to the pros after year three (as a linebacker, no less), that bodes especially well for his 2014 campaign and, hopefully, this fall!

 

Of course, this could be a simple error (either mine or Ace's), but we prefer to be bold in our predicitions around hear, amirite?

 

Welcome to the family Jared. 

GO BLUE!

Magnus

August 9th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^

It's somewhat unrelated, but there's no way Noah Furbush plays the WILL linebacker unless Michigan changes their defensive philosophy entirely.