Hello: Jeremiah Beasley
We've got a couple Hellos to catch up on that dropped during the past week. The first of which is 4* LB Jeremiah Beasley from Belleville, MI. The in-state prospect picked Michigan last Wednesday over Michigan State, among other schools with interest. Let's give him a Hello:
GURU RATINGS
RATINGS BY SITE |
|||
---|---|---|---|
247: 6'1/210 |
On3: 6'0.5/210 |
Rivals: 6'2/212 |
ESPN: 6'1/220 |
4*, 90, #239 Ovr #26 LB, #6 MI |
4*, 90, #264 Ovr #20 LB, #5 MI |
4*, 5.8, NR Ovr #24 OLB, #8 MI |
3*, 79, #53 MW #15 ILB, #10 MI |
4.05 | 4.09 | 3.96 | 3.83 |
COMPOSITE RANKINGS |
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247 Composite |
On3 Consensus |
MGoBlog |
|
4*, 0.9025, #312 Ovr #26 LB, #6 MI |
4*, 90.37, #273 Ovr #28 LB, #6 MI |
4*, #386/797 Ovr #31/78 ILBs since 1990 |
|
4.03 | 4.04 | 4.01 |
Everyone but ESPN has Beasley as a 4*, but it's not like there's a terribly dramatic range in the overall rating based on our five-star scale. The 247 composite vs. On3 consensus vs. our calculated consensus is almost exactly even, right around 4.00. Beasley is viewed as one of the top ten players in Michigan, and ranks near the middle among all ILB prospects Michigan has recruited since 1990 according to our database. There's a bit of variation on Beasley's height, from 6'0.5" at On3 to 6'2" at Rivals, with his weight ranging from 210 to 220. Nothing crazy.
[AFTER THE JUMP: Runs well and hits hard]
SCOUTING
We start with Allen Trieu's free 247 scouting report, because it is often a broad and easy way to take a quick look at what a prospect offers, before digging into the nitty gritty. The first two lines are as good of a quick summary for Beasley as you can get:
Powerful linebacker with short-area explosion. Adequate size, but hits beyond his listed measureables
Cool. Tell us more:
Has a track background and runs and moves around easily in space. Times his blitzes and shoots gaps with good acceleration. Also is a standout at running back and could fit the bill as a bigger back if a school wants to play him there
Michigan definitely has some experience with partial RB/partial LB types (hello, Kalel Mullings), but all indications are that Beasley is wanted for 'backer. Every scouting report of him makes a mention of his RB exploits but only in the passing mention of "he could be an RB if you wanted him to be". EJ Holland of On3, very familiar with Beasley from the 7v7 circuits, gets a bit more detailed ($):
Beasley is the perfect scheme fit for Michigan. While he’s a little on the shorter side, Beasley is fast for his size and can get sideline-to-sideline in a hurry ... Beasley is also physical and aggressive. He’s the heart and soul of a Belleville team coming off another state title. Michigan sees him as their future WILL
EJ goes on to highlight the area of Beasley's game he likes the most:
Where Beasley has really impressed over the last two offseasons is in pass coverage ... Linebackers are often a weak point for 7v7 teams. However, Beasley is terrific in the middle of the field and has no issue covering bigger tight ends or quicker running backs
Touch The Banner gave a review of Beasley upon his commitment to Michigan and came away reasonably enthused with the profile. TTB saw the same athleticism and physicality that other scouts saw:
Beasley is a good all-around athlete with a nice mix of size, speed, toughness, and change-of-direction skills. His toughness and athleticism really show at running back, where he has nice balance, breaks a ton of tackles, and has good speed ... Beasley’s athleticism also shows in his ability to change direction and chase down ball carriers
TTB did find a possible hole in the highlight film, an area of Beasley's game that hasn't been shown on video yet:
What I don’t see much of in his highlight film is reading and reacting on defense. Most of his defensive highlights come on blitzes or in pass coverage, but not reading run and/or fitting his gap. Whether that’s a weakness or just not something he felt like highlighting is left to guesswork.
Per Hausfeldt from Mike Farrell Sports did a round up of uncommitted 2024s back in January and gave some takes on Beasley. He saw evidence of processing and diagnosing to be encouraged by:
Good play diagnosing, reading through triangle with good mental processing to establish good gap leverage on downfield runs due to good lateral agility.
However, he was a bit cooler on Beasley's athleticism, thus questioning his abilities in man coverage as opposed to zone:
Adequate range against outside runs from middle or backside alignment due to adequate acceleration allowing RBs with good speed to attack the perimeter. Adequate man coverage and match in the open field due to adequate route recognition
As a whole, though, Hasufeldt likes Beasley as a prospect:
Overall good prospect, best used in a 4-3/4-2-5 system with middle or frontside alignment due to his good play strength and block processing. Can be trusted to start for a Power 5 defense by his 3rd season.
The scouts like this guy quite a bit!
OFFERS
Michigan State was the other main team competing for the services of Jeremiah Beasley. They were somewhat favored early on in the process, with strong ties to Beasley through his older brother Maliq Carr (a Spartan player) and the relationship MSU has had with Belleville HS over the past number of years. However, area recruiter Steve Clinkscale and newly hired LB coach Chris Partridge kept hammering away and won over Beasley in the spring, eventually culminating in this commitment over Sparty. The other schools extending offers include a sampling of B1G programs Nebraska, PSU, Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Maryland, and Indiana. Mizzou, Pitt, Florida, Tennessee, Cincy, Kentucky, Louisville, Colorado, and Kansas were also involved, in addition to the mid-majors.
HIGH SCHOOL
Beasley attends Belleville HS, a familiar in-state powerhouse to Michigan HS football followers and/or recruiting watchers. Belleville, located some 25ish minutes east of Ann Arbor, has become a D1 juggernaut in MHSAA football under head coach Jermain Crowell, drawing many of its players from the Detroit region. Belleville is currently the two-time defending state-champions at the D1 level, championships that Beasley has gotten to be a part of. In 2022 the team went 14-0, defeating Caledonia at Ford Field to take home the title.
Belleville coach Crowell and Jim Harbaugh were involved in a feud for some amount of time (if you want a refresher, click on this site tag) which obstructed Michigan's ability to procure blue chip prospects out of this powerhouse HS in their own back yard. Crowell was on decisively better terms with MSU (past Belleville stars Devontae Dobbs and Julian Barnett ended up in East Lansing), which led to the early speculation about Beasley --> MSU.
However, new developments in the Belleville Wars have changed the picture some. Crowell was suspended by MHSAA last November for violating the undue influence rule, which forced Belleville's hand. With their coach suspended from coaching in the state for two years, the school dismissed Crowell, bringing a new coach to head the staff. DeJuan Rogers won the state title as an interim and was named the full-time coach, but then departed for a gig at Tiffin University. Former Detroit Cody coach Calvin Norman was given the HC label in May. All this tumult and the removal of Crowell helped make the recruitment of Beasley a bit easier for the Wolverines and landing Beasley is a nice tool to use in the recruitment of 2025 5* QB Bryce Underwood, Belleville's superstar prospect ranked as the nation's best QB recruit in that class.
STATS
Despite being a dominant program in Michigan HS football, the Belleville MaxPreps page is absent stats for 2022. Just one game has stats uploaded, with none for the defensive side of the ball. However, Beasley's Hudl tape (embedded below), credits himself with 27 touchdowns and 1,250 rushing yards on offense and 72 tackles/108 total tackles on defense. Are those numbers legit or are they heavily fudged? Who knows!
FAKE 40 TIME
As a player who has done a healthy number of camps, we have some official 40 times for Beasley. On3 has him verified for a 4.8, something they say is exactly in line with the average top 300 LB recruit over the past three years. Perfectly reasonable number, independently timed, it gets zero FAKEs out of five.
VIDEO
Junior year highlights:
EJ Holland has a number of videos of Beasley from 7v7. Here's one:
On300 Michigan LB target Jeremiah Beasley (@JBeasley_2024) jams his man into oblivion #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/v8UAOHc7Xr
— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) February 25, 2023
More available with a simple twitter search.
ETC
Brother Maliq Carr is an MSU TE. Track background.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
Jeremiah Beasley is a solid 4* LB prospect, a pretty safe and projectable one at that. He's got decent size and the athleticism needed to hang in modern college football. Beasley hits hard enough to play in the B1G and while we may not have the most concrete evidence of his processing abilities, a few years in the linebacker classroom should help rectify any issues (if there are any at all). He's been playing for one of the top HS teams in the state and has been a fixture of the 7v7 offseason circuit, so the guru reliability should be reasonably high here too. If all goes well, and Michigan shouldn't have to rush him into duty by any means, Beasley seems like a future starting ILB down the road for the Wolverines without a ton of risk or hoping that a skill pans out.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Michigan's LB recruiting is more or less finished at this point, barring some change in the fall. The plan had long been to take Beasley and 4* Aaron Chiles as their two true ILBs, in addition to HSP-ish types Jaden Smith, Cole Sullivan, and Mason Curtis. However, things took a stunning and unfortunate turn when Chiles offered his commitment to Florida while on a visit with the Gators, scratching his name off the board for the Wolverines. Michigan hasn't indicated that they plan to pursue a different LB instead of Chiles, so right now, things look set. The team is interested in trying at least one or two of that HSP-ish group of prospects at ILB, so they are not feeling like another ILB is a must. The staff could pursue a player at this position at a later date (if one comes available), but there are no names on the board currently.
THE CLASS AS IT STANDS
OFFENSE | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Player | State | Stars | In a nutshell |
QB | Jadyn Davis | NC | 4.7 | Smooth, accurate field general |
RB | Jordan Marshall | OH | 4.4⬇ | Accelerates South-North |
RB | Micah Ka'apana | NV | 3.7⬆ | Well-balanced accelerator |
WR | I'Marion Stewart | IL | 3.9⬇ | Ronnie slick/quick, #1 WR to M |
WR | Channing Goodwin | NC | 3.8 | Chain-moving son of Jon |
TE | Brady Prieskorn | MI | 4.4⬇ | Colston Loveland Midwest |
TE | Hogan Hansen | WA | 4.1⬆ | Colston Loveland West |
LT | Andrew Sprague | MO | 4.2⬆ | Basketballin' grow-a-Long |
RT | Blake Frazier | TX | 4.2⬆⬆ | Athletic son of Steve |
RG | Luke Hamilton | OH | 4.0 | Midwestern mauler |
LG | Ben Roebuck | OH | 3.8⬇⬇ | Bigger Midwestern mauler |
C | Jake Guarnera | FL | 3.8 | Mauler but center |
DEFENSE | ||||
Pos | Player | State | Stars | In a nutshell |
DT | Manuel Beigel | CT | 3.5⬇ | Lengthy German via Choate |
DT | Owen Wafle | NJ | 4.0⬇ | Little nose with bite |
DT | Ted Hammond | OH | 4.0 | Cincy build-a-bear |
DT/DE | Jerod Smith | CT | 4.0⬆ | Low-pads, high-motor big twin |
Edge | Dominic Nichols | MD | 3.8⬆ | Mike Morris-ish SDE |
Edge | Devon Baxter | MD | 3.8⬆ | Super long 4-3 grow-an-edge. |
Edge | Elias Rudolph | FL | 4.0⬆ | Former Ohian OLB type |
OLB | Mason Curtis | TN | 4.2⬆ | Long athlete moving up |
LB | Jeremiah Beasley | MI | 4.0⬇ | Explosive hitter from Belleville |
LB | Jaden Smith | NC | 3.9⬆ | Underscouted Uche |
HSP | Cole Sullivan | PA | 3.8 | Hybrid LB with crazy athleticism |
S | Jacob Oden | MI | 4.1 | Tall son of coach |
One. . . meeeeellion. . . wins over our rivals
P.S. Seriously though. . . poor man's Devin Bush Jr.? More of a comp than an expectation. DB2 ran a 4.43 at the combine; barring another DJ Turnaround, Beasley is not doing that. I mean as a smallish "all-around" ILB who can play in space (as opposed to a square-headed gap-thumper).
Is there any data on changes in players' speed between high school and their senior year in college? I suppose it depends on the position.
I think it depends on the player; it means their HS S&C wasn't optimal. But when it comes to speed, no one's throwing around offers based on speculative potential -- nor should they, that'd be a terrible way to recruit -- so most players should be close to their peak. There are exceptions, is all I'm saying.
It's not something to hope for. When it happens, it should be a pleasant surprise. 40 times aren't the be-all end-all for linebackers anyway.
I dug into NFL 23 draft, and these are the LBs taken that have 40 Yrd figures:
Lukas Van Ness 4.58 6’ 5’’
Jack Campbell 4.65 6’ 5’’
Daiyan Henley 4.54 6’ 2’’
Trenton Simpson 4.43 6’ 2’’
Dorian Williams 4.49 6’ 2’’
Yasir Abdullah 4.47 6’ 1’’
Noah Sewell 4.64 6’ 2’’
Henry To'oTo'o 4.62 6’ 2’’
Owen Pappoe 4.39 6’ 1’’
So, the chances of Jeremiah making it to the NFL are low unless he can add some speed.
Interestingly, the Lions pick the tallest and slowest of the bunch (there could be others who are slower, but they did not report any figures for them).
It's all over the place.
Track guys that play skill positions often get slower in college - because they already knew how to run, and then put on weight.
Most players don't get significantly faster - but it does happen occasionally.
High school 40 times are notoriously inaccurate, which makes accurate comparison and analysis difficult.
I think it is oretty safe to assume that a college SC program gets him to at least a 4.7 and then training for the combine, becoming efficient with the start and running form, I would assume he test in the high 4.5s to mid 4.6. I don't see that not being an extremely achievable projection
Josh Ross? He ran 4.79 at the combine.
https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?f=Josh&l=Ross&i=30989
It is interesting to mathematically see the increase in speed at the LB position. On3 says the average in the last 3 years is a 4.6, whereas the above site has the average in their sample (which goes back to 1987) as a 4.8
I had the same reaction to that pose, then realized that Beasley is nearly a decade younger than Austin Powers.
Are you doing a Fred Jackson 180? Like Devin Bush but slow?
Call me "Fred Jackson but negative"
This is junior time for him and Bushs time was years after being a college training program and being about 4 years older. When JB graduates and does his 40 then we can compare. Just to hard to compare these types of players from high school there junior year to a player in his junior college season. I would say 4.5 4.6 when he is a junior.
He needs to wear #20 and change his middle name to Ian Gold.
That idea is so metal!
GoldSmack.
Hey Alex, clicking on Mason Curtis links to Cole Sullivan in the class table.
Duplicate
Magnus is not afraid to be critical on areas he sees need improvement or a potential ceiling.
Its especially nice to see when he has good vibes on a prospect.
I know it’s rare but I sure would like to see another Devin Bush type come through the program. His speed, quickness, range and tackling put so much pressure on opposing offenses.
Devin Bush, but slow?
I had not heard that the HC at Belleville actually got canned for this "undue influence" peddling!
I wondered why we were hearing so much about Underwood with no countervailing mention of how hard it's been for JH to pull kids out of that school, what with that coach obviously negative recruiting Michigan.
Should we presume his issues with Harbaugh had more than a minor amount to do with the things that ultimately got him fired? I'm gonna anyway...
I’m curious about Nick Marsh.
4* #91 overall 6’3” local kid. Seems like the type of WR we could use to complement the roster.
He decommitted and just recommitted to MSU.
There was never a word about interest either way with him and Michigan which seems odd for a local kid.
Sam Webb talked about Marsh at one point, and basically, the gist was that sometimes a guy is just not a fit for a program. The implication was that Michigan was not particularly interested. As far as what the reason is, I don't have anything more specific. But I don't think it's talent-related - I think Marsh is a good football player.
For some reason I was under the impression Crowell had retired, I had no idea he'd been suspended and then fired in disgrace. What a fitting end.
This guy is worth the take just for stealing what would be a huge get for Sparty and the possibility he has even .01% sway on Underwood. Him being a solid looking recruit who might pan out is just icing on top.
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