Over the last couple days we've been catching up on Hello posts, and today we have another '22 commit who is somewhat in the mold of Zeke Berry from Wednesday in LB Jimmy Rolder. Rolder is a late riser in this class who has now cemented himself as a legitimate four star, a big addition to Michigan's linebacker group in this class and now the fourth-highest rated commit in this class, going off the 247 composite. 

GURU RATINGS 

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

We have a pretty high degree of consensus here, with On3 and Rivals on the higher end and then ESPN/247 on the lower end, but within a pretty coherent band of rankings. Rolder is a solid 4* prospect, albeit one that has been steadily climbing up the boards over the last few months. He jumped 60 spots in the composite in the most recent update and this upward movement has been consistent across whichever rating services you want to use. 

In terms of recent Michigan history, there are two pretty good comps for Rolder's size, position, and recruiting rankings. One is Josh Ross, and the other is Ben Gedeon. Both of those guys were a shade over 4.0 on Seth's five-star scale and both were either 6'2 or 6'3 and weighed ~220 pounds. Those are not bad comparisons in terms of how their careers played out in college, and it's getting me excited about Rolder. Let's see what there is under the hood. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Scouting, video, and more!]

SCOUTING 

The scouting on Rolder is mostly all from this year, because of how COVID-19 went down in Illinois. The 2020 season (Rolder's junior year) was pushed until the spring, severely shortened, and coaches couldn't observe it up close. The delayed nature of that season means he's played two campaigns worth of football in about 10 months, the period at which people were generally going to start paying attention to him. Moreover, he missed many of the camps due to his baseball schedule, though the dual sport athlete always made it clear that playing P5 football was his collegiate dream. Many of said P5 programs entered this fall season curious about Rolder's potential from what they had heard, but were not ready to extend offers due to all of the complications I just listed. Then Rolder's senior season took off. 

Rivals' Clint Cosgrove summed it up in late October: 

Coaches liked Rolder, but they just wanted to see more before the pulled the trigger on offering. Then the season started, the film was fantastic, and the rest is history. Rolder is now a four-star prospect with an offer list that includes a number of college football's traditional powers

After his tape began to pop, the interest suddenly came rolling in, almost overnight. Within only a couple months of his senior season beginning, Rolder was visiting OSU for the Penn State game and had gone from unranked to a 4* by most scouting services. He got offers from the B1G powers + several from the SEC, and his rise up the board was unstoppable. But what made that tape so special? Cosgrove gave the Rivals take in a piece two weeks after, when Rolder committed to Michigan: 

First and foremost Rolder is just a great all around athlete. At 6'2" 220 pounds he is the prototype of what you want a young linebacker to look like in today's age of football. Not only is Rolder capable of being a downhill thumper and force against the run, he is fantastic in space and can also rush the passer. Rolder is a high motor kid that shows his love for the game through his hustle, and he is a big time competitor to boot 

The combination of bulk and athleticism to provide pop as a tackler, yet still be fleet of foot enough to play in space, is something that Allen Trieu brought up when he shared 247's national take on Rolder: 

Physically has the size to play his style of ball at the Power Five level. Big hitter who plays with aggressiveness and shows explosion through his tackles ... Can get to the edges to make plays. Have not seen him in coverage as much but looks to have the athletic ability to do that. Has played some defensive end but projects as a true MIKE who could rush the passer in passing situations

In a separate post($), Trieu throws out another Michigan comp. in addition to the ones I've already supplied: Jake Ryan. 247's Sean Bock went to see Rolder in early November($) and focused on the physicality, something that stood out to me in watching his senior tape that I embedded later in the piece: 

Rolder is put together well physically. When he's in pads, he certainly stands out, even amongst offensive linemen on his team that are a few inches short than him. Rolder's main part of his game is his physicality. He plays with a mean streak on both sides of the ball and his aggressiveness certainly adds a strong aspect to his game

These sorts of in-person viewings are notable, because Rolder's game tape is lacking of clips of him in coverage, which could make you believe he's not fast enough to hang with modern receiving threats in a high major conference. Here's what Bock had to say about that:

There was not a ton of clips in him in coverage. However, his foot speed and athleticism we saw throughout the game make us believe that he'll be just fine in that area

That's decently reassuring. EJ Holland also saw Rolder live and concluded that Rolder's athleticism was playable, but pointed out that he is more of a traditional LB than either of Michigan's other recruits in this class ($): 

(Alexander and Spurlock) are athletic, speedy backers that are comfortable in space. While Rolder is deceptively athletic, he is more of your traditional inside linebacker that can come downhill and smack people. He’s exactly what you want in a Big Ten backer

A final note that nearly every piece of scouting notes is Rolder's high football IQ, pointing out a penchant for reading the play, finding the gap, and shooting through it quickly to stop the run. That's apparent on his tape too. There was not a shortage of clips on his tape resembling Josh Ross' third-down stick against OSU. 

OFFERS

Rolder got offers from half the B1G: Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, OSU, and Michigan. He also got offers from Ball State, Cincy, Florida, and LSU. And remember, all of these came in the span of a couple of months. Once Rolder was noticed, it didn't take long. He took an unofficial visit to Ohio State in late October, in addition to unofficial visits to Iowa and Michigan before picking the Wolverines. Visited for The Game after committing.  

HIGH SCHOOL 

Rolder has played for the Marist High School RedHawks in Chicago, IL, a private Catholic school. They compete in the top division in state competition and are a member of the East Suburban Catholic Conference. Though they may face high end competition being in division 8A, Marist isn't much of a powerhouse. They were 9-4 this season (2-3 in their conference) and lost in the playoffs. Marist has never won an Illinois state title. 

STATS

Rolder has been an animal for Marist this season, racking up 115 tackles, nearly more than #2 and #3 on his team's total combined (121)! He also has 13 TFL to go with it, in addition to four sacks and three interceptions. If you want to know who the best player on the RedHawks' defense is, the statistics point in one extremely clear direction, Jimmy Rolder. He has also played a smidge on offense (mostly at tight end), with three catches for 36 yards and two carries for three yards and a TD on the ground. 

FAKE 40 TIME

We don't have a 40 time listed anywhere because Rolder has missed the camps, but we do have a 60 yard time from his baseball days. Allen Trieu (the only place I've seen it reported) said it was a 6.92, which translates roughly to a 4.6 if we're converting it to 40 times. That's definitely in the ballpark for reasonable 40 times among a linebacker of his size if we're looking at NFL combine times. There's nothing screaming at me to deem it obviously fake, but the messiness of conversion from 60 -> 40 means we should use caution on the exact time, so we'll give it two FAKEs out of five. 

VIDEO 

Here's his senior season tape from his Hudl: 

EJ Holland got some video of him when he went to see Rolder: 

Four-star Michigan LB target Jimmy Rolder (@JimmyRolder) makes the stop here #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/AivniY1HdN

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) November 6, 2021

ETC 

Played baseball in high school, but despite being committed to Illinois for it, he is not being recruited to play both sports at Michigan. Quadruple slashed .367/.490/.569/1.060 as a junior this spring with eight 2Bs, two HRs, and five steals. Sounds like he's headed to Ross School of Business, if his stepdad is to be believed. Reportedly a good student who was enticed by Michigan's pitch on the academic side. Stepdad is Scott Kehoe, former starting OT for Illinois in the mid-80s who played a couple games in the NFL for the Dolphins. 

PROJECTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Any of the comparisons we've thrown around in this piece, Gedeon, Ryan, and Ross, seem pretty reasonable for Rolder. This young LB is a big, thumping LB who can still remind you of The Good Ole Days, while appearing to have athleticism to play modern football in a high-major conference. He's not going to be Devin Bush running sideline to sideline; Michigan has recruited Junior Colson and Raylen Wilson to be those kinds of players. But Rolder can be used as a blitzer, stuff the run from the MIKE position, and possibly has the intelligence to be the QB of the defense. 

Unlike classmates Spurlock and Alexander, Rolder won't require a huge amount of development to get on the field once he learns the scheme. He's physically ready and is certainly not new to the sport of football, with his stepdad providing the pedigree. He is new to committing fully to football, being a two-sport athlete, but Michigan is fond of those kinds of guys. Like Zeke Berry, there aren't many negative attributes on Rolder's scouting report, which reinforces the "safe" prospect status. Adding a solid 4*, safe and projectable LB who can hit and run is A-OK with me. Beating OSU for that kind of player (Buckeyes seriously wanted Rolder)? Better than A-OK. A good pickup by the staff, in your author's opinion. 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Rolder is the centerpiece of this LB class, which is now finished. Deuce Spurlock and Aaron Alexander both bring reasons for optimism as prospects, but both are fliers, and not really close to being projectable as anything approaching starters in the next few years. Rolder gives you a piece with a much higher floor, and a much higher chance of becoming a starter, in addition to a different skillset being a traditional LB. You needed to take at least one of those guys in the class, and Michigan got one towards the end in Rolder, which is a good recruiting job by Helow & Co. With three LBs now on in the class, and Michigan already making rapid progress on 2023's LB group after landing Raylen Wilson this week, 2022 is finished at the LB spot.