It has taken almost a decade, but we’re starting to see a balancing in whatever force binds together the recruiting world with respect to Michigan’s secondary. All those years ago we promised to Never Forget, and now Michigan has landed the top safety in the nation (to at least one of the services) for the second year in a row. NJ S Jordan Morant was seriously considering Penn State for some time, but less than ten days after an official visit to Happy Valley Morant decided to eschew his original plan to announce his commitment in January at the All American Bowl and instead make public his verbal to Michigan.

GURU RANKINGS

Consensus is there is no consensus on where he falls among peers, but the three recruiting sites are in agreement that Morant is a four-star.

SCOUTING

Not the best time to be looking for scouting reports thanks to Ja Morant since there’s a ton of scouting for the NBA Draft and Google thinks I can’t spell, I guess. I found two scouting reports from 247’s Brian Dohn buried in an article on USC’s 247 page, and they illustrate how Morant’s rapid positional development. First, from last summer:

In scouting Morant, keep in mind this was a scrimmage and he is still getting used to playing cornerback after starting his high school career as a linebacker.

Morant is able to open his hips and he is quick and explosive when changing direction. He drives on the ball well in front of him and he is eager and quick in run support. He is physical, but he is also learning technique, especially when it comes to re-routing a receiver and also understanding how not to give inside leverage. However, his athleticism, his length, his ability to play physical make him a wonderful prospect, and suggest why he is the No. 8 safety in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

And then Dohn’s take from April’s The Opening regional:

"His combination of size, speed and strength made him difficult to contend with for receivers," Dohn noted. "He jammed at the line and was physical, and he showed closing speed. He flipped his hips well, and his ball-tracking skills were impressive. He showed he has the speed to contend with fast receivers down the field, and the strength to be physical with them."

A recent Sam Webb piece contained quotes from Vito Campanile, Morant’s current head coach and coincidentally new defensive assistant Anthony Campanile’s brother.

“He to me (is) what’s trending in college football. He’s a necessity because, one; he can tackle as good as anybody. He can come to balance and tackle in the open field against elite level running backs. And then he can cover like a corner. He has negated some of the best players in the state of New Jersey. Just totally taken them out of the game. Like you don’t even know they’re there.”

“In college football today those guys that have to cover the slot, it’s really hard to find the guy that has the tackling ability to fit in and tackle, and then still be able to have the wherewithal to cover and run down the field with a 4.4 kid in the slot.  Yeah, (Morant can do that).”

Campanile to 247’s Sam Hellman:

“Jordan’s probably a little bigger than Jabrill (Peppers), but they’re both that kind of unique talent, Swiss Army knife football player. Watch Jordan return kicks. What Jabrill did on the offensive side, we don’t use Jordan like that. He could play in that same spot that’s kind of been invented by Don Brown. He’d be an amazing fit in that role. We use him as a corner, just to negate that receiver out of the game. He’s covered some of the best players in the state. He gave up three completions last year.”

NJ.com’s Todderick Hunt after viewing Morant at The Opening regional in April:

Jordan Morant was also really good, providing mostly blanket coverage while weighing 212 pounds. The Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) star was one of the more physical DBs in camp. Unlike a lot of big-time recruits, Morant showed up to work and backed up his ranking as one of the top recruits in the region.

Morant to WolverinesWire’s Evan Petzold on what Brown, Campanile, and Partridge told him after they said he could play corner, safety, or viper:

“They said I have the speed and cover skills like a corner and I can hit like a safety, so that was really interesting to hear. I think it could be a good fit.”

[More on why it’s a good fit after THE JUMP]

OFFERS

In addition to Penn State, Morant had offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, USC, Clemson, Alabama, LSU, Miami, Texas A&M, and about 20 others.

HIGH SCHOOL

Bergen Catholic has a history of fielding a couple of the top 30 or so players in New Jersey who go on to fairly large DI schools each year, but none have gone to Michigan until Morant.

STATS

Morant had 36 tackles, 3 TFLs, and 3 PBUs last season; other stats were not available. In 2018 he had 60 tackles, 1 TFL, 7 PBUs, a sack, and 4 interceptions.

FAKE 40 TIME

247 lists a 4.69 from April 2018 at an Opening regional, which gets zero fakes out of five. Worth noting that it’s very likely that time has improved, and we might see that in a week when he attends The Opening finals. He also ran a 4.1 shuttle at that Opening regional, which is no surprise when you watch his film and see him breaking on the ball.

VIDEO

Speaking of, here’s his junior highlight tape:

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Morant has the physical tools to play in the box and the coverage ability to play on the outside. He’d actually be a pretty good fit at viper, but Michigan has that position taken care of for the foreseeable future. Morant’s future lies at safety, which is the best fit for his stature (5’11” or 6’ depending on which site you check, while Michigan has been looking for taller guys at corner of late) and his ability to carry slot receivers deep or spin down to take them on jet sweeps. With Michigan’s safety spots nearly interchangeable, 2020’s starters are likely to be Dax Hill and some combination of Brad Hawkins, J’Marick Woods and Quinten Johnson. Safe money is on Morant spending 2020 learning the ropes from the veterans before finding full-time work in 2021.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

The roster practically resets after 2020 at safety, so it’s not surprise Michigan isn’t done yet. They’re in on VA S Malcolm Greene and NJ S RJ Moten, with Greene a possibility at corner as well as safety. There will be room in the class for all of them.