Hello: Keith Washington Comment Count

Ace

Prattville (AL) three-star ATH Keith Washington announced his decision to flip from Cal to Michigan in a ceremony at his high school this morning, and immediately faxed in his LOI. Washington, who mostly played quarterback at Prattville, will suit up at cornerback for Michigan. He becomes the 12th commit of the 2015 class and the first at his position.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
3*, #147 CB 3*, #26 ATH 3*, 75, #117 ATH 3*, 82, #118 ATH 3*, #76 ATH,

#954 Ovr

Rivals is much more bullish on Washington than the other three recruiting services, which all have him well down the position rankings. He's listed at around 6'2", 170—great size for a corner as soon as he adds a little bulk.

SCOUTING

Due to Washington mostly playing quarterback in high school, there isn't a ton on him as a defensive back. TideSports ranked him the #30 player in Alabama heading into the 2014 season and had this to say about his potential ($):

A tremendous athlete with excellent speed. Washington is a natural playmaker. He is dangerous on the offensive side of the ball and should become a great defensive back at the next level. 

ESPN's rather scant evaluation covers his ability as both a receiver and cornerback ($):

Plays any skilled position he is asked to. Runs with it, catches it and defends from either the safety or corner spot. Is gifted enough that he can be thought of as either a WR or DB.

Is light on his feet, has balance, and can run away from defenders thus is a threat from most anywhere on the field. Also demonstrated as a defender he can run down a ball carrier. He makes plays.

The most complete scouting report comes from GoldenBearReport, Cal's Rivals outlet, which posted one after his commitment there ($):

Physically, he's long and lean; and he really doesn't have a frame suited for some of the physicality required of a safety. He's strikingly similar to Malik Psalms, with a wiry frame and really long arms.  I'd venture to say that while their top end speed may be similar, Washington looks smoother than Psalms and has great acceleration. His ability to turn and chase is impressive with his closing speed. His height and long arms help him in press coverage and playing the ball, and he's a willing though unpolished tackler. He comes high into contact and gets away with it at the high school level, but will definitely need to add strength and technique to not only effectively bring down bigger and more physical ballcarriers in college, but also to disengage from blocks on screens or runs to the outside. Still, his athleticism makes him a natural in pass coverage. With the desire to be aggressive in contact seemingly already within him, the technique to do it well and do it right can be coached.

Washington will take some molding before he's ready to contribute, especially given his inexperience at the position, but he appears to have a lot of potential—6'2" corners with fluid athleticism don't come around that often.

OFFERS

Washington held offers from Cal, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami (YTM), Mizzou, North Carolina, Northwestern, USF, and Wake Forest, among others.

HIGH SCHOOL

Prattville has produced several FBS-caliber recruits in the Rivals era, most notably 2010 four-star Nick Perry, who started for the Tide at safety in 2014, and four-star 2012 athlete Justin Thomas, the starting quarterback in Georgia Tech's option offense.

STATS

Washington's stats mostly came on offense, where he passed for 1718 yards and 17 TDs and rushed for another 1201 yards and 20 TDs as a senior, per 247.

FAKE 40 TIME

Oddly, Washington participated in NFTC testing and did everything but the 40-yard dash. He did run an impressive 4.06 20-yard shuttle, indicating good acceleration and change of direction. His Scout spotlight lists a 4.3-flat, which gets four FAKEs out of five. He's fast, but that's elite NFL speed.

VIDEO

Defensive back highlights:

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

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Washington should redshirt while getting more acclimated to cornerback and add some strength. Only Blake Countess is set to depart after the 2015 season at corner, so it could take him a little while to work his way up the depth chart, though the move of Jabrill Peppers to safety opens up more of an opportunity. While there's not a lot to go on with Washington, he has all the physical tools to become an excellent player at the position.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan is now up to 12 commits and could take another corner if they desired should Jarius Adams want to join up. Other candidates to fill the remaining open spots are ATH Tyrone Wheatley Jr., DE Shelton Johnson, RB Mike Weber (everything seems to be up in the air with him), WR Van Jefferson, CB Iman Marshall, and LB Roquan Smith—the last two are longshots at best.

Comments

michwolv4life

February 4th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^

that is looking at these kids' offer lists and see no top programs? I am not trying to be a negative and I completely understand Harbaugh is salvaging what he can but lets not get carried away guys, this class is not great. We have a couple players that might be able to play but other than that we have kids that are picking Michigan because its the best school on their list. 

wahooverine

February 4th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^

This is incredibly shortsighted.  You don't know yet if this class is great or not great.  Do you shop for everything based simply off who else wants it?  Or do you actually take a look at the product?  Do you think that good players only go to the top 10 programs?  Does the NFL only draft players from the top 10 college programs?   Of this kids offer sheet, Cal, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami (YTM), Mizzou, North Carolina, USF and Wake Forest all regularly have NFL players drafted.   But you're right I guess he sucks, along with the other 3 stars without top 10 offers.

michwolv4life

February 4th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^

Easy wahooverine ... The last three National title winners have had the top recruiting class. That's the correlation and is where my opinion came from. There's a reason this kid from Alabama held zero offers from Bama, Auburn, etc and the WR from Brother Rice held like 4 D1 offers ... Take off the rose colored glasses and realize its not that great. It's fine. It's ok. I didnt expect Harbaugh to land a huge haul but I did hope for Clark and maybe Smith. However, what I do expect is Harbaugh to coach up these kids and the kids he inherited. 

Perkis-Size Me

February 4th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^

This kid is certainly a project, but he's got speed, that's for sure. Luckily I think he's got a redshirt year ahead of him to bulk up and learn the system. Being a former QB should help him learn to read offenses more quickly.

Either way, welcome aboard.




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Chitown Kev

February 4th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^

we got the best damn recruit in the off-season when we hired our coach.

and we probably aren't getting a recruit or two because of the times factor.

Harbaugh did quite well at Stanford with less than what we have now and what we have coming in and it will only get better from here on out.

and the instant gratification junkies on the board need to quit with their drama...

having said all of that...welcome, Mr. Washington.

 

sportzfan81

February 4th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^

Hearing Coach Harbaugh talk about Keith Wahington....I continually throw "stars" out the window. I'm a 49ers fan who watched him take a team of underachievers (including Alex Smith) and nearly had them in the Super Bowl in his 1st year. The future is BRIGHT! Go Blue!




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BLHoke

February 5th, 2015 at 3:25 AM ^

I love his speed, athleticism, natural instinct and experience on O. Being a former QB will make watching tape and dissecting plays come much easier. Hence why guys like Julian Edleman can be successful in multiple ways on the field in the NFL (guy played nickel during NEs previous SB run!).