Continuing with the catchup Hellos from the first half of the season, we arrive on the guy I’d given up hope on, because Michigan got in on his charge up the rankings, then Ohio State got in as he kept charging, and I figured it would be rude to get in the way of something Ohio State wants. But did they want, or did Grant rise just high enough to pique their interest, but not quite enough to send an entire expedition to dig him out of the Indiana ice?

It was quite the archaeological accomplishment. Grant isn’t just a DT. He’s not just a large DT. In fact, several recruiting reporters across the sites insisted that Grant ought to be classified in the Proboscidean order.

Mammoth 300-pound DT Kenneth Grant (@KennyGrant78) talks Michigan, push from @CoachNua, virtual visits and more #GoBlue. https://t.co/a8eUA7qGF3 pic.twitter.com/9qV8hH2Ema

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHolland_TW) April 20, 2021

Subtle, we are not. Neither is Kenneth Grant.

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 6’5”/340	ESPN: 6’4”/330	247: 6’4”/335	247 Comp
3*, 5.6, NR Ovr NR DT, #14 IN	3*, 78, #62 MW #48 DT, #13 IN	4*, 90, NR Ovr #44 DL, #9 IN	3*, 0.8768, #526 Ovr, #80 DL, #12 IN
3.51* ⬆	3.64 ➡	3.86* ⬆⬆	3.77 ⬆

Arrows show trend of recruiting rankings. An arrow is like a third of a star.

Following a theme of Michigan’s four recent commits, Grant rose up the rankings late, and where he ranks now depends on when the site last looked. Rivals classified him for the first time last June, shortly after he picked up a bunch of offers and Ohio State was showing interest, but they only went so far as a medium 3-star and the 14th player in Indiana. ESPN came in a couple weeks after, when the Ohio State offer did, and slightly higher.

By that time 247 had already ratcheted Grant up thrice, starting at an 83, going to 85 in March, 86 in late April (when Michigan and Wisconsin came in) and 88 in June. At the end of summer they moved him into the bottom of their four-star range, then included him in that same “guys who may crack the 247” article I referenced with fellow DT commit Mason Graham.

The difference here is nobody is questioning what Michigan is going to do with their elephantine lineman. He’s going to play nose, or else he’s going in a museum.

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]

SCOUTING

Another difference is we have a full scouting report and a useful player comp from 247’s Allen Trieu:

Massive interior prospect. Looks like a classic nose guard but is not just a gap plugger in high school. Runs surprisingly well for a big guy, shows closing speed and will pursue plays. Nimble and can make offensive linemen miss their punch but can also drive them straight back with brute strength. Has to be more consistent play to play but has upside because size and ability to move at that size are rare.

Nimble! Closing speed! These themes were repeated:

"Coaches are pretty surprised by how athletic I am for my size," Grant said. "Most guys my size are just big and slow, but coaches like that I'm pretty quick and nimble for being this size."

Trieu’s comp is Johnathan Hankins, the humongous DT from Detroit Southeastern who blew up late because he finally got in shape as a senior. Michigan waited to offer because of that, but Archie Collins was at SE at the time brilliant at running interference on Michigan recruiting. Ohio State swooped in, and Michigan ended up starting Jibreel Bl…you know what, we don’t have to do that. Hankins was a massive dude who made the two-deep as a freshman, dominated the Big Ten for a few years, then went to the NFL, where he was a 2nd round pick. He has always been a “surprisingly” good pass rusher.

It’s a close comparison. Trieu:

There were some of the same questions about Grant. He has started to answer that this year as he plays both sides of the ball. He gets off the ball and shows some very real athleticism for a player of his size. Noses tend to be space eaters, but Grant shows the ability to penetrate and make plays in the backfield. He may have to embrace some of the block-tying-up he will be asked to do, but this is a massive player with base athleticism and power.

Trieu also got Chris Singletary, who now works for 247, to chime in, which resulted in a Michigan double-comp:

"I think, pairing him with Mason Graham, they're addressing a need in terms of getting bigger …. Kenny is kind of a cross between Terrence Taylor and Gabe Watson."

Grant just made 247’s 50-player freaks list:

50. DL Kenneth Grant – Grant qualified for the Indiana track and field championships in the shot put after a toss of 57-3 earlier in the season. He's a big, athletic gap-stuffer that looks to have his best football ahead of him, which is why he earned a fourth star from 247Sports on Wednesday.

They also admitted their reticence to bump Grant to a 4-star earlier was based on conditioning.

In the off-season, Grant looked like he got in better shape, which was obvious at Ohio State's camp where he looked lean and quick. It also showed up in the shot put where he went from 50-feet to 57. Now this season, he is playing both ways and actually looked good on offense last week.

Via Wiltfong, Grant’s coach thinks a college conditioning program is going to unleash hell:

At the high school level there is only so much we can do from the strength and conditioning standpoint and diet standpoint. When he gets to college he’s going to see his body transform and you can’t find guys with his size and explosiveness and athletic ability and you factor in the strength and conditioning component and diet standpoint I think he’s really going to take off.

EJ Holland emphatically did not agree with his site’s ranking:

I've said this many times, but Grant is one of the most underrated prospects in the country. In fact, I think he is THE most underrated prospect in the country. You see that headshot on his profile? That's mine. No other Rivals representative has gone out to see Grant live, which is a travesty. He is a monster recruit that should easily be in the Rivals250. Grant is powerful, quick and athletic for his size and a dominant force at the high school level.

He agrees with Michigan’s coaches (and this site) that Grant can play right away at Michigan, though his best football is a few years off.

Finally, a month ago NPR looked into whether the fact that we can clone mammoths now means that they should.

/glances at the size of the LB commits again.

I’m game.

OFFERS

Michigan got in on Grant (along with every other 330-pound 18-year-old who could move) when the new staff arrived in March, putting them ahead of the blow-up. Other suitors until midway through 2021 were a who’s who of 3-4 teams of the Midwest: Nebraska, Cincy, Purdue, that sort. Then Grant showed up in better shape at Ohio State’s camp and earned an offer and an official visit.

It ultimately came down to Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The Ohio State interest was real, but in a way where Grant was maybe 1B after two 1A candidates (Caden Curry, also of Indiana, and Hero Kanu, the late-rising German) and expendable.

Via TMI’s podcast, Grant was close to committing this summer, but Ohio State was telling him to let the season play out and see if Harbaugh’s program imploded. Visiting for the Washington game, and the play of Michigan’s line in that game, answered any questions.

HIGH SCHOOL

Merrillville is an Indiana heavyweight that sent a cornerback to Notre Dame last year, and OT Martes Lewis to Minnesota in 2020. There’s a power back and an offensive linemen with MAC offers in Grant’s class, and a 6’1”/190 athlete (RB/WR/DB) in the 2023 class named Phillip Roche whom I’m sure the Midwest programs are all keeping an eye on. Their only five-star was James Aldridge (ND) in 2006, but they had quite a few highly rated guys around then. The school completed its return to glory this year with an undefeated season, their first since the 1990s, and why are you looking at me like that?

…

Okay, I see the parallels now.

STATS

MaxPreps reports 28 tackles (23 solo), 5.5 sacks, 3 FFs and a recovery over 9 games. I don’t have to tell you that stats are not as important for a nose tackle.

FAKE 40 TIME

You have no idea how much time I spent looking for a forty, because THIS was what’s important. Yes, Alex, I’ll make your FFFF graphic now.

VIDEO

This is his 7-game reel from this season thus far. They point out which one is him, in case you couldn’t figure out which impossibly athletic box of beef running over, around, through, and down the human children was the 6’4”/340 recruit, though it’s helpful when your eyes are trying to say “No, that spin move can’t be real.”

More video, including his junior and sophomore highlights and single-game reels, can be found on his Hudl page.

ETC

Can’t be sure but if you’re looking for one paragraph to give you hope in a Michigan-Ohio State showdown, it’s probably this one?

As we have heard from prospects and from the staff, Ohio State crafts their presentations in a way that emphasizes what’s important for each individual visitor. So, for example, while some players may be fully invested in name, image and likeness, the topic of NIL will be a bigger focus for them than it will be for other recruits. The Buckeyes made it a point to focus heavily on education with Grant, who intends on studying forensic science in college.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Though it’s been been an age since we’ve seen a guy like this in Michigan, we know an awful lot about Grant-types because they’ve been so important to various historical 3-4 ecosystems. We could use this space to talk tusk length or reach into the nose tackle bag of phrases. Or, I could post MAC’S BIG BEEF CHART from HTTV again:

One thing they’ve been without is a Juggernaut. Jordan Whittley’s eligibility does not extend to an 8th year, so that role is Grant’s for the taking. I also think he can pass Jess Speight, who’s on loan from the tackles depth chart, immediately as the 2nd team nose. I’m pretty sure Mazi Smith is going to reprise the 1st team role next year, with Hinton and Jenkins flanking him, and Michael Morris moonlighting between End and DT. The rest of the tackles are Donovan Jeter, Julius Welschof, Jack Stewart, Elijah Pierre, and this year’s freshmen: Ike Iwunnah, Rayshaun Benny, George Rooks, and Dominick Guidice. With the exception of Iwunnah, who’s a long-term prospect, nobody on that list is as Juggernaut-like as Kenneth Grant. He’s going to factor. And if he takes to that training regimen, he’s going to dominate the Big Ten then start for the Ravens for a decade. Really they don’t make many guys who can move like that at his size. Conditioning and technique will determine how far that goes.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

For the first time since the early Pleistocene (i.e. when I was in college), Michigan has a mammoth nose space-eater to keep its linebackers clean. They also have their first second DT in the class after a pair of firsts decommitted, and DT Mason Graham joined a few weeks prior to Grant.

Grant did stay with 5-star Walter Nolen for the Washington visit—and Nolen chose to remain with Grant instead of going to see his family in Detroit—and I was told after Grant’s Hello not to count Michigan out after they didn’t make Nolen’s top three, but I’m still not watching the film.

But I’m counting Michigan out. They are still very much after Cass Tech riser Deone Walker, who’s another guy in Grant’s size range, though Walker projects to an off-tackle role.

Note: I made some updates to the chart today after 247 released a new top 247 that includes Colston Loveland, Mason Graham, and Kevonte Henry. I noted changes of more than a tenth of a point with arrows.

OFFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
QB	Jayden Denegal	CA	4.0⬇	Navarre or Speight
RB	CJ Stokes	SC	3.7	SC hesitated, Hart didn’t, Stokes doesn't.
WR	Tyler Morris	IL	4.5⬇	Golden Tate smooth.
WR	Tay'shawn Trent	MI	4.0⬇	Big, leapy. TE/LB?
TE	Colston Loveland	ID	3.8⬆	Flex by own admission
TE	Marlin Klein	GA	3.7	Grow-a-dude
OT	Alessandro Lorenzetti	CT	3.7	Quebecois steal, if workouts are to be believed.
OG	Connor Jones	CO	3.4⬇	Puts water in the harbor.
DEFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
NT	Kenneth Grant	IN	3.7	Mammoth.
DT	Mason Graham	CA	3.7⬆	Wrestler, non-stop motor, late riser.
EDGE	Micah Pollard	FL	3.7	Braylon nephew, Marcus son, Frank Clark clone.
EDGE	Kevonte Henry	CA	3.9⬆⬆	Uche edgebacker.
LB	Aaron Alexander	MI	3.3	Raw hybrid from Belleville.
LB	Deuce Spurlock	AL	3.5	Grow-a-WILL.
S	Damani Dent	FL	3.5	Rising cornerbackish safety.
CB	Will Johnson	MI	4.8	Everything and tall. Deon's kid.
CB	Kody Jones	TN	4.0	Nickel athlete, Walter Nolen's pal.
CB	Myles Pollard	TN	3.7	Stribling. Loved you on Colson’s film!

The board, which needs updating badly.