Hold meeeeeee!

ESPN 300 defensive back Keon Sabb committed to Michigan per his Instagram. Sabb was a Clemson commit, decommitted and now joins Michigan. pic.twitter.com/2QZ1vC2E8t

— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) December 15, 2021

Back when we thought it laughable that Michigan would be in the playoffs and Clemson would not, Keon Sabb was a top-ten national prospect from New Jersey by way of Florida’s IMG Academy with interest in Michigan that none of us could take seriously. Recruiting reporters said direct things like “if Michigan looks like a playoff contender this year…” and “If they beat Ohio State.” When WTKA would go off air and it was time to pump Sam Webb for information, he’d annoyingly go back to Sabb. Sam gets his information directly from the coaches, so all this meant was that Sabb was a guy they adored. It annoyed me because Michigan wasn’t going to even roll out a hybrid safety anymore, and anyway what were the chances Michigan could ever match Clemson in playoff potential? An elite Viper from New Jersey might have sounded like Michigan’s jam back in the day, but those days are now so deep in the past they’re remembered only in Brad Hawkins’s stories.

Fast forward to December. Michigan beat Ohio State (people don’t talk about this enough), with Sabb on hand ostensibly “to support the Jersey guys” like RJ Moten, whom Sabb has known since they were kids, and Old Man Hawkins, from whom every person in New Jersey is descended. Since then Michigan won a Big Ten title and a berth in the CFP. Somewhere along the way Clemson did not make the playoffs or even win the ACC,  Brent Venables left Clemson, and Sabb decommitted. The timing suggested that these events were correlated. The lack of any kind of sudden Oklahoma interest from Sabb’s camp suggested the shape of the math: Clemson+Venables+Playoffs Every Year > Michigan, but Clemson < Michigan. Let’s see what that means.

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 6'2/195	ESPN: 6'2/190	247: 6'2/200	On3: 6'1/210	247 Comp.:
4*, 5.9, #99 Ovr #8 S, #16 FL	4*, 83, #141 Ovr #8 S, #17 FL	4*, 94, #71 Ovr #10 S, #10 FL	4*, 94, #102 Ovr #8 S, #16 FL	4*, 0,9621, #94 Ovr #9 S, #14 FL
4.49	4.41	4.55	4.56	4.62

Bottom row is my conversion to the five star scale. Links are to profile pages

Sabb has come down a ways over the course of the cycle. He fits the profile of the early five-star—early performer, went to the camps, senior season at IMG—who starts in the top ten then drops to the 50s. However those guys tend to slip steadily over the course of their recruitments, while Sabb was still the #1 ATH and 7th overall to 247 as late as last summer. That second link, from his mid-July Clemson commitment, notes his composite score had just fallen under five stars because of drops at “another service.”

His fall this came with concerns that he was going to outgrow safety, but the sites are getting better about where they rank hybrid space players since everyone uses them, and most kept him inside or near the top-100. ESPN was the outlier, emerging for a rare (for them) reranking that knocked Sabb from the last 5-star to the 140s. For an industry known for not dropping guys far enough, that was a statement, although a completely inscrutable one since ESPN is known for delivering exactly zero scouting to explain their rankings. Sabb did get an invite to the Under Armour game, which would be Keon’s third time appearing on the Worldwide Leader.

[AFTER THE JUMP: What’s been on the telly.]

SCOUTING

247’s Southeast scout Andrew Ivins was at one of those games, IMG’s thriller against Connecticut’s St. Thomas More, and came away talking about a linebacker with safety qualities:

Note to the remaining schools scheduled to play the Ascenders this fall: be prepared to feel some pain if you are going to throw it over the middle. IMG Academy rotated Clemson commit Keon Sabb in with both Kamari Wilson and Joenel Aguero on the backend of its defense. All three of them popped someone at some point during the night.

Sabb, who could very well end up emerging as a linebacker at the next level, showed some range when he got across the field and drilled a wide receiver out of bounds.

Ivins notes he ran into Josh Gattis at that game, by the way.

Sabb’s ultimate position has always been a question. 247 director of recruiting said the Clemson staff viewed Sabb as “a versatile back seven player that Clemson's staff has compared to Isaiah Simmons,” the 6’4”/240 NFL linebacker who starred in the Tigers’ hybrid space player role in college. Georgia, which made a play for Sabb last summer shortly before he pledged to Clemson, was telling their version of Sam Webb that Sabb’s position could be figured out after he signed. Veteran Clemson writer JP Priester, who moved to Maven last year, also saw Sabb moving down to the second level:

Two-sport player, with all the athleticism you want in a safety. Has played wide receiver in high school in New Jersey but is expected to play safety after transferring to IMG for his senior season. Already weighing up over 200-pounds, has the potential to move into some sort of hybrid role on the defensive side of the ball, possibly the SAM. Rarely takes bad angles and has a quick reaction time. Once he starts to focus on playing defense full-time, has the potential to be a difference-maker.

That last bit was interesting; lately the position talk meant safety or a hybrid, but receiver was in play for most of Sabb’s high school career. The suggestion he’s raw on defense because of it is something I don’t buy; best I can tell from (unreliable) stats, he played both ways for Glassboro in NJ as a freshman and sophomore, then both ways for Williamstown, NJ, as a junior before transferring to IMG for his 2021 season—even accounting for time served on offense, four years of varsity capped by IMG is a high-level football education. Rivals Adam Friedman on Sabb in those Jersey days:

He's an imposing figure in the secondary that isn't afraid to come down hill and mix it up against the run. He's also very physical with receivers that try to come over the middle. Sabb was even called for helmet to helmet contact on one play as he contested a pass.

I wouldn’t call “picked up a targeting” a positive, but it would seem Sabb answered some early high school questions about his willingness to hit. The “safety’s brain in a wide receiver’s body” takes followed to the end. Here’s Ivins in that site’s final scouting report:

A larger safety, at least by high school standards. Already carrying 200 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame. Gifted multi-sport athlete that has thrown down a variety of impressive dunks on the hardwood over the years. Produced as a wide receiver on Friday nights facing top public school competition in New Jersey, but is being recruited by almost everyone to play defense in college. Takes sharp angles in coverage. Gets down hill in a hurry. Does a nice job of reading and reacting to what’s in front of him. Longer arms help make a difference at the catch point. Has flashed a physical side in pads and will square up with a ball carrier in the open field, but needs to get better at fighting off blocks.

Ran track as a 9th grader and posted some respectable times, but foot speed a bit of a question mark without any recent verified athletic markers. … Has the looks of someone that will eventually make an impact on the backend of Power 5 defense, but could also emerge as more of a box player and potentially even a hybrid linebacker that excels in coverage if body continues to fill out. Should get more explosive once training with a college strength coach and is likely to get more only more comfortable working on the defensive side of the ball once focus shifts completely towards making stops. Position ambiguity a plus in an era where many NFL front offices are rostering defenders that can do a variety of different things.

Ivins offered Patriots safety Kyle Dugger as a comp. Dugger is a 6’1”/220 they drafted out of Division II last year. He’s a thicc, ludicrous athlete who was having a breakout season this year. Brian Dohn did a scout on Sabb as a freshman in 2018 but that seems extremely out of date now except for the basketball.

Chad Simmons, an On3 national analyst who made the jump from Rivals, described a hybrid:

Sabb is a big safety that can run, cover and hit. Some think he would end up in the box at Clemson as a linebacker, but whatever Brent Venables and the Tigers decide to label him at, Sabb is an athlete. He moved around a good bit on the back-end of the defense Friday night.

Clemson’s On3 reporter Adam Luckett also put the attributes in a certain order after a fake school tricked ESPN and IMG into a nationally televised game:

The coverage skills are an added bonus for the big safety with hard-hitting ability.

When the 2022 rankings came out on Rivals, Sabb debuted at #40. At that point Adam Gorney wanted to see him get bigger:

Sabb has a lot of good qualities since he has length, a frame that can definitely add some weight which should make him even more physical and he’s also a basketball player so athletic ability is not questioned. Even if he could add some weight, Sabb is still not hesitant to go in there and try to knock people around and try to pop the ball out as he has a physical style on the back end.

…then gave a comp of WR Juju Smith-Schuster. Farrell said more like Ju-Ju D:

JuJu is high praise for a comparison, but I like Sabb a lot as a kid who could play offense or defense in college. He’s more likely to play defense, unlike JuJu, but he has those ball skills and great size he can utilize there.

Rivals’ national analyst called Sabb “a four-star athlete who should play safety in college” in their November re-rank.

The question of Sabb’s position has been an open one for some time. PSU Rivals reporter Ryan Snyder noted Penn State was recruiting Sabb at safety as opposed to receiver in October 2020, in an article delightfully titled

OFFERS

Sabb originally chose Clemson over Georgia, with LSU and Penn State bigger players before he moved to IMG.

HIGH SCHOOL

IMG Academy needs little introduction. Sabb was there this year only so he missed JJ McCarthy and Greg Crippen. Two of Sabb's five-star teammates also decommitted from Clemson recently. Sabb has a kid brother Amari who will be in the 2026 class; Penn State already offered.

STATS

Maxpreps rarely gets IMG stats—they’re reporting 660 receiving yards from his first two years of high school right now. I saw a 99-yard interception return on Twitter this year.

FAKE 40 TIME

His Hudl lists a 4.47 forty and 10.8 100-meter dash. It also calls him 6’3”/200.

VIDEO

The 2021 season isn’t collated into a single reel yet, but here’s a collection of his highlights from his first three seasons:

You can watch individual games on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Y’all remember young Cato June? My age, was a five-star early in the 1998 cycle until he fell back a bit because he gained thickness. Injuries slowed him over his Michigan career, but he was a twitchy smooth athlete with a gleeful disposition and he turned into a Pro Bowl outside linebacker in the NFL. Also wore #2. That’s whom Sabb reminds me of, except people are just going to remember injured June getting burned over the top and yell at me.

Today that ideal position for a Cato June is a real position in football. Sabb projects to the role that Michael Barrett plays now, possibly with enough athleticism to stay on the field as a high safety in their nickel look, or a full-time Brad Hawkins role. That’s another good comp, by the way, as a muscular and smart wide receiver turned safety from New Jersey who’s become their best tackler in the secondary although middling in speed.

It’ll probably take Sabb a year to get acclimated, but Barrett’s still around for that, and the other Vipers mostly cleared off. Sabb probably isn’t going to become a full-on linebacke.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS 

Sabb is the capper on an incredible defensive back class meant to restock a secondary that waned in talent under Harbaugh's previous defensive assistants. He could play safety or Michael Barrett's role. The class as it stands is being updated below in the signing day primer.