Do you by any chance recall a quintuple-lateral drill from an Ohio high school freshman game a few years ago? Remember the kid who took it the last 45 yards?

Well I've got good news for that poor flailing kicker at the end: the big bad monster he had lined up and no hope of tackling turned out to be OH WR Markus Allen, who has since moved to Clayton Northmont, grown into a formidable possession receiver, and announced via an incredible two-part video on Monday that he's going to Michigan.

GURU RATINGS

Careful, the paint's not dry:

Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
3*, 5.7, NR WR, NR OH, Not ranked	3* No rating	3*, 86, #117 CB #20 OH, Not ranked	3*, 0.8688, #83 WR, #20 OH, #494 Ovr

That ESPN page is six weeks old, and until late last night had no stars and no offers save from Akron. Rivals hasn't even bothered to give Allen more than a perfunctory "he's one of those not-quite-a-four-stars" rating.

That is because Markus Allen leapt out of nowhere last season to put up over 1,000 yards against Ohio D-I competition. Just a few weeks ago Allen was #762 overall, #121 among WRs, and the 37th player in Ohio, and signs suggest he's not done rising, as more scouts get a look at his film and try to decide which fade merchant Allen most evokes.

There was a point earlier this spring when the comps were trending more in the Cody White-Felton Davis-Aaron Burbridge-B.J. Cunningham-Matt Trannon range. MSU was first in the rush to send Markus an offer last February, and had designs on what would have been their highest-rated recruit of the cycle. But by all accounts Gattis made this recruitment a priority from the get-go, Michigan offered three days later, and this was already a Virginia (where he's originally from)/Pitt/Michigan hat dance by the time SEC schools were throwing theirs in.

So where does Allen stand on the Darboh-Hemingway-Avant-Walker scale? Let's go to the scouting.

Before the jump, a shout-out: I told the CFBRisk people I was working on this and they found a bunch of the scouting links below. Return the favor by going here, making a few clicks, and do your part to take yet another thing from Ohio State.

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

SCOUTING

They say Allen goes up for footballs, and comes down with footballs, and that these events are not correlated with whether a defender or three are in the vicinity.

This is from his own mouth but I had to start with it because it's to the point, and because the name of the Iowa State coach Allen is paraphrasing is going to make you do a double-take:

At the forefront of I-State’s recruitment of Allen has been wide receivers coach Nate Scheelhaase.

“I have developed a strong bond with him,” Allen said. “He loves how I go up and get the ball when it’s in the air. I can turn my body and adjust to the ball while it’s in the air. I have strong hands and am a strong route runner, along with being a big-bodied receiver.”

That sounds like an Avant all right. However when Allen camped there were quite a few schools talking to him about defensive back.

“When I went to Purdue, they asked if I could play both sides,” Allen said. “That was before they knew who I was, what I could do on offense. Akron also said that, and I said I play offense. They saw what I could do, so hopefully they see me in college as a receiver. Honestly, if it came down to it, my freshman year, if I redshirt, if I’m not getting playing time at wide receiver, then I’d move just to help the team. Wherever I’m needed, I’ll play.”

So Brad Hawkins? Uh, no: Rivals' EJ Holland said "He may be closer to 6-foot-3 and is a straight up outside receiver" while noting a certain sticking to the script:

I love his size and long arms. As mentioned, he does a great job of high pointing the ball and coming away with jump balls. He's at his best when his quarterback throws it up and gives him a chance. I didn't see much from a route running perspective, and he will have to improve his hips/movement. Most of his routes were verticals or red zone fades.

… Allen is rated as a high three-star, which is about right. He has high upside, but I want to see more versatility in his game.

Ah, yes, I did catch the hint of Hemingway.

24/7's Allen Trieu agrees this is the kind of guy Michigan had in Hemingway, flailed around in search of under Hoke, and may have found again on the eve of Tarik Black leaving for Texas:

Allen has really good ball-tracking skills. He puts himself in good position to make tough catches and out-bodies defensive backs. He projects safely as a possession guy and red-zone weapon, but does show ability to get deep as well. We do not have a verified track or forty time on him currently, but he is smooth and gets down the seam as well as the sidelines.

Smooth like a Santana guitar solo…?

I see Allen as a high-floor type of prospect. A guy with the size and hands to project as a strong contributor. He reminds me a little bit of former Wolverine Greg Mathews.

Oh, well that's okay too. Magnus hit the main possession receiver points…

He specializes in high-pointing the ball, and he has very good hand-eye coordination to pluck the football away from defensive backs. He’s also a quick-twitch leaper who flashes his hands late, which will help him when defensive backs are trying to react to his hands.

…but also fretted about ceiling, comparing Allen to the big bodies Gattis recruited at Penn State (uh, Chris Godwin?). For the comp:

Overall, Allen is a fine player. I think he might outplay his ranking, because he reminds me of former Michigan receiver Amara Darboh, who turned into a 3rd round draft pick. I even think Allen is a little more athletically talented.

OFFERS

via the commitment video

While Akron, Kentucky, and Purdue apparently had been talking to him the longest, his offer sheet blew up in February, with MSU, Wisconsin, Boston College, Iowa State, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Navy getting involved. Virginia was high on his list—academics were a theme in his many interviews—and Ohio State was talking to him but wouldn't give out an offer unless he camped there.

HIGH SCHOOL

Allen wasn't on anybody's radar until he moved across the Dayton area to Northmont in Clayton last year, which is why his recruitment took off so late. It's also why he doesn't know 2019 Michigan freshman Gabe Newburg, Michigan's latest T-Bolt. Kaleb Ringer was also from that school.

To orient you around the area, if you picture Dayton as Ann Arbor, Allen's old town of Xenia would be Ypsilanti, Clayton is Dexter, Huber Heights/Wayne (Kinnel, the Talbotts) is North Campus, Trotwood-Madison (McCray, Roundtree, et al.) would be Jackson Road, and Kettering/Fairmont (Brady Hoke) is down where Packard hits Eisenhower. (Saline and Milan and all that would be Middletown and Centerville.)

Part of Allen's emergence was joining a local sports academy I mention because Allen trains there closely with teammate Rod Moore, a 2021 safety prospect Michigan covets much more than his ranking, and 2022 top-100 cornerback C.J. Hicks, whom everyone wants.

STATS

They keep saying 51 passes for 1,087 yards and 10 touchdowns, which seemed like quite a lot for a high school season before Drake Harris When He Had Hamstrings happened (please don't have Drake Harris's hamstrings). It was good enough for 2nd team all-Ohio DI and put him on Mr. Ohio watch lists for this year.

FAKE 40 TIME

There isn't one, but his highlights include a literal 40-yard run after Junior Hemingway'ing a guy which I stop-watched at 4.58 on my Samsung. This gets FIVE fakes out of FIVE.

VIDEO

Here's where you say "3-star?" Except you have to draw it out.."thuuuurreeeeeeee staaaaaaarrrr?" because this thing is 10 minutes. My favorite I think is the one at 4:30 because you don't see the catch, just the prone defensive back who was with Allen step for step when they left the frame and is now pounding the 10-yard line.

Single-game highlights from last year are on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

You're waiting for my possession receiver comp and sorry if this is homerific but it's Chris Godwin, whom Gattis recruited to Vanderbilt then carried with him to Penn State. For a Michigan guy, Hemingway. The junior tape is a lot of Hemingway, including the uncanny YAC after adjusting to a prayer.

Whether that takes at Michigan again is always an open question—you'll recall all kinds of large and leapy guys that Al Borges was after, and that may have soured some on the archetype. Going from Western Ohio's best to the Big Ten East is a big jump, and getting a feel for the type of work Allen's cut out for usually takes a good redshirt season and ramping up period.

If Michigan can teach a quarterback to throw it short and let a receiver fight for a ball, there isn't anyone on the receiver depth chart in Allen's way save Cornelius Johnson, who's not as large and much more of an athlete. The 2020 class had a slot bug or two in A.J. Henning and Eamonn Dennis, and a speedster in Roman Wilson, and Gattis's other top priorities for this class are a smooth route-artisan from East Lansing and the fastest man from Fresno since The Flash. Loads of bombs will be there for Markus Allen's plucking.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Gattis now has 1/3 of the guys he was targeting for this class at wide receiver, all with very different skills and trending Blue. With an elite offensive line group coming together, a five-star quarterback long committed, and a five-star running back who's getting the full-court press, Michigan's offensive class has a floor of "good" and a realistic ceiling of Harbaugh's best yet.

As for the defense, Allen's teammate/strong safety prospect Rod Moore is a guy Michigan's staff are recruiting like a five-star, and 2022 four-star CB C.J. Hicks now has a very good reason to follow (as does teammate and 315-pound DT-flavored DT Derrick Shepard, who is DT-shaped and plays DT nudge-nudge).