Michigan lost LB commit Raylen Wilson in late June but then replaced him in the class only a couple days later in snaring Imhotep Institute's Semaj Bridgeman. The Michigan-Bridgeman courtship was pretty quick, as Bridgeman's name seldom appeared in recruiting insider pieces until mid-May and then suddenly it was on. He visited in early June, and all the predictions trended Michigan's favor. On July 1, Bridgeman made it official: 

 

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 6'1/220	ESPN: 6'1/220	247: 6'2/230	On3: 6'1/235	247 Comp
4*, 5.8, NR Ovr #12 ILB, #7 PA	4*, 82, #18 East, #175 Ovr #4 ILB, #4 PA	4*, 90, NR Ovr #29 LB, #5 PA	3*, 87, NR Ovr #60 LB, #16 PA	4*, 0.903, #306 Ovr #20 LB, #6 PA
4.08	4.35	4.10	3.64	4.03

Last row is Seth's conversion to a five-star scale. Links are to profiles

Bridgeman is a consensus four-star recruit, with only On3 as the dissenting opinion leaving him on three-star status. ESPN is the highest on him, so take that for what it's worth, while 24/7 and and Rivals are pretty in-sync. All of the sites have him around the same height and weight, so not much to say physically here from the guru opinions. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Many high schools mentioned]

 

SCOUTING

The scouting for Bridgeman was surprisingly sparse for a consensus four star prospect in a generally football rich area/state. 24/7 had surprisingly little so we will go with what we can find here. Adam Friedman of Rivals starts us off with a pretty concise take on Bridgeman's overall profile: 

(Bridgeman) does a great job of stopping the ball carrier in his tracks. He has the quickness and overall speed to be an effective blitzer and keep running backs from making big plays on the outside. Consistency is the biggest thing with Bridgeman. He has the skill set to be a big time player at the next level but he is still raw in some areas. Coaches at the next level will help Bridgeman focus on the finer points of his game.

That's a nice puffy beginning, but what about the meat and potatoes? For a more detailed profile, we turn to EJ Holland who, admittedly, has not seen Bridgeman live and is going off the tape. Here is a quick excerpt on some of the positive attributes that Bridgeman possesses ($): 

Bridgeman has an impressive build at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds (height isn’t concerning for inside backers) with long arms. He doesn’t look slow at his weight. In fact, Bridgeman moves well in space and shows adequate speed. Bridgeman possesses the traits necessary to excel in this scheme. ... Watching Bridgeman on film actually reminds me of 2022 signee Deuce Spurlock. Like Spurlock, Bridgeman plays well in space, has a bigger build and makes plays on offense as a tight end. 

And for the negatives?:

(Bridgeman) lacks physicality, often tackling with his arms as opposed to laying the wood. Bridgeman can also take poor angles and doesn’t appear to be a very instinctual player. 

EJ also alluded to something that Friedman noted in terms of the lack of consistency, stating that Bridgeman was once expected to be a mega commit who national powerhouses would fight over, but his HS career has been bumpy and has resulted in Bridgeman suiting up for several schools in just three years. 

A final perspective comes from Lucas Reimink of Rivals, who discusses Bridgeman's abilities as an edge rusher ($): 

Semaj was used mainly as a pass-rusher off the edge and his speed allows him to turn the edge against HS offensive tackles. When he moves to an off-ball LB in college, his knack for rushing the passer should help him to be a good blitzing LB at the next level. 

The major negative noted in that scouting report came from strength and hand technique concerns: 

When he’s trying to make a play in the box, he shows marginal ability to stack and shed an opposing OL. Both due to a lack of physical strength, and marginal hand use to fight off blockers when they get engaged with him

Another way to get a sense of Bridgeman's profile is to listen to what he is saying that the coaching staff has in mind for him. He likened the role he's played in HS to that of what Michigan likes from their MIKE in quotes given to 24/7: 

"In Michigan's scheme, the MIKE 'backer can blitz the edge, blitz the A gap, drop into coverage, cover the receiver. They have versatility with their MIKE 'backer. It shows my game. So it's basically like what I've been doing in high school, and that transition, is just like a higher level. So I'm just going to adjust and adapt but it's stuff I've been doing so that's why I feel as though it's a good fit."

If you watch the Hudl tape below, Bridgeman does indeed come off the edge quite a bit as a blitzer (also mentioned in the Rivals excerpt) and you can begin to see some of the fit.  

OFFERS

Bridgeman held offers from everyone notable* but there's a reason I put that asterisk there. While Bridgeman was offered by schools such as Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, and LSU, that largely stems from his success at earlier levels. As the waters got choppy over his high school career to this point, many of the big suitors cooled on him and it's hard to believe many of those names had deemed him a take. In actuality, this was a Michigan vs. Rutgers battle at the end, though in-state Penn State was somewhat involved as well. 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Bridgeman is set to play this fall at Imhotep Institute, which will be his third high school. He began at Bishop McDevitt, but that school closed its doors after 2020-21. Bridgeman then moved to Archbishop Wood, where he played this past season, but then announced in the spring that he will be moving to Imhotep for his senior campaign. Imhotep is a charter school located in Philly and has grown into a power at the 5A level, having played for the state title last season, finishing with an 11-2 record. RB Tre McLeod is a 4* recruit in the 2024 class, so there is definitely some talent on the Imhotep roster. You'd think Bridgeman will benefit from getting to play there as a senior, especially compared to Archbishop Wood, which is a .500 team that was below that mark in their conference last year. 

STATS

Could not find stats on Bridgeman listed anywhere unfortunately. 

FAKE 40 TIME

Also could not find a 40 time on Bridgeman anywhere. 

VIDEO 

Here is a rather short highlight reel from Bridgeman's 2021 campaign: 

If you want to see more video on Bridgeman, you can scroll through his Hudl page here. There are assorted videos from the past season of individual games, as well as 2019 freshman highlights. 

ETC

Interested in Michigan's academic profile and noted so in interviews. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Bridgeman is a decent prospect and not a bad take. We should not confuse him to be a replacement for Raylen Wilson, who the staff viewed as one of the top (if not the top) LB prospects in America, but I have no issues with Bridgeman as a take. He has decent size for the position, seems to have the requisite athleticism, and has potential as a good fit for the scheme and what Minter/Helow are looking for in linebackers. There may be a good amount of refining that needs to be done here. Bridgeman switching schools frequently may well have set back his development and contributed to some of the consistency problems, and scouting notes about cleaning up the tackling form/block shedding feel relevant to the projection. It's maybe a bit more of a raw and risky take than a lot of four star prospects, but the base toolset is here for a decent player and in a recruiting class where Michigan needs as many recruits as it can get, it makes a lot of sense to add Bridgeman to the class.  

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS 

Bridgeman is now the lone LB in the class and the Wolverines are only intending to take two in 2023. They lost out on Phil Picciotti to Oklahoma (not unexpected), and so Jaiden Ausberry appears to be the new top target. That is a contentious recruitment that Notre Dame likely leads, but Michigan can make a charge if they so desire. Still, being a Louisiana kid, that is not the easiest pull. Trying to flip Nebraska commit Hayden Moore or making a larger play for 3* Max Carroll could be options that interest the Wolverines. The quick developments of losing Wilson and gaining Bridgeman have left this positional group a bit unsettled and so more clarity should be coming soon.