[Completely unrelated: Let's go win College Football Risk!]

Michigan reeled in one of their top linebacker prospects, and for the moment their highest-ranked defensive recruit of the 2021 cycle, on Saturday, securing a commitment from 3-star linebacker Tyler McLaurin from Bolingbrook, IL.

How they plan to use him isn't so clear. In recent years when you see a Cam McGrone-shaped (6'2/210) OLB on Michigan's recruiting board you can figure they mean to turn him into a middle linebacker in Don Brown's 4-2-5/bring-five system, where the MLB has to be able to blitz, cover all manner of RBs, and get to the sideline before they do. Your local blogger and more tuned-in recruiting analysts will then tut-tut the "he's just a SAM" crowd for getting their X's and O's mixed up.

I'm holding off on the tuts this time however because the film shows a guy who could be really good SAM.

GURU RATINGS

As of this writing Rivals sees a high 3-star who's already 6'3/215, 24/7 sees a medium-high 3-star who's 6'2/210, and ESPN as per usual sees the back side of their eyelids:

Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
3*, 5.7, #27 OLB, #11 IL	No Profile	3*, 88, #37 OLB #11 IL	3*, 0.8789, #26 OLB, #11 OH, #404 Ovr

The rankings that do exist are pretty recent. Rivals first scouted him in December and put him the #19 player in the state, bumping that up to #11 after the senior film came in. 24/7 started with a nondescript 84 in mid-October, and went to an 88 in late January.

In my composite, as a SAM/WDE he comes in right under Chase Winovich with Shantee Orr and Noah Furbush in the area. If you rank him as an ILB he's in a thick pile of Kenny Demens, Charles Thomas, Cornell Wheeler, Joey Sarantos John Spytek, Elysee Mbem-Bosse and others.

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

SCOUTING

I'll start with my text conversation with former Michigan cornerback Todd Howard, who coached at his hometown Bolingbrook until taking the DC job at St. Francis Prep in Wheaton last year. Unfortunately that means he missed coaching McLaurin, who transferred from Lombard Montini Catholic last season, but that doesn't mean Todd hasn't seen one of the area's best players.

Aggressive, physical player…had one of the hardest hits I've seen in a high school game last year. Smart kid, I think he has a personality that will make him a fan favorite off the field as well.

I asked if McLaurin has the speed for MLB in Brown's system:

I'm not sure about that…might be true Mike, possible SAM. Haven't seen him cover enough.

Howard's former coaching boss (and Harbaugh's former Bears teammate) John Ivlow spoke to Rivals' EJ Holland about McLaurin, and strongly echoed the smart vibe:

He’s always in the right spot. He’s got that length and long arms. Even when he’s not in the right spot, his arm is in the right spot. He knocks the ball down or tips it.

“He has a great football IQ — probably Top 2 in the last 20 years. This kid can go up to the board and draw up everything. We asked: How big of a hitter is this kid going to be during his first year of varsity football? He showed us that.”

….

“He’s only 215 pounds,” Ivlow said. “He’s going to grow into a man-child. He’s long enough to come off the edge as an end or linebacker. He can do a lot of things. Come watch him play basketball and see him on the court. He looks 6-foot-5, but he’s only 6-foot-3. I don’t know what it is. He’s really long, and he’s got a lot of room to grow.”

As to what position he'll play, that's up in the air…

“After talking with Coach Brown, I think I could do a lot of things for them defensively,” McLaurin said. “I can transition between all three linebacker spots at Sam, Mike and Will.”

…and comes down to how much weight he can add:

“Coach Brown said that it’s going to be based off of how I fill out if I were to go there and go through the weight program,” McLaurin said. “He can easily see me doing any of the three jobs — rushing, playing in space or even playing in the box.”

Rivals' Tim O'Halloran (@EDGYTIM) included McLaurin in a list of (more) Chicago area playmakers to know:

McLaurin has developed quickly into one of the top underclassmen linebackers to watch in the State of Illinois in just over a handful of months. McLaurin (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) has added more weight and size since last season and has great length and frame, speed and terrific instincts. McLaurin also has the look of a player who could continue to grow into say a rush end at the high college level.

24/7's Allen Trieu got to see him a few times and won't side with a position until there has been some rocking up:

Listed measureables are right on. A true 6-foot-2 and looks bigger than his listed weight, but has the room to add some needed bulk. Is not likely to play much heavier than 225-235 in college though. Solid athlete who shows he can play in space. Can shoot gaps quickly and has good acceleration. Smart and instinctive. Can still get stronger and while speed is not a deficiency, he can still improve on his top end. Athleticism and smarts suggest he is a safe bet as a Power Five starter and capable of playing MIKE or SAM.

Trieu's comp is an inside guy however, and McLaurin's coverage might even be his best attribute:

He shoots gaps quickly and has the fluidity and athleticism to run plays down. He takes good angles to the football. I don't think he is quite as fast as Cam McGrone, but in terms of style and how he will be used, I think he shares similarities with Cam.

…

Impressed at the showcases in terms of his coverage. He changes directions pretty well and could play moving backwards and dropping better than the other backers at that event.

"Versatile" is kind of a theme from all of these reports—Texas Tech and Nebraska were recruiting him as an ILB who could also play OLB in their 3-4 systems, Wisconsin had him a "Cichy"-like ILB, Iowa State was looking at a WLB in their 404 tite, and fellow 4-2-5s MSU, BC, and Kentucky seemed to think him an inside linebacker or SAM. The ISU bit was interesting to me because I watched so much tape of Army's LBs last year:

“They really like me at the inside linebacker position, but also be able to fit outside if needed. They move their linebackers from one side to another. They think I flow really well inside the box and my play can help improve their defense.”

By inside he's talking there about the Tite's WLB position, which is kind of a throwback to 1970s linebacking where the guy has to stack and shed a lot of blockers but also swing around to be an edge defender quite often. FWIW Notre Dame's insider thought more of their hybrid OLB position:

McLaurin's fit at Notre Dame may be at rover. In watching his most recent film available on his Hudl page, he plays linebacker but is also split out in coverage too, very similar to the how Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah starred for the Irish this fall.

That's more or less a SAM—the Rover position pops up in a lot of base dime defenses as a kind of Viper who blitzes as often as he covers.

Via McLaurin, headiness is something other schools liked about his game:

"He (Erik Link of Missouri) has told me that he likes the physicality and passion I play with. One of my attributes he feel is great is my ability to read and pick plays apart before they fully progress."

Touch the Banner remains the saltiest of the evaluators about this class, coming down firmly in the SAM camp.

McLaurin has good size and looks to be 6’2″ like he’s listed. He has good arm length, which should help him fend off blockers and get his hands on balls and ball carriers that other guys might not reach. He’s active with his hands and plays physical.

McLaurin plays with a bit of a narrow base, and I think his overall functional strength needs to be improved. His play diagnosis could afford to improve, and he has a little bit of a freelancing that will need to be cleaned up when competition ramps up.

Overall, McLaurin looks like a role player to me. If he were a bit taller, I might suggest a move to weakside end. As things stand right now, he looks like a guy who could play a Noah Furbush role as a SAM linebacker. (He’s not athletic enough to be used as extensively as Josh Uche.) I also do not see him having the sideline-to-sideline speed to man the MIKE or WILL positions.

His Michigan comp is interesting: Prescott Burgess.

Etc. Plays the saxophone.

OFFERS

Michigan State, Iowa State, Nebraska, and Texas Tech were the other schools closest, with Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Boston College, Illinois, Texas Tech, and a few others of that ilk after him. Notre Dame had him for a visit and Wisconsin had McLaurin up for a junior day but neither school offered at the time. His older brother is a freshman (not an athlete—just a guy studying engineering) at Iowa but they came on relatively late. Michigan State's old staff was in on him early but by the time that all shook out Michigan seemed a foregone conclusion.

HIGH SCHOOL

Bolingbrook (The Brook) is a nice Chicago suburb Michigan hasn't recruited since, well, Todd Howard, who moved there in grade school from the Southfield neighborhood across from mine on Telegraph. Most Big Ten teams have at least one Raider in their historical rosters. Recent almosts for Michigan include LB Tuf Borland, now a senior starter at Ohio State, and CB Parrker Westphal, who went to Northwestern. John Ivlow has been there a long time, and Bolingbrook has been a consistent power in the area for even longer, at last count sending 72 players to D-I football. Teammate Justin Walters is a 2021 3-star safety committed to Notre Dame.

STATS

92 tackles, four forced fumbles, two recoveries, and an interception according to an Iowa site.

FAKE 40 TIME

Trieu commented that they never got measurables because that was due to take place this summer and…

VIDEO

Also Adam and David saw McLaurin play last year versus A.J. Henning's team—if you can pick out #9 in black that's our new guy (the future ND safety is #22 and gets burned crispy by Henning one time). There's some Wolverine-on-Wolverine crime at 2:32 and 4:00 I'd recommend.

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

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

McLaurin has good straight-line speed, likes to hit, and looks comfortable carrying a tight end down the seam, setting an edge, or shoving his way through traffic. There's even a shot in there of him playing OLB/DE. You could wonder this about any number of linebacker commits since 2016 but this time maybe they really did get a Furbush. I did not see the explosiveness and agility that made me an immediate Josh Uche stan. I also don't see anything like Devin Bush Jr. He looks more like a basketball player, or like an older kid playing against against middle schoolers. The length is real, and even with pretty raw technique he uses those arms to ruin so many attempts to block him. Speed isn't amazing but it's fine, and dangerous when he knifes through the line.

What is that on the next level? The baseline is Furbush, and I think he has a high floor of exactly that. But there's a chance he can put on a lot more weight than the onlookers are saying—basketball players tend to carry less of it—and that opens up a world of possibilities. That world includes the Brave New one we're living in today where teams that can't brush off every rule and get every guy they want are staying in games against those who can by playing "positionless" defense where everybody but the corners and four box players are somewhere on the safety spectrum. For McLaurin, that could be a DE/OLB/safety position (Jake Ryan/Cam Gordon), or a 3-3-5 defensive fullback position, or a 4-2-5 ILB who sometimes becomes a 404 Tite WLB. Or he could grow into a weakside end (Mario Ojemudia, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Frank Clark). Or he could stay 6'3/215 and come in as a weird pass rushing hybrid sometimes (Clint Copenhaver/John Spytek/J.B. Fitzgerald).

People used to call this kind of player a safety but that's been over since Brandon Smith (Passing thought: I'd like to see Ernest Shazor's film today). You can also get a Chase Winovich out of these guys every once in awhile, and Wisconsin always seems to have another Jack Cichy to replace the last one.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

McLaurin was the 12th commit for a class that would be amazing if it wasn't being constantly compared to literally the best class ever assembled at the primary rival's place, or if the defense had a four-star. Michigan added Rod Moore a day after McLaurin committed, but could still use the three biggest shopping items for this class: 1) elite defensive tackles, 2) elite cornerbacks, and 3) a Devin Bush type at linebacker. In-state recruit Jamari Buddin seemed the most likely candidate for the latter but Sam recently said he's among the in-state guys trending away.