Michigan Offers Jeff Jones Comment Count

Brandon Brown

Jeff Jones

Position: Running Back

Ht/Wt: 5’11" / 196 lbs.

Location: Washburn High School – Minneapolis, MN

Offers: Minnesota, Florida, Iowa State, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Syracuse, Wisconsin

Ranking: ★★★★ .9454 (247 Composite)

This isn’t exactly breaking news at this point but it is something to watch as signing day nears. 2014 RB Jeff Jones is currently committed to his home-state Golden Gophers but after his MVP performance during the Under Armour All American game his recruiting is more hectic now than it’s ever been.

Jones committed to Minnesota back in March and has flown under the radar for most of that time period. Once he landed in Florida for the UA game, that all changed. He routinely caught the attention of coaches and reporters during the week of practice and took his performance to even another level during the actual game.

I was able to exchange just a few messages with Jeff about his Michigan offer and his revved up recruitment. He told me that his recruitment is a lot crazier now than it ever has been. He also said with a laugh that he thought all of that stuff was supposed to be over with once he committed. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your standpoint, his phenomenal performances have led to a late upswing in his recruitment.

Jones visited Michigan back in June and left impressed but wasn’t pursued very aggressively at that time. After his showing in St. Petersburg the Wolverine coaching staff wasted no time in extending an offer, one that Jones says is big news.

Michigan wasn’t the only school to take notice of Jones’ performance in Florida, as the Gators extended an offer as well. Jones isn’t certain whether he’ll visit anywhere else or not and didn’t offer up any information as to what his plan is moving forward. He currently remains a “soft commit” to Minnesota and I’m sure Jerry Kill and staff are working overtime to make sure he stays that way until February 5 when faxes start rolling in. I think Michigan has a slim, outside chance to make a late impression on Jones. I believe it would’ve been a very different story had the coaches chosen to really go after him following his visit to Ann Arbor this past summer.

Comments

Felix.M.Blue

January 7th, 2014 at 8:50 AM ^

I'm a little worried about this. By the coaches looking around at RB's makes me wonder if Rawls and or Drake Johnson will be ok for 2014.

Justice Hayes becomes a pretty important piece to the offense next year.

I know Michigan has the 2 Soph.'s but the depth is looking a little thin if there are position changes and or guys that don't come back.

mgobaran

January 7th, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^

I'm not too worried. Especially about Jeff Jones. He seems like a "best player available" type. It seems that we have a couple slots available in this class and why not fill them? I wouldn't turn down a top 100 guy like Jones. 

Re: Running Back Depth. I don't think this has much of an effect on 2014. IMO a running back from this class would end up RS anyways, with 2 burned last year, & Rawls and Johnson still in the fold. Yes if both transferred*, that would be a hit to the depth chart. But that could be covered by not moving Justice Hayes over to the slot. Or moving Norfleet back to RB. Or giving a handful of carries to Peppers. 

 

*Not trying to name names as likely transfers. Just using them as an example/scenario.

I Like Burgers

January 7th, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^

You can never have too many good RBs on the roster.  Look at a team like Alabama that takes 2-3 RBs every year no matter how many good ones they have on the roster.  If you want to be a rushing team, take all the good RBs that you can, let the cream rise to the top, and injuries and transfers will take care of the ones that don't make it.

gbdub

January 7th, 2014 at 10:03 AM ^

I got the impression that this was a guy the coaches are taking a flyer on because he's the best plausibly available player. And they waited this long to offer not because they didn't realize he's good, but because they missed on plan A players at positions of greater need (e.g. Hand).



In other words, no need to panic, this is like the Norfleet offer - a nice to have guy picked up late for a spot not originally planned to be open.

PeteM

January 7th, 2014 at 8:51 AM ^

Brandon, I wonder what the odds are of adding anyone -- McDowell, Enwere etc to this year's class? Besides Jones are there any other potential flips a la Norfleet.

Wing t

January 7th, 2014 at 8:53 AM ^

It's amazing how kids these days fly under the radar with all the video clips and u tube highlights. Minnesota is wishing this kid didn't go to the under armor bowl.

dragonchild

January 7th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^

Human vision is flawed.  Very flawed.  As Neil DeGrasse Tyson says, "optical illusions" shouldn't be called that; they should be called "brain failures" because that's what they are.  Point is, a guy can be strong, fast or shifty but it's tough to make an objective comparison because there are thousands of high school teams, 99.9% of them don't play each other and the brain is hard-wired to adjust to the speed of movement.  So two guys on two different teams in two different parts of the country could both annihilate local competition and the ONLY means of objectively comparing them is workouts, which are notoriously unreliable.  One guy may have a much higher bench press but it won't matter if he plays with bad leverage.  One guy may have a better track speed but it's useless if he takes bad angles.  This is NEVER going to be an exact science.

So you see some guy playing lights-out in a high school league no one's watching and he'll get the generic three-star rating.  Or maybe a kid is very talented but a work in progress (not everyone starts playing football when they're old enough to hold one with both hands); gets a three-star rating.

Also, as I mentioned in my discussion about the O-line, teenagers mature in fits and starts.  He could've been Just Another Physically Gifted player when he committed, at which point scouts stopped paying attention, then at some point he had an "ah ha" moment and completely revolutionized his game.  It happens.

G. Gulo of the Dale

January 7th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

I'm not sure this is a classic case of a guy "flying under the radar" or a case of human "brain failure."  Jones is a top-100 player on Rivals, a top ten RB, and the no. 1 recruit out of Minnesota.  I believe Steve Lorenz was the one who reported that Jones was considered a bit of an academic risk.  Maybe he improved his grades this past semester, and between that and his UA game, more teams felt better about offering.  I don't like bringing up academics as mere speculation, but, again, I believe it's been noted by others "in the know."

Anyway, I hope the kid takes a liking to Michigan and finds success here.  

I Like Burgers

January 7th, 2014 at 9:55 AM ^

In the first year or two of the game, it was held in Orlando.  But then they moved it to St. Pete because its a better field and you don't have to deal with bowl game conflicts.

But they do hold the practices at the ESPN Wide World of Sports and that's in Orlando.

Waveman

January 8th, 2014 at 9:09 AM ^

The iPhone app will show you that there was a troll who posted right after you.  His comment got caved, and now it looks like everyone is piling on your comment.  

It's not your fault...   It's not your fault... It's not your fault.

maize-blue

January 7th, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^

Here is my ubiquitous how many spots, who fills those spots, how the class ends up question/post.

1. McDowell?

2. TBD RB?

3. Best available?

True Blue Grit

January 7th, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^

He looked really, really good in the UA All Star game.  I agree with the philosophy of taking at least 1 or 2 running backs in every class.  The attrition rate can be high, plus given a choice, it's always good to redshirt them if possible.  In the old days, Bo would often sign more backs than the depth charts would dictate.  Then, if they ended up with too many guys, he'd move a few of them to defensive back (typically).  But next year, I don't see us as having too many backs at all.  Hopefully, the coaches can convince Jones to move over to the Blue.  

BlueinOK

January 7th, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^

After watching the game, I like this kid a lot. He's definitely a player worth getting a late offer to. I don't care what the depth chart looks like at RB. He's a best available type at this point. 

michiganfanforlife

January 7th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^

I would like to see us get as many backs as possible also. Does anyone think there will be any coaching staff changes after signing day? Are Funk and Jackson OK? Borges? I'm not sure how they can claim to be competant after this year's rushing attack. I don't care how many freshman were starting, you should never have several games with negative yardage when you claim to be a pro style team...