Another Week, Another Camp

247's Steve Wiltfong has a free recap of last weekend's Chicago regional for The Opening, which featured Michigan commit Brandon Peters and several top targets. Four players earned invites to The Opening finals, including Detroit King's Lavert Hill and Donnie Corley. Peters wasn't among them, nor was he MVP of his position group—that honor went to Messiah deWeaver, incidentally—after what Sam Webb described as a decent performance with room for improvement ($):

Michigan quarterback commit Brandon Peters showed impressive arm strength throughout the day, often drawing praise from camp instructors for the nice zip he put on the football. That said, his accuracy was up and down and he was high with many of his passes. He did find some semblance of consistency during 7-on-7 action at the end of day, during which he was much more accurate

You can see both the strong arm and the tendency to overthrow in the Vine from Lorenz above. In an article that also includes more detailed analysis from Clint Brewster, Peters gave a self-assessment to Lorenz:

"I learned a lot about my game today and what I need to do to get better," he said. "I need to work on how I use my lower body a lot better and have to develop a better consistency at keeping my eyes level as I scan the field. I thought I performed alright today but I definitely have some work to do."

Brewster's comparison for Peters at this stage is Sam Bradford; I'm sure Michigan fans would be just fine with his college career playing out in similar fashion.

Allen Trieu's top ten performers from the event is also worth checking out, as it's mostly comprised of Michigan targets. One of them, Cass Tech OG/DT Michael Onwenu, was the subject of a rather unfortunate mix-up, via Sam Webb on The Victors Board ($):

I've been getting questions on Mike Onwenu's weight. Specifically, did he weigh in at 360 lbs. I didn't see the scale, so I can't say for sure that he doesn't weigh that much. All I can say is he didn't look like he is 360 and he didn't move like he is 360.

It's my theory that he got mixed up with Juan Harris. That said if Onwenu is 360, then Harris is well over 400 (word was he currently tips the scales at 390 lbs.)

The photos confirm; Onwenu's on the left, Harris on the right:

Webb noted Michigan backed off their offer to Harris, which isn't at all a surprise given the above.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Another Week, Another 400 Offers

Approximately, at least. Michigan sent out several offers over the last week for both the 2016 and 2017 classes. Four-star 2016 CO OLB/SDE Carlo Kemp added an offer, reports Steve Lorenz, who suggests the coaching staff's NFL ties could help them quite a bit:

Kemp is the nephew of current Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and the belief is that Michigan will be a major player for Kemp's services partially based on Pagano's respect for the NFL presence on Michigan's staff.

Pagano also has a strong Harbaugh connection; he served as John Harbaugh's secondary coach in Baltimore before rising to defensive coordinator when Greg Mattison returned to Michigan.

Four-star 2016 TX WR Tren'Davian Dickson, a former Baylor commit, also pulled in an offer, according to The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan. Getting a Texas native to pass up on the likes of Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M won't be easy.

The coaches got in early on one of the better in-state 2017 prospects, offering De La Salle RB Allen Stritzinger, who told Sullivan that the home-state schools stand out even though he grew up rooting for a Florida program ($):

"Michigan and Michigan State, that's home, so that's always been the two top schools in my opinion. I really am a Miami Hurricanes fan, but Michigan is home for me."

Stritzinger has made several past visits to Ann Arbor, most recently for the spring game. He's hoping to make his return to town soon enough. With an offer in hand, there's not much difference in what he's looking for, but getting an in-depth look at how the program will shift under the tenure of Jim Harbaugh is a priority.

I'm a fan of this offer; Stritzinger has potential on both sides of the ball—he also plays defensive back—and I really liked what I saw of him carrying the rock against Brother Rice last year (scroll to the bottom of the post).

The rest of Michigan's recent offers were geared towards building or strengthening ties to talent-heavy programs: 

• Four-star 2016 Lakeland (FL) Lake Gibson DT Keyshon Camp hails from the same school as incoming freshman Reuben Jones.
• A pair of four-star teammates from Scottsdale (AZ) Saguaro, 2016 OG Kayden Lyles and 2017 CB Byron Murphy, both added Michigan to impressive offer sheets.
• Michigan offered a duo of 2017 four-stars from Fort Lauderdale (FL) Cardinal Gibbons, ATH Daniel Wright and WR Leroy Henley.
• Finally, three 2017 prospects from Plantation (FL) American Heritage: five-star OT Tedarrell Slaton, four-star OT Kai-Leon Herbert, and four-star RB Kyshaun Bryan.

Do Your Thing, Captain Comeback

Michigan will host one talented Indiana prospect today, and perhaps a second, though they're working from behind on both with decision dates looming.

Four-star IN WR Austin Mack confirmed to Steve Lorenz that he'll be on campus today ($). Mack said the new coaching staff is recruiting him harder than Hoke's staff ever did—which is a little surprising, since Hoke had Mack as one of the top targets on the board at his position. Ohio State is the prohibitive favorite with a decision set for June 7th.

Four-star IN DE Auston Robertson, one of the top performers at the Chicago regional, told Scout's Josh Newkirk he may accompany Mack on his visit, and either way his relationship with the new staff is strengthening ($):

Is it fair to say his relationship with Michigan is getting better?

"It's improving," he admits. "Before Coach Harbaough, I didn't talk to Michigan for a month or so. I just started talking to them more like a month ago."

Robertson is deciding the same day as Mack, and he currently has Michigan outside his top three, which consists of Michigan State (the presumed favorite), Notre Dame, and Ohio State.

Etc.

Four-star TX DT Jordan Elliott told Webb that after consulting with a fellow top Texas recruit, he's got Michigan near the top of his list ($):

He is also working on getting out to Michigan. After hearing about his good friend Dontavious Jackson’s experience he is looking forward to seeing Ann Arbor even more.

“He told me he liked it,” said Elliott.  “He said it is a cool place.  I’m definitely going to set that (visit) up. This summer I’m going to make it up there.”

“Michigan is at the top of my list now with USC. Michigan is #2.”

While USC sounds like they'll be tough to top—they got the "dream school" designation—getting Elliott on campus on his own dime would be a very good sign for Michigan's chances.

Another four-star Texas DT, Chris Daniels, told Webb that Michigan is in his top group along with Texas A&M, Baylor, and Ole Miss ($). He also plans on visiting this summer. TCU at one point had been Daniels' stated leader, so their omission from his current top group is a notable one; Michigan and Baylor have both been consistently mentioned among his favorite schools.

The Paramus Catholic connection may only grow stronger with time. Four-star 2017 OLB Drew Singleton recently added an offer, and his father spoke to Webb about Michigan's chances down the road ($):

Right now it is so early in the game I don’t even want to (talk favorites), but Michigan… I can say when we sit down a year-and-a-half from now, Michigan will be probably be a forerunner.

The elder Singleton added that while his son will take his time with the decision, "there is a certain school he has in mind right now" that's standing out. Given the context, that school sure seems to be Michigan.