Thursday Recruitin' Needs Rec Specs
War. War against Notre Dame never changes.
McGrone
A couple of impending linebacker commitments are part of this cycle's frankly bizarre quantity of straight-up Michigan-ND battles. Notre Dame, which went 4-8 last year, has a coach on the hot seat but is managing to split these about down the middle. That appears to be the case here, as well.
The good news is for IN LB Cameron McGrone, an Opening standout out of Indianapolis. Steve Wiltfong reports that McGrone's only remaining summer trip will be to Michigan's BBQ in little over a week, which is a change from a week ago when Notre Dame was potentially on the docket. Wiltfong hints that a commitment might be on the horizon:
McGrone doesn't have a commitment timetable. He does want to take officials before deciding but we'll see if the BBQ changes that line of thinking.
Tom Loy has flipped his CB to Michigan. That's usually the last thing that happens before an ND-M battle goes the right way.
McGrone flew all the way up to 40th at 24/7 after a dominant performance as a spacebacker at the Opening, and while the other site weren't quite as gonzo the reviews were universally positive. Allen Trieu discussed him in one of those horrible two-people-talking Scout videos, saying that he would be moving up from low four-star territory:
"Faster and more explosive … one of if not the most impressive guy. Very explosive, downhill kind of kid … blitzer, come-forward kind of guy. He's shown at these events that he can move backwards, he can drop into coverage, he can change directions. I think he's a complete linebacker. … He can play a couple of different linebacker spots; he's about 6'2", 220 pounds."
McGrone moved up… a bit. He's the first OLB outside of their top 300 now. ESPN and Rivals haven't reacted yet. ESPN only has an underclass eval for him so McGrone has a shot to move up from generic four star territory when they scout him again; Rivals has stopped attending the Opening for Reasons.
The possibly bad news is for NJ LB/S Shayne Simon, who told the ND 24/7 site that he would be announcing "this week or next week." Simon has been trending to ND recently and one of our heuristics is "who you talk to matters"; an ND site getting the news of an impending announcement is a bad sign.
FWIW, Loy is hedging a little:
The 247Sports Crystal Ball favors Notre Dame over Michigan by a margin of 89-percent to 11-percent, but this is a much closer race than the numbers reflect.
Simon took a sneaky visit to Michigan a few weeks ago, and there is a story here where ND optimism is largely because of his rabidly pro-ND coach and not reflective of reality. When you take a visit to one of your top schools and conceal it from your coach that says somethin' about somethin'.
Simon's mom and aunt are Michigan alums, and Michigan did not go 4-8 last year, so they've got those things going for them. As of about a week ago Lorenz was being told to "keep his crystal ball on Michigan regardless of where his initial commitment is," probably in case ND goes 4-8 again.
Still feels like ND, but this is a shotgun wedding maybe? With elopement possible?
Defensive tackle acquisition program
DT with rec specs: hell yes
Michigan has been rising on NC DT Rick Sandidge's list for a few weeks now after a June unofficial; he talked to Rivals about his recent visit schedule, which includes stops at M, OSU, Georgia, and Florida:
"The Michigan and Georgia visits both stood out to me."
South Carolina, his mom's alma mater and crystal ball favorite, is up next, and then he's shutting it down until he takes his officials. Oddly, the 24/7 South Carolina site asserts that Sandidge has a loose top five of the Gamecocks, M, FSU, UF, and UNC. Scout adds UGA and LSU into a top seven.
This does not qualify as clarity
Rivals's rankings of instate OL Ryan Hayes and Jalen Mayfield are two of the biggest outliers of the cycle so far. Both are composite four stars despite Rivals ranking them 16th and 19th in the state, behind a 5'8" King DB headed to Iowa State amongst others. That's… aggressive. Brandon Brown hits up regional analyst Josh Helmholdt to talk about both guys. The results are unenlightening. Helmholdt says Hayes is a tight end who projects to tackle and that he's somewhat raw because of it. This is the only other scouting-ish item in the piece:
"With guys like both Mayfield and Hayes, they have what it takes at that spot. Playing offensive tackle takes a certain kind of player. You can’t be heavy footed at that position and you have to be able to play with length and foot quickness and both of those guys have it."
Rivals currently ranks both instate Michigan OL commitments behind OL headed to Wake Forest, Duke, BC, and Kansas. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Crootin quote of the week
STRENGTHS: hair, enormousness
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: commitment to Michigan
From CA ATH Bryan Addison:
"Michigan has a real chance with me but at the same time maybe not."
Distance is the potential issue. He does plan a visit after picking up an offer, but an entirely West Coast (and Nebraska for some reason) top seven before that offer makes it seem like distance does matter quite a bit.
Addison knows David Long and is planning a BBQ visit; Michigan will know a lot more about their shot in the aftermath. Hopefully that shot is a good one because Addison is a 6'5" WR/S who showed out at the Opening. Scout's Eugene Hankerson on Addison:
Addison worked out strictly at safety at this event, looking extremely comfortable roaming the secondary and causing havoc for opposing quarterbacks … upside is through the roof. … Addison make play after play on the final day of competition, showing range and great closing speed to prevent pass completions.
He's moved into the top 50 at Scout.
Checking in with MSU
The tires are still aflame:
Randy Charlton and James Head, senior three-star defensive ends from Miami (Fla.) Southridge, planned to visit Michigan State today. Per Charlton's father Demetrius Charlton, his son Randy Charlton and Head aren't visiting the Spartans.
"He only visited Indiana," Demetrius Charlton said.
Etc.
5* 2019 NC RB Quavaris Crouch will be at the BBQ on the 29th. It's early but Crouch and IMG RB Noah Cain are the top two bcks in the 2019 class, and both are looking at Michigan.
GA WR Kearis Jackson has set August 19th as his commitment day. Michigan's in his top eight but the Crystal Ball is 100% UGA. Jackson has said he wants to visit Michigan, which he hasn't yet. Odds are he never makes it up.
Michigan offers 2019 TX WR Jordan Whittington.
2019 CO ATH Luke McCaffrey is coming out to visit, but says it's just to hang out with Dylan.
Kentucky is good and normal at recruiting.
What's Quavaris Crouch's NOTY seed? Seems like he should be about a strong 7.
2022 - That's someone going into the 8th grade this fall, right? How is it even possible for an 8th grader to be 6-6, 345?
Lots of whole milk
Pretty sure that's the joke
But the fact that Dantonio recently took over Charlton's recruitment and he opted for an Indiana visit instead......
I recall there was another high profile high school coach from downsouth who felt that Blackwell was scape goated and refused to take his kids to visit MSU as a result. I wonder if this was a similar situation.
According to some MSU folks, the MSU coaching staff told Charlton and Head that they had another prospect that visited last week that may be committing and the two cancelled their visit. Today MSU landed a three star DE out of CA named Parks Gissinger.
Seriously? Is there more than a single commitment to the 2019 class? And that looks better than the 2016 and 2017 classes?
The amount of top level players with serious interest in Michigan at this early stage in the 2019 cycle absolutely looks like it will end up better.
You must not be following along. The overall outlook for 2019 is crazy. Michigan literally could be looking at 10+ Top 100 guys. Anywhere from 2-4 5 stars with legitimate interest. Take a gander at whos attending the BBQ
I keep waiting for this recruiting class to get some momentum, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. I know it's going to be a small class so I guess finishing somewhere around 20th in the country should be okay as long as the guys we do get are good.
they currently have zero top 100 recruits and aren't projected to land any in the top 100. That could change obviously, but this could be a down class both in terms of quantity and quality.
Guess it depends on where you look but Mich does have a few guys within the top 100. My guess is Sims, Reese, Ekiyor, and Sandidge (prospect) but think we get him all are top 100 at the end of the cycle. Mayfield and Hayes will be on 247 and will hover around it on the composite. Then there is Mcgrone who is flying up rankings as well. This wont be a top 10 class but we definitely need to fill it with 8-10 guys who are ready to go in a year or 2
Way underrated kids. Emil Ekiyor is the best guard in this class and Sims is a top five cb. Ekiyor stones the best dl in this class and he does consistently and easily. Sims is getting screwed by one recruiting site. NSD is not until February and I am sure Michigan's class will be top ten, even with the fact that many of its recruits are not rated properly. Keep an eye on three players this year who were rated lowly by these expert recruiting sites and then question Harbaugh's recruiting if you must. Those players being Evans, Hudson and Mcdoom.
Small size is part of it, I think the other thing is the depth chart is crowded with Freshmen and Sophomores and the program isn't quite at Alabama/Ohio State recruiting levels where it doesn't matter how crowded the depth chart is with young players.
yeah maybe but many prob said similar re 2017 class at this time last year - the list of verbals as of july 2016 prob looks crazy compared to signing day.
who knows how it shakes out. they were in on more highly touted prospects last cycle vs this year (not as many dudes like people-jones, black, anthony, ruiz, etc leaning towards m) and its pretty obvious they wont pull another top 5 type class (if for no other reason than #s alone). but they still have plenty of time to get kids on campus, close on coveted prospects and add few more key pieces to a smaller (yet just as important) class
So far I am pretty happy with the guys in the 2018 class. It helps that 16 and 17 were loaded, so it gives time to develop players to step in once the previous two classes start becoming draft eligible. It won't quite cause the bubble that we are currently looking at from '15, or even '14 to an extent. It will look even better when followed by the potential monster class of 2019.
2018 does not seem to be as strong in the state of Michigan and the Midwest in general compared to 16 and 17.
It also seems like the staff has adapted a strategy of focusing on high ceiling guys considering the last two classes were pretty loaded and the kids in the class of 18 may not see the field for a couple of years any way. A lot of the kids in this class seem to fit this mold (e.g., Milton, Hayes, Mayfield, Green x 2) where they don't have the highest the star rankings in the recruiting services but have the potential to develop into exceptional players later on.
What is going on with Rivals? Ever since 247 showed up and started innovating, they seem to be making really weird decisions and hurting themselves. With ESPN cutting back on recruiting coverage and Scout going bankrupt there should be room for Rivals to thrive but they haven't taken advantage and are getting their lunch eaten by 247.
Didn't rivals turn awful when Yahoo bought them? I thought 247 was also founded by guys who used to work at Rivals which is part of why Rivals now sucks and 247 became the best. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
That photo of Sandidge makes me think of minions.
Which do we prefer, from a recruiting standpoint:
(A) Notre Dame goes 4-8 again; BK is fired and replaced with another rising star; or
(B) ND goes something like 8-5, winning just enough games to keep BK's job but not enough to relieve the pressure.
B. So we get a chance to crush Kelly next year.
I so want to see Harbaugh and team take Kelly to the woodshed next year in South Bend.
That would certainly be nice, if they canned BK and then could only find a Brady Hoke type to replace him. Somehow ND has been able to continue attracting big (or at least hot) names. so I guess I just presumed they would be able to do that again. But yeah, the job has kind of turned into a graveyard for up-and-coming coaches so it's certainly possible that one day the bottom could drop out.
because if Kelly goes 4-8 again, he's going to be fired, they'll make a splashy hire (Urban??), their recruiting will improve in the short term at minimum, and they might actually get good.
This staff has proven to be really strong closers. I'm not worried about the composition at all. In fact I think that the recruits from this class will ultimately be some of the coach favorites. It's gonna be small and more tailored to positions of need. Remember that we signed two 5* on signing day last cycle. I think we may do the same this year and a lot of the recruits that signed early will get a bump if they perform well once the season starts. I think we end up in the 5-10 range come signing day.
Cain/Crouch
Turner
Samuels/Taylor
Walker/Evans/Higdon
I don't understand how Notre Dame continues to recruit as well as they do (10-15 rank). Brian Kelly is a terrible person, is on the hot seat, and really has done next nothing notable in his whole tenure at ND. What are they getting sold on? History and tradition?
Can anyone explain how PWO works? We have a family friend who's son is a 6'0" 225lb '18 ILB with 6 offers (Air Force, Army, Harvard, etc) plus interest from Vandy, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse and others. He's a great kid, solid family and loves to hit to the extent that he had to quit youth soccer because he was taking out the other kids.
I'm thinking he could be a good "lunch pail" sort of guy but doubt UofM would consider him for a scholarship. They aren't wealthy so he'll likely take a free ride somewhere but how does a PWO work?
If Notre Dame had gone 3-9 instead of 4-8, they'd have recruits not going there either and we wouldn't have these recruiting battles.
Will help Michigan contend for a B1G Championship and playoff. And even if they don't get all the 5 stars, the staff we have is going to get the best out of every guy that makes the 40 year decision to attend the University of Michigan.
There will be some "misses" in recruiting but I have nothing but confidence in this team under Harbaugh. The fun is just beginning.
Oh and in case you missed it, notre dame sucks, msu is a sad program and osu is crap period.
GO BLUE!!
A lot of talent remains on the board and there will be many surprises in all directions. The class of 2017 was very mediocre until about 2 month before NSD.
I think that the key point here is that it sounds like Harbaugh and team are getting the players they want at this point in most of the positions and to me that is the most important key to recruiting. I think that the ranking system will work itself out given that none of these players has completed a snap as a senior yet and there will be a lot of fluiditiy before next spring on where players land.
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