2011 updated mock class

Submitted by JC3 on
QB Kevin Sousa 6"2, 210 lbs Orlando, Florida ***
RB Demetrius Hart 5"8, 190lbs Orlando, Florida ****
RB Malcolm Crockett 5"11, 180 lbs Washington D.C. ***
WR Shawn Conway 6"4, 185 lbs Birmingham, Michigan ***
WR Kris Frost 6"3, 210 lbs Mathews, North Carolina ****
WR Sammy Watkins 6"1, 180 lbs Fort Myers, Florida ****
OL Jake Fisher 6"7, 260 lbs Traverse City, Michigan ***
OL Jack Miller 6"4, 260 lbs Perrysburg, Ohio ***
OL Tony Posada 6"5, 330 lbs Tampa, Florida ***
OL Chris Bryant 6"5, 310 lbs Chicago, Illinois ****
DE Brennen Beyer 6"4, 230 lbs Plymouth, Michigan ****
DT Darian Cooper 6"3, 275 lbs Hyattsville, Maryland ****
DE Chris Rock 6"5, 250 lbs Columbus, Ohio ***
DE Anthony Zettel 6"4, 260 lbs West Branch, Michigan ****
LB Kellen Jones 6"1, 210 lbs Houston, Texas ***
LB Desmond Morgan 6"1, 225 lbs Ottawa, Michigan ***
LB Antonio Kinard  6"4, 215 lbs Youngstown, Ohio ***
DB Dallas Crawford 5"10, 180 lbs Fort Myers, Florida ***
DB  Greg Brown 5"10, 180 lbs Fremont, Ohio ***
DB  Delonte Hollowell 5"8, 170 lbs Detroit, Michigan ***
DB  Blake Countess 5"10, 170 lbs Owings Mills, Maryland ****
S Avery Walls 5"11, 185 lbs McDonough, Georgia ****
      Total 22

National signing day is still three months away, but many teams seasons are wrapping up and players are taking their official visits to schools. Michigan currently has 11 known commitments, and this list is extremely tentative and not indicative of where recruits are going.

 

With that being said Michigan is in great position to land a number of non-committed players. If Dallas Crawford does announce tomorrow, it will likely be to Michigan. And if he does commit, that will only help with his teammate Sammy Watkins. Watkins currently has Michigan in his top five, but in reality we're likely in his top two along with Clemson.

Missing out on Arnett did hurt, but with Watkins still on the board, Conway committed, and no senior receivers this year, it will not be terrible if Michigan misses out on both.

Many are wondering who will be the complementary back to Demetrius Hart.. Thomas Rawls would likely be that candidate but his grades are not yet in order. Michigan also recently offered both Tre Mason and Malcolm Crockett, but Auburn desperately needs a running back and they want Mason so I see Michigan making a push for Crockett. He is currently committed to Cincinnati but visited Michigan this past weekend. 

Defensively Michigan needs a defensive tackle prospect. Darian Cooper (now a four-star, 250 rivals member) has Michigan in his top five and will be visiting in the winter. He's got a great relationship with Delonte Hollowell, so that can only help. If they miss out on Cooper, I think Michigan's coaches will continue to evaluate other tackles and maybe offer some in the coming weeks.

Also, Michigan recently offered Maryland CB Blake Countess. Tom caught up with his coaches and Michigan may have surged near the top of his list. Countess is very highly ranked and would be a steal if Michigan can secure his services.

Edit: I realized Devondrick Nealy is not included here.. Michigan leads for his services right now as well. 23!

Comments

JC3

November 11th, 2010 at 4:32 PM ^

This class is the best we could hope for. I think we may see a name or two that we're not talking about now in it on signing day. but yeah, 22 is about right.

bluenyc

November 11th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^

I hate to even ask this, but why do you guys think this is not exceptional.  I think this list is the best we can hope for as well.  I mean this list does exclude Jernigan and Ray Drew, but if you told me early in the year that we would get Watkins, I would be fairly happy. 

Who do you think would make the list exceptional that are still targets?

Edit : BTW, I didn't neg you guys, I am curious as your thoughts.

dahblue

November 11th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^

I think it would be a good class, but not exceptional.  Using * rankings as a guide (without getting into any arguments over the merits of the star system, "Mike Hart was a 3*", etc.), the current #10 team on Rivals is Nebraska.  They have 16 commits; 11 of them are 4*.

I think the OP has us getting 9 such players.  In that manner, we don't seem to have a chance of breaking the top 10.  Georgia, the #14 class (currently), has 16 commits and of them 8 are 4*.  I have a feeling that those schools will be adding more talent as well.

So, I believe we can have a good class, but even that best case scenario doesn't land us in the top 10 and might not land us in the top 15.

...and don't worry about the negs.  That often happens when one doesn't post pictures of kittens.

bluenyc

November 11th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^

Everyone uses negs differently and I never use them for opinion.  I was curious, because it's hard for people to say what they feel without disparging the recruits in one way or another. 

I can't argue with yours or JC3's points.  I wish we can get all 5 stars, but baby steps right now.  If you showed my that list in September, I would be really happy.  But, I understand where you guys are coming from.

dahblue

November 12th, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^

Kidding.  I don't think anyone disparages the kids.  These kids are all super talented.  It's just a matter of splitting hairs and crossing fingers...especially when we're dealing with such a small disparity in talent.  If our class isn't "exceptional", I'm happy with "good".  It's certainly better than "bad" or "decent".

dahblue

November 12th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^

I appreciate that.  Unfortunately, the negs are just part of the game.  They tend to even out over time.  Some folks prefer to drop negs instead of explaining why they might disagree...that's usually when facts are their enemy.

aaamichfan

November 11th, 2010 at 8:49 PM ^

Assuming we land these players on the list, 4-5 of them would be top100 players. Although none would have the 5th star, this is still much better than a team where most of their 4 stars are between 100-250.

dahblue

November 12th, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^

Look...If we're at the point where we're deciding whether one 4* is better than another, we're still dealing with a solid class one way or the other.  We're just not at the point of bringing in an "exceptional" class right now.  I think RR is doing a good job of putting the focus on some high value recruits though.

tenerson

November 12th, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^

If everything is considered, then this is an exceptional class. The recruits themelves are pretty darn good but when you consider we haven't had a lot of success over the last three years and there is obvious uncertainty about RR past next year, then the class becomes exceptional from the recruiting standpoint. I consider the job the staff has done to be exceptional. Not many teams with 8 wins the past two years and like 7 or 8 this year will have a class close to ours. Recruiting has to have been hard this year. There is a lot of easy negative recruiting going on and they have been able to overcome that to get some great talent.

bluenyc

November 11th, 2010 at 4:38 PM ^

Nice list JC3.  I woulld be thrilled if this came true.  If you drop a Jernigan or Ray Drew, I think that would be about perfect.  Too bad about Rawls, I was hoping he would get his grades up.  We are missing a TE.  Do you think we may come up with one or maybe try Frost over there.

JC3

November 11th, 2010 at 4:47 PM ^

Michigan is still recruiting tight ends, but they've been striking out on them. Hamilton committed to Iowa, Owens eliminated us, but we've got a shot at Jack Tabb. We'll see. 

Frost doesn't have the body to play tight end.. he will get his shot at receiver, and if that doesn't work, linebacker. Either way he's a good pickup.

jbibiza

November 11th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^

We have been after several tight ends so it seems that the coaches think landing one in this class is a priority.  Other than that this class looks good to me except that Greg Brown may be fading out to be replaced perhaps by Kitchen or another DB.  Nice work.

smwilliams

November 11th, 2010 at 5:36 PM ^

QB: Kevin Sousa(***)

RB: Dee Hart(****)

WR: Shawn Conway(***)/Sammy Watkins(****)

TE: Jack Tabb(****)

OL: Jake Fisher(***)/Jack Miller(***)/Tony Posada(***)/Cyrus Hobbi(****)

DT: Tim Jernigan(****)/Darian Cooper(****)

DE: Brennan Beyer(****)/Chris Rock(***)/Anthony Zettel(****)

LB: Kellen Jones(***)/Antonio Kinard(***)/Desmord Morgan(***)

CB: Delonte Hollowell(***)/Dallas Crawford(****)

S: Avery Walls(****)

Total: 20

So I want commits from Watkins, Tabb, Hobbi, Jernigan, Cooper, Zettel, Morgan, Crawford, and Walls and I will be a happy, happy man.

cypress

November 11th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^

Well, we need a TE badly in this class, so one has to be included one way or the other. And I guess someone is going to have to explain to me why we need a complimentary RB to Dee or another slot receiver. We have 7 RBs on scholarship next year, and 5 slots. I get that depth is a great thing to have, but we are still short on numbers on defense and it seems we would be better suited to not use the scholarships on positions we already have locked down.

Magnum P.I.

November 12th, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^

I didn't follow the Dorsey fiasco too closely this summer, but why would his situation be different from, say, Kinard's? I don't even know where he is right now, but if he's at a JUCO why couldn't he come on to U-M next year given that he's gotten his grades up? I think it'd be a good story.

TSimpson77

November 12th, 2010 at 9:27 AM ^

I don't think not getting Arnett hurt us at all, we picked up a solid class at WR last year and most of them will redshirt this year. I would still like to see us get another solid 4 or 5* DT and S(paging Ha-Ha and Jernigan)