The 2010 FB Recruiting Picture as of Today
Just wanted to start a sort of collective discussion on the state of the 2010 FB Recruiting Class. Not rankings, or stars, just in terms of numbers and potential prospects.
By my understanding, we have 24 guys committed (not counting Adrian Witty). One is apparently in serious/likely position to leave the class (Drake) which drops the class to 23. We supposedly have about 28 to give. Who is left????
So far I can remember
Dillon Baxter - A likely longshot
Grimes - Appears to be slipping away
Parker - Depends on who you listen to
Mike Taylor - Haven't heard much since last wk and already committed to Tennessee.
Torian Wilson - ???
Then a bunch of dudes who may or may not be visiting. Who among these non-committed folk are we likely or even possibly going to see sign on the dotted line?
January 12th, 2010 at 4:45 PM ^
There's going to be a surprise commit or two, that I'm sure of.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:26 PM ^
Yeah, but not who you're thinking of...
January 12th, 2010 at 6:42 PM ^
MGoObes, is that you?
January 12th, 2010 at 6:57 PM ^
No, I just like to pay homage every once in a while.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:44 PM ^
That joke is really getting played out.
January 12th, 2010 at 4:46 PM ^
Wish he wasn't slipping away (as you say).
January 12th, 2010 at 4:51 PM ^
it appears he is. Tom VanHaaren seemed to confirm as much recently.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:30 PM ^
Just wish it wasn't so...I think Grimes could be a special player!
January 12th, 2010 at 4:49 PM ^
Other than Parker (I think he's Michigan's to lose), I really don't expect any other signings barring some surprises on NSD. I think we'll have better idea on some prospects after next two weekends of official visits (who actually comes and who doesn't).
January 12th, 2010 at 4:54 PM ^
I wonder if the coaching staff makes an extra offer or two to people like that LB in Florida or this safety at OLSM or some other player we may not have recruited with better options available.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^
I'm guessing that the staff has already made phone calls to a bunch of USC commits, just to check out the "lay of the land." Any coach of a major program would almost be negligent not to at least call any USC recruits in whom they are remotely interested and say "hi."
January 12th, 2010 at 4:57 PM ^
Do we have an initial list of weekend visitors? There is supposed to be a bunch. Thanks in advance.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^
the only uncommitted visitor is Rashad Knight
January 12th, 2010 at 5:08 PM ^
I thought we were hosting most of our remaining prospects this weekend? Thanks for the update. That is kind of a downer.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
Sorry, maybe I'm confusing weeks. I thought this was the big one. My mistake.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^
Scout lists Todd Chandler and Jibreel Black visiting the weekend of 1/22.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:32 PM ^
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=3516322
Chandler replaced Michigan with Memphis. His top 5 went from the elite schools to places like Colorado State, Memphis and Syracuse. A reasonable guess is that this kid is going to have grade/qualifying issues. Black should be an interesting prospect though; it will prolly come down to Cincy, ND, and UM. Who knows where he'll end up at.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:21 PM ^
Black said he is likely canceling all of his visits except for Indiana (his brother is there and that's where he was originally committed). He was impressed with Butch Jones and staff to stay committed to Cinci.
January 12th, 2010 at 4:58 PM ^
A question for TomVH, or anyone who may know or have an educated guess, if Feb. 3 approaches and the class looks like it's at 26ish, would a guy like Steve Mehrer get a committable offer?
January 12th, 2010 at 5:22 PM ^
along those same lines, is it possible that we extend a late offer to Jewone Snow (WVU commit and son of Garland Rivers)? He's an ILB and legacy who IIRC desperately wanted an offer from UM.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^
Earnest Thomas or any other names you might add in this category.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
It's very unlikely that Snow will get an offer. The coaches think he's more of a DE than a LB, and we already have 2-4 defensive ends between Wilkins, Paskorz, Talbott, and Ash.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
Probably not. Baring more attrition, a full class this year will result in a pretty small class (17ish?) next year. If the staff is confident that they've covered all their needs with players they like, then it's my guess that they'd hang onto the extra schollies rather than handing them out just for the sake of filling the class.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:22 PM ^
there won't be some solid commits soon. Even at RB say if a Baxter pulls the trigger. Why not? Exceptional education, great tradition & facilties, young team with a huge upside. I think there will be some solid commits and probably a few surprises. Go Blue!
January 12th, 2010 at 5:31 PM ^
I wouldn't say Baxter is a "Likely longshot."
I dreamt of a commitment last night, therefore I am predicting one.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
I read somewhere on either ESPN or Rivals that he was favoring us over Tennessee and had eliminated Florida. It sounded really promising....as much as you can trust rumors about recruiting.
I would have to assume that Parker would lean toward Michigan with the coaching change at USC and their depth chart at safety.
Who knows with Grimes at this point. His interview with Tom was positive but when Murphy went to Maryland it is a wild card right now.
I have to assume that there are some LB or OL that we haven't heard much about who might be in the picture given the need at those positions. I doubt they would take a flyer on another DB if he was a borderline recruit considering that they already have 3 corners and 3 safeties in this class.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:06 PM ^
With Greg Brown already in the fold for next year, and a possible commit coming in Delonte Hollowell, it would be foolish to take a flyer.
January 13th, 2010 at 1:06 AM ^
....isn't coming here. Lot of talk involving Louisville now with Strong there. Also there a lot of questions about his knee still and I don't think Michigan is going to take a flyer on a kid when it is a health related issue. With any luck maybe the mystery recruit ends up here but who knows.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
Michigan coaches put the full court press on:
- Grimes, if Michigan shows him some love, he should be Blue. He is just feeling bad about losing Hopson and the cold weather (it's cold in Florida right now). A visit from RR should be able to turn the tide.
- Baxter: Being a friend of Tate's might be a big plus for the Wolverines. It also depends on who get the USC job and what the NCAA does.
- Parker: Who I believe is the biggest need/recruit left on the board for the Wolverines. They need to do everything to lock him down.
-??? - A surprise recruit on the O or D line. Don't know anything yet, but Sam Webb said he thought Michigan has cooled on T. Wilson and working some other players.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^
I get the feeling that the coaches have cooled on Grimes. If they still wanted him as badly as they did, then they wouldn't have let Murphy go so easily, and they would have got on the Grimes thing before Hopson left.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
sean parker
rashad knight
tony grimes
earnest thomas
jibreel black
steve mehrer
honorable mention (i still dont see it happening): dillon baxter
i would think parker and thomas are our best chance to finish with 25.
i would also add, that i would be surprised to see us sign 28. from here, i'd expect on 3 more recruits (26). if we go above that, it would be for a mehrer to greyshirt while possibly asking one or two of the existing commits to greyshirt.
my only hope is that they dont bank any ships. there is a attrition stewing on this squad already imo, and we need player development to start NOW. while a grey cant practice or workout with the team, there is a lot of benefit to a greyshirt being on campus and a lot of the redshirt physical development one would normally expect will happen this way imo.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
I'm not entirely familiar with how this all works, but does every spot that we fail to fill this year mean one more spot for the following year?
If we believe Brian's theory of how recruiting class quality trails season quality, we can probably assume that next year's class will overall be a better one than this year's (since last year we were hopeless and this year we showed a lot of promise and won 2 extra games even though we didn't get into a bowl game). If that's at least a moderately fair assumption, maybe we can feel okay about not getting a full 28 if it means more room next year.
Of course, there are positions of need to fill immediately, and we can't wait forever to win, and we need RR to succeed next year or risk another tumultuous coaching turnover, and the time value of football talent, etc....
January 12th, 2010 at 6:54 PM ^
thats usually the course for someone who has the time to let the players percolate. rich's back is up against the wall and he needs players on campus NOW going through development. we just dont have 3 years for next years players to get up to speed. we banked ships last year and i truly believe it hurt us. a kid like dan mason who we couldve had, had we pushed likely wouldve seen the field some this year and would be well developed to really contribute next year.
2011 looks like a solid recruiting class in terms of depth. would love to have 20+ ships in hand, but it does us no good if we're in full swing meltdown by the time we get there. rich needs players asap.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^
We are allowed to have 85 on scholarship. So the question is how many scholarships do we use this year and how many will open up next year.
We will have 50 non-fifth year scholarship players returning (assuming both Brandon Smith returns and Kovacs gets a scholarship). If we sign 25 recruits, then that makes 75 players. Plus the following ten fifth year seniors gets us to 85.
Fifth Year Seniors:
Sheridan
Cone
Schilling
Dorrestein
Ferrara
Banks
Patterson
Ezeh
Mouton
Wright
If we signed more than 25 we would have to let a few of these players know that their scholarship wasn't be renewed for a fifth year.
If we sign 25 and these 10 return then next season we get these ten slots plus:
Rogers
Webb
Sagesse
Evans
Woolfolk
That would bring us to 15 openings. Then we would have the following fifth years that may or may not be invited back:
Hemingway
Huyge
Molk
Van Bergen
Watson
Williams
I think most of those would be asked back (probably not Watson). So that only opens up 16 slots for 2011; unless we have unexpected departures.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
I know they're both from San Diego, but can anyone confirm that they are actually friends? If so, that would be great. Any insight would be appreciated.
I've developed quite the (heterosexual) mancrush on Baxter...he seems like the real deal.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:01 PM ^
Tate mentioned it the week of the OSU game (that he had a bunch of friends coming in) and Sam Webb has mentioned it a number of times on WTKA.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:44 PM ^
I noticed that some of the headlines on the premium board keep mentioning Skyler Schofner. He's a four star OT currently committed to State.
It would be nice to steal one from them. Just to do it. :)
January 12th, 2010 at 9:17 PM ^
Schofner isn't coming here.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:24 PM ^
My wife's a certified witch. I'll have her cast a spell to have Baxter commit to Michigan tomorrow. He'll be on a plan headed for Ann Arbor by Friday!!!
January 12th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
But, a plane would be even better.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:37 PM ^
can make plan's fly.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:26 PM ^
So why is everyone so pessimistic about Baxter and why do they consider him a long shot? I know he's still committed to USC but didn't he say something about wanting an in-home visit from Rich Rod? I mean, the guy almost switched his commitment from USC after the OSU game. I'm just wondering if there's been some new information from Rivals or a post somewhere on the board that I haven't been privy to. Or is this just pessimism from people b/c they don't want to get their hopes up about a 5-star at a slight position of need?
January 12th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^
TomVH tweeted this about an hour ago, with the caveat he hasn't confirmed the source. A blogger at The Oregonian reported today that Baxter will be visiting the Ducks this weekend.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/ducks/2010/01/dillon_baxter_to_visit_this_we…
January 12th, 2010 at 9:36 PM ^
With Lane headed for So Cal and sanctions, it seems like UM's chances of poaching Michael Taylor just got a little better.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
Plus we should be leading for T. Wilson as his top three were us, USF, and Tenn. One could only assume that with all the changes at the later two that he'd be leaning our way.
January 13th, 2010 at 1:58 AM ^
Red wine and Ambien, there's a scandal in Gainesville again... it's heartbreak warfare. Urban indiscretions? Are they true? Has he pulled a Tiger?