Anyone up for doing a Football recruiting recap?
Apologies if this is already somewhere else, but might anyone be willing to do a recruiting recap (or point me to a good one)? It seems like we've had some good wins - are there some brutal losses I missed along the way? Are we winning more of the battles than we're losing? What guys did Harbaugh go full Harbaugh on in bringing over to our side?
I've never really seen this sort of recap, and it seems like we're well enough into filling the class that it might be interesting?
I have been woefully softcore in following recruiting this year - my general impression is that it's going well, but that's not based on a lot more than a few wins I saw in real time and my sense that Hello posts seem to be popping up with pretty good regularity.
Also, and I hate to ask this question, but is OSU's class even more insane than it usually is?
Can anyone help a fellow M fan get up to speed?
It might be more productive if you're more descriptive and to the point in what you're asking for. So, in your case, if you said calling everyone: please tell me how to feel about these 3 stars. You'd get a lot more hits.
biggest wins (not just by star rankings, but ones where everyone was waiting in suspense and we won) and also which guys we thought we had a chance with that we lost out on.
And maybe even some guys that the board looked longingly at, but who never gave us the time of day.
Is that really that amorphous?
An inventory of wins and losses, pared down to the most notable on that list.
Because even if you just looked at all the Hello posts, you would have no idea who we painfully missed on.
1) Dylan McCaffrey is either the #1 or #2 QB prospect in the class (as in, nationally); he's committed and should help us land some other big recruits.
2) Aubrey Solomon was a surprise commit from Georgia and fills a big need at DT; expect the SEC powers to take another run at him before all is said and done.
3) Big one that got away so far is probably Joshua Kaindoh who committed to Maryland. M was also in on elite OG Wyatt Davis, who committed to Ohio State.
4) Earlier today, of course, M got a commitment from Joel Honigford, a player most people expected to wind up at MSU. His crystal ballz were 100% Sparty. Ha ha.
5) M is in on two big time WR prospects: Donovan Peoples-Jones from Cass Tech, and Nico Collins from Alabama. If M gets either of those guys, hooray. Both, and it will be the best WR class since Terrell/Walker.
6) Another in-state player that M is in a battle for is Detroit King CB Ambry Thomas. If we don't sign him, there's a good chance we'll play against him since his other schools include MSU and I think ND and OSU. So that will be one to watch.
7) Otherwise, probably the thing most people are watching with M's class is the offensive line. M is in on a number of top national prospects and really needs to hit on at least a couple of them to feel good about this year's OL class. M does have commitments from 4-star JaRaymond Hall and a couple promising developmental guys though.
that's a very helpful start.
We never had much of a chance at Wyatt Davis, right (just looking at the crystal ball timeline thing I just googled)?
OSU kind of made a late move to land Martell it looks like.
really wants to play with his cousin Jaylen Kelly-Powell. Package deal caveats but both have said it's like 10/10 on importance. Important and useful because JKP is the leaningest Michigan lean there is now.
If I remember correctly, JKP has a top 3 roughly of M, MSU, and ND
Thomas has a top 3 of MSU, M, PSU in rough orders I think.
JKP is way more Michigan than MSU, though, but Thomas has seemed like a Sparty lean. Thomas wants to wait to commit, JKP I think wants to decide soonish.
Very nice recap. Nice to have an informative answer and not just more snark. Of course, there are lots more recruits out there, but Drew Singleton is one to watch.
The other thing the OP might not be aware of is the 2017 Recruiting Overview . . . here on this very blog website! It is found under the "Useful Stuff" tab. The mods and proprietors keep it fairly up to date (still need to add Honingford). It breaks down prospects (by position) into the following categories:
- commits
- leader
- top group
- decent shot
- on the radar
LINK: 2017 Recruiting Overview
I'm a little more focused on the historical of how we got here and I'm guessing that's more a snapshot in time, but I will check it out.
We have a top 5 class currently and are in great position with a lot of top targets. Of course the class will likely remain very fluid up until NSD as it was last year.
And yes, OSU is pulling in a historically great class. Thankfully they're only taking 18 or so.
Go to Touch the Banner. Then, just start paying attention here. Easy peasy.
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http://michigan.247sports.com/Season/2017-Football/Commits
You can change the filters at the top to see who has offers, taken visits, etc
and didn't get, since "offers" is kind of sketchy - I guess "taken visits" might be the way to filter for that.
With the Advent of "Harbaugh" in addition to the traditional M name draw, Michigan is in on a very high number of the "top" recruits so there will be a lot of "losses" given the high number of offers.
Note that below is only my opinion base on what I have read here and elsewhere on the web.
The primary top targets that I think M would count as lost would be 5-stars Kaindoh (DE from IMG/MD to MD) and Stanford Samuels (CB from FL to FSU). Urban Meyer did a great job locking in almost all the 2017 Ohio kids (that they wanted) early - i.e. before the 2016 class was even signed - so I don't really consider any of them true losses. M will go after OH for the 2018 class and already has 2 4-star+ kids verbally committed.
Current needs remaining in 2017 are:
OL - Probably 6 spots -- 3 committed and pushing hard for several 5-star/high 4-stars - Wilson (NY), Slaton(FL), Leon-Herbert(FL), and Ruiz(NJ via FL). M is also actively in on just about every other (non-committed) top 300 OL east of the Mississippi.
WR - 2 Outside and maybe 1 more for the right athelete -- Top 2 targets are Peoples Jones (MI) and Collins (AL) which are both in the 5-star range. - M presumably leads for both, but it will be a battle until the end. They are also very hign on the list for a top 100-150 kid out of CT (T. Black?) who is probably just behind the other 2 in terms of priority to M. Peoples-Jones will be an EE so we won't have to wait until signing day at least.
DL - Probably 6 spots - 4 committed (2 DE, 2DT) - M in on a few highly rated Samoans from UT and CA on the DT front, and are reported to lead for a rising SR. 3-star SDE/DT from Toledo (Hudson). Also in on a few top flight DEs from CA. Lots of good options here.
LB - Possibly 4 -- 2 commits (ILB-types) - M really needs an OLB this cycle and reportedly leads for high 4-star Singleton from NJ. They are/were also "on the top X lists" of 5-star(s) Moses (IMG) and Browning (TX) but I would be surprised if those pan out.
CB - 2 or 3 -- 1 commit..the unranked Ben St.-Juste from Canada (originally a 2016 commit) is now a 4-star and an Opening invitee. Top remaining target is high 4-star Thomas from MI - he is probably a M-MSU battle - but they are also in on a 5-star from CA (name?) that is a bit of a longshot.
Safety -- 2 or 3 - 1 commit (from AL) and top target Kelly-Powell (MI) is considered a heavy M lean (cousin of DB Thomas and a strong? chance of a package deal). They were shooting for 5-star Okudah from TX but it appears that he is most likely headed to OSU or the SEC.
RB -- 3 - they are "full" at RB with a good mix of player styles but are still are working on 5-star Bama commits (or former Bama commits) Akers (AL?) and Harris (CA). They would find room if either wanted to come to AA.
M's class is currently rated 4th by the 247 composite. This is as much due to numbers (17) as average rankings at present but the remaining commits should almost all be 4 or 5 stars. Experts predict that M will land 2-4 more 5 stars before the end of the cycle.
As noted in the thread OSU is currently recruiting at "historic" levels (have already asked at least one in-state 4-star RB commit to greyshirt) and the only thing that may prevent them from the #1 class this year is class size. In addition to their current haul, they are in the top list of probably another half-dozen 5-stars.
If Michigan's class finishes as expected it should be in the top-5 range and should be a good mix of "elite" and high-upside/high-effort 3 and 4 stars. A highly-successful 2016 season - as expected - should help with the late deciding top targets and may even add some new names to the interest list.
The real bottom line as long as they are all "Harbaugh guys" in terms of effort and attitude (see 3-star RB commit Kurt Taylor from GA) we are in good shape regardless of rankings IMO.
for good M recruiting info are 247's Michigan site (a lot of free info to augment the stuff for subscribers) and Sam Webb's recruiting roundup segment on WTKA each morning which is also available via podcast.
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with something along the lines of "softcore, indeed, buddy" but having read this reply, now I'm actually glad the dude asked. This was helpful. Good work AZB.
not sure why the idea of a "this is the story of the class so far and how we got here" is controversial for some - this is very helpful.
I'm starting a new business, so no one is paying me to read mgoblog at my desk. I like to follow the ups and downs of recruiting, but this year I haven't been able to.
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Self-plug here, but I record literally every offer/commitment at Touch the Banner.
MGoBlog generally hits the big ones that matter most to Michigan.
Peruse either site's recruiting updates and you'll get a pretty good summary.
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I just logged in to post the same thing. Anyone know where alum96 is? I find alum96's absence disturbing.