Buckle up: Colston Loveland and Mario Eugenio
Loveland is a top TE target out of Idaho. 6PM MT is 8PM EST.
Eugenio is a top Edge target out of FL. Both Colston and Eugenio have 100% crystal balls to Michigan.
Let’s get them commitment fireworks going!
Any word on whether either have had a coaches wife sit on their lap?
3*(IL) S Austin Bown is announcing at 2PM ET today as well. We are in his final group with B.C., Illinios, Wisconsin and Northwestern.
Do we have any indication on Brown? He has zero crystal balls which is pretty strange for a guy with a set announcement. I did see on Twitter that a Wisconsin analyst thought it was between them and Illinois.
I'd probably lean not us. Only because there's been really no news. There hasn't been bad news but no news leans closer to bad than good. We'll find out soon enough.
nice dimensions on the loveland kid.
Hope he pans out
Is Eugenio more edge rusher or jumbo DE?
Probably depends on how his body fills out. I thought he’d be more of a big OLB like Hutchinson/Upshaw in this defense. If he can pack on a lot of weight without losing his athleticism, I suppose he could be 5T but that seems unlikely
Coaches must see him as more of a tweener between DL and edge.
Steve Lorenz noted on 247’s free podcast that Josh Josephs is the staff’s #1 edge target (with recent commit Henry being #2). Given the recruiting profile of Eugenio and the priority the staff seems to have placed on landing him, I cannot see him being #3 on that list so he must be targeted for another slot.
I am not a coach or player development expert and am still a bit confused on the positions of this new defense (or at least what we think it will be). Can anyone help me with a few questions? It seems like this new base defense “ideally” would have a big space-eater as NT in the middle and then 2 Mo Hurst/Chris Wormley/ Chris Hinton types (300ish # but still some pass rush ability) at “DL”. Outside of them would be the 2 Edge/OLB types which I envision as Winovich, Jake Ryan, (or a freak like) Rashan Gary types. Is this close to correct? If so isn’t a Hutchison or MacGregor type a bit of a tweener in the system? (To small to play with hand-down but maybe not quite agile enough to cover the LB needs?). Is there a difference between the 2 OLB types or is the design to be symmetrical?
The answer to those questions might help me understand how the M staff see Finkley and Eugenio fitting in this mix - the both seem too small to be able to bulk up to the 300# range but they are listed as Ends or just “DL” targets. I do see Walter Nolan as being a perfect fit for one of the Ends in the 3-4 look (or pretty much anywhere else he would want to play outside of a corner..)
I think you’re partially right about the OLB spot. They do want players like Winovich/ Ryan there but they also want to replicate someone like Matt Judon at that spot who played at 6’3 260lb. That’s essentially a light DE and around where Hutchinson/ Upshaw/ McGregor/ Ojabo play. In this defense, Gary could have been either a 5T DT or one of the jumbo OLBs (sorta like how Green Bay is playing him right now).
I’m not sure what the difference between the two OLBs spot is (if even there is one).
I think Kemp in his natural size would have been a LB here, not Gary
Yeah Gary would have been the ideal “end” in this defense. He has the athleticism to play linebacker technically, but you’d want your DT/Anchor/SDE tweeter types at end here.
I can’t speak to what Michigan will do specifically, but many teams that run the 3-4 will use three “traditional” linebackers and the fourth is that DE/LB tweener type that is big enough to take on blockers but has the athleticism to rush the passer. Which would make sense for the guys like Hutchinson playing LB in the new defense. Your WDE types move to the fourth LB slot to join the more traditional linebackers.
and then 2 Mo Hurst/Chris Wormley/ Chris Hinton types (300ish # but still some pass rush ability) at “DL”
I found this as a revelation the other day when I was watching two Alabama insiders talk about Walter Nolen. I had just assumed all along that Nolen would be NG. But one of them called him a DE. If Michigan is going to run a 3-4 like Alabama, looks like DEs will be big.
(No, I don't think Michigan is getting Walter Nolen.)
Easier said than done, but you’d like a nose at 320+ and your ends at 290+. Then what we considered WDE before would slide up to play the fourth linebacker spot. Guys like Uche/Ojabo are ideal.
This is their recruit for 2022 at Nose. He's with Ed Orgeron in the picture. But he's an Alabama commit.
I refuse to believe that the person pictured is in high school... my goodness
You should watch his game film. What a beast! What would it be like to have a 370 person plop down on top of you on a tackle?
http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11033110/5e287c4dd21b850660467cf5
Good grief. Seems like opposing teams don't even try to block him.
I guess no coach wants to have explain to some kid's parents how he got their son killed by asking him to stand in front of a meteor.
Is that 6pm Mountain time for Loveland?
Yes. 8pm EST
Messing around with the 247 class calculator, if we add these two players we would currently have the number 7 class in the country behind Texas, and just ahead of Texas A&M and Penn State. We are farther ahead than I had thought, but still work to do.
Also note that many of these guys are expected to see significant rises in the rankings as well.
I don’t think the class will finish in the top 10 with the current rankings but it will be interesting to see how much they change when the summer camps are over and 247 & Rivals update their player rankings. We should have a handful of guys who are due for a ratings bump.
Potential in these guys. Eugenio is going to have to work on that first step burst. And I I like Loveland more on defense than offense myself. He has good hands, but not as good as Louis Hansen. He'd have stiff competition at TE for playing time. Loveland is aggressive and exciting on defense. And Michigan's new defense needs EDGE players. Jus sayin.
BTW, Louis Hansen is up to 254 already. That's 22 pounds gained from his high school weight. Apparently, Ben Herbert is impressed by his dedication to the S&C program. Erick All better buckle it up himself and get to work!
I think Louie will be a beast. He's even wearing Megatron's number. It's a wrap.
Is the staff looking at Loveland on D ???
I don't know.
Probably not.
Excellent news! Let's get 'em on-board!!
Is this going to be a Jordan Phillips type of buckle up?
I like this Loveland kid and hope Jim stops wasting time going after these Ga TE that always leave us second.
You mean aside for the one that’s already committed?
double post
We’d been getting them in mid-June. Lorenz put one in today at a 7 confidence though.
I'm a star watcher...tell me stars!
Loveland is 4* on 247. 3* on composite.
Eugenio is a 4* on composite. 3* on 247.
Both are likely candidates to get a rankings bump
Won't matter on MGoBlog...they're not 5 stars or even top 100 players. Doesn't move the needle with this crowd.