Cornerback recruiting
Looking at Ohio playing, I think cornerback recruiting is going to be a very important factor in beating the buckeyes and making it the cfp in the coming years. I am not fully a stargazer but I feel like having kids highly ranked at each position gives you teams that can compete in the cfp. I wanted to start with corner and compare overall ranked cbs in the recruiting classes of M, Ohio, Georgia and Bama over the last few years:
M: 2021: 1 corner #556 overall. 2022: 2 corners #20 and #580 overall
OSU: 2021: 2 corners #50 and 73 overall. 2022: 2 corners # 155 and 336 overall
UGA 2021: 3 corners #72, 248, 644 overall 2022: 3 corners #21, 29, 90 overall
Bama: 2021: 3 corners: #18 and 258 overall (plus the #2 juco corner) 2022: 2 corners #101 and 104
As you can see the other 3 teams have managed to stock their cupboards with highly-ranked kids where it seems like if one or two of them don’t work out there are plenty of others who probably will. With us it seems like we’re hanging it all on Will Johnson and then hoping we can find gold in kids ranked in the second half of the top 1000. 1-2 5 stars doesn’t make a team but if we are going to have the horses to consistently beat Ohio and challenge teams like bama and UGA we need to have depth at ALL of our positions on the field.
January 1st, 2022 at 9:53 PM ^
It’$ amazing how tho$e team$ do it.
January 1st, 2022 at 9:57 PM ^
True. I also think we have paid some of our players. Probably not to the same extent that uga has and definitely not what Texas a and m did this season (even with nil this is ridiculous- 15 top 100 players. https://247sports.com/college/texas-am/Season/2022-Football/Commits/
But yes hopefully nil redistributes some of this talent. The landscape for California kids is definitely going to change.
January 2nd, 2022 at 1:16 PM ^
Steve Clinkscale is going to bring a needed change in this area. It is an area of need, just like interior D Line is an area of great need at Michigan.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:08 PM ^
With NIL it’s basically legal to pay them, so that excuse is dead.
This year we proved you don’t need great corners if you have great pressure coming from the front 7. Most guys can cover for 2.5 seconds. We have to be elite at either coverage or pressuring the QB. Replacing the rush from Hutch and Ojabo (assuming he doesn’t return) will be the key to the defense next year.
January 2nd, 2022 at 7:29 AM ^
Which may be the best part of NIL…
January 2nd, 2022 at 10:52 AM ^
But if all you have is great rushers and no speed on the outside you are vulnerable to death by paper cut with the wide receiver screens. Give UGA credit. There was really nothing Macdonald could do to stop it.
January 2nd, 2022 at 2:30 PM ^
This! OSU had a field day because the WR were often running free and Stroud had a clean pocket. The WR made two incredible catches too. Incredible catches are fine. The rest was schemed poorly
January 1st, 2022 at 9:54 PM ^
NIL will hopefully be the great equalizer.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:01 PM ^
We got a 5 star corner in this class. You can't build a defense around 5 star corners in the Big 10 unless you're OSU. So you need to find the right guys that commit to a scheme that frustrates a team like OSU and opens the possibility for your offense to win. We will probably never keep OSU under 30 points again, so we need to focus on keeping them as close to 30 as possible while we find a way to score 31 or more.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:10 PM ^
Yes Will Johnson is a potentially very exciting player. Not all 5 stars live up to their potential but hopefully he will. I would just love to see us recruit 2 guys in the top 100 per class. Guys that could very well bust out our wed at least have consistent opportunity for high-level play. With our pedigree and success I don’t know why we’re not doing that.
let’s say that Will Johnson turns into a Jeffrey Okudah like character and can lock down osu’s #1 guy. The problem is their 2-4 guys are all monsters as well. I think we need to work on building a more complete team. One that doesn’t leave wide open positional gaps.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:57 PM ^
Will Johnson will have better coverage skills than Jeff Okudah next year.
You may have heard “Will Johnson will be better than college Jeff Okudah” what I said was Will Johnson will have better coverage skills than Jeff Okudah next year. If you are still confused, watch a Lions game.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:01 PM ^
I agree we have great talent but not like those other top 4 schools that have multiple 5*s at all position groups. On any day, our team can be motivated to beat Ohio, Georgia and even Bama but I think if you have the best teachers who can coach 4 stars up and you have great game time coaches, you can hang with the best of them. This is what I think our team building philosophy is now.
We got caught reading our own press clippings and marveling at all the awards we won after a great Big Ten season. I almost hate the 3-4 week lay-off till bowl season because it changes the team chemistry. I have no doubt that if we had kept playing each week after the Iowa game nobody in America could have beat us, we had that "eye of the tiger" and wouldn't be denied. The days off, holidays and the fact that we had accomplished our goals of beating Ohio and wining the big ten, makes it hard to re-calibrate your sights to winning a Natty, when your not use to competing for it year in and year out.
The team lost focus. We didn't game plan enough to beat Georgia the way we did against Ohio. Bottom line is they were more physical on the line than we were. Our pass rush wasn't effective like it was in conference play. Our pass protection was weak and we were really not prepared for how good and fast their skilled players were. Our skilled players were at least equal but the game was lost up front on the offensive and defensive line. They pushed us around in the first half, when it counted the most and we couldn't recover. In the meantime, if we cant get all 5*s, then hiring the best teachers and coaching our 4.5 star players up will keep us in the conversation.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:46 PM ^
Thing is that we don’t have 4.5s everywhere. We have very solid players and then some glaring holes. Corner is one of them. I think dj turner did a great job this year but we had a roster hole that shouldn’t exist. My point is that all of these elite teams—even if they’re not getting 5 stars. Are getting multiple highly ranked kids at each position so they’re 2 deep with talent. I would personally rather have 2 kids ranked in the 100s-200s rather than 1 guy ranked 15 and another ranked 600. Exception Dax Hill. He was a game changer this year. We asked a lot of him and he stepped up again and again. Our future at safety looks very solid btw with Rj Moten Morant, and the true freshmen coming in.
January 2nd, 2022 at 2:31 PM ^
Quite the revelation, it helps to recruit the top players at every position year after year. I'm not sure what other point you are trying to make.
It's not like this is the NFL and you're suggesting what position to use their first round pick on. Michigan isn't sacrificing CB recruiting by going after players at other positions or vice versa.
January 2nd, 2022 at 12:06 AM ^
"you can't build a defense around 5 star corners"
Charles Woodson would like a word. ...
You can build a d around elite talent. This year was built in Hutch. However, it is helpful to have more than 1 elite player.
January 2nd, 2022 at 1:47 AM ^
That's not my point. I meant we won't have multiple five star corners at the same time to match against OSUs multiple five star receivers. Rest of my point is outlined above.
January 2nd, 2022 at 9:13 AM ^
Maybe if you watched college football at all the last few years, you’d notice the teams that have incredibly talented QB/WRs are throwing the ball all over these teams with highly ranked corners too.
If your solution to stopping OSU’s multiple five star WRs is to recruit higher ranked corners, you’re in for a rude awakening. It’s not going to work. You’re not going to stop them.
Your best bet is to do what we did. Slow them down by avoiding huge plays and button down in the redzone and force field goals. Keep their scoring output low enough that your own offense has a puncher’s chance. You’re never going to “match” them.
January 2nd, 2022 at 4:08 PM ^
Not saying we need the 1 and 2 corners every class but with our biggest rival being an air raid team, and without us having a generational talent at defensive end (something we’re very good at having btw) I worry our coverage will be exposed. It just seems to be as opposed to other positions that we have the biggest gap in terms of highly ranked corners.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:01 PM ^
Defensive line and an elite QB are what is needed to win a National Championship. Also OSUs corners are pretty trash.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:10 PM ^
From a correlation standpoint though, Ohio State’s most successful playoff-bound seasons were when their secondary were anchored by guys like Eli Apple/Marshon Lattimore/Denzel Ward/Conley/Okudah/Arnette.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:09 PM ^
Agreed in part but Ohio's best season's were anchored by a RB named ezekiel elliott and a hall of fame coach named urban meyer. I have a feeling that they will become quite mortal in the years to come.
January 2nd, 2022 at 12:01 AM ^
Also OSUs corners are pretty trash.
They have great athletes. Suspect coaching.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:02 PM ^
I think we can stop the stars don't matter discussion after last night. We get about 0-1 5 star a year which is not enough.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:51 PM ^
2 points:
#1: without Daxton Hill Jaxson Smith-Njigba essentially does to us what he did to Utah
#2: I look more at rankings than stars. I would rather have a recruiting classss built with 5 kids in the top 100, 10 in the top 200 and 5-10 in the top 200+. For reference between 2018-2021 Georgia had 12,9,11, and 8 kids ranked in the TOP 100 alone. Comparatively for a Michigan we had 7 total (3 in 2019 and 4 in 2021)
January 1st, 2022 at 11:01 PM ^
Imagine watching the OSU game and thinking Dax was on JSN the whole game.
By the way, DJ Turner isn’t a converted running back.
January 2nd, 2022 at 12:43 AM ^
#1: without Daxton Hill Jaxson Smith-Njigba essentially does to us what he did to Utah
WTF? Did you watch us play OSU?
January 2nd, 2022 at 9:16 AM ^
Re point #2: please send that suggestion in to Jim. He’ll get right on that.
January 2nd, 2022 at 9:44 AM ^
"#1: without Daxton Hill Jaxson Smith-Njigba essentially does to us what he did to Utah"
How does the Ohio State - Michigan game this year not proved your statement is incorrect.. Wasn't both players in the game and Hill did not always cover Smith-Njigba?
Seems like a bad statement in that Michigan defensive line mitigated as much on the secondary challenges more? I think as another poster stated (and the Georgia game showed)... Adding pressure to the QB would mitigate any challenges the secondary have..
Again, not taking away from either of the two players but Utah is not Michigan..
January 1st, 2022 at 10:06 PM ^
I would argue an elite pass rush is more likely to shut down/contain a potent passing game than an elite defensive backfield. With the job the staff did recruiting the incoming class, Michigan should be fine in the defensive backfield so long as they have guys who can step up and generate a pass rush.
Elite corners are a great luxury to have for sure, but competent corners with a great pass rushing front seven is more likely to get a great passing team off their game.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:12 PM ^
Exactly. I’m not saying we need the number 1 2 and 3 corners in the class. But maybe 2 ranked in the top 200-300 per class. Same with other positions. Just no more positional recruiting misses. Players are ok to miss on. Positions are not.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:17 PM ^
Agreed. Elite edge rushing makes a corners job much easier.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:30 PM ^
Elite rushers (not just edge guys) make a difference. See UGA. Their D line across the board wreaked havoc last night. It was total chaos for Cade and JJ all night. Cade and JJ are bad mofos just for hanging in like they did. But UGAs D line is what we need to be consistently elite. Create chaos for the other team's QB and we can dictate what the offense does. Much easier said than done, but that's the goal.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:06 PM ^
In fairness to our O-Line, which is deserving of all of the awards they got, this GA d-line is once in a generation elite. Yes, they just reload with 5 stars, but even this group is historically good for even the SEC.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:31 PM ^
I agree with you all. neither our D-line or our O-line looked like what we had been seeing all year. Again, we must keep that in perspective. We played better in the 2nd half. I think we actually outscored them 8 to 7 in the second half. We had 3 or 4 opportunities to score and didn't come away with any points. We simply got socked in the mouth in the first half and couldn't recover or mount a consistent offense. Our 2nd half play proved we had the capability to play with them but that Nakobe Dean kid was an animal and the guy we thought was an animal was not even at the zoo last night.
January 2nd, 2022 at 2:55 PM ^
Were they better than Clemsons dline that wrecked Bama? Same level imo.
point is imo recruiting a great dline across the board leads to titles! We need to focus on elite lines and qb first! Everyone wants elite athletes…. Get elite lines and they make your athletes better, the elite athletes will follow!
January 1st, 2022 at 10:55 PM ^
And great d tackles make amazing edge rushers elite. Mazi and Hinton stepping up this year made it possible for hutch and ojabo to go bananas. We had a few years where we wiffed on d tackles and now we have a matured smith and Hinton (#s 102 and 105 in their class respectively iirc). And now we have some freshman ready to mature behind them.
January 2nd, 2022 at 8:46 AM ^
And vice versa...
Elite corners give the DL more time to rush the QB.
We don't even need all elite players to be great, but there were probably 3 positions on each side of the ball that weren't good enough.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:10 PM ^
I don’t know if guarding JSN is possible. Slow him down and not do what Utah did the whole game…maybe. Dudes a freak athlete and possibly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. OSU is actually starting to slip in development compared to their roster. At least for now.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:54 PM ^
JSN is the Reggie Bush of college WRs.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:56 PM ^
Dax Hill was able to control/contain him. Without Dax Hill I think we lose the Ohio game. What he did against him not silencing him but not letting him run wild is about as good as you can hope for against him and I think jsns performance today boosts Dax’s draft stock.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:13 PM ^
JSN did what he does against Michigan (10ish catches for 150ish yards), I don't think it really had any impact at all on Dax's draft status at all. Also don't think Dax was matched up with him on every snap. The OSU game was a great defensive effort, including the backfield, but Smith-Njibga is an elite talent that pretty much always gets his, and Michigan conceded that.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:12 PM ^
You need a pass rush and athletic linebackers. Give any Quarterback enough time and he’ll chew up most corners and D backs…
January 1st, 2022 at 10:58 PM ^
I agree. I would also say you need great d tackles (something we now finally have some depth at) to help out your edge rushers. I’m going to put together a similar analysis for linebacker in the coming days.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:24 PM ^
There is not one original thought in this post.
Thanks Captain Obvious. We’ll make a note that great talent gives us a better chance to win.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:59 PM ^
No what I’m saying is that Michigan has tremendous gaps at positions of need. I’m also saying 1 5 star corner won’t put the team on his back.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:25 PM ^
I’m more concerned with UM’s safeties of late.
Jourdan Lewis, David Long, Ambry Thomas… UM’s had some pretty good corners. Though recency bias has us wondering what the hell Vincent Gray was doing last night. And no one will forget Brandon Watson against OSU.
But at safety? Tyree Kinnel, Josh Metellus, Brad Hawkins… Solid guys, great competitors, great teammates, but couldn’t come close to covering against better opponents. At times it feels like I was in the 8th grade when Brad Hawkins started his first game for UM. No interceptions.
By no means is anyone demanding Ed Reed back there, but when’s the last time Michigan had a safety who patrolled the back end of the defense and was any type of a difference maker? Peppers played more of a LB role in the box than he did in the secondary. Dax Hill’s contributions have been more on the blitz and in covering the slot.
Can Moore, Moten, Sabb, etc. improve this part of the defense?
January 1st, 2022 at 10:53 PM ^
Safety is one of those positions by design schematically that just doesn't show up in the stat sheet on a good defense, aside from truly elite players (Tyrann Mathieu is the latest example I can think of). Michigan really hasn't had any guy at the position of that caliber in my life time (born in the mid 80's). Delano Hill started for a very good Seahawks defense a few years back, and he was very good at Michigan. Daxton is a terrific player, but he is more of a hybrid DB than a true safety.
January 1st, 2022 at 11:02 PM ^
Dax this year has been our multi tool. He has stepped in to the toughest assignments and covering for deficiencies elsewhere in the secondary. I think our 2022 recruiting defensive backfield is what we need to do on a yearly basis id like to see 2 corners and 2 safeties in the top 200 overall. I would just like to see us add one more corner for next years class.
January 2nd, 2022 at 8:30 AM ^
Moore will end up as our best safety in 30 years.
January 1st, 2022 at 10:31 PM ^
McFarlin, is that you?