blueheron

October 11th, 2023 at 6:54 AM ^

Never mind that guy for a second. Check out #45 on the state of Michigan list (https://247sports.com/Season/2024-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&State=MI), which has several guys from small towns:

https://247sports.com/Player/Isaiah-Atchison-46142425/

I don't think I've ever seen those measurements on a recruiting profile. You can see him around the 2:15 mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcF-ZiY1gOM

I think he needs a PWO spot. :)

Joined: 03/26/2009

MGoPoints: 30930

blueheron

October 11th, 2023 at 10:14 AM ^

If you really squint, you could see another multi-sport athlete (Paul Jokisch, a much heavier guy) from the '80s. (That might be before your time.) It's not easy to see where he'd fit without another sixty pounds.

His 100M (11.08) and 200M (23 flat) times are decent:

https://www.athletic.net/athlete/19815323/track-and-field/high-school

Joined: 03/26/2009

MGoPoints: 30930

Killerspade

October 11th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^

I have some connections to this young man and have see him compete in all 3 sports (fb, bb, track). He's a great person and  definitely has some unique physical characteristics that are intriguing, but I don't see him ever developing into a player that can contribute at the B1G level. He is very raw as an athlete. His competition is fairly low level yet his impact on the field/court is negligible. I was actually quite surprised when I heard he committed to CMU.

Joined: 07/31/2018

MGoPoints: 87

Champeen

October 11th, 2023 at 8:16 AM ^

I don't know a lot about this kid, but 2 things stand out to me....

1) whoever PSU recruits in our state, get on them and flip them.  PSU hit rate on recruits in our state seems high.

2) CJ Carr should not be the number 1 recruit in our state.  CJ Carr is not the #5 overall QB in the country.  CJ Carr being ranked ahead of Jadyn Davis is a joke.  CJ Carr can go to ND.  

Joined: 04/07/2011

MGoPoints: 14961

KBLOW

October 11th, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^

The Athletic runs a weekly article with a paragraph and stats of the top 10 HS QB recruits. Just from reading that it looks like Jayden is much more accurate than CJ and that his overall numbers are better, too. However, the writeups rarely ever discuss the level of competition the QBs face, so it isn't really clear which of the top 10 is better or not, but the writer did say in the latest iteration that Jayden and one other guy (going to FSU IIRC) are having the best years so far.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 22581

S.G. Rice

October 11th, 2023 at 9:02 AM ^

Question:  Is it really crootin' when the prospect is an uncommitted 3 star? 

Seems like crootin' usually involves a borderline five star, some snake oil and yoinking the guy away under dubious circumstances.

And then you've got full-on CROOTIN with McDonald's bags full of cash, visits that cost more than the GNP of Denmark, Hugh Freeze or Lane Kiffin being involved in some way and complaints to PAWWWWWWL when teams get jilted.

This appears to be regular old recruiting of a kid who looks like he could be a much better player than his ranking suggests.  Do want, TBD if the coaching staff feels the same.

Joined: 07/18/2008

MGoPoints: 23187

King Tot

October 11th, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^

They discussed him recently on the Recruiting Insider. They said he played CB and locked people down but could bulk up to LB. He feels like a natural fit for the "recruit athlete and figure it out later" strategy. 

Joined: 11/29/2016

MGoPoints: 19264

Kilgore Trout

October 11th, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^

I was at the Clarkston / Northville game early in the season and he definitely stood out to the point that I looked him up. I am the farthest thing from a talent evaluator, but at least among that group of players he was noticeable. 

Joined: 02/20/2009

MGoPoints: 13178

theWritist

October 11th, 2023 at 10:36 AM ^

Thanks for posting...I don't know what made me click through to watch, but something did, and lo and behold the winning team is my hometown. Brought back memories of windy, frigid, and bad football.

Now I teach at a high school in Charleston, SC with hot, buggy, and even worse football. At least we got waxed by CJ Stokes's (also Jordan Birch's) high school. That was fun.

Joined: 02/13/2015

MGoPoints: 1680

CliffSnotes

October 11th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^

I'm a Clarkston resident, and I've seen Des play about a dozen football games, and about a dozen basketball games.  I would love to see him end up at Michigan. 

A couple of items for reference: Clarkston is a pretty deep team, so a lot of players play only one way. Brody Kosin is a TE committed to Indiana, and I've only seen him on defense for Hail Marys (he's 6'6" and the center on the basketball team).  Also, last year, Clarkston had a workhorse RB Ethan Clark who signed with Princeton and seemed to carry about 40 times a game.  Based on Des's workload last year, I was expecting to see Des become the workhorse RB.  That hasn't been the case. 

I'm guessing they are trying to limit his wear and tear.  But he is all over the field.  He returns punts, plays WR, runs reverses / end arounds / sweeps, is the Wildcat QB on 4th and short and two point conversions, and probably throws a pass out of the wildcat or a jet sweep every third game.  The Wildcat formation with 10 blockers and Des taking a direct snap is Clarkston's standard on those critical plays.  He probably gets 10-15 touches per game, but they are often the most critical.

He is noticeable on defense too, from coverage and interceptions, to sacks.  Even against West Bloomfield a few weeks ago, his athleticism stood out.  West Bloomfield has 5 of the top 25 players in the state in the senior class, last I checked, and two of the top 15 juniors.

Based on his recruiting profile, it seems that he is targeted for safety, but I see him as a bit stronger/thicker than Paige or Moore, so I'm thinking a better comp is Michael Barrett.  An HSP that develops into a LB and is a secret weapon on Special Teams for throwing/running fakes.

I don't know much about him personally, but a neighbor with a 10th grade son on JV said that Des personally reached out to his son to get him to join him in the weight room, and said Des is very hard working and pushes himself and the younger kids.

So, as far as a Harbaugh guy, Des checks boxes of hard working, leadership, versatility, athleticism, and multi-sport star.

BTW, Des is always the most powerful and strongest player on the basketball court, but still has elite speed and quickness for the OAA.  I've seen Des play Rochester Adams on the basketball court twice last year, and against Brady Prieskorn.  And Des was certainly the more aggressive player.  (Prieskorn was active and aggressive on the football field - he was a scary opponent at DE and based on one game, I'd love to see him give DE a try - but seemed pretty mellow and "take it as it comes" on the court).

 

Joined: 10/19/2012

MGoPoints: 237