Defensive recruiting so far.
It's only June so lets hold off on the three star comments and all the concern. As far as defensive recruiting goes, let me give you guys my run down.
DT - We need currently have zero commits. This is the most concerning part about our 2010 class. We need at least 1 Solid DT in this class. 2 would be the safest bet.
Defensive End - This position is a little harder to judge so far. We have 3 "deathbackers" commited. As far as who is going to be a true defensive end is yet to be seen. I think we are in good shape here. Wilkins, Paskorz, and Kinard all have the frame to add weight and become solid pass rushers. With Roh and Lalota here or on the way, I think we are almost set here for a while.
Linebacker - This position is prolly the most stacked on defense. Marvin Robinson was a BIG commit for us. We have a lot of outside linebackers. With all these "deathbackers" I think we may only need to sign one more. We are however in desperate need for a true inside linebacker.
Conerback and Saftey - We again have zero commits. 2 or 3 commits are needed. We are thin here and need more depth here.
That's all I got. I know it's not Brian quality but, what do you guys think of the current defensive commits?
...Marvin Robinson will remain a safety.
You think he is fast enough to be a legit safety? (Honest Question)
Totally. That dude is a machine.
Yes. Speed is overrated at safety. It's more about positioning, reading plays, and reaction time. Brandent Englemon was a decent free safety, and Robinson is a much better athlete than Englemon.
if you are a good safety you don't need speed because you will be able to read a play and be in the right spot when needed. If you have speed you can make more mistakes because upir speed allows you to make up for that.
So I would rather have a good or great safety that is in the right spot than a fast safety that can recover quickly
Yeah true, there have been some slow safeties. Jon Lynch comes to mind.
Taylor Mays II.
I think it's June. But we need more defensive commits.
..We now have 4 defensive commits. I'll be shocked if at least 8 or 9 more commits aren't defensive (positionally, not personality-wise).
Will everyone please calm down about the defensive recruits..
Everyone gets so Defensive about it.
It seems we have a handful of top DBs who are high on Michigan and just haven't pulled the trigger. Doesn't mean they are definite commits or are going to sign in February but it's one of the defensive positions I'm not too worried about. And for DT, we seem to be in a good spot for Floyd and Hankins should commit if he gets offered at camp this summer which is likely.
Another thing to remember is that last November players like DRob, Washington, and Stokes weren't on many peoples lists of the final class. Its still early and while we look good for a lot of your positions of concern, there are also kids out there who none of us have heard of or considered for Michigan, who will be in the class.
I can see Jerald Robinson at Free Safety considering 1) The other two/three outside receivers in the class and 2) Limited safety prospects at this point (L. Anderson from Ohio, and who else are we targeting at this time?)
Brandon Ifill - Pittsburgh, PA
Michael Coley - Hyattsville, MD
Lorenzo Waters - Hyattsville, MD
Jeff Knox - Hyattsville, MD
Bobby Swigert - Lousville, OH
Kurtis Drummond - Hubbard, OH
Marquis Flowers - Goodyear, AZ
Sean Parker - Harbor City, CA
Dion Bailey - Lakewood, CA
Chad Hagan - Canonsburg, PA
Bashaud Breeland - Allendale, SC
Keenan Allen - Greensboro, NC
How many safeties do you think we will take?
Depending on the amount of CB's we get, if CC commits he could also play safety.
Which safeties are you high on, Magnus? Who do you think we have a shot at?
Wilkins talked about helping to recruit CC and Ifill so hopefully that will help.
Latwan Anderson, Sean Parker, and Keenan Allen are the first three safeties I would want that we've offered. However, we have virtually no shot at Allen and only a slightly better chance with Parker, I think. We're closest with Anderson.
I think we'll take two sure safeties and perhaps a guy who might play another position (Jerald Robinson being that other guy, perhaps).
Those players are listed in order of who I think we have the best shots at. Ifill is #1, and I think we might be making some inroads into Maryland. If we can get Andre Givens, I think Drummond might follow. I don't know where Swigert is leaning, but I kind of like him.
Holy Safety Batman
Out of that list who are really favoring Michigan
I think we have a good chance at Ifill and Drummond but would definitely like to hear what other people think.
I think the only one who might be "favoring" Michigan is Ifill. I think there's a lot of work to do with the others.
That being said, I don't know that the coaches are recruiting these safeties very hard. I have a feeling that this class of safeties is going to be made up of guys like Jerald Robinson (WR/S), Cullen Christian (CB/S), Marvin Robinson (S/LB), Rashad Knight (CB/S)...guys who can play multiple positions. So I wouldn't necessarily expect that the guys listed above are guys who will be playing safety in the Maize & Blue.
and this is just epinion, but RichRod can go fuck himself if he doesn't get 7 or 8 4* defensive recruits. Marvin Robinson is the only player that's ever coming off the bench, IMHE. Time to step it up, DickRod.
No, RichRod needs 5* for SKILL, 3* for DEPTH.
I'm assuming (hoping?) that this post is sarcasm. If so, you need funnier sarcasm. This just didn't do it for me.
You're better than taking Huss seriously.
I didn't think it was serious. It was just a little harsh for sarcasm. I prefer mine dry or maybe a little jokey.
Huss' ad hominem attacks are 100x better than his undirected harsh sarcasm.
See I hate those. "Douchebag" is just so hurtful.
not only make ass of YOU but also EMUs
So we don't want to make an ass out of Clausen?
I'm not saying we don't want to, but Clausen does it well enough on his own, that we don't have to.
It's reasonable to expect that ramping up the recruiting to fit RR's offense and Gerg's defense will take more than one year. There are undoubtedly guys who for a variety of reasons might be iffy on Michigan at this point (3-9 most prominent among them) and there's no point worrying about them. Trying to persuade a guy like Brennan Clay with no real ties to Michigan other than Forcier to pick us over a program that has been in three national championship games this decade, including last year, is not an easy thing. IF we have the progress in '09 that we all want, then RR will be well-positioned to sell the program even more effectively than he's done so far. Considering the relentlessly bad press he's gotten over the last 18 months and the disaster of last season, I think the recruiting is going pretty well.
Do you think Rich Rod hasnt offered DT's and DB's? Its not like he controls the decisions by these high school players. They will commit when they feel it is best suited and in the mean time just chill out.
Another things with lower star guys, does it really matter what ESPN, Rivals, or Scouts really thinks about high school players? RichRob was able to make a bunch of artards that nobody knew about into a power in the Big East (say what you want about the conference, they were nothing until RichRod). RichRod is recruiting far superior football players than when he was at West Virginia. Hell the guy went 3-9 and rolled in a top 8 recruiting class. Can you image what he is gonna do this year and next? Its going to be unbelievable.
Easy off the panic button guys. Have faith because if he could make West Virginia into a football power in the Big East then we are in for a treat.
I don't think it's that people doubt that RichRob, as you put it, was able to be pretty successful at WVU with 2 and 3 star recruits. The concern is more that he should be able to recruit much better athletes here. He didn't recruit 3 star kids because he could get the 5 stars and didn't want them, he got the 3 star kids because those are the only ones who would go to Morgantown.
My mindset is, "if he could be that good with 2 and 3 star kids, he should light the world on fire with 4 and 5 stars."
I'm not getting all hung up on the number of stars, but it's not like a 3 star is better for the spread than a 4 star. I'd like for him to not have to "make do" any longer, and just flat out kick the shit outta fools.
Yes and no. I think that it really isn't fair to make blanket statements about star rankiings personally. I'm sure the staff determines the strengths and weaknesses of the prospects and I am sure that they would rather take a mobile faster o-lineman than a big guy who is slower and better at pass pro even if the first guy is a three star and the second guy is a four star. That's obvious with quarterbacks, but the whole offense is based on a scheme which doesn't necessarily mesh with any rankings that Scout, Rivals, etc. comes out with. This is not to say that I'd rather have lower rated players, but if there is a player that the staff likes, and is rated lower than a player that they aren't sure of, I'd take the one that the staff likes. He competes for 5 stars that fit the system (Prater and Henderson hopefully) even after last year. RichRod will take higher rated players if he wants 'em but if he doesn't, then he won't take them.
He was "flat kicking the shit outta fools" at WVU, look at Georgia and Oklahoma, and how they fared against his players. We should have better ones, and the Georgias and Oklahomas of college football should lose to RichRod's better players. Of course, he's a great recruiter, and from his and Lloyd's class there is a good upside, and his first class looks to be great. 2010 is shaping up well, and I'm sure '11, '12, '13 and many others will follow. the future success of his teams should only increase the rating's opinions of the classes, their star rankings etc. but I think RichRod would still bring in his players - the players that fit the system.
OK, maybe I wasn't very clear (always a possibility). I certainly don't think RR should take a player that is a poor fit just because he's rated higher. I don't think we should take a 4 star hulking OT over a perfect fit RR OT who is a 3 star. Because of his style, there will be few highly rated lineman who also are perfect for us. But this is not the case for all positions.
For the positions where this is the case, I want us to get the Nu'keese Richardson's of the world instead of the Drew Dileo's. Not that he won't be good, just that he won't be one of the best in that class, likely.
It doesn't seem as if he is going to be playing much on the O line so why not move him back to DT? With this year's DT class being down it could at least buy another year.
Moosman will graduate after this year and Ferrara will have a shot at starting when he's a senior.
but keep in mind we're still very early in the process. The commitments so far come from guys who are just happy to have an offer from Michigan, so they jump right away. I would like to see the team come on strong in the fall when there are some results on the field.
It's okay to have guys with potential who may be rated lower right now, but let's be honest, anyone would rather have 5 stars. So hopefully that'll come as the season progresses and the program becomes more established.
im still very concerned about linebacker. especially if m. robinson stays at linebacker, im not sure how many viable starters are coming out of this class so far. i think people got so caught up in our dline during the 2006 and 2007 seasons that they didnt give due credit to our lbackers. burgess, crable and harris were, to put it mildly, key to our defensive success. and right now, both on the roster and in the 2009 and 2010 recruiting classes, i dont see anyone with that caliber of talent (especially at mlb)
everybody would love to see a roster full of 4 and 5 stars but look at it this way. Carr was able to get those type of players and you can seriously say that he under performed with his talent and/or those players just never really panned out and were overrated. Its not like Carr was racking 10 and 11 wins every year and his talent level according to Rivals and Scouts was tremendous. Hell we even dumb down our schedule just to get some wins, and then split with the top Big Ten teams.
We have to remember that just because guys are 3 stars doesnt mean that they arent as good as the 4 and 5 star guys, it could simply be that they come from smaller schools, different offensive systems, along with other factors. This is not your typical Michigan team from the past when we were lining in the backfield in the I-Formation and pounding the ball. This is a smaller, quicker type of offense where it is almost a finesse type of offense. You need the scat backs that our under size, the smaller weight lineman that can move, and the smaller receivers who will be going out on short routes rather then the deep ball.
Michigan's offense is something unique in which you scout different players. Maybe it could be that the big powerful lineman just wont make it in this type of offense (exception to Jake Long because he was just a freakish athlete). So while the prototypical NFL prospects get the higher grade while the RichRod lineman are under the radar. Like i was saying before, its not like RichRod isnt offering the highly touted defensive players. They could be bringing in a very nice secondary the time signing day comes around. But its up to the players to decide where he wants to play not the Michigan coaching staff. RichRod seems to be pulling out all sorts of things to get recruits to Ann Arbor and its not a lack of not trying.
you don't have to concede five star and high four star players just because of the system. Every system requires good players and there are plenty of five and high four star players who fit the offense. I'm sure RR will agree. Vincent Smith may never be a five star because of his diminutive stature, but the reason why he wasn't a four star despite his impressive numbers against good competition was his lack of top end speed. I'm not saying Smith is a bad player, but if he had more top end speed he would obviously have better upside.
Offensively, there probably won't be any five stars at QB and OL just because of the system's focus on smaller, faster, quicker, more mobile guys who don't have traditional size. However, that doesn't mean there aren't any five star and high four star RBs and WRs who are fast, quick and mobile. Defensively, the system now in place (the USC defense), is especially tailored for five star and high four star players, as USC's defenses over the years clearly demonstrate.
So I think we would all like to see those types of players, especially on defense. Those types of players will thrive under any system.