DeVondrick Nealy
We still lead for DeVondrick Nealy and he has narrowed it down to a top three of Michigan, Arkansas, and Auburn. He is a RB who seems underrated on both sites (3 stars) despite having a lot of solid offers.
October 20th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^
Destined to be a Slot Receiver, IMO.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:41 PM ^
"Okay, super time, leetle guy who runs fast...but is for me now...to bring...a backer of the line...and BIG LARGE MENS...to keeck the shit out of other team football guys wit dee ball???"
--My Polish Grandmother
October 21st, 2010 at 1:10 PM ^
True fact.
October 20th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^
We've been the leader since he left his visit.
http://mgoblog.com/diaries/tvh-weekly-visit-reactions-wayne-lyons-and-karlos-williams
October 20th, 2010 at 5:58 PM ^
I edited it to make it clearer. I completely forgot about that weekly update from the beginning of last week, thanks Tom.
October 20th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^
Question is..would we accept his commitment at this time. I'm sure we'd like to have him, but I wonder if we've got our eyes on other priorities first.
October 20th, 2010 at 6:02 PM ^
I don't think UM has offered many potential slot receivers for 2011, so I can't think why they would not take a commit from Nealy.
October 20th, 2010 at 6:22 PM ^
The only uncommitted guys I can think of are Nealy, Shuler and Holloway.
October 20th, 2010 at 6:20 PM ^
This kid's name sounds too much like Shavodrick Beaver and Bryce McNeal. Bad omen.
October 20th, 2010 at 9:12 PM ^
Had the exact same thought and was just about to say it...pretty funny
October 20th, 2010 at 6:23 PM ^
I'll try again.
5 Slots receivers on the roster: Grady (JR), Roundtree (SO), Robinson (SO), Gallon (FR), Dileo (FR)
That doesn't even included the 2 outside WR who can play slot: Odoms (JR) and Stokes (SO). Nor does it include the RB who can play slot: Smith (SO) and probably Shaw (JR).
Compare to 2 TEs: Koger (JR), Moore (SO) .
Compare to 3 OTs (at 2 positions): Huyge (JR), Schofield (FR), Lewan (FR)
Even QB, the most important position on the field, will only have 4 scholarships devoted to it next year.
Thats without even getting to the defensive side of the ball where depth is also thinner at most positions.
Why is the coaching staff placing such an emphasis on stockpiling talent at position that is (relatively) easy to fill? Why is the depth at this contrast so sharply to most other positions?
Nothing against Nealy, but the staff's decision-making as it relates to roster management is curious.
October 20th, 2010 at 6:48 PM ^
I have a feeling RR and co. aren't super happy with the slot position. Roundtree has been excellent obviously, but outside of him there hasn't been anyone really step up. Grady has shown flashes, Robinson had that one catch against UConn. Gallon looks promising.
It's also a thing of speed, I would think. Look at Gallon's bubble screen on last Saturday. No one but Denard has that kind of explosiveness on our offense. We have some fast guys(Stonum, Shaw, Hemingway) but no one really has that game breaking explosiveness to turn a 2 yard play into 80. Gallon does and I think we'll see more of him going forward. I think RR is looking to find more of those players. It may result in a few guys that don't pan out and get little playing time.
I think the reward outweighs the risk, and despite the prevailing thought that "RR only recruits slot ninjas!" he hasn't really brought in that many. From the list above, he's recruited 4 slots in 3 years? That seems relatively normal for any program.
October 20th, 2010 at 7:19 PM ^
Odoms was also recruited as a slot, so you can add him to Dileo, Gallon, Robinson. Roundtree and Stokes were recruited to play both, so lets split them and make it 5. Also, Shaw, Jones, Smith (and Austin White) were recruited as RBs who might be used as Slots.
1 player per year, per position, seems reasonable, yet RR is vastly surpasing that rate for this position, despite the depth issues at other positions. There are no TEs in 2012, few OL in 2013, and defense has a number of concerns. In normal circumstances, getting one slot each year might make sense, but theres simply too many needs to enjoy the luxury of so many people who are limited to this one position.
Roundtree is around for 2 more years. Gallon, who I agree looks promising, 3. I think Michigan should use extreme restraint in pursuing additional players for this position.
October 21st, 2010 at 12:45 AM ^
You lost me when you said the words "fast and Hemingway".
October 20th, 2010 at 6:50 PM ^
but why would a TE want to come here when we don't hardly ever use them in the passing game?
October 20th, 2010 at 6:59 PM ^
I think some TEs -should- be interested in coming here. A lot of NFL teams are using H-backs and 2 TE sets more now. NFL teams are wanting guys that can block really well(Alge Crumpler still has a job despite being awful as a receiver cause he can block really well). Koger and Webb have been excellent this year at blocking and the few times they've gotten passes thrown their way. I think NFL scouts will notice this. Now it's not flashy, so I'm not sure how easy it'll be to convince big time TEs to come here, at least until we can point to guys like Koger going to the pros despite getting few receptions in college.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:16 PM ^
Have to agree. Algae has really been growing on me.
October 20th, 2010 at 6:32 PM ^
Man, these are talented guys we have been recruiting. I like to hit google and read on each guy that gets mentioned. I watch the videos and read the all the blurbs I can find.
When the experience level on this defense catches up with the offense, look out.
What Rodriguez has done offensively in two years with really only 2 recruiting classes is impressive.
Done with all the negative fog all over the place too. We are gonna be more than fine.
October 21st, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^
is a good playmaker which is what RR wants.He might play a little rb,but mostly slot receiver.