Donovan Peoples-Jones: How realistic our are chances to get him?

Submitted by Photogenic on
So I've been reading about The Opening, and Donovan Peoples-Jones scored highest out of anyone at the event. Considering that he's a 2017 and will undoubtedly keep improving, he has a very strong chance to be a Top 5 overall prospect once 2017 rankings are final. I don't know a ton about his recruitment, but he strikes me as a "must get" prospect, especially coming out of Cass Tech, which is a Michigan stronghold. I see that his crystal ball is currently going for Ohio State, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Do we actually have a strong chance with him? Has he visited and been interested in Michigan so far?
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AZBlue

July 12th, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^

It is VERY situational...remember it is a "contest" between the pundits. Daelin chose quite early in the process catching people off guard. Since you cannot get points picking a school a kid has already chosen and there is no penalty for picking incorrectly - a lot of folks threw in a pick for the team thought to most-likely flip him. You can sometimes get a better feel if you dig in to when the "balls" we're made. We have basically no chance at Daelin. LaVert Hill is in a similar situation. Anyone who was wrong about PSU has no penalty switching to another school, which is why you see so many M and MSU CBs in the last few months.

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Randy Marsh

July 12th, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^

People really need to stop acting like it's absurd for a highly touted prospect to want to play for OSU. They just won the national title. That's like a Jets fan saying "why would any free agent want to play for the Patriots?!?!"

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MJ14

July 12th, 2015 at 4:14 PM ^

Michigan has a strong hold on Cass Tech?

2014: Damon Webb to OSU, Deon Drake to MSU, Nobody to Michigan

2015: Mike Webber and Joshua Alabi to OSU, Jayru Campbell was going to MSU, Nobody to Michigan

2016: Michael Onwenu to Michigan, Demetric Vance to MSU, Tim Walton? 

2017: DPJ considered an OSU lean at this point, Jaylen Kelly-Powell many consider a Michigan lean right now, and they have another cornerback as well that I'm not sure about. 

That is 3 players to OSU, 1 to MSU though Jayru would have gone there, and 1 currently committed to attend Michigan. And most believed Alabi would have went to MSU or Alabama before Michigan. I don't think I would consider that a Michigan strong hold by any means. Had you said that before Urban got to OSU, I might have agreed. 

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33TOPE

July 12th, 2015 at 4:39 PM ^

Isnt peoples a legacy does his dad have anything to do with the university anymore? I hope we have a gd year imo he will go blue.

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Caesar

July 13th, 2015 at 4:53 AM ^

I remember our Hand recruitment, and this feels like it will follow the same process (though, hopefully, with a different end result). 

Like Hand, DPJ probably wants to come here (dad, home, etc.), but that won't outweigh practical concerns.  Practical concerns probably include national exposure and relevancy. Another likely factor is signs of stability after several tumultuous regimes.

If Harbaugh can pull together a solid year, DPJ may see enough to be assured he's getting into a program that's ready to dominate. We probably pull him based on this and Harbaugh's track record.

Solid would be 9/10 wins, no flubs against bad competition, and a win over MSU and/or the Buckeyes. If we can get some 'talking heads' airtime where people speculate about Michigan as a playoff contender (either now, or projecting us to do so next year), just a few words here and there--and Harbaugh is the man to manufacture that kind of talk--I think we bag him. 

Big plus: scoring a huge corner recruit/having Peppers stay on board. You can sell him on practice competition, program momentum, etc. Another possible plus is pulling in one of his 2017 teammates, though there are already so many Cass kids at Michigan, maybe it doesn't make a huge difference. Finally, our QB whisperer finds his stallion. 

Big negative: Buckeyes/'Bama seal a national championship. Michigan suffers a scandal.

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RationalBuckeye

July 13th, 2015 at 8:09 AM ^

I think Michigan's objective is to just stay in the conversation. Get into the top 25, play MSU and OSU close win or lose, so it gives the talking heads a reason to mention UM in the power discussion. You guys get hurt if kids turn on the TV and hear about OSU and Bama ad nauseum with no mention of Michigan.

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Caesar

July 13th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^

But in a larger context--the storyline of a program in serious decline--I'm not sure Michigan can pull this off against 'Bama and the Buckeyes.

We need a step above 'reclamation ongoing.' We need to show these kids that they can get awesome national coverage with a solid chance to win national championships. 

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