Mike Farrells awards from The Opening

Submitted by robbyt003 on

Good and bad reviews of the Michigan recruits. 

First the bad:

Taco Charlton (Bear Market Award)

This award goes to the player who lowered his stock the most from the camp. While Pickerington (Ohio) Central defensive end Taco Charlton looks the part, he really struggled. He has great size, long arms and he is very athletic. However, he is also very upright, only has an outside move and when coaches tried to teach him misdirection or crossover, he didn't grasp it well at all. He was beaten on almost every 1-on-1 rep he took.

The not so bad:

Shane Morris (Honorable Mention - Tunnel Vision Award)

Honorable mention:Warren (Mich.) De La Salle quarterback Shane Morris was clearly one of the top three quarterbacks at the event, but his team was the favorite to win it all with weapons like O.J. HowardTaquan Mizzell and Ahmad Fulwood. However, his Land Sharks team was eliminated early mainly because Morris focused on one side of the field and locked in on certain players. He has a cannon of an arm and a ton of upside, but his field vision needs to improve.

The Good:

Shane Morris (Spin It Award)

It was very clear that Warren (Mich.) De La Salle quarterback Shane Morris had the best arm at the event. He has a cannon of an arm and there's not a throw he can't make. With some of the other quarterbacks showing funky mechanics or not spinning the ball that well, it was fun to see him rear back and let it rip. He has a hose, as they say in the quarterback business.

Also an interesting part on Joe Mathis and his poor attitude.  

http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1383918

 

One Inch Woody…

July 10th, 2012 at 7:00 PM ^

So you're telling me that Mike Farrell says that Taco performed very poorly, while ESPN says that Taco was unstoppable and a big riser....

I'm guessing neither is true since Farrell and ESPN both suck.

rbgoblue

July 10th, 2012 at 7:09 PM ^

Surprising to hear his review on Taco.  Most of the information throughout the week had him as one of the more dominant defensinve linemen in the 1 on 1 matchups.  Also, I would disagree with his assessment of Shane's weapons.  When your best target is a TE, that makes it more difficult on a QB to stretch the field.  On the other hand, Hackenberg was throwing to Ricky Seals-Jones and Laquan Treadwell - those are targets.

umalum16

July 10th, 2012 at 7:48 PM ^

Yeah, before the competition even started lots of analysts said that Shane had one of the least impressive offensive line-ups there, if not the worst. The TE dominates day one and was then totally ineffective (not his fault - due to double teams) the second day.

Gssumcat

July 10th, 2012 at 7:11 PM ^

Skip that noise from MF.
Taco is an athletic freak who is only 17 yrs. old. He will play for 3 DL coaches who will give him all the guidance he needs. Taco will be a star at Michigan.
Plus, he has the coolest name of any athlete. fact.

Lupe Fiasco

July 10th, 2012 at 7:11 PM ^

Mike Farrell has to be the biggest douche covering recruiting, just read his twitter. He routinely acts like a high schooler himself instead of one who covers high school players.

Magnus

July 10th, 2012 at 8:45 PM ^

Morris is a good quarterback, but it was noted in nearly every analyst's recounting that he had some struggles.  I think he was the #2 overall quarterback there, but he wasn't tearing everyone apart.

I don't think Farrell varies from much anyone else in his opinion of Morris...except homer Michigan fans.

He is out of line with other analysts when it comes to Charlton, so he's not beyond reproach.  I'm just sayin'...

rbgoblue

July 10th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^

Though to "build up" Morris's squad suggesting that he had the some of the best weapons is a bit disingenuous considering that one was a TE and the other a RB, positions less utilized in 7-on-7 tournaments.  Would he have looked a lot better throwing downfield to Seals-Jones and Treadwell?  Probably.  That's the only problem I have with his analysis of Morris, in that his criticism doesn't make sense based on the reasons he gives.

denardogasm

July 10th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^

Huh?  Farrell says Taco got beat on almost every snap, but someone else (wish I remembered who) said he tied for winning the most reps of anyone... This tells me that someone (or both) are flat out making shit up.  Also I don't know how you can say one team was the favorite to win it based on the receiving corps.  Every team had great receivers, since that is the whole point of the event, and I thought everyone agreed that Hackenburg had the best receivers anyway?  I would think you would give the tunnel vision award to someone who didn't get to the final perhaps?  Or maybe Hackenburg who threw about a hundred interceptions?  

End homer rant.

bacon1431

July 10th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^

Taco review doesn't phase me. The guy is a freak athlete but raw. We've known that for a long time. With our three DL-centric coaches, he'll have every opportunity to realize his potential if he applies himself. His development will be an exciting one to keep track of.

JT4104

July 10th, 2012 at 7:18 PM ^

You mean that farrell has said a bunch of what seems to be incorrect stuff for a giant fanbase that has no problem getting in twitter fights with him. 

Color me shocked and it seems like farrell needs another ego boost today. Most of the reports from multiple sources said just the opposite, I think I'll take their word for it over a guy who seems to get off on getting in internet fights.

NOLA Wolverine

July 10th, 2012 at 7:24 PM ^

Reuben Foster took a visit to Washington? That's pretty surprising, and would be a monster get for Washington. He has the most impressive highlight film in the country. 

----

For someone whose living depends on recruits talking to him, Farrell sure goes after the guys in that article. 

redhousewolverine

July 10th, 2012 at 8:27 PM ^

It has been shown that I higher star ranking correlates with a higher likelihood of being drafted. Being drafted generally tends to mean you were a decent to great college player. Also, if everyone was ranked a two star, then the Michigan fanbase would melt. I get your comment that do not fixate on rankings because the coaches clearly want him and they know more about football than we or the recruiting sites do, but there is a reason the coaches have offered only guys that are highly ranked-outside of York, stribling, and the longsnapper who technically is ranked really high for a long snapper.

MScoutRecruits

July 10th, 2012 at 9:55 PM ^

This type of event does not a suit a player like McCray.  He's not going to wow anyone with he speed and athleticism running around in a 7on tournament.  I really don't think his performance out in Oregon should affect his rating.  You want to see this kid in pads taking on and shedding blocks.  What COULD affect his ranking, though, is the fact that he's only 6'1".  He is a lot smaller than most of us believed he was.  I'm not familiar enough with McCray on film to tell you whether his lack of size will have much of a negative effect on his college career, but I do know scouts are pretty sensitive to kids who end up being a lot smaller than their HS coaches report. 

Boomer519

July 10th, 2012 at 7:28 PM ^

Gotta love the Facebook comments to the article this one being my favorite

"judging from the attendees, this was a low end event with no big names in attendance. sounds like anyone could have tried out and made an appearance."

Uh wait what?

hart20

July 10th, 2012 at 7:33 PM ^

Wrote in that article is contrary to what every other site is saying and that he's also a giant douchebag, I'm going to go ahead and assume that he's still bitter towards Michigan fans.

Duck4President

July 11th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^

How can someone who crowned themself the 'godfather of recruiting' not be a giant douchebag?

 

I think that was your point, but what the hell: it's early and I was up all  night watching a train explode. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/freight-train-derails-in-ohio-several-cars-explodes-into-flames-2-hurt/2012/07/11/gJQAvqBYcW_story.html

JT4104

July 10th, 2012 at 7:37 PM ^

Here is all you need to know about Farrell....even since lemming left the AAAG and Farrell kinda took the lead spot your seeing a lot more of the high ranked kids end up at the UA Game instead.

Starting to think even recruits are getting sick of him.

MScoutRecruits

July 10th, 2012 at 9:11 PM ^

Farrell's review of Charlton matches what other guys who were at the event told me.  Take it for whatever it's worth.  It shouldn't be surprising, though.  It had already been well known and well demonstrated that Taco is not very good right now from a technical standpoint.  However, he's got a nice frame and good athleticism (not a "freak" as some above have stated.  That term is overused).  Let's just say athleticism is one of his strengths, and he's one of the most athletic DE's in Ohio this year. 

His review of Shane is a bit perplexing to me.  I would agree that he had the best arm strength at the camp, but I'm not generally a huge fan of Shane's mechanics.  His relatively low release point and pushing motion can sometimes lead to inconsistency.  It leads to great days (Columbus) and very average days (Dallas).  With that type of release, you are not sure what you are going to get on a given day.  That said, he was probably the most physically gifted QB there along with Max Browne.  I thought Hackenberg looked the smoothest and threw the best deep ball, but he made a ton of poor decisions.  Speaking of mechanics, Browne has precisely the opposite problem that Shane has -- very high release point and an exaggerated over the top motion (very slow).  It's a similar problem to what current Florida State QB EJ Manuel had when he came out of HS.  Both Shane's and Max's problems with mechanics are fixable with good coaching and a lot of hard work.

MN Go Blue

July 10th, 2012 at 10:48 PM ^

The thing that was posted about Taco being tied for 1 on 1 wins was after the first 2 days.  Maybe Farrell only watched Taco on the 3rd day.  Taco did tweet something about having the a very tough day on Sunday and maybe Farrell is taking most of his information from seeing him that one day.  Who knows really, but you have to think he was hearing about his success the first 2 days and would temper his negative comments about his performance.  Being out there does get page views.

rbgoblue

July 10th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^

Taco didn't get a lot of reps on Day 3 from what I've heard.  At that point in the competition, the players were in pads and Taco, being from Ohio, wasn't allowed to suit up.  As a result, he only could take reps against linemen who weren't in pads, which from what I've heard were very few and far between.

FreddieMercuryHayes

July 10th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^

If Ferrell only watched day 3, then he shouldn't be passing judgement. He loses a lot if credibility when he makes such a bold statement completely the opposite of every other well respected journalist there. Maybe he's stuck back in the day when his was the only word and everybody took it as gospel.

kenfizzle

July 11th, 2012 at 8:45 AM ^

can't put a ton of stock in a QB's performance in 7 on 7's, especially in a guy like Shane who clearly seems like a win at all costs kind of guy.

Also, Mike Farrell is a complete tool I was following him on twitter for a couple months but realized I disagreed with every tweet he made so I unfollowed. Plus he gets SO agitated by angry fans. I've seen the "WHY DON'T WE JUST MAKE EVERYONE A 5 STAR" tweet like 6 or 7 times from this ass hat.