New offer for '18 CB from Rochester (MI) Vincent Gray
https://247sports.com/Player/Vincent-Gray-82652
News comes from his own Twitter. Number 13 prospect in the state on the composite.
Specs: 6'2, 180 lbs
Another tall CB! Let's reel him in!
EDIT: Current West Virginia commit. It's about time we stole one of theirs.
EDIT THE EDIT: Never mind, he's a Missouri commit. But all his balls are on West Virginia for some reason.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:21 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 3:22 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
We're offering a bunch of guys because we have a lot of slots available and we didn't get Anderson and Jefferson into the fold. We would have offered these guys back in July if they were OSU/PSU level.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^
Fine by me.
December 18th, 2017 at 4:16 PM ^
Does he wear #50?
December 18th, 2017 at 3:30 PM ^
If I don't overthink it, I arrive at: We have unexpected room in this class because the guys we were saving room for aren't coming.
But that can't be correct because I know in my heart that we're getting everybody.
December 18th, 2017 at 4:36 PM ^
What's the point of filling these spots with kids who probably won't crack the depth chart? Might as well save scholarships for a monster 2019 class.
The kids we're offering in 2018 now were processed out of the 2016 and 2017 classes. Now they're somehow magically "under the radar" recruits with "underrated" athleticism.
Something is off this year.
December 18th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
It will only get you in trouble.
But...you do make some good points.
December 18th, 2017 at 5:19 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 5:20 PM ^
Are you kidding? Coaches more adept at talent evaluation than someone at one of the rating services or even a message board poster?
What are you thinking??????
December 18th, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^
Cool. Where's Keith Washington, Reuben Jones, Kingston Davis, Mbem-Bosse, Shelton Johnson etc?
Point being, these players have a higher rate of flaking out and are plan B/C types this year.
The evaluations aren't the issue since the staff has gone after high rated kids. The problem is the recruiting. Seems like the higher-rated kids this year don't seem to have much interest in Michigan. If that's just a fluky off year in between 2 monster classes, so be it.
If not, then the combination of lack of results on the field and losing Fisch/Wheatley is hampering recruiting a bit.
December 18th, 2017 at 5:38 PM ^
"these players have a higher rate of flaking out"
Really, starz now correlate with graduation rates?
All hail the power of Rivals/247/WWL
December 18th, 2017 at 5:54 PM ^
other schools have never take a chance on a player. In my mind, its on the player since he didn't get it done. This is why spots open up ... lack of commitment and skill. We are trying to get better ..
December 19th, 2017 at 8:54 AM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
"If that's just a fluky off year in between 2 monster classes, so be it."
2016- #8 ranked class
2017- #5 ranked class
2019- Michigan is the favorite for a lot of top players. May possibly end up as the best class M has pulled in, and has a legit chance at being #1 or 2 nationally.
I'm sure there will still end up being plenty of contributors from this 2018 class.
December 19th, 2017 at 5:03 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
There's also this thing called depth, meaning our best players will play but what if they get hurt or get in trouble or something else happens? we aren't going to get every 4-5* we want, and some of the guys we do get might not be all star or starter ability but at least it fills out our team in case something happens to the starters
December 18th, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^
But at the same time there are 3* players like Keith Washington, Andrew David, Kingston David , Nate Johnson who did not cut it here and going to be a few more.
Nothing against those players. I hope that have great careers where they land, but at the same time there is a higher chance of success with higher ranked players.
December 19th, 2017 at 9:30 AM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^
Played a handful of snaps, he by no means was in defensive line rotation or had any significant role. The doesn't mean that he won't be a good player, but to point out he played as a freshman would wrongfully suggest he played a meaningful role.
As for McKeon, he seems to be a good kid, but I think he is playing to his ranking. Consider we had Jake Butt a high four star TE, whose talent jumpped out at you the second he took the field to McKeon a very basic player. One is an NFL caliber player that other is no were close to that level.
If your goal is to win championships, you need NFL caliber players, and your recruiting efforts should reflect that.
Harbaugh as missed on too many players to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Recruiting is a second season, for a guy that claims he loves to compete, i would like to see him go out there and win some head-to-head recruiting battles with the big boys. Right now Harbaugh can't beat OSU on the football field or on the recruiting trail.
December 18th, 2017 at 8:43 PM ^
There are too many spots available in football from year to year for there to be any advantage to banking. May as well get scholarship players on campus and develop them, if nothing else they can become experienced depth rather than adding a couple extra players on to the end of next year's class. We've seen what happens when classes crater.
December 19th, 2017 at 1:00 AM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 9:00 AM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^
You mean Georgia (Solomon) and Florida (Ruiz)?
December 19th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
Double-post, for double-emphasis.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^
While not a complete aberration in the history of UM recruiting, just last year we were nabbing guys like Oliver Martin, Aubrey Solomon, and Nico Collins at the last minute, and the year before we grabbed Gary and Asiasi.
I'm not panicking or anything, but we're sending out more offers to "non-elite" high schoolers late in the game than in '16 and '17, when we were waiting to see which blue chips we would nab. (At least that's my recollection.) I think it's reasonable for people to cock an eyebrow, especially since--going into this year--we were going to be "really selective." And of course, in a sense, I'm sure Harbaugh is being selective about the particular positions that he's seeking to fill.
December 18th, 2017 at 5:19 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 5:59 PM ^
... this year is about filling a few needs ...
December 18th, 2017 at 5:01 PM ^
Well, our two-deep this year was filled with freshmen and sophomores. This might scare off kids looking to play right away.
December 19th, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
Much of the two deep are highly ranked. Kids want to play now. Going to be tough to break lineup as freshman unless you are a stud Olineman.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:54 PM ^
The only thing unusual is the timing. With the early signing period, teams have to offer the late flyers in December instead of late January. If they don't, these players will have already signed. Previous late targets have included Dwumfour, Nate Johnson, Willie Henry, and Dennis Norfleet. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. As 17-18 year olds, some of these guys are still developing and improve a lot over their senior year. With recruiting getting earlier and earlier, they can be missed during earlier evaluations.
I wouldn't look at these recent offers as desperation. There are almost 2 months to NSD. These are guys Michigan is genuinely interested in and doesn't want to sign with another school right now. They may not end up getting commitable offers to MIchigan, but they are hopefully going to visit so the staff can evaluate them further.
December 18th, 2017 at 5:14 PM ^
I would only add that in addition to the players you named, we also sent out a bunch of late offers like this to players that didn't sign with us. As you said, some don't end up getting truly committable offers and some aren't going to flip.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:23 PM ^
Way to represent, love seeing my old town produce studs!
December 18th, 2017 at 3:23 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 3:52 PM ^
I hear it is impossible for kids 6-2 180 lbs. listed as a CB by a recruiting service to convert to safety.
December 19th, 2017 at 12:44 AM ^
am I not in on a joke? I mean yea he could definitely play safety, I haven't watched him so I don't know. Just happy to see him representing Rochester. Paul Davis, James Young, Eric Fisher, Jason Varitek, Alec Martinez, Jacob Trouba and Madonna set a high bar lol.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
Says he is committed to Missouri, not WV. Also do we want a guy who would be a DB at MIssouri? They let up more points per game than Oakland basketball.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:36 PM ^
247 says CB or WR so maybe he could be plugged in at WR as well if needed? He was on the Detroit News' all state first team.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^
Yeah, I think we have to recruit better than chasing three star kids late in the cycle to correct the 1-13 record we have against OSU in the last 14 years. This just isn't going to work; the raw talent gap is too big.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
Quick review of BorninA2 posts identifies him as a Concern Troll of epic quality and voice.
December 18th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^
Not sure how pointing out that we're 1-13 in the last 14 years against the team we call our biggest rival and that we're getting our butts kicked by them on the recruiting trail, too makes me a "concern troll". It's not exaggeration or purely inflammatory. It's two simply stated facts.
You may not like reality, but don't shoot the messenger for pulling your blinders off.
December 18th, 2017 at 8:03 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 9:51 AM ^
Have you watched the games the past 2 years. This “gap” does not exist except on paper. Outplayed them in 2017 with an injured qb, then get jobbed by refs. Played even with them this year with a 3rd string qb and underclassmen starting all over the field. I’m not in to moral victories, but there’s no talent gap...it’s simply having a lucky bounce, call by a ref, and a competent healthy qb at this point. If there is indeed a “talent gap” then urban Meyer is epically under achieving at OSU since they recruit at Bama level on paper. I don’t believe Meyer is an epic underachiever.
December 18th, 2017 at 3:44 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 2:34 PM ^