New in-state offer: 2024 CB Jamir Benjamin
Michigan extended an offer to 2024 West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield cornerback Jamir Benjamin. Boston College, Liberty, Marshall, Michigan State, Toledo, and West Virginia had already offered. He's 5'11", 175 lbs. My guess is he would be a 3-star prospect when rankings come out for 2024 kids, but he could be a 4-star kid eventually.
I'll post his highlights below.
March 28th, 2022 at 12:53 PM ^
That's not an exciting offer list, but I suppose we've seen these guys generate interest after a Michigan offer during past cycles.
He's a 2024...chances are he still will improve and get more offers.
We’re to the point where we’re judging the offer lists of high school sophomores?
Yes. This is a thing when you follow the crootin.
Of sophomores? Not really
As someone who doesn't follow recruiting closely most of the time, I'm wondering if all the crystal balls this morning for Conerly to USC a surprise at all, or was it already pretty much assumed he was going elsewhere?
Almost everyone expected him to commit to USC at this point. USC was neck-and-neck with (or had surpassed) Michigan already, and he still had to take his official visit to USC.
The only way Michigan *might* have turned the tide was to convince him to come back to campus over the final few weeks of his recruitment, but that was dubious since he had already visited officially and unofficially.
Michigan should take visits from 5-stars whenever they can get them, but using up an official visit so early in the season makes it very difficult for that guy to stay connected for the next 5+ months.
When he didn't commit at the early signing period told me everything I wanted to know about Conerly. He seemed like he was looking to commit anywhere but Michigan at that point.
Eh, I don't know about that. "Anywhere but Michigan" is awfully dismissive. USC, Oregon, Washington, and Oklahoma - all schools he was considering all along - all went through coaching changes around that time.
Michigan actually had the longest lasting coaching turmoil, considering Harbaugh was in play for the NFL until well after the NFL regular season.
I think Michigan is probably #2 or #3 in his recruitment. If that's "anywhere but Michigan," I guess you and I just have different definitions of that phrase.
This seemed like a case of a kid who really wanted to stay out West, found his favorite schools (Washington and USC) in dubious circumstances re: head coaches, found UM as a best alternative along with Oklahoma, and once USC and UW came back into the fold with their hires, it was just too big a hill to climb a second time. Staff worked hard on him. Can't win 'em all.
Meh. He wasn’t coming a long time ago. No worries. On to the next one.
Right, I always had the vibe of if it’s not looking good for Washington or USC, Michigan is there. But never had the feeling he was coming.
Now that we're getting to the point where we are recruiting kids who are my child's age (she is also class of 2024), it's making me start to feel a bit old, lol.
My conclusion:
If you never have kids, you'll never feel old.
We have discovered the fountain of youth!
I never had kids but I still feel old. I'm at that stage in life where I can hurt myself sleeping.
March 28th, 2022 at 11:52 PM ^
I "think" this kids tape looks very impressive. Is always in the receivers hip pocket, with caveat that this is a highlight reel. Shows really good speed and instincts.
One thing he needs to work on in my opinion is getting his head around when the receiver looks for the ball. However, I've said that numerous times about UM's corners.
Therefore, I either don't know crap about what I'm talking about, or it's really a difficult thing to do. Maybe they are taught not to lose sight/contact with the receiver, and then when he sticks his mitts up to catch the ball, try to get a hand in. Seems like that takes crazy timing and would be difficult.
Do they teach kids to get their head around, or are they afraid of losing where the receiver is? If anyone knows, I'm curious. I know this kid is young, but I see a lot at the college level, not sure about NFL. Maybe they do it there too because I am wrong in my thoughts about it.
March 29th, 2022 at 12:15 PM ^
When you're talking strictly about man coverage, a lot of coaches don't really teach cornerbacks to look back for the ball. Or, well, they don't EMPHASIZE it.
Technically, a cornerback should only look for the ball if he's "in phase" (a.k.a. hip to hip) with the receiver and knows the ball is coming based on the receiver's eyes and/or hands. But if you emphasize looking back for the ball too much, you start to see defensive backs looking for the ball too soon and losing track of the intended receiver. It's also impossible to look back for the ball and maintain top speed, so even a DB who's in phase with a WR is likely going to start losing ground.
This is why you see more interceptions from teams who run a lot of zone coverage. Compare a team like Iowa (25 interceptions in 2021) that runs a ton of zone to a team like Michigan (8 interceptions) that runs a ton of man coverage.
There are trade-offs, of course, which is why not every team runs zone coverage. Zone teams are often bend-but-don't-break philosophies, whereas man coverage teams are often better at creating pressure, allowing lower completion percentages, etc.
March 29th, 2022 at 11:19 PM ^
Makes sense, I figured it was something to do with losing where the man is. I appreciate the response and explanation.