Remind me, what happened with Mekhi Becton?

Submitted by Larry Appleton on February 28th, 2020 at 5:52 PM

We were in on him, but he signed with Louisville.  Was that a genuine miss, or yet another Drevno WTF special?

Bodogblog

February 28th, 2020 at 6:04 PM ^

From what I remember, first off he wasn't highly ranked.  The chicken littles on this board would have flipped their shit if a player with his ranking committed today. 

So first, and I wasn't a fan of Drevno, you'd have to say good scout on Becton, because they liked him a lot. 

I think they slow played him because they had a very good shot with Isaiah Wilson until Georgia literally bag'd him late in the cycle.  By then Becton had moved on. 

NashvilleBLUE

February 28th, 2020 at 6:26 PM ^

Not how I remember it. I remember them being 100% all in on him and he was initially going to V tech or Virginia. Seemed like a lock to be here until he wasn’t. Wasn’t real clear what made him choose Louisville in the 11th hour. I remember thinking it was a miss because how much we seemed to want him. 

Bodogblog

February 29th, 2020 at 5:33 PM ^

Here's an article that says Michigan went hard after him once they missed out on Wilson.  

They already had Jayraymond Hall, Andrew Steuber, Joel Honigford, and Kai Leon-Herbert committed by the time Becton visited, and at that point they looked pretty good for Wilson.  That puts Becton at #6 at best in priority at Michigan.  And just a month earlier believe it or not there was talk about Michigan having a shot to flip Alex Leatherwood from Alabama.  Chuck Filiaga was also a top priority, much higher rated and would obviously commit a couple months later at one of the all star games.  That puts Becton #7.   Yes once Wilson bagged in Dec and Leon-Herbert decommitted in Jan, they wanted him badly. But they likely wouldn't have let him commit when he visited that November, as they believed they had several other options higher up the board.  He would have been Michigan's lowest rated tackle recruit, and with 4 commits already at the position, it made sense to be focused on Wilson. 

https://spartanavenue.com/2016/12/26/michigan-state-recruiting-mekhi-becton-trims-list/

MichiganStan

February 28th, 2020 at 6:11 PM ^

I remember we led for him for a while. He probably didn't fit Drevnos prototypical olineman prospect. You know he never liked them to have meat on their bones coming out of HS

Edit: Nevermind. Found an article to refresh my memory. Michigan wanted him bad. Kai Leon Herbert decommitted and flipped to Miami so Becton became a priority but ended up at Louisville 

Frank Chuck

February 29th, 2020 at 4:14 AM ^

I think it's pretty clear by now after 5 years of Harbaugh that Don Brown can develop next level quality NFL talent. Devin Bush is one example. Chase Winovich is another. Maurice Hurst Jr. would've been another but his heart issue cost him a 1st round pick.

I haven't seen that same level of development on offense.

Can you name a player we took as a 3 star (or even middle-of-the-road 4 star) on offense that we turned into a 1st or 2nd rounder under Harbaugh?

Seth

March 1st, 2020 at 10:51 PM ^

Michigan had him as a top target, their second OT after Isaiah Wilson, whom they thought was in the class until UGA gave him $Texas to flip at the last minute. But Drevno got lax on communication and Harbaugh + Partridge flew in to repair the damage. After that they thought things were solid but Drevno failed to mention Louisville was involved. So they got blindsided at the end. It was a major reason Drevno lost favor with the rest of the staff.