Rivals: Greg Brown a 3-star, #34 cornerback
I didn't see it mentioned elsewhere, but Rivals' position rankings look like they've been completed. Greg Brown is the #34 cornerback and a 3-star. That seems about right to me.
4-stars: Beyer, Hollowell
3-stars: Rock, Brown, Conway
For what it's worth, Valdez Showers is the #30 cornerback and a 3-star on their list. For people who put a lot of stock in Rivals rankings, maybe we should start pushing harder for guys like Showers and Raymon Taylor (a 4-star, #246 overall, and the #29 athlete).
Rivals and Scout are pretty close on our guys this year:
Rock: Rivals #21 Strongside DE / Scout #48 Overall DE
Conway: Rivals #53 / Scout #49
Brown: Rivals #34 / Scout #41
Breyer: Both 4-star
Hollowell is the only of the five that differs greatly
Very solid class so far. Aside from Showers and Taylor, we are also in the hunt with Doran Grant (4-star, #1 CB) but he looks like he may be swinging toward OSU.
unlikely that we push for additional CB commits in this class - since it will be a small class and we have needs at other positions (LB, OL). However, I'm all for making room for elite talent.
Valdez Showers sounds like a unisex porno name.
an off-brand coffee.
or anyone else with some thoughts: between Hollowell, Brown, Avery, Talbott, seems Michigan's got a deep well of shortish, smallish quick guys.
1) Do any of these guys project to fill out and grow much past the Boubakar-ish stature? I realize it's probably much tougher to predict these kinds of frames versus a DE, LB, or lineman.
2) Beyond Christian (and assuming JT Turner doesn't pan out at CB, and assuming DD is not an option), doesn't a couple bigger CBs become a priority in this class and next?
1) Brown and Avery are/will be the rangier guys out of those four. Talbott and Hollowell are well built, but they're short. Heightwise, none of the four will be a 6'1" or 6'2" guy. But I'm not too worried about the physicality of any of the three.
2) I would certainly like to see Michigan recruit bigger corners. But I've thought that to be a priority for a couple years now, and Michigan's coaches don't seem to agree with me. lol So I'm not sure that I have a good answer for that. It seems like Greg Robinson has done well with bigger corners, whereas Rodriguez has done okay with small-ish corners at WVU. So there might be a difference of philosophies that's hampering recruiting. The 2010 class wasn't a bad mix of sizes, but I'm just not a big fan of midget corners in general. I'd rather have a stable of 5'10" to 6'1" guys.
Serious question that will sound rhetorical: is there a "stable of 5'10" to 6'1" guys" out there to be had relatively easily? That is, is it that (1) we are offering those (taller) guys but are not landing them, or (2) we are not offering those guys, opting instead for the 5'8" types?
As a reference point, of the top 50 cornerbacks listed on Rivals for 2011, 45 of them have heights of 5'10" +. A few of those guys are 6'2" or 6'3" and fall outside my stated range, but I don't think there's a shortage of guys who are 5'10" or taller. We've just been pulling in a lot of short corners, for whatever reason.
seems like a pretty good option as a bigger corner, as your original posts mentions. I like that he's an in-state kid, too.
I don't know how many CBs they can afford to take in this class given the low numbers of scholarships available. Three seems like the high end to me, but who knows.
Thanks for the input.
Just an FYI, part of the reason Michigan let Dior Mathis go is because they were concerned with his size.
Valdez Showers is a stud. He can also play running back, and return kicks. He has both the size and the speed to play Big Ten(16) football. Just take a look at his offer list.
Hollowell makes me nervous. He is short and doesn't have the high end speed. He hasn't been competing in any of the camps or combines either. I don't like that he's not out competing with the other kids who have and don't have offers. I'd rather have Showers and Taylor from HP than Hollowell.
Hollowell went to the Nike Camp in Columbus the past weekend (Barry Every noted him as an "other standout"), and he was at the Michigan Showcase as well.
Showers has blown up recently, but Hollowell was a good get. I do agree he hasn't shown elite top end speed, but every recruit has flaws.
Yes, I'd still be happy with Showers, but I'm not going to start trashing a guy who gets good marks for physicality even with his small(er) size.
I guess its more of a Cass Tech thing that makes me nervous. They always look good at combines. There may be a couple of good college players from there (Barksdale, Big Will), but I can't think of any all-conference type players. Cass Tech is known for being a soft football team. I like that we have some good athletes coming to UM from Cass, but I'd like to see more procuction on the field.
Vernon Gholston disagrees.
According to rivals, Beyer and Hollowell are rated 5.7 (four-stars) while the rest of the class is all 5.6 (high three-stars). I thought Rock would be a four-star, but if you look at it, the whole class is basically the same, so it's not too bad.
I think Beyer and Conway have the most upside though, which is exciting.