Shaun Conway praise from Helmholdt
This story is today's (paper redacted) concerns the very good showing Conway has made in elite skills camps since he accepted our offer. No link, but the main point is made below:
"What jumped out in that performance was the fluid style Conway possesses and his natural pass-receiving skills.
At last weekend’s BadgerSports 7-on-7 Tournament, Conway displayed an even greater array of talents. Playing for the Detroit Elite 7-on-7 team, Conway hauled in touchdown pass after touchdown pass. His ability to find holes in zone defenses, and his ability to separate from defenders in man defenses, created a mismatch against even the top competition at the event."
Good stuff.
as Conway wasn't a "camp guy" before this year, he didn't show up on radars. Now that he's our commit and will be attending camps (and f'g shit up), expect his star rating to take a big leap, but still probably not to 4-star level since he didn't have the trail of recruiting hype early on that elevates his status in the recruitniks' eyes. I see a solid 3-star bordering on 4 if his senior season takes off.
Participating in camps the summer before your junior year isn't a prerequisite for being a 4 star. If he looks good enough, he'll get it. It sounds like there's a good chance he will be.
Barring some sort of injury his senior year, I would not be surprised to see him get a 4-star ranking. He's legit.
2-star. He is a RR recruit remember.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^
He seems to be legit, yes, but star rankings seem to vary quite a bit on how much buzz there is on a player. With him being a solid comit so early, I would guess that he will meet the same fate as Marvin Robinson and stay below the guys who play the system to keep their names in the news. I am guessing 3 star
March 31st, 2010 at 10:53 AM ^
plays at Birmingham Seaholm. That is not a very good team, to understate the case. I don't know how a guy shows 4 star potential, or even 3 star, with nobody to get him the ball.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^
That "nobody" got him the ball 76 times last year.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:02 PM ^
I remember reading the starter got hurt, so the second stringer was in there for most of the year; I think that's what the previous guys entry was referring too.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
So imagine how many passes he could catch with competent-or-better QB play!
A billion?
March 31st, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^
You mean 4-star Marvin Robinson?
March 31st, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
And off the top of my head he did go to at least one camp.
Yes, 4 star Marvin Robinson. I am not as fine tuned on the recruiting as some here, but I remember his name coming up as one of the best players in Florida, almost a five star lock, when he first committed. With a year and a half as an unexciting known commodity he slipped further and further down the rankings each time they came up. I swear every year there is only 1 or 2 players in Rivals top 30 that are verbal commits before January of their senior year. At that point one or two guys will draw everything out, hold press conferences to say that they have not made any decisions, and those two guys rise to the very top. I know it has been said before and I am not breaking any new ground here, but Rivals clearly ranks guys high that will sell subscriptions.
You don't think the fact that he was injured and missed a lot of his senior season of football had anything to do with the drop?
Rivals does give some rankings based on whether a kid has committed or not, but using Robinson as an example is misleading. He was still a high 4-star prospect and, whether we like it or not, he has physical limitations due to his speed and change of direction. He's really not 5-star material, so he's just about where he should be. His early commitment had little to no effect on where he was ranked.
The same goes for Ricardo Miller. Michigan fans thought both of these guys were 5-star locks because that's what Michigan fans do - they take wild guesses at where prospects will be ranked because they don't know what they're talking about. But anybody can take a look at Miller's film and see why he's not a 5-star player.
Sam said on this morning's recruiting roundup that the guys at Scout were at the 7 on 7, and came away feeling he is a 4 star prospect, so for all the star gazers out there, he is (according to Sam) guru approved with Scout.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^
reminds me a lot like Braylon Edwards minus the speed. The ability to jump and get the ball is very reminiscent of Braylon.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:54 AM ^
but he seems to make all the catches, including all the easy ones.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:19 AM ^
The thing about Conway is that he doesn't need elite speed. Being 6'3"-6'4" with a 37-inch vertical and massive hands, even if he appears to be covered, he isn't. If he can become proficient at running routes, he will be a match-up nightmare for opposing defenses.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^
Hear, hear! You don't need elite speed to catch passes in the endzone...
March 31st, 2010 at 12:24 PM ^
Good call. Or a ten yard first down catch, for that matter.
He could very well be a red-zone nightmare for our opponents.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
he kind of reminds me of D'Wayne Jarrett of USC.
They both lack top end speed but are capable of making up for it with (1) 35+ in vertical (2) Excellent size (3) Fantastic Body Control and (4) Huge Hands
While i currently am not a huge fan of Jarrett after his Trojans outplayed UM at one of the Rose Bowl's I attended, I'll be darn happy if Conway came anywhere close to Jarrett's production.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^
Yeah, if he's half of what Jarrett was, we got a great pick-up.
That said, Jarrett had a Heisman trophy winner and future NFL bust at QB throwing to him. Conway likely won't have that either.
You know, I've never said anything about being negged before, but maybe it's because I usually saw it coming. Saying that our QB's probably won't have the passing ability that Leinart had in college is not exactly a major rip. He was really good.
We've got solid to very good dual threat QB's on our roster, and I thing any or all of them can have a lot of success, but RR's offense just isn't set up to have the kind of passing attack that Leinart had at USC. I hope I'm wrong.
You just can't say anything other than "Michigan is the best ever at everything" around here without getting negged, can you? It's getting out of hand.
It's not the smart people whose votes you need. You need to appeal to the masses.
People are dumb. If you say Michigan is bad or subpar at anything, you get lambasted for it.
the negbangs are pretty ridiculous. How dare you say Tate won't have the passing numbers of Leinart. You sir are full of shit. (sarcasm, I think we all hope that, but realistically with the amount of runs involved it will be very difficult to get the same passing production of Leinart)
WolvinLA2 - I want to neg you just for taking so long to realize this (but I wont of course). I think that with the growth in popularity of this site has come a diluting of the quality of the posts (quality is still here, just harder to find), as well as the meaningfulness of the reactions (up-votes or down-votes). I have come to expect a few negs almost no matter what I say. For example, Magnus will always get negged for being too logical or rational. If you dilute your expectations (you will always get negs), then you can somewhat enjoy the site for what it was a year or so ago.
Yeah, you're right blue^3. But a little balance and objectivity is necessary, or else we get a feel good blog, and not an informational blog. I'm all for feeling good, but that's what grass is for.
lol @ magnus getting negged for being too logical. (kidding mostly)
March 31st, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
I don't really get the "lack of top end speed" thing. He's plenty fast. I'd take him 10 out of 10 times against Jeremy Jackson (What's the opposite of "fast as lightning"? Slow as fog?) or Ricardo Miller, and I'd probably pick him in a foot race against Jerald Robinson, too.
He doesn't have great track speed like Stonum or Woolfolk, but he's PLENTY fast enough. The idea that he has a lack of speed should be shelved.
in a greater level of depth than those of other players whose film you've seen, so I'm taking it you've seen him play. Any more light you can shed on him that you haven't already.
I've seen film of a 7-on-7 and I've seen his highlight film. That's all. I've watched them a bunch of times, so I'm fairly confident in what I've seen. But I haven't seen him play in person. I don't live in Michigan, so I have to rely on Youtube/Rivals/etc.
A lot of people seem to think, "Oh, he's tall so he must be slow" or "Oh, this kid's small so he must be fast." But tall-ish kids can be blazingly fast (Daryl Stonum), have good speed (Conway), or be really slow (Jeremy Jackson). You have to evaluate each player individually.
I've never seen the kid play football, but have seen him on the basketball court and he's a freak. I see him being huge in the red zone with his size, hands, and leaping ability. I think he could be a great pick-up.
Michigan offered Conway and Beyer both very early, with many people asking "WHO!?!?". Goes to show you how this staff can evaluate talent, IMO.
With added weight, Conway will be a good one for sure...
Saw that pic of him dangling from the rim in a basketball game. Any chance Conway plays hoops at UM?
Along that line, I'd love to see a Barwisized Conway check Draymond Green in a few years. Not to be violent, but I wouldn't mind it if somehow said person guarding Green made him fall on the floor and bite his lower lip off. That way, he can't do that annoying-as-hell lower lip thing he does after a good play.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:18 AM ^
when he first committed I read that RR told him he could try to walk on to the basketball team.
I'm very glad to hear that there is some positive news coming from scouts about him. For two reasons, 1 everyone was ragging on the kid because no one had heard of him, 2 because he will be a beast at Michigan.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:07 PM ^
Oh the blow up after he was offered was hilarious! What a bunch of Chicken Littles. When he 'blows up' on the field, we're going to have to bring that post back, ah-hahaha!
I can't wait for him to come to Michigan with a chip on his shoulder and do work!!
...convince me that RichRod and staff know more than I do about recruiting high school football players. How do we know that Conway will get a high star rating? I only want four and five star recruits, damn it. And another thing, we should be concentrating on Ohio since that's where all the talent is, well that and Florida and Texas and California and Pennsylvania and South Carolina and recently I heard something about chap-town in Arizona or somesuch. But while we concentrate on all those areas, we can't forget we have to win Michigan recruiting against Little Brother and we have to do it while getting every 4/5 star from the PSL while not forgetting about the rest of Metro Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Traverse City and even Ishpeming. Futhermore, we have to establish a beachhead at Glevnille or we will never overtake the Suckeyes. While we're at it, all elite players that can get admitted to Stanford or Duke must come to Michigan, period. And another thing, if someone expresses interest in ND and Michigan, we have to have them or else we're obviously losing the battle.
I am also concerned that some of our previous recruits didn't turn out to be productive starters. Clearly the coaching staff is failing if every recruit doesn't become a solid contributor, nay NFL prospect, wait inevitable NFL 1st/2nd round draft choice by the start of his sophomore year. And all of our elite recruits should be on the field on day one. No redshirting is allowed because it's a sign of program weakness if the the best players are not on the field immediately. I want us to have the youngest average team age because when they stay too long, they just leave us early like Warren and some other guys I can't think of.
I just realized this would have been better if this was done sans caps and punctuation. Damn, I've got to work on my snarky post skilz.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:04 AM ^
THIS UNACCEPTABLE!!!
NEEDZ MOAR BETTER PAD LEVELZ.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:13 AM ^
Sounds like a nice pick-up. The more and more I learn about star rankings and scouting services, the more I think people need to put stock in how the coaches evaluate the players. Sure, 5* stud DEs are going to work everywhere, but beyond that I much rather have a 3* that I know will work in my system than a guru-approved 4* who will be a wash.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:53 PM ^
"but beyond that I much rather have a 3* that I know will work in my system than a guru-approved 4* who will be a wash."
What does this mean?
Meant to include "out" at the end. I'd rather have a guy who fits my system but isn't as popular with the recruiting services than a guy who is "better" by ranking but a bad fit. Think Boren or Mallet.
No offense, but when I read that statement, my immediate response was "Duh."
You said you'd rather have a 3-star who plays well than a 4-star who doesn't.
Why does such an obvious sentiment need to be said?
It's an attempt to pre-justify that the 4* Michigan didn't get would have been a wash-out, but the 3* is a system fit, so it's all good.
People like to fool themselves I guess.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:55 AM ^
Does this mean we can stop bitching up a storm after we get a commit from a kid we don't know a lot about? The commitments of Conway, Carvin Johnson, Drew Dileo, Ray Vinopal and Jake Ryan all resulted in people ripping the recruit and our coaching staff like crazy. With many of those guys, once we learned more about them (or once the recruiting services jumped them up the rankings) many of the same posters have said how excited they are to have them in the class.
I'm not saying that we should never question or critique anything our coaching staff does. But don't you think that RR and staff know who they want better than Rivals does? I promise you the former has a lot more at stake in their decisions than the latter.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^
Miami U disagrees with you. Rivals is an amazing talent evaluator
March 31st, 2010 at 12:21 PM ^
Ah, good point. I expect a long and illustrious career there for Larry Coker.