In-state Preview of 2016 Recruiting

Submitted by Magnus on

With the 2016 recruiting cycle officially beginning recently, I compiled a list of 38 in-state prospects to watch for the upcoming class. Several already have Michigan offers, and I think a few more could come. And even if not, there are guys on this list who will end up playing against Michigan in the coming years or who might be from your old high school. Enjoy!

http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2015/02/in-state-preview-of-2016-rec…

Magnus

February 16th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^

No. To be honest with you, I don't fully understand your question. The way I take that question, it means: Will the program fall apart if we don't get Player X? There are other, better players around the country, and Jim Harbaugh has the cache to get some of those players from Florida, Texas, California, Ohio, New Jersey, etc.

I think Corley is a very good player at a position of need, so he would be highest on my list of players to pursue.

evenyoubrutus

February 16th, 2015 at 8:13 AM ^

I don't see how Daelin Hayes could get such high accolades from the recruiting sites when he has hardly played in two years. Do camp performances really mean that much?

RGard

February 16th, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^

mean a lot with respect to the number of stars the player gets from the evaluators.  I occasionally listen to Mike & Mike (ESPN) in the mornings on the way to work and Golic went into some detail with the process using one of his kids as an example. 

The gist of it was that if you don't go to the camps, the evaluators will down grade you or not grade you at all.

Magnus

February 16th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^

Unfortunately, camp performances mean a lot for rankings. Not only do I not use them (because I don't go to those camps), but I don't trust camp performances because they're not actual football.

I work with a guy who can hit about 70% of his three-pointers. Unfortunately for him, they're uncontested, he's about 50 years old, and he's about 5'7" tall. It's still impressive to hit that many threes, but it doesn't make a whole lot of difference if he can't do it in a game.

Chipper1221

February 16th, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^

why do you value camp competition drills higher than actual football? 

 

Magnus makes a good point, a guy can hit uncontested threes all day in a three point shooting drill but can the same guy make those during an actual game?

 

a WR might be able to beat a corner conistently at one of these camps but thats just a one on one man to man drill, how does that receiver do if you add in double teams or zone schemes. On top of that in a drill his QB is facing no pressure and standing there without a helmet. Factor in a pass rush and weve got a different ball game.

 

Im not saying these camps mean nothing but I think games mean more. 

Quailman

February 16th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^

I think part of the idea is that a lot of these players are big fishes in small ponds, and that by going against each other in camp settings, you get a more clear idea of who is better.

A player might have film of them doing everything you want them to do, but how much stock do you put into it if they do it against poor competition? Those skills might not translate against the competition they will face in college. At a camp, if they can do some of those things against other top players, then you may be able to trust the HS film a little more knowing that they can do it against anyone.

Not that camps are perfect, and obviously kids who don't camp can still turn out to be studs, but I think its the general train of thought behind camp performance. 

Magnus

February 16th, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^

Camps aren't totally useless for that reason (and maybe a couple others), but I think you always take into account the opponents' talent level when doing evaluations. Most of the guys who follow recruiting for a living (not me, but the evaluators at Rivals, Scout, etc.) have local guys who are familiar with the talent level. They know a guy who runs for 1,500 yards in the PSL is probably superior to the guy who runs for 1,500 yards in the Upper Peninsula. Even if you don't have that knowledge, you can see on film that a guy like De'Veon Smith - who busted lots of long runs in high school - won't have breakaway speed against Big Ten opponents.

That big-fish-in-a-small-pond aspect is part of the equation, but it's not totally necessary, IMO. Like a lot of recruiting stuff (including some of the stuff I do on my site), those camps are more about publicity, entertainment, etc. than determining or improving football skills.

mrkid

February 16th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^

Always enjoy reading these, Magnus! Does Corley play CB for Detroit King as well? If so, with him and Hill, I'd hate to try to throw on Detroit King, amirite? 

Magnus

February 16th, 2015 at 8:21 AM ^

Yes. Detroit King has a crap-ton of talent at defensive back. They have Corley, Hill, a 2016 corner named Dontre Boyd who has some decent offers, a 2016 safety named Jesse Johnson who has a couple offers, and then a lightning-fast 2017 corner named Ambry Thomas. So they have one junior and four senior defensive backs who will probably be playing Power Five-conference football.

LSAClassOf2000

February 16th, 2015 at 8:19 AM ^

It's just fun to see my own alma mater - Saline - among the high schools on the list, and a son of Fred Jackson at that. It really wouldn't matter who per se, but at least when I was there, Saline was not generally putting out names that would have appeared on a preview such as this one (although we had a few guys floating around the Big Ten). 

Justjoshnya

February 16th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^

Great read! Thanks Magnus. Do you think theres a chance that Michigan doesn't end up with a single player from the state in the 2016 class? I think that might be a possibility. Has that ever happened before? Just curious if anyone had any insight into this. Thanks!

Magnus

February 16th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^

I doubt that happens. I can't see Michigan not finding at least one Michigan player who won't want to play for Jim Harbaugh. I don't know who it will be, but it will be someone. I don't think has ever had a class without an in-state player, at least not in the modern recruiting era.

M-Dog

February 16th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

It's much more reliable to have a solid recruiting base near your campus so you can always count on a solid core of recruits, and then branch out nationally from there, ala Urban Meyer.  

We are an interesting place to take an OV because of Harbaugh, our national reputation, our classic tradition, and the fact that we are located somewhere different and unique for recruits in the South and West.

But as we've seen, when push comes to shove, most of them stay local.  You could make a National Championship team from the guys out of our region that loved us but that we finished second for.

 

Fire The Boosters

February 16th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^

He will be a senior at Novi CC, 6' 5" 280, elite strength benched 225 18 times as a junior, very athletic running a 5.0 40 yard dash, has the pedigree as his grandfather and uncle both played at UM and his dad at the Naval Academy.



By the way his senior season will only be the third year he has played football, tremendous upside.