Updates On All American Bowl
Since I haven't seen any updates around here, and everything has been pretty spread out on 247sports, I thought I would post some snippets of what Michigan commits have been doing at the All American Games. This is the last real push before rankings are finalized, as recruits have the ability to play against top tier players all week in practice. There are two different games with different practices. The Army/Adidas All American Game (AAG) and the Under Armor All American Game (UAAG).
1. Chris Hinton made a splash right out of the gate at the AAG, and was listed as one of the top 10 performers from Day 1. This is a good sign, as most analysts thought his future was at OT, so seeing him play well on the DL is a good sight.
2. Cornelius Johnson has been getting rave reviews as a fluid route runner who is big and fast and uses size to his advantage at the AAG. He had one of the 10 best plays on Day 2 with an acrobatic catch, and appears to have a terrific catch radius. He's someone that I think will see a massive rise in his rankings after analysts see him against players outside the NorthEast.
3. Mazi Smith was one of the top 5 defenders in day 2 of the UAAG. He was good day 1, but really excelled on Day 2. Showed great strength and lateral mobility, really good sign now that he may have to eat snaps right out of the gate.
4. Quinten Johnson is at the UAAG and has been having a very solid camp so far. He was a top 5 defender on Day 3 and has been described as someone that may rise in the rankings. He had one of the best interceptions of the week and showed off his straight-line speed. He should be a good piece of the defensive backfield.
5. Trente Jones is at the UAAG and has been described as a standout so far. He's gotten a lot of reps at Left and Right Tackle, and has shown off his athleticism and toughness. He's been straight up good.
6. Zach Charbonnet was on 5 star watch, but is out with a minor injury. Probably no 5 star update. The Derrick Green/Kareem Walker/Kelly Baraka/Kevin Grady Curse will have to wait another year before it claims another victim.
7. Haven't heard a ton from Nolan Rumler and Anthony Solomon at the UAAG. Both have been decent, and getting good reviews from the Michigan Writers, but take that with as many grains of salt as you want.
8. Dax Hill is at the AAG and there's no word on his performance yet, but it's still early there.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:53 PM ^
Is this where I bash Harbaugh and Pep?!
I hope Jones is ahead of the curve at Tackle and can make an impact, if not this year, next year.
Hinton and Mazi are probably the two most important players, outside of Dax, coming in. That DLine needs as many talented bodies ready to play as it can get.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
Good to hear about Hinton. I was a bit worried by the lack of chatter his senior year. It reminded me of Shane Morris/Kareem Walker (and actually . . . Billy Beane, for those of you who read Moneyball (to the rest of you, read the f***ing book)) and others who were highly-regarded HS juniors but whose underwhelming senior years warned of underwhelming post-HS careers.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:19 PM ^
GREAT book!
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
I'm awful and I read all the tweets and watch the videos. I have no idea what I'm talking about and it's not an actual football event, but...
The talk on Hinton has been quiet and many have said he needs to move to OL. I think that actually started with Lugenbill at one point. But find some videos from the practices if it interests you: Hinton has good feet and he has some pass rush moves that have allowed him to get around guys. He doesn't have an elite first step, but he's quicker than you'd think for a guy people keep trying to put on the OL, and he's got a step-one-way-then-go-the-other move, and almost a hesitation move. He looks a lot more athletic than what I was expecting too. He honestly looks like a poor man's Rashan Gary when he moves. Thicker though, and obviously slower and not as sudden. But great hands like Gary had.
Rumler has not looked great, but his dad has said (on twitter) that was on Day 1 and 2, which were no pads and half pads. He said Day 3 he looked much better.
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
Rummler has also been getting snaps at center for the first time in his life so that's a big adjustment that could affect his performance early on.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:57 PM ^
Yeah it seems like it's been a good week for the Maize and Blue recruits.
On the negative side sounded like Rummler has struggled trying to play Center and surprisingly Dax has been quiet..
If they just cut and pasted the same articles from Tarik Black 2 years ago and replaced it with Cornelius they wouldn't miss a beat. Scary how exact it has been.
Hinton was committed so long there was no buzz and people feared he may have been overrated because of his size and name but he looks great. Great news.
This class looks to be something special. Goonsquad
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:15 PM ^
The AAG is only through Day 1, so I wouldn't think too much into it. And yea, the Tarik Black comparisons are pretty good.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
Re Dax. Hill: I read on one of the 247 threads that the West team coaches at UA had told the DBs to let the receivers catch the ball in Day One practices. Today would be the day to start hearing ‘bout Dax.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:00 PM ^
Nice thread man.Think we got some good ones in Hinton and Smith.
I was most interested in DT and S recruiting this year (RB and OT up there also) and we have really good ones coming in.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
am i the only one who thinks DE is a major concern? I get that Paye seems capable of stepping in as a starter but who's the other guy(s)? Seems like a giant ? for every one of them outside of perhaps Hutchinson. That seem like a major drop-off from Gary and Chase that gets very little mention when it comes to positions of need.
One of the reasons I think the Harrison debacle (and to a lesser extend missing out on Karlaftis) sting so much.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
Uche posted a few days ago that he is planning on putting on another 15 lbs. I am assuming he will get a lot of reps next season. Hutchinson will be a key factor.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
yeah I was still counting him among the LB's but moving to DE would help if he can hold up there.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^
Luigi is key. I think 3-3-5 is definitely going to get more usage as well.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:11 PM ^
not sure i think any of the presumed DL starters can hold up in a 3 front and Luigi being healthy feels an awful lot like the Mone years...
January 2nd, 2019 at 6:54 PM ^
Paye Uche and Hutch will all make major progressions. It would be great to Luigi get healthy and reach his potential.
Winovich kind of cam out of nowhere his Junior year. We have players.
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
Villain may be a factor as well if he can stay healthy.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:32 PM ^
I think the thought was Villain and one of Weishoff, Upshaw or maybe Ojabo could step up.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:22 PM ^
There are question marks but plausible answers. DT is much scarier. We basically need a true freshman to start at this point.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:26 PM ^
if I have to pick two between the DT's (Dwumfour, Kemp, Jeter) or the DE's (Paye, Hutchinson and ?) I feel more comfortable with the DT's at the moment than the DE's but you're right, I think Smith and or Hinton are both on the 2-deep in '19.
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:26 PM ^
Uche is going to be a full time DE next year. You also have Villain if he can get healthy and then 2 freshman potentially in Hinton and Ojabo.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
Yes, there will be a big drop off from Gary/Wino but Paye, Hutchinson and Uche have all shown enough to make me feel comfortable.
Honestly I'm far more concerned about DT where we have..... Kemp, Dwumfour, Jeter and then two true freshman (Hinton and Smith). I know some people don't care, and maybe hope for, freshman being significant contributors but I'm in the camp where that's not something you should be rooting for. IF they're good enough to beat out upper classmen, yeah I'm all for it, but NEEDING at least one true frosh to hit and be a rotational player usually means we don't have anyone else coming back that can do much.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
Assuming Uche puts on some good weight and plays DE. Hopeful that Vilain gets healthy and is ready to contribute, he seemed to have a ton of upside coming in, same with Welschof. Lots of upside, hopefully he picked up the game.
An interesting one for me would be Ojabo. He’s a bit raw but he is incredibly athletic. Will be interesting to see if he can put on 10-15 lbs and be in that pass rush specialist role we saw Uche in this year while he continues to bulk up and refine his game.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:15 PM ^
Don't most players in those games get at least one rave review just to draw readers and viewers?
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
The National sites don't really care as much because they know people are gonna click regardless. Like I said, take it with as many grains of salt as you want.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:20 PM ^
Saw some snippets on Twitter of Nolan Rumler in pass protection. Unfortunately it was pretty bad, like he didn't want to move his feet or something. I am sure that will change once Warriner gets his hands on him but footwork is currently a big concern. No videos of any run blocking yet I don't think.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:04 PM ^
I did read something yesterday or the day before mentioning Rumler really struggling in pass pro but being a mauler in the ground game.
January 2nd, 2019 at 6:16 PM ^
Yeah. I saw that on twitter and posted it in one of the threads. He will need some work, just like any freshman OL.
I was just very happy to hear about Trente Jones outperforming his own 5 star teammate.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:31 PM ^
I predict that over the next 4-5 years this class will produce zero victories against OSU and zero B1G titles. I do think they will, by and large, have positive experiences at UM, win 8-10 games a year, get a good education and leave better men than they entered. That's about all we can hope for.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
You really set the bar high if, "That's about all we can hope for".
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:47 PM ^
To "Stirrednotshaken", it sounds like you have not been laid for a long time !!!
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:00 PM ^
Ha, that's not the problem. I'm more of an evidence based predictor of the future. Unfortunately, my prediction is based on the evidence from the Harbaugh tenure to date. Definitely a BPONE influenced prediction but seems most logical to me at this point in time.
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
Sadly, that is more than likely the results going forward under Harbaugh. I will certainly hope for more, but its hard to see it.
January 2nd, 2019 at 7:47 PM ^
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Yes, but will they go for two? Asking for a friend.
/s