ian stewart

The last installment of this series led with 2019 recruiting (M might take a running back) before segueing into how Rivals’ post-All-Star game bumps (and drops) impacted Michigan’s 2019 class. Call it chronological organization or lack of imagination but with no other 2019 updates, this post is going to lead with how 247’s post-All-Star game bumps (and drops) impact Michigan’s 2019 class.

The biggest move in the rankings was GA OT Trente Jones’ 88-spot leap from #197 to #109. If you’re a regular reader of recruiting roundup this shouldn’t come as a surprise; if you aren’t, I’ll shamelessly plug a Future Blue Derivatives post I put together about Jones in December. In short, he pairs prototypical tackle size and weight with athleticism far greater than you’d expect from a guy his size.

Another guy who’s more athletic than someone his size has a right to reasonably expect to be is GA DT Chris Hinton. Rivals has him as the #15 overall player in the 2019 class, and though 247 didn’t bump his ranking quite so high, he did get moved from just outside the Top100 (#104) to the upper half of that distinguisher (#47). All told, the movement was enough to make him a composite five-star and #31 overall, up from #49 in pre-postseason-camp composite ranking.

Two other players made big moves up 247’s rankings. MI DT Mazi Smith had such a good week of practice prior to the Under Armour game that 247’s John Garcia was prompted to coin one of my favorite player descriptors of all time: leverage monster.  The Leverage Monster (Ol’ Leverage Monster?) is still a four-star to 247 but moved from #240 to #170. Another in-state four-star jetting up the rankings is MI OL Karsen Barnhart, who moved from #247 to #161.

There were no free-fallers; those who moved down were mostly bumped down by risers, and they generally slid about 10 spots down. OK S Daxton Hill was moved from #8 to #23 because…stuff and things. He didn’t have much to do at practice during the practice week in San Antonio and therefore didn’t get an All-Star game bump, and 247 gave 10 players a fifth star that they then ranked above Hill. All told, the bumps up were enough to lift Michigan's class to sixth overall.

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Michigan added their fifth commitment of the 2020 class on Tuesday in Cornell Wheeler, and they didn’t have to go far to find him. The West Bloomfield LB, no. 466 in the composite ranking, had his fair share of ink spilled upon committing. 247’s Allen Trieu has a pair of scouting reports, one from Tyrice Grice, Wheeler’s defensive coordinator, and one from his observations from 2017 through camp season. Grice:

“Cornell's going to make sure he's a sideline to sideline player. He works hard on his athleticism because he compares himself to Lance [Dixon] which is a tough one to compare yourself to. He will fit in Michigan's defense. His instincts help him get to the ball so fast and he makes good reads and that's something we teach is understanding reads and he is good at that. It took him a while to learn it, but he worked with me and he got it and he is having a dynamic year. The mental aspect, Cornell has done well at, and Michigan runs the same defense as us and gave us everything we needed to run their defense and Coach Brown loves that.”

Trieu issued his player comparison as part of his scouting report:

“I can see some Desmond Morgan there too where, Desmond was not a combine type guy, but was smart, instinctive and worked his way into being productive. That is what I see with Cornell. And the few times that I have seen him in 7-on-7, he made a good amount of plays just by being in the right places as well.”

The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown also wrote up a player comparison in which he likened Wheeler’s game to that of James Ross.

Both have been billed as a tad sawed off while being extremely instinctive and violent when they arrive at ball carriers. Neither of them are very long but both have decent range because they run well and dissect plays in a hurry. Both also show a knack for blitzing because of how they anticipate and understand schemes and tells from the offense.

Brown also checked in with Rivals analyst Josh Helmholdt, and a picture of a tenacious, slightly undersized heat-seeking missile is starting to emerge. Helmholdt:

"His size and stature scream gap-filling thumper, but then he went out and nearly won position MVP honors at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp in Chicago, an event that highlights a linebacker's ability to play in space. Wheeler is effective going forward, backward or sideline-to-sideline. He hits with bad intentions, but also has the explosiveness to blitz or cut off the alley."

Helmholdt also notes that his offer list would have seen the addition of national powers if he had decided to take his recruitment into the spring, but that Michigan pounced on Wheeler’s willingness to finish the recruiting process early.

Brown also spoke with former Michigan WR and current West Bloomfield head coach Ron Bellamy, who called Wheeler “the best middle linebacker in the state of Michigan.”

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