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Mazi Smith takes the field for the Under Armour All-America Game
[Mark Weaver/247Sports]

Michigan’s 2019 class is more or less wrapped up with the exception of one position: running back. The Michigan staff has entertained the idea of bringing in one more running back after TN RB Eric Gray decommitted from the class, and the player they’ve set their sights on is similar to Gray in that he’s adept at catching the ball out of the backfield, shifty in the open field, and seems to have good acceleration and balance (though balance through contact, as important a trait for RBs as there is, wasn’t on film); he seems like a good fit for new OC Josh Gattis’ #SpeedInSpace philosophy. Washington DC RB Keilan Robinson should have been somewhat familiar with Michigan if for no other reason because his teammate, S Quinten Johnson, is a 2019 signee. He’ll be even more familiar with the program this week, as 247’s Steve Lorenz reports that Michigan’s staff was expected to stop in and see him this week after staying in communication with him the past few months. Robinson, a four-star ranked #362 overall and the #20 RB per the 247 composite, is currently committed to Alabama but has yet to sign.

With 2019 recruiting dwindling, attention from recruiting sites has turned to postseason all-star games and the re-ranks they birth. 247’s analysts sat down and re-watched the Under Armour All-America Game, then offered their take on Michigan’s signees. 247’s John Garcia has seen FL LB Anthony Solomon often in camps and wrote that his coverage skills were never in question. He was more interested in seeing what Solomon could do in a game setting. Garcia:

Looking back he actually closed downhill and finished much better than maybe his height and weight would suggest.

Allen Trieu believes that OH OL Nolan Rumler could play either center or guard in college. Trieu on Rumler going from good in practice to great in the game:

I know that on two of the touchdowns they ran right behind him, and on one he flat pancaked the guy. There was one play where he just drove Mazi (Smith) and nobody had done that all week. I though Nolan lived up to his billing, that whenever the lights are on, he is going to be a mauler.

Garcia noted that Rumler played high at times but was able to sustain blocks once he got his hands on a guy even if his pads were up. Rumler’s future linemate Trente Jones drew rave reviews during the week, and Garcia compared the two:

If Rumler is going to flash, it’ll be with power or maybe a pancake. But Trente will flash with running the defensive end way around a pocket and allowing his quarterback to step up. It will be his ability to get to the second level, to reach block, and get over TWO gaps, to lead the way on stretch plays, and things like that. His movement and skill will allow for so many different types of looks.

Garcia’s takes are some of the most interesting in this piece because he hasn’t seen much of the midwest guys until the week of UA practices and the game. For example, on MI DT Mazi Smith:

You know, the few times I was introduced to him came when we were cutting up top ten plays. Allen would send the film and I would ask “who is this guy?” It was always this ridiculous leverage guy. A leverage monster. If he got under you, he was going to be a problem even for the most physically gifted offensive linemen.

I start these posts with “[Insert day here] Recruitin’” and add the rest of the title as I read articles and start pulling things together and I don’t think I’ve ever scrolled up faster to insert the rest of the title. Garcia and Trieu closed their piece with a discussion of DC S Quinten Johnson’s daily improvement, but I wrote about that in the last recruiting roundup and didn’t find a great ARRRG TECHNIQUE GODZILLA RARR-type (sound effects mine) quote.

[After THE JUMP: Rivals' re-rank, reactions to staff additions and departures, and a number of new offers]

[Isaiah Hole]

That escalated quickly. The above-the-break portion of last week’s roundup was dedicated to coverage of Daxton Hill’s upcoming visit because obvious things are obvious. I did not expect to be writing about him in the same portion of the round up again a week later. Sure, the articles linked in that post were packed with restrained optimism, but this was a Michigan v. Alabama recruiting battle. And yet.

Things started to pick up with a Sam Webb board post that detailed Hill’s visit as close to minute-by-minute as possible and detailed everything from who Hill sat with to his body language. He closed that post by saying “My read on the confidence level in Ann Arbor coming off the visit is it's as high as ever.” Then WolverinesWire’s Isaiah Hole interviewed Hill on his podcast and Hill responded with a hesitant “Uh, I really don’t know” when asked about whether he was going to take any other officials and how long it would be before he made a final decision about committing. That’s no surprised in hindsight, as Steve Lorenz reports that the Michigan staff knew Hill was going to commit to them after his official visit. Hill even shared with Hole in an off-the-record conversation that, though he wouldn’t say where, he knew what school he would commit to but wasn’t sure when he would do it.

Then Hill dropped the news publicly on Tuesday night, and the recruiting sites are still surveying and reporting on the aftermath. Any recruit rated as highly as Hill by all of the services naturally induces some by-the-numbers content after he commits of the “highest-rated since…” variety like this post from The Wolverine, this post from Nate Wiggins of The Wolverine Lounge, and this list of 15 quick-hitters from The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen; Hill’s verifiably insane verified testing results from The Opening also lend themselves to these articles.

Analysis posts of various sorts have also popped up, such as this Josh Helmholdt piece and accompanying video (which features film of Hill from field level) on Hill’s skillset and what adding him to the class means to Michigan fans. WolverinesWire’s Isaiah Hole sat down with Devin Gardner for their weekly segment and Gardner gave a detailed scouting report based off of Hill’s ludicrous highlight reel. 247 has a few bits about who helped with the recruitment behind the scenes, including this Steve Lorenz piece that mentions lead recruiter Sherrone Moore, about whom Brice Marich has more.

Another round of articles were published after reporters had a chance to reach out to others for comment. Sam Webb put up a piece with some choice quotes based on an interview he did with Stan Edwards (yes that Stan Edwards) on the radio.

“Daxton Hill the player…I think you described him perfectly,” said Edwards. “I would agree with you because I was around when Tripp Welborne came through here. That is a pretty good comparison. I sat next to Daxton (at the SMU game). Berkeley (i.e. Stan’s son) is on the team now, so our tickets are always in the same area. So I got a chance to sit next to Dax during the game. We talked about safety play. I said, ‘listen, you’ve got skills like Eric Berry. You’ve got skills like Ed Reed.’ I said, ‘don’t ever forget about your man to man cover skills.’ He stopped me in the middle of conversation, put his hands on me and said, ‘nah, I work on that every day. That’s something I always work on.’”

[After THE JUMP: More on Hill. Also, remember that other five-star, the one who was supposed to commit and still hasn’t?]