roderick pierce

Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta, DE Josaiah Stewart (Tr), DT Brooks Bahr, DT Cameron Brandt

Chicago (Brother Rice), IL – 6'3"/285
		247: 6'3/290                         3.87*	3*, 89, NR overall #61 DL, #7 IL
		On3: 6'3/290                         3.84*	3*, 88, NR overall #61 DL, #7 IL
		Rivals: 6'3/285                         4.07*	4*, 5.8, NR overall #19 DT, #6 IL
		ESPN: 6'3/270                         3.68*	3*, 77, #65 MW #50 DT, #12 IL
		Composite                         3.83*	3*, #565/#514 Ovr #61/#53 DL, #9/#7 IL
		MGoAverage                         3.88*	3.5*, #466/789 Ovr #40/69 DTs since '90
		YMRMFSPA	Ryan Glasgow
Other Suitors	Illinois, UW (decommit), Texas
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello by yours truly.
Notes	Full name Roderick Pierce III
Film:
Senior Highlights:Junior Highlights:Hudl. BadgerBlitz highlights. Extra game clips.  Interview w On3. Vs Luke Hamilton in camp.

I am not saying that Michigan's 2023 entire class was engaged in a clandestine game of recruiting ratings curling where the goal was to see who could get as close to 4 stars as possible without tripping over the line and disqualifying oneself for MGoBlog Sleeper of the Year, but if it was there would be several candidates who added just a bit too much polish at the end. That especially holds for Trey Pierce, who entered his 2022 season a good thousand spots away from the nearest 4-star, but put so much momentum on that sucker it carried him past four other 4-star DTs to one site.

He came really close, but this former Wisconsin commit must have lost some concentration when Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst. Suddenly Pierce and his friend/nose compatriot Jamel Howard were back on the market. Michigan leapt in along with a host of others who joined an Illinois staff that had been furiously trying to pry him loose the whole time. Pierce was enough of a priority in Ann Arbor that Harbaugh himself moved in for the final

There was a quick flash of a second recruitment that threatened to go national before Illinois lost its DC to the Purdue job, Michigan fended off Texas, and Pierce signed in December. Michigan tried to get Howard as well but he held off, New Wisconsin made their pitch, and managed to break up the pair.

The flurry last December, and the way Pierce and Howard were tied at the hip, makes for an odd review now. Pierce was supposed to be the 3-tech with a hot first step while Howard was the 320-pound obvious nose. Now Pierce is the nose of our class.

[After THE JUMP: Big, explosive, and ready to play, unless he's none of those things.] 

The day after Michigan crushed Ohio State in Columbus last fall, Luke Fickell was announced as the Badgers' new head coach, and two Badger commits, 6'3"/290 DT Roderick "Trey" Pierce III and 6'2"/320 NT Jamel Howard, reopened their recruitments. On Wednesday night Michigan completed the first half of an attempted double-flip of Wisconsin's DT class.

Pierce, the higher-ranked one, has been rising over the cycle. When he committed to Wisconsin last May he was close the 1,000s, and had slipped into them by fall. Senior tape started to change opinions dramatically. He crossed the 4-star line at Rivals earlier this month and might be heading that way on a couple of the other sites.

That senior tape, and the explanation for why it changed so many opinions, came with a major new body and new position; Pierce was a 245-pound defensive end this time last year. He's now listed at 290 to the two sites that update that the most frequently, and 285 to Rivals.

GURU RATINGS

NOTE: I made a change this week in how I calculate our composite star rating. I've decided ESPN ratings since 2014 should only have a half share, since they're more subject to regional bias, and have not putting in the same level of effort as the other sites. This only affects players for whom ESPN significantly disagreed with the other sites available at the time.

Last row is my conversion to a five-star scale. Links are to profiles.

As mentioned, Pierce has been moving up the composite; he was in the 1000s and the 110th-ranked DL on the 247 Composite as of October, the 81st DL and in the 700s six weeks ago. Rivals recently moved him up to 4-star, from a 5.6, #44 DT, #15 IL (3.63 on my scale) to what you see above. 247 wouldn't go quite that far, but had further to go, bumping him from an 85 to an 89 in early November. Late risers (e.g. Mason Graham) are usually a good sign, because the industry doesn't trust itself to move guys up too far, and doesn't the smoke from moving guys near the 4-star line under it. Slotting a guy in just under 4 stars when his senior film just started rolling in is saying they're seeing something awesome, but this is all new so give us a second  to process.

[AFTER THE JUMP: Light the menorah!]

The Wolverines have successfully flipped one of the two Chicago DTs they were trying to pry out of Wisconsin's class.

Roderick "Trey" Pierce III is a bit different that most of his classmates in that he's closer to the finished product. Already 6'3"/290, he's considered a high-floor DT who can play any of the spots on the line. He's the one I was referring to as a possible immediate replacement for Rooks's projected role. Allen Trieu even praises his pad level(!!) Illinois had him on campus earlier this week.

We're catching up on 2023 hellos so we'll get to Pierce's this week, probably Friday. Michigan is still trying to reel in Pierce's fellow DT Jamel Howard out of Marist, who's more of a pure nose prospect.