ryan keeler

Last week I dumped 97 links on offensive recruiting for the class of 2021, and y'all said you were looking forward to the defensive one. Well the thing is the defensive side isn't nearly as set. There are a LOT of guys on the board, and the staff is constantly turning up more of them, so I'm going to have to split this up into three parts, and push 2022s to a fourth. Just remember you asked for this.

The Board:

The fellas again:

Icon	Name	Meaning
	Sad Josh	The genre of player with unrequited interest in Michigan. Unlikely to receive offers; most will eventually fade off the list and go to Duke or Michigan State or something.
	Nefarious Eduardo	Player is a longshot. Either they've declared someone else a leader publicly or popular opinion holds that they're likely to go to another school.
	Data	Either no opinion or Michigan is one of a fairly even group of chasing schools. Players in this category maintain no leader or change their leader frequently. The default category for players that we don't know much about yet.
	Happy Teeth	Players who have Michigan in a small leading group or have Michigan as a tenuous favorite. Should be regarded as a good shot, not a slam dunk.
	Mr. Blue	Player is either a verbal or is expected to be one sooner or later. Players with this designation are 65%+ to be Michigan commits.

The order is my interpretation of how likely they are to commit and how many recruiting points are being expended.

An *Expanded* Note on Stars: What I said last week: These are a general (not exact) average of a player's status among the recruiting services. Addition: The sites don't have two-stars anymore but I'm going to use the designation for certain low 3*s to differentiate between a guy in the 750s who'd still be in the top half of a Michigan State class, and one who's in the 1,000s or not even ranked.

An *Expanded* Note on Premium Info: What I said last week: No illicit sharing of said material will appear on this site. Players are listed with interested schools in their profiles; this information is public. Commitments are by definition public. Any assertions as to schools in the mix, decision dates, or leaders I will back up with links to the source of the information. Addition: There will always be more interesting information after the link. If you want that stuff, subscribe to their services. If you want one place to read what you could spend a few hours looking up for free on your own, this post is for you.

Defensive Tackle

Strap in, because there are a lot of guys to talk about here. In fact I left out another ten Shaun Nua stays in contact with. The guy likes to recruit.

Commits
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Dominick Giudice	NJ	**	Michigan		Hello. Harbaugh bait.
Targets
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
George Rooks	NJ	****	Cuse Michigan, PSU, Miami, Pitt, BC		Visited for PSU
Rayshaun Benny	MI	****	Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State
Tywone Malone	NJ	****.5	OSU, Ole Miss, TAMU, UF		Baseball too
Jacob Schuster	WA	***	Cal, Stanford, Wash, Wazzu, Michigan
Jay Toia	CA	****	USC Commit
Derek Wilkins	CA	****	Cal, Stanford lead all the academics
Arden Walker	CO	***	Wis, Michigan, MSU, Iowa, ISU, Colorado, BC
Ikenna Ugbaja	MA	**	Michigan, Vandy, Cuse, Harvard
Ryan Keeler	IL	***	RU, Ole Miss, Michigan, entire Midwest		Best of Midwest star. Raves about UM. Iowa Visit.

NEEDS:

Major, and avoids "Dire" only because they got an elite guy and another guy close to it last year in Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith. They're also several years into their build-your-own DT program, and likely to start seeing the fruits of that labor by the time any 2021 commits step on campus. Any 2021 commit who can contribute immediately is, in the most plausible scenario, immediately competing with RS Jr Julius Welschof, RS Soph Michael Morris, and RS Fr Kris Jenkins to be Mazi's or Hinton's backup at the two most cycled positions in football.

The good news is the board looks way better than it did a few months ago, and things may change with the blue chips once Ohio State's had their fill. Welcome to Recruiting in the Modern Age. How's that NIL stuff going?

[After THE JUMP: is everyone an anchor?]

Layup for the Graphics Department

We're in the heart of high school football season, and much to the delight and relief of certain bloggers who compile certain types of recruiting posts, there's a healthy amount of scouting of Michigan commits available. It certainly helps that a decent chunk of M's recruiting class plays for Baltimore St. Frances, who 247's Brian Dohn saw shut out powerhouse St. Joseph Regional 28-0 last weekend. He wrote up reports on all three St. Frances Michigan commits; linebacker Osman Savage stood out to him the most among the three, and a certain trait popped out [emphasis mine]:

Savage was physical and fast. He was quick to read plays and he was able to get up the field against the run. He showed an ability to drop into coverage and be effective while reading the quarterback. He is explosive and he plays fast. He is fearless, and he excels in space because of his tackling skills and his body control.

Check out the mid-season film above and—yup, he plays fast. Fellow linebacker commit Nikhai Hill-Green "was physical at the point of attack, but was caught a few times peaking into the backfield on pass plays." Finally, running back Blake Corum got the Not Just A Scatback™ designation:

Four-star Michigan commit Blake Corum, who is the No. 14 running back in the 247Sports Composite, showed he can be a physical runner between the tackles. He ran for tough yards in the middle, and he was able to get to the edge a few times. He was patient and let the plays develop, and he picked up key yardage to get first downs. Whether he can touch the ball 20-plus times a game in college remains a question, but he can carry the load for St. Frances.

247's Allen Trieu got a look at four-star receiver AJ Henning a couple weeks ago and came away impressed with his versatility when injury forced him into some action as a running back:

So we saw him in the slot catching the ball and running it from the backfield. We knew he had legit breakaway 4.4 type speed, but he has shown more than just that too. He made a great diving catch, he broke tackles, he showed all the dimensions to his game. He is about 5-foot-9, not real tall, but has a compact build. I think he can be a running back or slot at the next level, but there is no doubt he can affect the scoreboard and help an offense in a lot of ways.

Out west, 247's Greg Biggins scouted three-star OT Jeffrey Persi, who may be the leader in the clubhouse for Sleeper of the Year if his rankings remain static:

At 6-7, Persi is so long he's tough to get around. He has long arms, good feet and moves laterally very easily. He's starting to fill out and looks like he has gained a solid 10-15 pounds from his junior season. 

He was good in one on one pass protection, was dominant in the run game and made some really nice blocks when he got out and pulled, showing very good athleticism for a big tackle. Persi is not even close to reaching his ceiling and will make another big jump when gets to college.

Biggins thinks he "should be a multi-year starter."

Over at MGoFish, their video scouting series continues with OG Zak Zinter and ATH RJ Moten. They see Zinter as a high-floor road grader in the Graham Glasgow mold, while Moten's athleticism and versatility gets him a lofty Jabrill Peppers comparison. There's an impressive amount of depth to these reports, and it's particularly nice to see one on Zinter, who doesn't get a ton of attention out in Massachusetts.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

2020

VA TE Matthew Hibner committed to Michigan after visiting last week, and the services are starting to catch up with content on a guy who was a three-star whose name was just beginning to find its way into articles prior to said visit; he barely had his offer a week before committing. Rivals posted one-on-one highlights of Hibner from their 3 Stripe Camp in D.C. and he looks long and strong, and there’s a particularly fun catch at 00:16. The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown wrote a piece about the impact of Hibner’s commitment and in it noted that Hibner has put on almost 40 pounds since the end of last season without losing his speed, which is clear in the highlight tape linked above and presages a likely ratings riser as this season progresses. In a separate piece, Brown compares Hibner to Jake Butt at similar stages in their playing career because of their frame, athleticism, and tenacity.

HI WR Roman Wilson is not yet committed, but he would be if his father got to make the call. The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb asked Wilson’s dad for his top five schools and Wilson did not mince words.

“Well, I like Michigan, probably at no. 5,” Mr. Wilson said. “Then probably the University of Michigan at no. 4. Then that school in Ann Arbor is a close no. 2. And I would have to put that Harbaugh team at no 1. I really like what he’s doing up there (Laughter).”

Wilson’s father said he was sold by the time they hit the cafeteria. His mother said she likes Michigan along with Cal and UCLA, the other schools thought to be serious contenders for Wilson. She did say that she was impressed by the strength and conditioning staff, as they allayed concerns she had about how past coaching has impacted Wilson’s speed. (Makes sense when your son is Hawaii’s reigning state champ in the 100-meter dash at 10.68 seconds.) For his part, Wilson said Michigan’s resources were on par with Cal or UCLA, but Michigan had more space and therefore more things. Weather could understandably be an issue for a kid from Hawaii who’s strongly considering California schools and Michigan, but Wilson doesn’t mind the cold.

“And I’ve been in snow before. It ain’t that bad. You just gotta throw in some extra clothes.”

One guy who apparently won’t need to pack a coat is NC DE Kedrick Bingley-Jones. Per 247’s Steve Lorenz, Bingley-Jones wanted to reschedule his official visit to Michigan last weekend but visited Florida, and now it seems that recruitment is done after he was a priority for a hot minute.

A fair amount of news broke this weekend regarding prospects Michigan has been recruiting for a long time but who had been flying under the radar a bit. Steve Lorenz CB’d MA ATH Eamonn Dennis to Michigan, joining Brian Dohn and Sam Webb. Lorenz writes that Dennis’ recruitment is similar to fellow east-coaster Mike Sainristil in that he’s a bigger target for the staff than has been publicized. Dennis, who told 247’s Brian Dohn he was told by Josh Gattis that he would be used in the backfield and in the slot as an “all-purpose back type of player,” is scheduled to be on campus this weekend. He also told Dohn that Michigan is his leader, he has no return visits set to the other two schools in his top-three (Syracuse and Duke), and he would like to commit before the season. Writing, meet wall. Wall, writing.

[After THE JUMP: hush-hush visits, crystal balls, and JJ McCarthy's construction project]