Hello: Drew Dileo Comment Count

Brian

Well… yeah, so this LA WR named Drew Dileo committed to us over… uh… Tulane, Stanford, and Rice. He plays in the slot so it's not like a totally crazy commitment. Informative update coming.

Informative update:

GURU RATINGS

Drew Dileo

Scout Rivals ESPN
NR NR 75

Okay, so Dileo is a 5'9", 170 pound slot receiver from Louisiana. He's white.

Dandy Don, who must be taken seriously at all times about everything, ranks Dileo the states' 42nd best prospect. Tiger Rag is considerably more enthusiastic but wasn't exactly glowing:

19. Drew Dileo (5′9.5, 165, 4.5) Athlete Parkview Baptist HS - Dileo might not have as much bulk as some of the running backs in this class, but without question he has the heart. In 2007 he was selected as the MVP of the Class 3A championship game and in 2008 his role was not much different as he served as a running back, defensive back, and return specialist. Dileo’s size may be the only factor that keeps him from playing at the Division-1 level. However, there may be a team out there willing to give him a shot.

Heart: one gritty white guy descriptor ah ah ah.

ESPN's ranking is pretty meh but the writeup has some promise:

He is a good athlete with quickness and agility. … As a punt returner he fields the ball and accelerates while reading blocks on the run. Maintains balance even after being hit. Fights for every inch of return yardage and can make defenders miss in the open field. … Catches the ball easily in traffic and hauls in the pass even knowing he will be hit immediately after the reception. Can turn back across his body to make the difficult catches. As a slot, runs the counter and reverse to perfection. Hits and spins for extra yardage and is tough to bring down.

They end by suggesting he's "solid" and will be "sound" at any position he plays and "can be a very sure and productive player" and wow we're up to five gritty white guy descriptors (ah ah ah), four of which came in one sentence. Touch the Banner—which I have just discovered is run by frequent commenter Magnus—had a scouting report earlier in the year. In sum:

Dileo looks to be a low to mid 3-star player. He's a standout at a small school against weaker competition, but I question his ability to be fast enough or elusive enough to be a major contributor at the next level.

LSU message boards are also doubtful about his ability to play at a high D-I level, but he won the "fans choice" vote so we've got that going for us.

Coach quote:

"Any way we can get him in open space," Guillot said, "we're going to do it. He has great vision and is great at making people miss."

No white guy descriptors from the coach. Score for you, Mr. Guillot.

OFFERS

Well, he picked up an offer from Stanford after Michigan extended theirs. Given the way Harbaugh is recruiting these days that's a respectable letter to have. But… uh. Yeah. The local paper's commit article also claims a couple additional BCS offers:

Dileo chose the Wolverines with scholarship offers from Stanford, Virginia and Northwestern (Illinois) as well.

So not just Tulane and Rice. Not LSU and Miami, either.

STATS

Dileo was a jack of all trades for his team, rushing for 760 yards on 102 attempts (7.5 per) and catching 21 passes for 315 yards. Rivals doesn't have full return stats but they do have him averaging 42.2 yards on kick returns(!); he had four touchdowns in the return game..

FAKE 40 TIME

4.5 is the number, which awesome NFL guys barely run at their combines. So probably not a guy who's other big offer was Stanford. I give it one FAKE out of three.

VIDEO

Highlights of last year's Louisiana 3A state championship game, of which Dileo was the MVP; he's #3:

Mmmm. Fumbles. Also: I think that reverse flea-flicker was in Super Tecmo Bowl.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Um. Well, this is not Kenny Shaw. Not to be a know-it-all but I'm not terribly enthused about Dileo's commitment. He's small, he's not ultra-productive or anything, and the other offers are teams Michigan should be recruiting on another level from with the possible exception of resurgent Stanford. Also, Fred Jackson's last obscure Louisiana wideout find was Laterryal Savoy, who Michigan took over Desean Jackson.

fed_fail

There are a lot of metrics that indicate Dileo isn't going to contribute. It's early in the year yet and maybe he'll have some sort of blowup senior year, but a guy like Dorrell Jalloh is probably Dileo's maximum upside.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

They've got to be done at wideout, right? I mean: they've got five in the boat. Even if one—probably Jerald Robinson—is ticketed for the secondary, that's a lot of wide receivers in one class. I think they'd take one more slot if they really liked him, but that's unlikely.

As for the burgeoning class… well. One kid who has no major offers outside of Michigan is one thing. It's okay if the recruiting sites are enthusiastic about him, as they are with Robinson. But now we're up to like four (Kinard, DJ Williamson, Dileo, Tony Drake) players who don't have the offers or the rankings to suggest they're going to be anything more than serviceable if they work out. Trust the coaches and all that, yes, but at some point this goes beyond kids Michigan got on quick because they are awesome and just goes right to kids Michigan thinks they can get commits from after a 3-9 season.

Comments

Seen Him Play

July 18th, 2009 at 8:42 PM ^

Greetings for Baton Rouge. You have a good one here. The video of the championship game was his sophomore year. My daughter graduated from PBS two years ago, so I seen this kid play a lot. He is very quick, unafraid and makes things happen. In that championship year PBS was 15-0 with four OT wins. We had to beat Redemptorist twice in OT to make it the championship game. In the first game (always the last regular season game) RHS seemed to take control with a TD late but Drew returned the KO for a TD and PBS tied it and prevailed for an OT win.

Then we had the playoffs. PBS runs a triple option veer wing T hybrid. (They have begun passing some just to get Drew in space.) PBS went through the entire playoffs without throwing a pass until the third quarter of the semis when we played RHS again. A late fumble gave RHS the ball with a one point lead at the PBS 12 and two minutes to go. PBS let them score to go up by eight. Drew got a good KO return, broke a run down the sideline. A QB keeper got it inside the 20. Drew ran a fade that was supposed to go over his outside shoulder. Instead it came down right over his head. He caught it leaning back so far I didn't see how he could stay upright. PBS went for two for the tie and won in OT. The championship game was sloppy, but a win.

He comes from a very good program. Strong weight room and voluntary workout program. Lyle Hitt, Derry Beckwith, both LSU starters played at PBS. He is very concious that most of you are rolling your eyes at a 3 star. His goal is to be productive and make the coaches glad they offered.

Chrisgocomment

July 18th, 2009 at 8:50 PM ^

Thanks for the info.

For the record, I wasn't making light of Drew's recruiting rankings with my comment, I was making fun of other Michigan fan's that trash kids that they don't feel are up to par with other recruits. I prefer to hold my opinion until the kid actually has a chance to play.

Thanks again, I'm excited to see what Rodriguez can do with dynamic players like Drew.

Braylon Edwards

April 30th, 2009 at 7:53 PM ^

I've cooled on this kid, I like this commit as it gives us another guy in the slot. we don't seem to have too much depth there and the kids just seems like a competitor that will do all the little things to help his team win, a la Wes Welker. Now, I think it would benefit the team/class if one of WR's de-commit, preferably Williamson.

OMG...LOVE_RR

April 30th, 2009 at 7:59 PM ^

1) how come we'll take a recruit from this guy (and someone like tony drake) who do not seem to be highly recruited, arent getting big offers, and (from what i know) havent visted, when we tell someone like travis willaims to hold off?

2) not really a question, but im also definitely in the camp of whats going on with these recruits. the amount of low rated, barely recruited kids are becoming staggering. and at wr, nonetheless. i dont think this is gary wiliams going out and taking kids that arent in the aau, so what gives with all the underrecruiting here

Magnus

April 30th, 2009 at 8:28 PM ^

To answer question #1, we have a fairly long list of cornerbacks and safeties who could very well commit (Mathis, Christian, Wood, Anderson, etc.). The coaches don't want to take a commit from Williams when there are higher rated guys who might just commit pretty soon, anyway.

We don't have that same kind of luxury with slot receivers. Dunkley is probably headed elsewhere, as is O.J. Ross. The coaches obviously want another slot and perhaps they think Dileo might finish up their recruiting of the position.

jblaze

April 30th, 2009 at 11:36 PM ^

we can do better than a recruit who's other best offer is Stanford, though. It's a very questionable move. I have no idea what's going on. Maybe he's just under the radar right now, but RR has to know that he can do better, just look at the 09 class.

Magnus

May 1st, 2009 at 1:29 AM ^

"Maybe he's just under the radar right now, but RR has to know that he can do better, just look at the 09 class."

The '09 class has such premiere prospects as Vincent Smith and Teric Jones. Yep, there sure weren't any Drew Dileo-type players in '09. They were all 4- and 5-stars!

wolverine1987

May 1st, 2009 at 7:36 AM ^

I agree, but I still feel squishy about this. Last year's recruiting of marginal three star guys I totally understood- given the circumstances, there was really no option. But I assumed this year would be different, and have to say I'm disappointed at this and Drake. I know I could end up loving the Drake (and Smith has promise, obviously), but his seems like the kind of signing that a MAC school would be thrilled with.

JWMU_01

May 1st, 2009 at 10:08 AM ^

"but his seems like the kind of signing that a MAC school would be thrilled with."

Seeing as they play 2 or 3 Mac schools a year... maybe they are dipping into that recruiting pool for a reason...can you imagine how excited teams in the Colonial Conference would be with this commit?! he he

JWMU_01

May 1st, 2009 at 9:52 AM ^

I am no guru when it comes to Xs and Os, but with the spread Michigan is going to need some depth at the receiving corp correct? Won't they be rotating role players in and out while developing a main target that will become the guy who grabs the most attetnion from the defense leaving guys like Dileo available to make an unexpected play every so soften, all the while his main role is going to be to block?

iawolve

April 30th, 2009 at 10:37 PM ^

You are going to get guys on the margin showing up early. Admittedly, I was a bit biased going in and after watching the clip of the game I did not see jets or great ball security. It puts me in the camp of the head scratchers and assume someone knows better than me.

My hope is maybe Les talked this kid up, but just did not have a place for him on the team this year and that he would take him any other year. Maybe I should also back off my medication...

k bizzle

May 1st, 2009 at 12:36 AM ^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Welker#High_school_career

Seems like Delio has the same kind of high school career and size as Welker did.

Maybe other teams have yet to discover him. So glad you've gone and been able to see the kid first hand and know what he is all about. I'm sure your not just basing this off of finding on the interwebs.....

Gotta love the arm chair UM recruiters these days, too funny.

It will be fun to see people change their tunes once his stock starts to rise and RR proves he can take these guys (that fit his mold) and make them into one hell of a team.

k bizzle

May 1st, 2009 at 10:30 AM ^

What color he is doesn't have anything to do with it. Both were great kick returners, played DB, inside slot guys, and 5'9 175 coming out of high school.

Guess they didn't have anything in common, you're right. Or should I say he is more like Eddie Royal, is that better now? Cause he is BLACK, right....................

J. Lichty

May 1st, 2009 at 12:26 AM ^

they would not have offered him early if they did not see potential for him - and I am sure it is not just because we lost our white guy RB from last year.

Look at some of the overacheving white guys who have succeeded at other schools over the years, and think that maybe RR found ours. Hester at LSU? Any WR at Iowa? Peterman at NW?

I did not follow recruiting closely when Mike Hart was recruited, but coaches sometimes see things that the pundits, and even coaches from other schools, do not. He very well could bust, and the odds are even that he will, but this is a great class so far, and this is not a bad commit.

imafreak1

May 1st, 2009 at 9:34 AM ^

From the video, I noticed that one of the teams emerged from a tunnel shaped like a helmet. Normally this might be intimidating, in the way inflatable things can intimidate, but they walked out instead of ran out. Ol' Grandad used to say "nobody walks onto a ball field" so I'm not so sure about this entrance.

The other team burst forth through a large piece of paper! The dramatic effect of this was multiplied by the fact that no one could see all 100 of them massing behind the piece of paper.

Also, Dealio's QB squats at center like he's... having a meeting. Reminds me of Scott McMullen the QB that backed up the Nobel Prize winner (in GENETICS!) at OSU.

In conclusion, RR plans on taking an endless stream of small shifty guys that can play in the slot. This guy can also return kicks (maybe he can even catch them because 'returning kicks' is supposed to mean running them back not returning them to the other team.) The fact that Dealio is white is of no consequence.

Seen Him Play

July 18th, 2009 at 10:20 PM ^

Parkview uses the Vinyl with velcro as a rule. For the championship game in the Superdome, they used paper. BTW, PBS was undefeated that year despite having 17 starters miss at least one game with injury. 4 were lost for the year, including the starting MLB during the first round of the playoffs. (2 did actually line up as wideouts on the first play in the dome, and then step out of bounds at the snap. That way they "played" at the dome. PBS gained 7 without them.)

Don

May 1st, 2009 at 9:53 AM ^

That video is — by far — the least impressive collection of "highlights" I've ever seen. That does not mean Dileo can't be a great player for us, but the video gives no indication at all that the chances are very good.

contra mundum

May 1st, 2009 at 10:54 AM ^

I'll make a comparison..a McGuffie comparison.

Dileo doesn't have McGuffie's top end speed from what I can see, but comparing him to Dan Quisenberry? Really? He runs with a better pad level that McGuffie ever did, and has quicker feet and more shake in his game than McG.

He also plays corner in HS..haven't seen film on him there. It's possible he could move to cb if needed or if he doesn't pan out at slot.

Signing another slot guy, makes me wonder if both Gallon and Toussaint aren't going to qualify. Something RR knows more about than all the people on this board combined.

k bizzle

May 1st, 2009 at 11:00 AM ^

There has been recent news about both Gallon and Toussaint and that they are coming along in a positive way with qualifying and that the coaches expect them there in the fall.

He will also not be a CB, he said that he was coming here to play inside slot.

If you look at the WRs for the class there really isn't that many inside slot guys and there will probably be at least one WR to go on the other side and it won't be Dileo.

You do make a good point about the pad level though Rod.

bronxblue

May 1st, 2009 at 12:31 PM ^

While I am not super high on this offer, the one thing you can pick up from the offer list (Virginia, Stanford, NW, Rice, UM) is that this kid is probably not a slouch in the classroom. Since RR's system has been shown to be difficult to grasp for some, perhaps one of the reasons he signed Dileo is because he will be able to pick up the offense quickly and be a contributor sooner rather than later. Nobody here is privy to the coaching room, but perhaps RR has realized that some of his WRs might never adequately grasp this offense, and he is identifying kids that might not be as physically gifted but who "get it" quicker.

Beyond that, I worry that Dileo might be another casualty of the late-season brush off/rescinded offer trend that Brian has pointed out before. I hope I'm wrong, but the middling 3* WRs tend to be the first to go when a better recruit pops up on the radar.

Elno Lewis

May 1st, 2009 at 12:53 PM ^

Deleo impressed RR (Rita, that is) with his shrimp gumbo so she pressured RR (RICH) to take him. It is about more than just football and academics. Culture and recipes are important, as well.

I have it from a good source that the only reason McGuffie was recruited to the team was the Texas Fried Tripe he fed Lloyd on a recruiting trip.

RR is a renaissance man. We'd all do well to remember that.

Seth

May 1st, 2009 at 4:11 PM ^

I have a feeling the coaching staff started reading his profile, got to the second sentence, and saw this:

"Can return kicks and punts with consistency, without dropping them."

They sent him an offer faster than you can say "honey, I just bought a bag of junk."

Seen Him Play

July 18th, 2009 at 9:49 PM ^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iocqKoKPrJ4

I didn't know how your thread system worked, so my entry ended up as a reply above. The KO return for a TD is at the 2:22 mark on the video. They didn't show it all, but he had a good wedge and then broke contact to score.

He makes things happen and has been a part of a winner. He has a couple of State HS Baseball championship rings also.

Seen Him Play

July 18th, 2009 at 10:10 PM ^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iocqKoKPrJ4

I did not know how the thread system works on your board, so my post ended up as a reply. The KO TD return against RHS is at the 2:22 mark, they don't show it all. Had a good wedge and then broke tackles. and outran RHS who had a lot of speed.

BTW Drew has a couple of State HS championship rings also. He ended up as the championship game winning pitcher of record this last year.