Hello: Anthony Standifer Comment Count

Tim

On a visit to campus today, IL CB/S Anthony Standifer has committed to Michigan. The Wolverines were his first big offer, and though he picked more up afterwards, he decided that Ann Arbor is the place for him.

standifer.jpg

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 24/7 Sports
3*, #26 CB NR DB NR CB 3*, 87, NR CB

Anthony is a bit under-the-radar at this point, but he's a tall corner with excellent ball skills. Scout, Rivals, and 24/7 Sports all say he's 6-1, while ESPN puts him down at 6-0. He's also a skinny dude, with the consensus weight just under 180 pounds. That sounds like a guy who can either play corner or put on some weight and project to free safety if needed.

On top of the size, the recruiting services also make it obvious that he's a generic 3-star prospect. If he can truly play corner, expect those rankings to go up, because he has excellent size for the position.

Tom talked to Anthony about his game:

I have good size, I'm fast for my size, good at finding the ball, I have good enough hands to be a receiver if I wanted to be, but I still have a lot of room for improvement.

"Good enough hands to play receiver" is a huge asset for a defensive back as long as all the other skills are present as well. A Rivals article starts out by stating that Standifer's hips are good, despite the fact that tall corners usually have trouble ($, info in header):

Tall cornerbacks are a rarity in college football because, in general, the taller a player, the less "swivel" they have in their hips. Crete (Ill.) Monee's Anthony Standifer is one of those rare athletes over 6-feet who plays the cornerback position, and Michigan is starting to show interest.

He impressed Scout's Allen Trieu at the Core6 combine last month ($):

A long, athletic 6'1 cornerback, he has picked up offer after offer of late. This was my first time seeing him in person, and it's easy to see why he has those offers. In addition to his size, he has legitimate speed and athleticism. He's not a 4.3 guy, but he can run with just about anyone, and his ball skills are top notch. He has some technical work to do still, but his anticipation and awareness is good. He did a good job of recognizing and jumping routes.

To me, that reads like "maybe not the best athlete, but certainly good enough." At his height, having good anticipation and ball skills are just as important as speed, and as long as he's able to run with most wideouts, that speed shouldn't be a liability at all. Considering most of his offers have come following in-person evaluations by college coaching staffs, I wouldn't be too worried.

It's clear that Brady Hoke and staff want at least one taller corner in this class, and Anthony has the ability to play there. He's also big enough to be a potential safety down the road, so versatility is definitely in his favor, as far as getting on the field down the road.

OFFERS

As mentioned above, Michigan was the first big offer for Standifer (he had previously held Northern Illinois and Western Michigan). However, after Michigan stepped up, several schools - depending on your definition of bigtime - entered the fray. Boise State, Cincinnati, Iowa, Kansas, and Notre Dame are some of the schools that have recently played in BCS bowls that consider Anthony worthy of an offer.

He has a few other lesser offers, including some mid-level BCS teams and MAC-type schools, and definitely has the profile of a riser with some of the recent entrants. Michigan State, Miami (YTM), and Oregon were some of the schools showing interest that hadn't yet offered.

STATS

Via 24/7 Sports:

Standifer had 44 tackles, nine interceptions and one forced fumble as a junior.

Yay. Nine interceptions in a high school season speaks to his ball-hawking ability, especially since a lot of high school teams are very wary of throwing when they know the other team has good DB talent.

FAKE 40 TIME

None of the premium sites have listed 40 times. Default five FAKEs out of five. Allen Trieu said above he's "not a 4.3 guy," which duh, because almost nobody is.

VIDEO

Standifer's Junior Highlight:

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Michigan has picked up tons of DBs in the classes of 2011 and 2012, and it's super-tough to project a player at that position when the guys a year ahead of him have yet to even hit campus, much less play in a game.

If you held a gun to my head and made me choose, I would say that Michigan's newfound DB depth(!) will allow him to redshirt, and in that year, it'll be much easier to determine if he'll grow into a free safety or remain the size of a corner. My assumption is that safety is in his future, but it all depends on way too many factors to know right now.

He seems like the type who will never be a huge star, but could be a solid starter during the course of his career, and as long as he develops as expected, could be a late round NFL-type.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

This commitment REALLY starts the slowdown process on defensive backs for the 2012 class. Standifer is the third DB, and with the possible addition of Morgan tomorrow (pending a discussion with his family, apparently) and a big DB class last year, OL, DT, and WR remain the primary needs, with QB and RB also needed.

Comments

San Diego Mick

June 2nd, 2011 at 12:53 AM ^

The way he back pedals and keeps his eyes on the ball. Intercepts with one hand often and jumps at the right time.

Not afraid to find the ball carrier and lay the wood while lowering his shoulder. Great techniques.

Wait till he gets in the U-M training room, he probably could play WR, can you say Sir Charles Woodson? There's no way he's only a 3 star, that's laughable!

Man I'M geeked for the future of this program!

San Diego Mick

June 2nd, 2011 at 12:54 AM ^

The way he back pedals and keeps his eyes on the ball. Intercepts with one hand often and jumps at the right time.

Not afraid to find the ball carrier and lay the wood while lowering his shoulder. Great techniques.

Wait till he gets in the U-M training room, he probably could play WR, can you say Sir Charles Woodson? There's no way he's only a 3 star, that's laughable!

Man I'M geeked for the future of this program!

San Diego Mick

June 2nd, 2011 at 12:56 AM ^

The way he back pedals and keeps his eyes on the ball. Intercepts with one hand often and jumps at the right time.

Not afraid to find the ball carrier and lay the wood while lowering his shoulder. Great techniques.

Wait till he gets in the U-M training room, he probably could play WR, can you say Sir Charles Woodson? There's no way he's only a 3 star, that's laughable!

Man I'M geeked for the future of this program!

ish

June 1st, 2011 at 7:50 PM ^

What a stunner!  Holy F this staff does a good job on the recruiting trail.  This kid is a huge get, a big corner with hips on a swivel.  I disagree with you, Tim.  This kid's film shows that he can be a star.  He's no generic 3 star.

A hearty welcome to the Michigan family.

buddhafrog

June 1st, 2011 at 11:25 PM ^

agreed.  I guess I expect his ranking to move up after watching that film.  It's relatively easy to look good as as a DB in HS b/c the passing game is so poor for most high school teams.  But in this video, many of his interceptions were self created, not the fault of a QB (video @ 1:37).  He looked very good to me and hopefully will provide some flexibility b/c of his size.  Welcome Anthony.

Lupe Fiasco

June 1st, 2011 at 7:50 PM ^

I think he stays at corner, he doesnt look to be that good of a tackler and seems to have the potential to stick with top-flight reciever. Armani Reeves is a smaller corner but he is better at tackling than Standifer and I'd rather have him back deep there because of that alone, not that I think he'll play safety wherever he goes

jerseyblue

June 1st, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^

I think at this point Wayne Morgan had better go to his coaches/advisors and in his best Cartman voice say "Screw you guys I'm going to Michigan" before there's no more room at the inn.

Zone Left

June 1st, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^

So, we now know that this staff are members of the Mack Brown School of Recruiting--although Mack probably has the Class of 2015 already sown up...

It's got to be a significant advantage to be able to focus almost exclusively on game planning during the season instead of spending a ton of time recruiting--as long as you get the right guys to start with, which we appear to be doing.

NoMoPincherBug

June 1st, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^

It is amazing how this class has been filled so quickly with kids that meet with Coach Hoke and our coaches...see the facilities and BAM committ spot on.   That says a lot about the future of the program.  These kids really seem to like Coach Hoke, the coordinators and his staff and feel very comfortable and at home and know it is the place for them.  Hoke is It.  Go Blue.

PS:  9 INT is pretty special for any HS corner to have in one season.  Watching his film, he appears to have great ball skills, hand - eye coordination and the ability to pick up the ball in flight and adjust to it while also adjusting to covering the wide out....those things cant really be taught...i mean, they can be "taught" but the really good corners do it inately.

NJblue2

June 1st, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^

I have a feeling that Anthony will be very good. The 9 interceptions and how he got them impress me the most along with his size.

Jon Benke

June 1st, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^

With Morgan - "if he picks Michigan, that is" - that will give Michigan four DBs.  Is there room for another, or this now locked up like the LBs?  I assume we're taking 25 commits?

Can anyone confirm on how many we're taking?

rockydude

June 1st, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^

but the more I look at this kid, the more I like him. I don't know how he stayed under the radar, but as long as we got him, it's fine with me. After all, it isn't like Boise State and ND have no idea about DBs either. He looks like a great coverage guy that is really going to help us out. Welcome, Anthony! (South Bend is NOT where you want to spend 4 years, anyway!)

neoavatara

June 1st, 2011 at 8:14 PM ^

that Hoke wants 4 DB's in this class. I think he wants to re-establish depth.  So first to pull the trigger, Morgan or Reeves, is in.  

Hoke clearly is a 'shoot first, ask questions later' guy.  I like that.  I would rather have the firm commit than to second guess. 

Standifer has been rising on many peoples lists, and is much better than the 3* that he is rate as.  

Basically, after that, we are only talking about linemen..OL and DL  Bring on the big uglies!!!

Logan88

June 1st, 2011 at 8:16 PM ^

Cornerbacks must have the most narrowly defined "ideal" parameters of any position in football. If a CB is 5'9 or smaller (like T. Richardson) the scouts all say "his size will always be an issue", conversely, if a CB is 6' or taller scouts will comment on his "stiff hips" as a problem.

So, to be a "perfect" CB one must apparently be 5'10" or 5'11", with fluid hips and great footspeed.

Sidenote: Does anyone else get a creepy feeling in their stomach when they say or read the term "fluid hips" when talking about another guy? NTTAWWT.

CR509

June 1st, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^

I love the tall corners, such an avantage in redzone defence. As posted above, this may make up Morgans mind for him. Sorry Reeves I really wanted ya, but looks like were out of room

GRFS11

June 1st, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^

Are we basically down to Morgan or Reeves (first to commit), 3 OL, 2 DT, and then only "elite" players?  This is assuming we have 20 scholarships total...I still feel weird about assuming we'll have room for more, but that's why Hoke is the coach and I'm not.  If Morgan and Reeves both wanted to commit, would lower ranked prospects be told to look elsewhere?

Rabbit21

June 1st, 2011 at 8:57 PM ^

If they take 3 more OL and 2 more DL and if Morgan commits, that's 20 spots with 18 currently available. I can see perhaps not offering T. Rob or Mike Cox 5th years based on how this year goes, but I feel icky even thinking about that,

Logan88

June 1st, 2011 at 9:36 PM ^

We d*mn well better take at least one WR in this class!

In addition to your listed numbers (1 DB, 3 OL and 2DT), it looks like UM wants at least one more DE (Wormley, Strobel, Washington,etc.) as well as possibly a QB and a RB, not to mention the fact that....we d*mn well better take at least one WR in this class.

Honestly, it looks like the staff is recruiting for a class of at least 23 commits and more likely 24 or 25. Going to be "interesting" to see how they get the available scholarships without going all Saban-ish.