MGoIdea: Jeremy Clark to WR
I know we talk a lot about potential position switches so I wanted to suggest this one:
I know we're in on a handful of solid WR recruits right now, but none who have pulled the trigger just yet. If a handful of these guys head elsewhere and we're left with less than two commits, what about letting Jeremy Clark in the 2012 class as a WR. We need the bodies there, moreso than at safety with Gant and Wilson in this class and likely Thomas and others in 2013. He's got a great WR build at 6'4" 205 and has a reported 40 time under 4.5. He has good ball skills, and you know he's physical if we want him at safety.
No one knew anything about Clark when we offered him, but he's had good showings since then. The coaches clearly think he's a good enough athlete for Michigan, and if we only get one of our top choices at WR, I'd propose our second WR be Jeremy Clark.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
Has Clark played WR at all in HS, or is the idea just that he is a good athlete with ball skills and the right build ?
August 12th, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
I haven't seen video of him at receiver, but most every high school in the country plays their best athletes both ways, at least some, and certainly before varsity.
A reason he wasn't pushing his recruitment toward WR from the start is because he grew like 4 inches overnight in the last year. He didn't have ideal WR height, but 6'0" is great for S. Now that he's 6'4", his ideal position may have changed.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:33 PM ^
I believe if we get our man in Yuri Wright then the coaches say "sure we have enough cover at DB let's move him to WR".
August 12th, 2011 at 6:33 PM ^
If WR only get one receiver I'm assuming it is because the other three spots went to top players at either DT, OL, RB or DB.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:36 PM ^
I assume you mean have him greyshirt and play WR. Giving him a scholarship in this class when he's already agreed to greyshirt would just be silly. We'll take the best four players we can get. If only one of those is a WR, I assume the coaches would give him a look.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:43 PM ^
I would assume that is what he means. He would keep the greyshirt but would be playing wr instead.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:43 PM ^
EIther way. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if we commits to a greyshirt and in between NSD and August a scholarship opens up and he becomes part of the 2012 class, regardless of position. But no, I'm not advocating changing his greyshirt status as well as position. Just what position he plays once he gets here. I like the idea of a tall, fast WR.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^
I know everyone is saying there are 4 spots left. I'm not looking forward to any further attrition but odds are there will be some between now and NSD. A full class of 28 seems pretty likely, in which case walk-ons would take any available schollys.
He's an intriguing prospect who should have a high ceiling, maybe at WR. I like the idea of giving him some extra time to develop with the greyshirt.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:20 PM ^
I would expect a kid being greyshirted to get an extra scholarship before a walk-on who was never promised one in the first place. If on NSD we have 26 open spots and we sign 26 guys, and then after spring practice someone transfers (possible if not likely) then I think the coaches tell Clark he can start on scholarship right away.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^
With a class of 26, maybe. We'll have some deserving walk-ons too. I mentioned a class of 28 because I think that's most likely what we end up with. In that case it wouldn't be possible to give one to a greyshirt.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:36 PM ^
Oh, so you're saying in the even we sign 28 guys in february in addition to Clark? Then yes, we wouldn't be able to, but I highly doubt this class gets that big. If it does, we shouldn't need Clark in this class. We'd also need three guys to EE. Any idea who they would be other than Wilson?
August 12th, 2011 at 9:18 PM ^
I know we only had Brown in the current class, but we usually have more. I think we had six the year before. It's a good question for TomVH. I know he asked Magnuson about it, but I don't remember anyone else besides Wilson. It might be a particularly good move for Strobel and Kalis.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:44 PM ^
Whoever we bring it at WR will need to contribute early because of graduation. Don't know if a guy slated to be a safety project fits what we need. Intriguing idea though.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
Comment no longer applicable.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:46 PM ^
Sorry, I wasn't trying to. I just added it to my signature and did a copy/paste in my post because my 't' key is broken and accidentally linked my whole post. My bad.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:58 PM ^
Ha ya. At first I thought you were just being really smart and linking every few words you had to a new article that pertained to those few words. Then I clicked a few and realized they all were your blog, and thought you were just trying to get clicks. The fact that you edited it before i even could comment proves that it was truly an accident.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^
I don't think the class of '12 receivers need to have much impact immediately. For their freshman year, we'll have Roundtree, Stonum (likely), Stokes, Dileo, Gallon, Jackson and Jerald Robinson, plus TEs. We lose Roundtree Stonum and Stokes after that year so it would be nice to get them a little seasoned, but they won't need to do much impacting.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:57 PM ^
True, I just think that Clark is being greyshirted for a reason, specifically that he has a lot of developing to do. You put him in a position where he needs to contribute in his second year, in a position he may or may not be familiar with, and I don't know if that's what would be best.
It's not a bad idea though, he has size and some speed. Maybe more of an option down the line when we know what our WR numbers are. It's always possible that a guy like Taylor gets switched over and if we grab a couple WR's in '12 and '13., we'd be fine.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:09 PM ^
He's a project at safety, but WR is an easier position to play early. And I don't know how much of a project he really is since the coaches were comfortable having him in the 2012 class if Wilson didn't commit.
I'm also not sure if a guy like Taylor switching over would make much of a difference since Borges likes the tall wide receivers,
Obviously, if we get two receivers in this class and we're in on a couple other big names in 2013, this is a moot point, but I stated that in the OP. This is more of a contigency plan if that all doesn't happen.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:51 PM ^
We're going to have a whole season until that decision needs to be made. There may well be position switches involving incoming DBs (Taylor perhaps) and the coaches will have a clearer idea of the relative needs at CB, S and WR.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^
With the way Hoke and co. recruit, I don't see any point to screwing around with Clark's position. Is there any doubt they can bring in some top tier wide receivers to play with Gardner/Morris. This Is Michigan.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
Although I agree with you, that's not my point. "This is Michigan" can also bring in top tier safeties, especially with an ex-NFL DC. My point was, assuming Clark is coming to Michigan either way, he may be better utilized as a receiver than as a safety.
Another way to put it is: If we're almost out of spots in the 2013 class and we have elite safeties and elite WRs still on our radar, we might feel more comfortable signing the elite safety saying we have Clark at WR than signing the elite WR saying we have Clark at S.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
My guess is after camping at Michigan, the coaches feel he can develop into a top tier safety, but with Gant in the fold and Wilson opting for M, they did not want to take a third safety in this class. If they wanted him as a WR they could have offered. Nice speculation though, good food for thought.
As an aside it is nice to see the size of the DB's in this class and maybe another 6'+ corner in Wright on the way.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:34 PM ^
That's a good point - the coaches saw him in person, and decided safety was the spot for him.
I guess at the least it's nice to have a guy with the body to play both sides of the ball if you need it.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:46 PM ^
We're likely getting Thomas?
August 12th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
He has been saying Michigan is his number one. Told Dunn that if he committed to Michigan, he would as well.
August 13th, 2011 at 3:20 AM ^
According to Sam Webb who saw the kid close up at camp his real weight is closer to 170 than 205, and shirtless pictures on Scout at that time confrimed that he is really skinny. Of course he will be asked to bulk up for either safety or WR but perhaps needs less weight to be effective on offense rather than defense, but in either case the greyshirt gives him more time to fill out.
All that said I think we are in great shape for Darboh so we would need just one more WR with almost 7 months to fill the slot, so let's keep Clark in the greyshirt.