New ESPN 300
ESPN released their new 150/300 today. Some big (downward) moves for Michigan recruits:
#88 Jourdan Lewis (+4)
#91 David Dawson (-4)
#93 Dymonte Thomas (+4)
#101 Patrick Kugler (+14)
#104 Logan Tuley-Tillman (+1)
#114 Mike McCray (-3)
#116 Taco Charlton (+3)
#127 Shane Morris (-73)
#134 Chris Fox (-21)
#157 Kyle Bosch (-30)
#182 Jake Butt (-6)
#232 Jaron Dukes (+1)
#254 Henry Poggi (+34)
#280 Ben Gedeon (+2)
Not so good for Shane. Although he hasn't looked sharp at all for a while. Hopefully he can redshirt and work on his accuracy and reading the whole field.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^
If anything Dawson should've improved his stock like Poggi and Kugleybear did the last 2 weeks. ESPN really likes LTT, Scout has him listed as #300.
January 11th, 2013 at 5:58 AM ^
Kugler and Poggi had better games than Dawson in the UA game, if that makes a difference.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^
#127 Shane Morris (-73)
Before I clicked on this thread, I had a feeling he would drop. -73 though!!!!!!!! The kid had mono not to long ago fergodsakes.
Now that I have that off my chest, they are just ratings and mean nothing come this fall.
GO BLUE
January 10th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
thats what you get when they rank order every position within the same pool. Shane falling that many spots is no big deal in the larger picture. like you said, he had mono and just didn't get the exposure he needed to keep his position. Once he's on campus and getting coached up, a 73 spot fall will mean two things: Jack and Squat.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
So what you're saying is he's going to get all JACKed up doing SQUATs?
January 10th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^
Hopefully he doesn't get too JACKed up. Remember when Brady Quinn's biceps got so big that he couldn't throw for SQUAT?
January 10th, 2013 at 1:16 PM ^
They're also saying that Tebow is getting too big and it is further messing up his throwing motion.
January 10th, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^
NO POLITIKS!!
I kid.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^
for Morris. He's still going to be very good, but at the rate his popularity was going before even taking a snap here may have been a bit much. Almost like he needed to be "grounded" a bit before stepping on campus.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:21 PM ^
Couldn't get more grounded than his performance in the UA game. He was so grounded in fact he even got planted.
Hopefully he continues to develope as a QB under Borges. Thats still a huge drop tho for Shane after the ammount of camps he attended and did pretty well in
January 10th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
Morris had a rough week at the UA game, so that makes perfect sense, frankly a generous drop versus much worse. I hope the coaches know what they are doing, because I personally view Morris as needing a lot, and I mean a lot of work before perfoming at a Gardner level. Hope I am wrong, and he exceeds all of our expectations.
I wish they would have taken another QB the last two years, but they have their other priorities right now.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
If the O line perform to exspectations and the runnign game takes off , We dont need a gunslinger. We need a QB Who can hit a moderately open WR and not turn the ball over
January 10th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^
because seriously, you couldn't take 1.5 seconds to read what you just typed?
January 10th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
Well, to be fair, it took 2 1/2 years for Gardner to perform at a "Gardner level."
Also, they did take a QB two years ago, Russell Bellomy. I believe last year's recruiting class is the only one to have skipped taking a QB.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
Over/Under on how many people comment about Shane's drop is set at 50, Over/Under on how many people have a mental breakdown because of it, is set at 5. How many people cancel or threaten to cancel thier ESPN insider account is 10. Last but not least the number of times Mono is mentioned is set at 75.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
that's 2, 73 to go
January 10th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
I'll take the under for mono at 75. The others are too close to call.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:48 PM ^
If 75 people take the under on mono than u all lose. I'm going over on mono, because honestly ive mentioned mono 3 times already in this one post.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^
All of our players could have moved up and I still would not put much thought into ESPN's rankings.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
full of shit. They create a meme and ride it out like a stubborn child.
Why did Shane fall so far and Hackenberg didn't, despite stinkin' up the joint too? And actually, Shane threw some nice balls in a setting where the defense has the advantage, I stated this earlier, I wish he had gone to the Army game instead, fuck espn.
Gareon Conley #41? really? If Green commits to us I bet espn lowers him too, they got too many ohio guys working for them and it seems like their recruits are more highly rated by espn than they should be.
There are many more examples of our class here with espn that makes me question their integrity or lack there of. I trust our coaching staff way more than espn to spot talent.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^
Conley is 43
January 10th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
You're paranoid.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
It's not like the ability or makeup of the class changed. Someone (s) at ESPN changed their opinions. We're still getting the same, very talented, players.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
He's still top 300 despite missing a lot of time with mono. 13 commits in the top 300 is pretty solid (and we might be adding to that). Look at it this way: if college football had a draft, with each DI team getting one pick per round, Shane would be a first rounder, and so would several other M recruits. Several others would be second rounders.
Plus, a guy dropping a little bit might be good for the ego and might give him some extra motivation to prove himself.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
Minor disagreement about your logic: Michigan only really competes with about 20 programs regularly. While there are 120 teams, there are only about 20 that matter (Alabama, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, OSU, UM, etc.) In that sense Shane would not be a first round pick among the traditional powers that actually have a shot at winning a NC in the next 10 years.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^
But my part of my point was that Michigan is solidly in the top 20 programs, top 5 really, if they are taking so many of the top 300. The difference between someone ranked 75 and 175 is miniscule and subjective. Rankings are obviously subjective when you look at the variance among the various recruiting sites. Part of the reason I love this blog is the composite recruiting rankings that show where each recruit is rated by each recruiting service.
Plus, Shane might still be a #1 pick for the top 20 teams if a team needs a QB like him for their system.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:50 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
Fine, I'll do it. Now don't get too caught up in the price, I promise you'll love my evaluations and rankings. The cost is only 100 convenient pmts of $10.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
I read your post way too fast and at first thought you were offering a service in which you would rank people via "love evaluations." I would totally pay to see where an evaluation of my love ranks me. Pretty high, I bet.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
Sorry, I am unable to accept checks at this time. Paypal only, but that is just because I'm looking out for your financial safety.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^
Be careful. Didn't Oregon get in considerable trouble for doing this?
January 10th, 2013 at 1:16 PM ^
Oh wait... they didn't get in any trouble at all.
January 10th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
Don't they know that nobody takes them seriously?
January 10th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
January 11th, 2013 at 6:02 AM ^
...or maybe the reason those guys were asked to play in the UA game is because ESPN liked them more.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
Their rankings actually get seen by the general public because of ESPN's coverage of signing day.
People who closely follow recruiting or majority of the people on the blog might know the difference. Some college football fan who doesn't follow recruiting doesn't know the difference between Rivals, Scout, ESPN or 247sports.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^
I follow recruiting fairly closely and don't know the difference between those services.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^
ESPN's outrageous recruiting rankings don't bother me as much as their lack of explanation (for major changes). It's like the only explanation they feel that it is necessary is "WWL." I also love those recruiting evals that don't even match the players' ratings.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^
Hoke recruits haven't done anything yet to warrant trust in his evaluation. Back the guy 100% but blind faith gets folks into trouble
January 10th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 3:55 PM ^
What the hell does Tom Brady have to do with Hoke's recruiting classes?
January 10th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^
California and the west coast when he was an assistant, he recruited Tom Brady to U-M.
We recruited CA really well when he was here as an assistant, this recruiting prowess of his is not a fluke or a surprise.
January 10th, 2013 at 4:47 PM ^
Michigan fans needs to stop with the Tom Brady thing
He succeeded despite playing at Michigan not because of it. The coaching staff never thought much of him even after his senior year.
January 10th, 2013 at 8:39 PM ^
Seriously? What is "the Tom Brady thing?" M fans being proud of one of their most successful alumni?
The coaches thought plenty of him, as evidenced by their choice to play him over a highly touted (and talented) underclassman who also happened to be a hometown boy and fan favorite. I've never heard TB say anything bad about the coaches, so I'm sure he would disagree with you too.