Hello: Lawrence Marshall Comment Count

Ace



via Michael Ferns' Instagram

Southfield (MI) DE/LB Lawrence Marshall, a former Ohio State commit and presumed Michigan State lock, has committed to... Michigan, of course, per fellow commit Michael Ferns and confirmed by the various recruiting outlets. Marshall was on campus today with Ferns and receiver commit Moe Ways, a long-time AAU teammate of Marshall's who's been recruiting him hard lately.

Marshall was expected to make a decision soon, but the choice wasn't supposed to be Michigan—according to 247, he's visited East Lansing eight (eight!) times since the beginning on February, and all six of the 247 experts to weigh in predicted he'd choose Michigan State.

Where's the threat? Oh, it's right here, and it's devouring us alive.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 24/7 Sports
4*, #12 DE,

#89 Ovr
3*, #19 WDE 4*, 83, #12 DE,

#107 Ovr
4*, 91, #12 WDE,

#207 Ovr

As you'll see in the scouting section, Marshall is a relatively raw prospect with plenty of upside, so it's not surprising to see a major outlier in his rankings prior to his senior season; while the other three services have Marshall safely within their top lists, Rivals pegs him as a three-star ranked three spots below the last WDE four-star (Gelen Robinson, incidentally). His listed measurables range from 6'3", 215 lbs. to 6'4", 230—based on recent camp reports, the latter figure is probably more accurate.

With the rankings for Marshall largely based on his potential, his senior season and future camp performances could spur plenty of movement in either direction.

SCOUTING

Allen Trieu's free report on Marshall's Scout profile is a good place to start—his listed strengths are athleticism, backside pursuit, and lateral range, with "techniques and moves" as his area for improvement:

Very long frame. Has great athleticism, change of direction and speed in pursuit. Has all of the tools to be an elite pass rusher, just needs continued work on his technique. Plays with hand down in high school, but may be a stand-up rusher in college. Has not been asked to drop into coverage much, but that's something he may be asked to do at the next level. Has to add some weight, but all of the raw tools are there. - Allen Trieu

I believe Marshall is more likely to end up at weakside DE—playing with his hand down—than standing up at outside linebacker, so this note from Trieu after an Adidas camp in March brings up an important point ($):

He's very long and athletic. He needs to still get stronger. Big, physical offensive linemen had success when they got their hands on him, but his feet and quickness are very impressive.

Until Marshall adds the requisite size and technique, he'll have a tough go against big offensive linemen. In college, that's every offensive lineman.

His athleticism, however, makes him a tantalizing prospect as an edge rusher. Steve Lorenz named him one of the top performers at the first HYPE Showcase in Canton, citing his size/speed combo as the primary reason, a couple weeks ago:

DE Lawrence Marshall (Southfield, MI/Southfield): Marshall was the headliner and for the most part performed as such. He continues to build himself up and has become a potentially lethal combination of size and speed. He still can occasionally struggle against bigger defenders a bit, but still usually gets to the tackling dummy without much of an issue.

And at the aforementioned Adidas camp Marshall even took a couple reps on offense... at wide receiver:

Southfield (Mich.) High Top247 defensive end Lawrence Marshall took a few reps at defensive end before moving over and showing his athleticism at receiver. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Marshall was rocked up and continues to add size each time we see him.

The fact that Marshall is consistently adding size is, of course, also a major positive at this point. In fact, according to a report from Rivals' Josh Helmholdt during Marshall's junior season, while Marshall needs to add size his strength may actually be a positive ($) [emphasis mine]:

DE Lawrence Marshall, Southfield, Mich. (2014):: The last few weeks have been especially fruitful for Marshall. Although his team made a second-round exit from the Michigan high school state playoffs, a wave of new scholarship offers has helped assuage the agony of defeat. Among the most recent to offer are Big Ten programs Indiana and Michigan State, and the appeal of Marshall is evident on junior film. At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Marshall still has a lean frame, but he does not have issues with strength at the point of attack. He does a great job creating upfield momentum, which all starts with his explosive first step. Marshall comes off the line hard and low, and puts an exclamation point on his sacks by being a heavy hitter.

That was five months and 20-or-so pounds ago. If Marshall continues to get bigger, as is expected, I don't think there will be much question about him playing on the line when he gets to campus. His athletic ability gives him much more potential if he's playing defensive end—where it's harder to find such an athlete that can also hold the point of attack—than if he's thrown into Michigan's deep pool of linebackers.

OFFERS

Marshall also held offers from Michigan State, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Pitt, Syracuse, and Tennessee, among several others.

HIGH SCHOOL

Southfield High School (Class A, Division 2) has been an above-average program for the last several years but hasn't had a lot of success in the state playoffs—last year, they fell to Oak Park in the second round. Marshall is the highest-ranked prospect the school has produced in the Rivals era—and that's going by his three-star Rivals ranking. Other notable prospects include 2012 TE Ron Thompson, who chose Syracuse over Michigan, and 2012 Cincinnati cornerback signee LEVITICUS PAYNE.

STATS

According to 247, Marshall recorded 79 tackles, 15 sacks, and four interceptions during his junior season.

FAKE 40 TIME

None of the sites list a FAKE (or real) 40 time.

VIDEO

Marshall's tape very much falls in line with the scouting reports. He's got a great burst off the line and gets to the football in a hurry; he's also hardly touched on a good number of these plays and needs work on technique—when he gets to Michigan, he won't be able to simply run right past offensive linemen.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

In case it hasn't been made abundantly clear, Marshall is a high-ceiling, boom-or-bust recruit. The potential is there for him to be a highly impactful edge rusher, but first he must add weight and refine his technique. [Insert praise of Michigan's D-line coaching here.]

It's possible that Marshall ends up at strongside linebacker, though I like him a lot more as a weakside end. Still, he has some positional flexibility and at the very least should turn himself into a situational pass-rusher. This comparison has been made elsewhere, but his size/speed combo and raw potential are very reminiscent of Frank Clark, this year's presumed starter at weakside end. Unlike Clark, Marshall should have a couple years of seasoning before he needs to see the field with Mario Ojemudia and Taco Charlton in the two classes ahead of him. From there, it's all about maintaining his athleticism while adding bulk and refining his technique—if he can do that, he's got double-digit sack potential.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

I covered Michigan's defensive line situation in great detail yesterday; the short version is they'll happily take Marshall, Malik McDowell, and Da'Shawn Hand should the latter two also decide on the Wolverines. That would give Michigan one complete line in the 2014 class with Marshall (WDE), McDowell (3-tech/SDE), Bryan Mone (NT/3-tech), and Hand (SDE/WDE). This is by no means guaranteed to happen, but at this point it's difficult to not at least consider it a definite—and pretty damn awesome—possibility. Even if Michigan misses out on Hand, that's a heck of a D-line haul if they can keep McDowell in-state, which at this point is the expectation.

As for the class as a whole, Michigan now has nine commits (not including grayshirt Brady Pallante) in the 2014 class, which currently has room for 14 players but should end up closer to 20 when all is said and done. We know the Wolverines will take one more linebacker—probably either Chase Winovich or Kyron Watson—and probably a third offensive lineman, and spots will be held open for McDowell and Hand. Other priorities include a third receiver and, say, an elite defensive back (ahem).

STAT OF THE DAY

Comments

mGrowOld

May 11th, 2013 at 4:22 PM ^

"What can a school like Michigan State do? Not much."

That's not true.  When selling MSU the coaching can point to their superior athletic tradition.....no wait.....they can point to their decade-long dominance in the rivalry....no damn....ok they can show the recruit their superior facilities......ok forget that.....they can lean on their academic standing....no........ok how about the coaching staff itself?.....nevermind.

Hell....i would seriously hate to have recruit for MSU.

alum96

May 12th, 2013 at 12:21 AM ^

I have a transcript of Shane's talk:

"Look bro - I know you dig the chicks at State.  Go forth and prosper.  But when you are ready to committ I'll set you up on a weekend visit with Moe and Drake.  Yo, we're all business in Ann Arbor so be ready to ball.  But until then - go bang some MSU chicks."

Man that Shane is shady. Filthy shady.

Sione's Flow

May 11th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^

One thing that has always stuck out about Marshall was how quickly he decommited from ohio after visiting UM.  Maybe UM has always been in the lead and the media assumed because of all of the visits to EL he was a sparty lean.

bronxblue

May 11th, 2013 at 3:36 PM ^

A great pick-up.  I absolutely expected Marshall at MSU; it must drive them crazy to invest that much time in a kid and see him sign basically as soon as he steps onto campus at UM.  Looks like an athletic kid, but not knowing my recruiting expertly it still feels like a kid who'll need 2-3 years to be impactful on the field.  Still, Hoke is destroying it on the recruiting trail, and hopefully it will continue with Hand and a couple of more kids.

SheaNasty42

May 11th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

This is a great adittion to the class.  I think this is where LM really wanted to be the whole time and the coaches really wanted him.  Look at that grin in the pic with Ferns.  Very happy for you, LM. Welcome.

ProfMurdoc

May 11th, 2013 at 5:49 PM ^

I love the idea that, on top of a renewed 10-yr War with a strong OSU, with recruiting classes like this has the potential to be we could routinely be playing the good guys to Saban's Evil Empire in the national storyline. 

M-Dog

May 12th, 2013 at 4:00 PM ^

I never go over there, but I decided to click on your link.  Wow, maybe I should go over there.  There are some awesome quotes over there:  

"Btw I firmly believe UM is at an SEC level right now."

"Meyer called Mattison the best recruiter in the country. He probably didn't say that for shits and giggles."
 
"UM has out-recruited MSU for 50 years, but all of a sudden there's something fishy going on. You make me laugh."
 
"I wonder what michigan is telling them that makes these recruits not only commit to michigan but slap our program in the face while they're doing it."
 
And my favorite:  "Also, you're reading/commenting on a message board late on a Sat night....breaking news...you're a loser."
 

 

Wolfman

May 12th, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^

Just suggesting Michigan has to cheat to outrecruit them is hilarious. Hell, when they had their lucky three year run and all during the RR years, M was outrecruiting them. Have no idea what their throwing in the Red Cedar now days, but it's obvious a lot of them are wading in it and it isn't being containted to the outer wear.

MgoRayO3313

May 12th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^

He looks explosive off the ball. Raw technique, but I see him improving great

with just a year of college under his belt. Redshirt and he will be fine. He made king's right tackle look so dumb. Lol

BlueNation

May 12th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^

I'm really liking this guys film. He has good speed and seemed to take good angles to the ball. The mechanics will be taught to him at Michigan. He will probably be a solid player after a red shirt year.

UofM Die Hard …

May 13th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^

when I think about Michigan football and the last 5 years, the recruiting that is being done by Hoke and staff right now, is the famous quote:

 

"I'm afraid all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

 

**I know where this quote comes from....love to all service men and women out there

 

Hail!