Hello: Brandon Watson Comment Count

Ace

If you missed the news that's now been pushed down the front page, Michigan received commitments from Elkton (MD) Eastern Christian Academy teammates Brandon Watson (CB) and Freddy Canteen (WR/SLOT) this morning; both players were offered at Michigan's camp two weeks ago.

Canteen's commitment post went up earlier this afternoon. Now it's time to take a look at Watson, who—like his teammate—currently has a large disparity between his camp performances and his recruiting rankings.

HIGH SCHOOL

I'm writing on a Saturday and these guys are from the same school so, yes, this is word-for-word what was in Canteen's Hello post.

I'm moving this section up to the top because it'll help explain everything below. I'll also be lazy (again) and blockquote what I posted in a previous recruiting roundup:

Both prospects attend Elkton (MD) Eastern Christian Academy, which is essentially this sport's answer to hoops factory Oak Hill Academy—the academy itself is built entirely around the football program and attendees take their coursework through a larger online program. Their quarterback is David Sills, whom you may remember as the (then-)13-year-old who committed to USC, and now you exactly why USC offered such a player so early: his father, David Sills IV, is the founder of ECA. The program only played three games in 2012, as five opponents cancelled planned matchups, so what you see above—serious technique work (that's Canteen talking at the start of the video)—is what largely constituted their season, and now they're hitting the camp circuit very hard.

As ECA coach Dwayne Thomas explained to ESPN's Chantel Jennings after his players' commitments this morning, their under-the-radar status can be attributed to factors even beyond the lack of a real season last year:

So while the headquarters for Eastern Christian Academy is in Maryland, the two boys are actually from Delaware, which has been a reason why the two prospects haven’t had a ton of attention, according to their coach.



Being that we’re from Delaware, a lot of coaches don’t get a chance to see them in the spring because there is no spring football,” Thomas said. “So as they get out and get to camps, schools get a chance to see what their talent is.”

Camps have been the only real chance these players have had to get themselves noticed, what with the mostly-cancelled season and no spring ball.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 Sports 247 Comp.
NR CB 3*, #56 CB NR CB 2*, 79, #120 CB 3*, #116 CB

Watson is well off the four-star pace on Rivals (last four-star CB ranked #29) and is either unranked or, in 247's case, might as well be, on the other three services. His listed height ranges from 5'11" (Rivals, ESPN) to 6'1" (Scout) with 247 splitting the difference; his weight is between 180 and 190 pounds. Reports out of Michigan's camp unfortunately don't provide a ton of clarity here; Scout had him at 6'1", 190, while Rivals called him 5'11", 185 (in the same article that listed Canteen at a probably-exaggerated 6'3", FWIW).

SCOUTING

Watson first earned mention on the camp scene as a rising junior last summer, earning the #6 top performer spot from Rivals' Josh Helmholdt at an NLA 7-on-7 camp after making several big plays ($):

Auburn commit Jahmere Irvin-Sills was holding down the cornerback position opposite Watson on Sunday, and few teams were throwing Irvin-Sills' way. That gave the 6-foot, 175-pound Watson his opportunity to make a statement, and he did just that by recording several interceptions on the day, including two in one game. ECA eventually won Sunday's New Level Athletics National Championship game over Michigan Elite, and Watson's ability to make plays on his side of the field was a key factor in that win.

Then came this spring's PA SWAG 7-on-7 competition, where Watson more than held his own against four-star Penn State WR commit Chris Godwin, earning the #2 top performer spot (behind Godwin, interestingly) from 247's Tom Loy...

While most knew about Watson heading into the weekend, nobody expected the show that he put on. The 6-foot-0, 187-pounds cornerback rarely got beat and won the matchup against Godwin in the semi-finals. He displayed terrific ball skills, great speed and excellent footwork. Watson holds offers from Boston College, Connecticut, Temple and Rutgers with heavy interest coming from Syracuse and Maryland.

...and the top overall spot from Rivals, which gave quite a glowing review of his game ($):

Whenever the football was in the vicinity of Watson, it was either getting intercepted or it was going to be an incompletion. As Flash Training worked toward another 7 on 7 title, Watson was dominant in coverage. He consistently got a good punch at the line of scrimmage in man coverage, and when playing off he closed quickly on the football. As receivers attempted double moves, Watson ran with the opposition step for step, showing great change of direction. The most impressive part of Watson's day was successfully defending a number of jump balls in the end zone against taller receivers.

It's worth noting that four-star WR/S (and early Michigan offer recipient) Montae Nicholson finished third on Rivals' list at the same event, while offered receiver K.J. Williams came in at #11 (four spots behind Canteen, incidentally).

Watson showed off his physical play in earning an offer at Michigan's technique camp; Kyle Bogenschutz's camp report makes him sound like the big, aggressive type of corner that the Wolverines have put a major emphasis on targeting ($):

Watson was by far the most physical corner at the camp Tuesday and brings physical tools to the table that most high school defensive backs just aren’t privy to. 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, it’s hard to believe Watson only had four offers to his name heading into Michigan’s camp, but with several pass break-ups made throughout the day, the Wolverines threw their name into the hat. Watson showed nice discipline against the wide receivers, timing his break in order to avoid a penalty and never being burned deep in press coverage, adding speed to his above average size.

There's no mention of Watson's hips, often an area of weakness in bigger corners; his ability to stick with receivers on deep routes leads one to believe he can turn and run with enough fluidity to allow his size and speed to take over. His high school coach, for what it's worth, cites hip flexibility as one of Watson's strengths:

“Freddy Canteen is, in my opinion, the best route-runner in the country. I think every camp that he goes to, people get a chance to find that out,” Thomas said. “And Brandon has this unique combination of speed, strength and hip flexibility that will allow him to be physical with the big receivers, and he’s agile enough to run and defend the smaller receivers as well.”

Without anything in the way of game film (or games, really) to go on, Watson's ability in run support is a mystery. The Wolverine's crew did mention his "thick build" at Michigan's camp, so he should be able to hold up physically on the edge; with his body type, it'd be ideal if he could play boundary corner, but he'll only be able to do so if his run defense is up to snuff.

With what little info we have to go on, it looks like Michigan has picked up another big, physical corner to add to the ever-growing pile of big, physical corners on the roster. If Watson truly has shutdown coverage ability, too, then he should be poised for a significant jump in the rankings.

OFFERS

Watson's other offers came from Boston College, UConn, Maryland, Rutgers, and Temple — the same list at Canteen's minus Hawaii and Tennessee.

Watson's high school coach mentioned a very intriguing potential offer to Sam Webb($) after his two pupils committed today, as well:

“In Brandon Watson you get this extremely extremely gifted athlete who can run and is physical. He can run with the quickest receivers and can be physical and bump it up with the big receivers.  He did well at the USC camp.  Coach (Clancy) Pendergast told me that he was going to offer Brandon this week. They were going to have a meeting sometime this week to evaluate the talent from the camp and they were going to offer him, but as we were riding back Brandon said, ‘I think I just like Michigan better.’"

If that's true—and there's little reason to believe his coach is making that up—then Watson's offer sheet was poised to expand significantly before his Michigan commitment.

STATS

I can't find stats on Watson; again, his team played three games last season, so this section wasn't going to be very telling anyway.

FAKE 40 TIME

Rivals lists a time of 4.5 seconds; that's high-end speed without a second decimal place or a cited source, so it gets four FAKEs out of five. Watson is said to have good speed but I haven't seen him called a burner.

VIDEO

I can't find high school highlights, a Brandon Watson Hudl page that belongs to this particular Brandon Watson (0-for-4 in that regard), or anything more than one clip of him running drills from a post-camp interview:

That video was posted just a few days ago, and at least confirms that Watson is very well-built for a high school corner. Otherwise... please play an actual season, ECA, and make sure to film it.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

I'm punting on any sort of prediction given the flimsier evidence than usual. Here's what the coaches told Watson when they gave him his offer, per 247's Steve Lorenz:

"The coaches told me to imagine myself coming out of the tunnel in a Michigan uniform," he said. "They told me to imagine me playing corner on one side and Jabrill Peppers playing on the other side. Being in the Big House was an overwhelming experience. I've seen it on TV, but being there in person was really great."

With Peppers probably destined for the boundary corner spot (after an apprenticeship at nickel, potentially), that would put Watson at field corner. Watson could also play that slot corner spot if he can hold up in run support and show some blitzing ability.

A few people have been spooked by the nature of ECA, especially from an academic perspective—though, rest assured, Hoke and Co. have done their due diligence in making sure these guys will pass muster with admissions. From the same Sam Webb article cited in the offers section comes this choice quote from ECA's coach:

“The first thing is Michigan is getting is two great kids,” he said proudly.  “They’re kids that you’re never going to read about in the paper in a negative way.  They’re kids that are not going to miss class.  Kids that are not going to be a disruption to any program.  Kids that are extremely positive and extremely focused on being the best that they could possibly be in every aspect of their life.  Kids that I would let date my daughter if she was of age.  So you’re getting high quality individuals with extremely extremely high work ethic.”

[checks off the "glowing character quote" box]

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Watson, unlike some of Michigan's other defensive back commits, seems like a pure cornerback prospect. That gives them two corners in the class assuming Peppers sticks there, so bringing in a player who could project to safety becomes the big priority for recruiting in the secondary. The pipe dream prospect here is five-star CA ATH JuJu Smith, who's scheduled to take an official visit for the Ohio State game. The more realistic options are four-star PA ATH Montae Nicholson and IL CB/S Parrker Westphal.

Other needs in the class going forward include one more offensive lineman (probably a tackle), a couple defensive linemen (you all know the main targets there), and another linebacker. Michigan could also look to take a running back, but unless an elite talent wants to commit they could just as easily use that scholarship elsewhere — there's not a big need to bring one in this year, especially with the Wolverines in very good shape for a couple top 2015 backs in Damien Harris and Mike Weber.

Comments

Slim_Hype

June 29th, 2013 at 6:14 PM ^

Starting at aout the 2:06 mark he makes two fantastic plays on the ball. One a great PBU while breaking on the ball like lightning and a beautiful leaping interception while in zone coverage. Really impressive fluidity from these little bit of clips.

BigT

June 29th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^

but I just don't see it with either of these guys.  These are the kind of recruits that make sense to me in January if we miss on some other options, but not now.  Why not put the full court press on Artavis Scott and/or KJ Williams at WR and see what happens with them before offering Canteen, or see how things work out with Westphal, etc before offering Watson?  Are we really that worried about losing them to Rutgers int he next month?  Add with that the considerations about thier hign school (not to mention their rankings), and it just makes more sense to me for these two to be back-up plans.  And please, before anyone starts with the "you don't know, trust the coaches, they know more than you" standard reply, that only works if the coaches are never wrong and fans are never right (not to mention recruiting services).  We've seen enough bad decisions in the past where that argument just doesn't hold water to me anymore. 

maizeonblueaction

June 29th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^

who is countering all the downers today, but perhaps consider that these guys weren't backup plans. It sounds like they showed up to a camp, and performed very well, and have been lightly scouted up until the camp circuit due to factors largely outside of their control. From the limited scouting we have, it look like they might actually be very high caliber players that were likely to get snapped up by another good program after not too long. I like to hear about five stars too, but give me high character talented players any day.

turtleboy

June 29th, 2013 at 6:15 PM ^

That's the impression I had as well, though there's very little info to go on. These aren't players of a lesser quality we're falling back on, but rather lightly scouted and relatively unknown players only just being discovered. These two could end up being very talented, even finally ranked near the top of the class if they get enough exposure by the ranking services if they camp enough and play a regular senior season.

alum96

June 29th, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^

None of us know what the coaches know but it appears they did put a full court press on Scott and he seems destined for Clemson.  As for KJ Williams we have heard little on him of late so either the coaches soured on him or he didnt have real interest.  So much like Wilton do you wait 6 months to land someone who may or may not be interested in you, or do you go grab the guys you like and you know are interested in you?  

Your post assumes the coaches have not explored either of those two WR options in depth.  It is very plausible neither is coming to Michigan period and they have "put on the full court press" and were denied.  So you go to your next options.  As for Westphal the offer has been out there for months.  Again its a bird in the hand versus in the bush - countless choices like this every year.  Don't get so hung up on stars.  (Yes the offer sheets are not great but there are specific circumstances to these 2 kids due to their HS)

Someone earlier said maybe these kids did so well they moved ahead of Scott and whomever. That's a very positive take and maybe true.  But maybe not.  If the latter, the coaches do the realistic thing and move on to the next target.

SalvatoreQuattro

June 29th, 2013 at 6:42 PM ^

Are you a coach at a high proflle college program? A NFL scout? If not,  I invite you to take a drink from the Shut The Fuck  Up Cup. Bitching about players when you don't have the expertise required to do so is ludicrous. Yes, coaches miss on players. That does not mean that your criticism has more validity than theirs. Your opinion is based on the evaluations of others. Coaches base their opinions on their own experience and knowledge of the game. Huge difference that fans like you don't seem to grasp.

bronxblue

June 30th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^

Relax a bit there. People are entitled to their opinions. I tend to think that the coaches ate recruiting these kids based on what they've seen and the situation with other recruits, but others may feel this is premature. Grow up a bit before your start calling out people on the internet because your don't agree with them.

BiSB

June 29th, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^

Have you ever seen either of these guys play one full snap of football? 

You're not asking us to respect your evaluation over that of the coaches. You're asking us to respect YOUR COMPLETE LACK OF INFORMATION over people who have actually SEEN THESE GUYS do football things. And that is asinine.

M-Wolverine

June 29th, 2013 at 9:41 PM ^

" 'I' just don't see it with either of these guys" was just utter bullshit, because you're basing it on someone else.

And "put on the full court press?" You have no idea how recruiting works, do you? You can say "sometimes the fans know more than the coaches" but then you can't then say it's because I listen to someone else, but the person I want to listen to is the recruiting services, not the coaches.

Mr Miggle

June 30th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^

Who has spent more time watching these players? They came to the Michigam camp with our entire staff there. Our coaches actually had the opportunity to coach them too. I bet you would be hard pressed to find a single recruiting analyst with a high degree of confidence in their ratings, since they have little to go on. Since they aren't rated by all the services, it looks like you are just plain wrong anyway.

Logan88

June 29th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^

Artavis Scott is committing to Clemson this week...everyone who even remotely follows recruiting knows this. Williams is basically a carbon copy of the two WR's already committed  in this class and probably lost his spot when Ways committed. His offer is probably not really even committable at this time...yes, I know OSU slappys love to use this excuse but it is very likely true for Williams.

As far as Watson goes...well, I don't have an answer for him. I guess the coaches just liked what they saw enough to let him commit right now. Maybe they consider him an equivalent option to Westphal.

BigT

June 30th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^

my point was just that since he was a strong Michigan lean just a couple of weeks ago, why not hold off taking his replacement until he actually commits to Clemson? It seems as though if we were going to change his mind before the Opening, this would be the worst thing we could do.

jwfsouthpaw

June 30th, 2013 at 12:50 PM ^

Because--and this may be shocking to you--the coaches sometimes know in advance where recruits are going to commit.  It's not exactly a coincidence that everyone recently predicted Scott to Clemson.  Don't you think, just maybe, the coaches know something to which we are not 100% privy?

alum96

June 29th, 2013 at 9:37 PM ^

The reality is Hoke & Co will make bad decisions too.  Every staff does.  Ours is not infallible. It is just probability.  Right now it is too early to determine who their bad decisions are.  So let us be realistic.  But specific to these 2 kids - we don't know a darn thing and no one will know really until they are 2-3 years into the program.  Stars are fun but none of it matters until they perform.  Watson could be better than Jabrill (yes it seems doubtful) but anything is possible, or Canteen could be the best of the 3 receivers.... or the worst.  None of us know so don't get your blood pressure up about "national recruits".

Don

June 30th, 2013 at 12:52 AM ^

I actually asked the question in seriousness, and thanks for the response. It is possible to be a strong supporter of a head coach (as I am of Hoke) and at the same time acknowledge that he or his assistants are going to fuck up from time to time.

Magnus

June 30th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^

Nothing is proven yet with Lucien, but he did have 10 catches for 188 yards as a redshirt freshman before getting injured. He could very well have been starting opposite Gallon this year. Maybe we'll get something spectacular out of Darboh or Chesson, but Lucien would be a viable option at this point.

mejunglechop

June 30th, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^

That illustrates why it's an unfair question. It's too soon to label any recruiting decisions by the staff a mistake. Still, he was highly touted, and has shown well so far. We have no one more proven than him right now besides Gallon and he'd ideally be a slot.

turtleboy

June 30th, 2013 at 4:52 PM ^

Not taking Lucien wasn't much of a mistake, but passing on Burbridge when he qualified in the end and passing on Pocic early only to end up taking 6 lineman kinda bummed me out in hindsight. They're still doing a tremendous job, though.

Magnus

June 30th, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^

I agree on Pocic. He was near the top of my wish list for 2013.

Just because Burbridge qualified doesn't mean he was a good fit for Michigan. I don't know whether he was or not, but I'm not sure if that can be qualified as a mistake without more insight into his grades, behavior, attitude, etc. If he's a chucklehead like Tate Forcier or Cardale Jones, I wouldn't be interested.

turd ferguson

June 29th, 2013 at 9:45 PM ^

And please, before anyone starts with the "you don't know, trust the coaches, they know more than you" standard reply, that only works if the coaches are never wrong and fans are never right (not to mention recruiting services).

 

So we should only trust expert opinions when those experts are correct 100% of the time and everyone else is correct 0% of the time?  Einstein probably made a mistake or two along the way, so we should have crowd-sourced theoretical physics, since why trust the guy?  No one is right anywhere near 100% of the time with projecting prospects to college.  Given the choice between trusting: (A) our coaches (who watched these two closely and then made them the only two 2014 offers from camp); (B) you; or (C) the recruiting services, which probably haven't seen much more film than we have, I'll go with A.  And no, I don't think they're infallible.

 

EDIT: Also, I don't know as much about Watson, but Rutgers was a real threat for Canteen.  I think he even called them his leader after our camp.

UMmFan1

June 29th, 2013 at 10:35 PM ^

I remember getting more excited about the commitment of both kellen jones and antonio poole over jake ryan and desmond morgan, jt turner over courtney avery, terrance robinson over roy roundtree, sam mcguffie over michael shaw, ricardo miller over drew dileo, marvin robinson over thomas gordon... do i need to keep going? needless to say i try to give guys a shot before passing judge on them now...

mastodon

June 30th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^

You're too hung up on stars in this atypical situation.  You gotta read between the lines sometimes.  Not as much to go on as other recruits, but think of the athletic ability and skills necessary to get the camp rankings they've received - did all those non-January players just have collective off days?  After reading these reviews, you don't get the sense that their recruitment is accelerating?  You really think that a month from now their offer sheets will not have grown?  I am much more excited about Watson than Westphal, and get a good vibe from Canteen also.  These guys are in no way plan-B.

Were you one of those who thought the Hoke hire sucked because of his sub-500 W/L?  Same shallow thinking.