Rivals 250 updated for 2014
Rivals released the top 250 players for 2014 at noon today. If you follow recruiting closely, you probably can guess by now that...all of Michigan's commits dropped in the rankings. Michigan has five commits overall in the top 250.
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/12/rivals-250-for-2014-updated…
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:09 PM ^
Awesome.
Magnus...Best guess, who do we round this current class out with?
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^
Tough question.
I'll say Malik McDowell, a TBD midwest running back (Jeff Jones, Chris James, Justin Jackson, C.J. Hilliard, someone), and a TBD offensive lineman. I know that's not very specific but there's just not a whole lot of action right now. Things will probably pick up in December/January like they did last year with Reon Dawson, Cameron Hunt, etc.
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^
Is C.J. Hilliard the brother of the '15 LB? I like the idea of stealing him away from Iowa and possibly helping with getting his brother as well... though I have no idea how he grades out as a RB.
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:32 PM ^
Yep, that's Justin's brother.
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:41 PM ^
I feel like McDowell is Nick Perry 2.0 If he commits to Michigan, color me surprised. Seems like a guy that's looking for a reason to not go to Michigan.
December 3rd, 2013 at 9:21 PM ^
December 4th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^
Thats been my feeling all along. People on this board are going to have to back away from the ledge on this one. But I think we have good depth at SDE anyways.
December 3rd, 2013 at 8:43 PM ^
In all honesty...whether we get these guys or not, I appreciate having a few names to keep up with and research.
December 3rd, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^
You're welcome.
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:19 PM ^
Even so, having just under a third of your 2014 in the Top 250 and having a class with a mean ranking among stars of 3.38 so far really is not bad news at all. The future still definitely seems rather bright, in my estimation.
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^
But OSU still has a better class, so the gap isn't closing, just yet. Imaging if they go to the title game and win it. It will be bad for michigan. I am not sure how to close this gap between us and them. They have better talent, better coaching staff, win at any cost AD, B10 loves them.
December 3rd, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^
December 4th, 2013 at 8:43 AM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^
because we have not beaten them except once in the last decade. and for us to go anywhete we will have to go through them. i cant believe i am being questioned about comparing ourselfto them, they r our rival and have been beating our ass for a long time. so there is a gap or something wrong. we have to benchmark to see our drficiency to go anywhere or close that gap. u r happy by just being close, i am not. i want to beat them more consistently
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^
Magnus,
Did you leave Peppers off because of his visiting rumblings or am I missing something?
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:40 PM ^
Peppers was in the Rivals 100, which I posted yesterday. This is just the players from #101-250.
EDIT: Here's the link to #1-100:
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/12/rivals-100-for-2014-updated…
December 3rd, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
From the looks of it McDowell is the only guy in the top 250 left that we are after and he appears to be far from a sure thing. Would be nice to reel him in though because this will be the lowest rated class Hoke has had to himself here, well according to rivals.
December 3rd, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^
Rivals uses the top 20 players in each class, so because Michigan only has 16 commits, that's "hurting" them in comparison to some other schools. Georgia and Florida are the only teams ahead of Michigan with 16 commits or fewer. Everyone else has more. It's a small class, so if it doesn't hit 20, the ranking is going to be a bit skewed.
December 3rd, 2013 at 7:23 PM ^
Has McDowell done anything to garner a rise in the rankings? I know there is the belief that uncommitted players rise while committed ones drop and it seem like it could be at play here. It seems that people watching Southfield this year were more impressed by Marshall. I understand that Malik has a rare combination of size and athleticism that gives him a higher ceiling, but I think the people rating him already knew about that.
I also don't know what Ferns has done to steadily drop from an early ranking in the top 50 I believe. I think the Bama offer after he had already committed (firmly) speaks for his ability.
December 3rd, 2013 at 8:00 PM ^
In last year's state title game against Ishpeming, I expected to see McDowell dominate, but he really didn't do much of anything. He was comically larger than everyone else, but that was really the only way he stood out. I'm not sure what the deal was there, but I didn't get to watch the whole game, either.
December 3rd, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^
There's not much video out there on McDowell, but I also haven't been extremely impressed by what I've seen. I do think he's a good athlete for his size, but he doesn't seem like a great football player.
December 3rd, 2013 at 10:55 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 9:15 PM ^
December 4th, 2013 at 11:02 AM ^
6'6" 280 and fairly athletic....if hes not explosive enough or does not have the instincts or pad level ends up not fitting DL then flip him to OT....only so many 18 yr olds walking around at that size with decent feet and hands
December 4th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^
December 4th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
Lots of decent high school quarterbacks have good seasons. I could see him moving up to a 4-star possibly, but he's not top 250 material, in my opinion.