2016 Recruiting Class - Best Defensive Class Since???
Was just thinking about how good everyone on the defense is playing this year, and was just realizing how many of them were a part of the 2016 Class. These are the defensive contributors from the 2016 class(composite rank in parentheses):
1. Rashan Gary (1)
2. David Long (65)
3. Lavert Hill (132)
4. Carlo Kemp(310)
5. Devin Bush(312)
6. Khaleke Hudson(386)
7. Josh Uche(707)
8. Josh Metellus(739)
9. Michael Dwumfour(947)
10. Devin Gil(997)
Thats 10 Players. 9 of which have started games this year, and the 1 that hasnt started is leading the team in sacks(Uche). 4 are All American Quality(Gary wont be because he missed games), I bet 2 or 3 more make All Big-10 lists.
I mean when is the last time we have had that many good players/contributors from 1 class on 1 side of the ball? Just having 10 players from 1 class as rotation players on a defense is alot, but the fact that they are all major contributors of the #1 Defense in the country. Thats pretty nuts.
Can anybody think of a single class from the past that had that big of an impact on 1 side of the ball before? I am just talking Michigan history, because I am sure Alabama has had some crazy 6 5-Star Class that was all on D probably.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
2013 o-line class rivals this... /s
November 8th, 2018 at 5:37 PM ^
i think this post is about a class that is actually performing well, the 2013 o line class may have been top recruits but didn't pan out very well.
November 8th, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^
Not only was this obvious sarcasm, it even included the sarcasm tag.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:29 PM ^
You really need to be more transparent.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:53 PM ^
Just a bit outside
November 8th, 2018 at 6:44 PM ^
TOO SOON
November 8th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
Best Defensive Class since ever.
November 9th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^
1995 is a contender:
- Charles Woodson (duh)
- Rob Renes - starting NT for several years, drafted in 7th round in 2000 NFL Draft
- Daydrion Taylor - starting SS on 1997 defense before career-ending injury on epic hit
- James Hall - started at DE for several years, 26.5 sacks at Michigan, 63 career NFL sacks
- Josh Williams - starting DT for several years, drafted in 4th round in 2000
- David Bowens - was a stud at DE, but didn't go to class and transferred to Western Illinois.
Oh yeah, that class also had Tom Brady, Tai Streets, and Clarence Williams on offense.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:25 PM ^
Devin Bush at 312 is crazy!
November 8th, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^
"He is too small"
- Recruiting analyst
November 8th, 2018 at 5:15 PM ^
Still is. Make sure the NFL scouts know.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
Someone HIGHLY underrated him. He has an NFL father. Was a very good HS player in the state of FL. I could have seen him as a 200-level (170's-180's) for ESPN's recruiting rankings, but 312 outside the top-300 is a BAD miss on the recruiting services' parts.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:50 PM ^
I live in Fort Lauderdale, and went to one of the games Bush was playing at (Versus Piper high school). It was obvious to me that the 17 year old I was watching could likely have been a back-up for an nfl team. He was that damned good at linebacker then. The play that made me shit a brick, it was a sweep to the right side, and whatever read he was took him the opposite way. He figured out he was going the wrong way, corrected, and still made the tackle after bolting 25 yards for only a 3 yard gain. My jar damn near broke on the stands
November 9th, 2018 at 12:07 AM ^
If you watch the play vs MSU where they scored their sad TD on that Philly play Bush recognizes it a full second before anyone else.
November 9th, 2018 at 7:44 AM ^
I hope your colon has recovered from that traumatic incident. Bush has been the unfortunate cause of many a shat bricks.
November 9th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
Oh no. What was in the jar?
November 9th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Dead hahaha
November 9th, 2018 at 1:02 AM ^
I remember watching his announcement in my office at “work”. I accidentally let out a “go blue” and got a weird look from the lady at the next desk. I bet she feels dumb now....
November 8th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
Holy crap... That class was ridiculous going to be difficult to beat that... Great post... I wonder if 2019 class will end up being this good...
November 8th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
If Harrison and Crouch get added to Hinton, Smith and Hill the top end of this class would certainly challenge some kind of metric for Michigan recruiting. And on the offensive side with Charbonnet, Rumler, Jones and Gray...and hopefully "Ike". And there are a couple sleeper, wild cards in there whose ceiling might be as high as that top group...Ojabo, Jackson, Sainristil...even McNamara-bright kid and terrific leader.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
You guys have it all wrong, I am on a conference call with Bluey, Albatross and the rest of the Starz Mafia and they are telling me that the 2016 recruiting class sucked because half of the guys on that list are 3 stars.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
I think, at least with respect to defense, I ignore defensive recruiting rankings. If Don Brown, Mattison and co. feel they are good fits for our scheme, then I'm totally content. They have earned it up until this point with metellus, bush, gil, paye, uche, hudson, kemp, etc.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^
That’s as wrong-headed as the “stars are all that matter” viewpoint. The top five guys on that list are 4* players. And this defense isn’t nearly what it is without them.
Stars don’t tell the whole story, but they are an important piece of data. Development matters too, but you need players that can develop.
Our defense has developed well. We also started with some terrific, well-rated athletes.
November 8th, 2018 at 8:43 PM ^
That's right. And this is why Michigan is recruiting many of the kids they are. Harbaugh does not hesitate to take multi-position kids who are well-rounded and excellent athletes-who are often over-looked. (I am really curious where this Barrett kid lands position wise.)
This sort of reminds me of how Hutch recruits her softball players. I have heard her say that she, first and foremost, wants athletes with high playing IQs. You can teach those kids how to play any position they end up at-very well. After basketball, the sport I like the most is fast-pitch softball...grew up around a world champion men's team...love watching Michigan compete!!!
November 8th, 2018 at 8:44 PM ^
So what exactly do you think the 20-something year old recruiting analysts at Rivals/247 know about evaluating players for Don Brown's defense that Don Brown doesn't know?
November 9th, 2018 at 9:00 AM ^
IMHO this is the wrong way to look at it. It is not like the team never misses on a highly rated kid that Brown likes. Obviously, if Brown likes a kid, then I will be all in on him. But, we shouldn't pretend that if a kid is rated lower that he is definitely some diamond in the rough. I say this is someone who is not a STARZ guy.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
Still can't believe how loaded that flanagan senior class was...essentially they started 3 players in high school that are stalwarts of the #1 defense in COLLEGE football.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:34 PM ^
Shows you that 5 stars and 4 stars don’t mean on thing on defense we have one hell of coaching staff. Now if the offense could build this kind of consistency we can become Alabama good
November 8th, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^
They’re improving, thanks to a 5-star QB, a 5-star WR (with help from some 4-stars) and an OL anchored by high 4-stars on the interior.
Stars don’t tell the whole story, but they help tell an important part of it.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:46 PM ^
I am really high on the defensive recruits for 2019 and not just because of prop 1.
November 8th, 2018 at 4:58 PM ^
I mean, if you could add Harrison and two of Crouch, DeLoach, Perry, and Karlaftis that would definitely rival 2016 in terms of potential impact.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:30 PM ^
I'm excited about this class as well, but what's so crazy about 2016 isn't the amount of potential impact that came in, but the extent to which that potential turned into actual impact. 2012 wasn't so far removed from 2016 in terms of incoming defensive talent, but it was a more typical year in that a lot of guys kind of washed out for one reason or another. The rate of hits to misses in 2016 was insane.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:17 PM ^
is your mind blown now that cookies have responded to you?
November 8th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^
Great group of guys who fairly seamlessly picked up the torch from the 2016 group and ran with it.
Brown and Harbaugh have it basically down to this: if you start on D at Michigan you end up on All-B1G lists and in the NFL.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:07 PM ^
Off the top of my head, the 2003 class was better. Woodley, Burgess, Crable, Hall and im sure im missing a slew more.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:28 PM ^
I just looked it up and that was a small class. 16 total enrolled. The only other defensive contributors of any significance were Ryan Mundy and Brandent Englemon.
November 8th, 2018 at 6:21 PM ^
I don't know, that's still a pretty close call at the top end. 2003 had Woodley, 2016 had Gary. 2003 had Crable, 2016 had Bush. 2003 had Leon Hall, 2016 had both Lavert Hill and David Long. 2003 had Ryan Mundy, 2016 had Josh Metellus (and Mundy actually played his best ball after leaving M). 2003 had Burgess, but 2016 had Hudson.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:07 PM ^
Can someone a screen shot of this list and post it every time some idiot complains about the ranking of a player.
November 8th, 2018 at 6:23 PM ^
Sure, go ahead!
November 8th, 2018 at 5:12 PM ^
We need Seth's recruiting database. I thought there was a recruiting class under Gary Moeller which had an amazing number of offensive players who went on to the NFL.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
South Florida recruits are proving to be something special.
Bush (312), Uche (707), Metellus (739), Gil (997)
Check out Cody Stavenhagen's article about them on the Athletic ($)
https://theathletic.com/640692/2018/11/08/how-south-florida-swag-made-its-way-to-michigans-defense/
November 8th, 2018 at 5:37 PM ^
Wouldn't DJ Durkin have recruited a lot of the 2016 guys? Dude is a great recruiter.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:17 PM ^
Yes, Don Brown was hired 12/15, so he didn’t recruit most of these guys.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
Incredible hit rate here. 10 out of 10.
November 8th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^
Nope.
November 8th, 2018 at 6:13 PM ^
I'd say the 2019 class.... Muwahahah
November 8th, 2018 at 6:16 PM ^
I think the 2016 class is definitely the best in the 85-scholarship era.
The 2012 and 2013 classes each had about 8-9 defensive contributors and then the 1995 and 1998 classes each had about 5-6 defensive hits but some were massive stars like Woodson, Foote, Gold, et al. The 2003 class had Woodley, Mundy, Leon Hall, Prescott Burgess, and Shawn Crable--so that's a great five guys but not much (defensively) after that.
Another great thing about the 2016 class is how few busts or washouts there have been. Only EBM is gone, and the only defensive recruits from that class yet to make a significant on-field contribution is Ron Johnson.
November 8th, 2018 at 6:38 PM ^
Your last paragraph is a great point that I accidentally left out of my original post. There were only 12 defensive players in this class, and 10 of them are major contributors. Crazy high hit rate.
November 8th, 2018 at 6:33 PM ^
I remember the 2003 guys listed in the comments. That was a good class. But it was nothing like 2016 in numbers and consistency, now that we can see how the class has developed. Maybe the class of 1995 is worthy of attention, if you can look it up.