Hello: Rashad Weaver Comment Count

Ace


Photo via Scout

Fort Lauderdale (FL) Cooper City DE/TE Rashad Weaver announced his commitment to Michigan on Twitter this evening, becoming the 12th member of the 2016 class and the first at either defensive end or tight end. Weaver added his offer after performing in front of the coaches at the South Florida satellite camp, and it didn't take long for him to accept it.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
NR DE 2* WDE NR DE NR SDE 2*, #108 DT

So much for not getting embroiled in the same debate we've been having about the value of recruiting stars versus in-person coaching evaluations. Weaver got a cursory two-star rating from Rivals and has yet to be evaluated by the other sites. Jim Harbaugh doesn't care about your opinion on this matter.

The sites are in agreement about Weaver's size, all listing him in the neighborhood of 6'5", 245 pounds. That kind of frame should help him fit as either an SDE or TE.

SCOUTING

Once again, we go to the tape first, because there's practically nothing out there on Weaver. Here are his junior highlights:

And here are his highlights from this spring:

Weaver does a solid job of crashing down the line to clean up runs, and his size/strength combination allows him to hold up well at the point of attack against that level of competition—down the road, he's going to need to utilize his hands more to disengage from blocks. His pass-rushing ability seems limited, though the knack for batting down passes shouldn't go overlooked. We don't get to see him play much tight end at all. He's clearly not a burner, but he could easily get to the size where he's a useful blocker, and if he's got decent hands to add to that then Harbaugh will be pleased.

247's Clint Brewster tweeted his impression of Weaver's film after the commitment was announced:

Weaver discussed how he earned his offer in a post-commitment interview with The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan ($):

"I started camp at the D-end, and went all the way through all the drills and the one-on-ones, winning those," he explained. "Then with like 10 minutes left, they pulled me over to tight end one-on-ones, and I did four routes and caught a couple balls. They told me they like me at both positions and they're recruiting me as just a big athlete. Possibly even both ways at the next level.

"A couple days later I was sitting on the couch, and Coach [Jay] had asked me something. I don't remember what I responded, but he said, 'how would you feel if I told you that you have a full scholarship offer to the University of Michigan?' I told him that I was sitting there smiling like a little kid that just got a whole bunch of candy. He said again when I got off the phone with them that they like me on both sides."

Like Kiante Enis, Chris Evans, Michael Onwenu, and David Reese, Weaver has positional flexibilty and could contribute on either side of the ball at Michigan.

OFFERS

Weaver holds offers from Air Force, Columbia, Cornell, FIU, Illinois, Louisiana Lafayette, South Florida, Syracuse, and Temple.

HIGH SCHOOL

Cooper City isn't a major D-I talent producer. Weaver is just the third major college prospect from the school since 2002, following 2010 Miami (OH) signee Travis Williams and 2013 Tennessee signee Lemond Johnson, according to the Rivals database.

STATS

The only stats I can find for Weaver are from the hardwood instead of the gridiron; he averaged seven points and nine boards for the Cooper City basketball squad in the eight games recorded on MaxPreps last season. 

FAKE 40 TIME

ESPN lists a 5.23 40 that looks to be from a SPARQ camp, so it gets zero FAKEs out of five.

[Update: His Hudl page lists a 4.90, which isn't verified by SPARQ, but also doesn't seem too fake. Again, he's not a burner, but he doesn't look like a plodding blocking-only guy, either.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Your guess is as good as mine. Weaver could end up at strongside end, where he'd compete with incoming freshman Shelton Johnson for a role once the Charlton/Wormley duo graduates following the 2016 season. Or he could play tight end, where he'd figure into the rotation behind Jake Butt, Khalid Hill, Ian Bunting, and Tyrone Wheatley Jr.

Either way, Weaver seems like a lock to redshirt while he develops physically and the coaching staff figures out where he should play—though with Harbaugh, there's certainly a chance he lines up on both sides of the ball.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan now sits at 12 commits in a class that currently has room for 14. Again, that number will inevitably go up due to unrenewed fifth-years, attrition under a new coach, and the like. Areas of need in the class include offensive line, defensive tackle, weakside end, outside linebacker, and safety.

Comments

M-Dog

June 14th, 2015 at 10:40 PM ^

Folks, widely followed "star" rankings are a relatively new thing.  Yet schools managed to figure out how to recruit kids before that just fine.  The world did not start in 2002.
 
 One way they did it was to hold camps, observe performances in person, and give out offers to the guys they liked.  Lloyd won a National Championship, a bunch of Big Ten championships, a bunch of New Years Day Bowl games, and beat a bunch of SEC teams doing this.  Michigan was known for recruiting heavily from its camps.
 
Note that all of these under-the-radar offers by Harbaugh were given out only after getting to observe these guys in person in camp settings.  It's really not that strange and unusual of an approach.  It's the Lloyd approach on steroids.
 

 

WolvinLA2

June 14th, 2015 at 10:54 PM ^

But as of right now, this kid has offers from Illinois and Syracuse, and if Harbaugh likes him, other coaches will too. So although he might not end up at a Michigan caliber school if we don't offer, he won't be at Colgate. He will end up somewhere not as easy to snake oil. If we like him, why wait?

Lanknows

June 14th, 2015 at 11:29 PM ^

Harbaughs not going to have these camps just to have them and walk away empty handed.

By land commitments from them he builds a reputation that will pay of in the long-run.

Not saying he is taking a bunch of scrubs just to get attention at all - but there is some incentive for him to get players that are good enough to succeed while at these camps.

BleedsBlue

June 14th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^

Harbaugh. Florida kids, Florida athleticism, they are getting kids that fit their system, to hell with recruiting star rankings.Go get YOUR boys Jimmy, to hell with what rivals and scout, etc. say about it. Stars just give kids reasons to be primadonnas and feel entitled. We want/need the kids that are hungry. And by the end of this cycle, I'm confident we'll fill a few spots with 4/5 star studs. But hunger/competition/depth all seem to be where Harbaugh is gonna make his hay.

UMForLife

June 15th, 2015 at 12:15 AM ^

When NBC does Sunday Night Football, I do not recognize many of the colleges and high schools that players belong to. I guess Harbaugh is doing his own version of drafting. He is picking the talent and not what Mel Kiper suggests (or the equivalent in college). We will find out in 2-3 years. In the mean time, support the player and trust our coach. Welcome Mr. Weaver. Go Blue!

bstaub32

June 15th, 2015 at 8:15 AM ^

58 Miami (FL) Hurricanes
57 LSU Tigers
56 USC Trojans
54 Alabama Crimson Tide
54 Ohio State Buckeyes
52 Florida State Seminoles
48 Georgia Bulldogs
48 Florida Gators
44 Texas Longhorns
44 Oklahoma Sooners
44 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Current NFL players by school... I have no idea how you could be a college football fan (you may just be a Michigan fan, which could explain it) and not "recognize MANY" of the schools.

uminks

June 15th, 2015 at 12:23 AM ^

evaluated this kid and decided he fits a need! I don't really care if sparty and bucky call JH king of the 2 stars! Welcome to Michigan Rashad!

CoverZero

June 15th, 2015 at 12:52 AM ^

Seahawks

Name Position College Rating
Russell Wilson QB NC State/Wisconsin 3 star
Russell Okung LT Oklahoma State 3 star
James Carpenter LG Alabama 4 star
Max Unger C Oregon 3 star
J.R. Sweezy RG NC State 2 star
Justin Britt RT Missouri 3 star
Luke Willson TE Rice 2 star
Doug Baldwin WR Stanford 2 star
Jermaine Kearse WR Washington 3 star
Ricardo Lockette WR Fort Valley State NR
Marshawn Lynch RB California 4 star
Michael Bennett DE Texas A&M NR
Tony McDaniel DT Tennessee 3 star
Kevin Williams DT Oklahoma State N/A (too old)
Cliff Avril DE Purdue 3 star
Bruce Irvin LB West Virginia 4 star
Bobby Wagner LB Utah State 2 star
K.J. Wright LB Mississippi State 3 star
Richard Sherman CB Stanford 3 star
Earl Thomas FS Texas 3 star
Kam Chancellor SS Virginia Tech 3 star
Byron Maxwell CB Clemson 4 star
Steven Hauschka K NC State NR
Jon Ryan P Regina (Canada) N/A (from Canada)

Patriots

Name Position College Rating
Tom Brady QB Michigan N/A (too old)
Nate Solder LT Colorado 3 star
Dan Connolly LG Southeast Missouri State NR
Bryan Stork C Florida State 3 star
Josh Kline RG Kent State 2 star
Sebastian Vollmer RT Houston N/A (from Germany)
Rob Gronkowski TE Arizona 4 star
Julian Edelman WR Kent State 3 star
Brandon LaFell WR LSU 3 star
Danny Amendola WR Texas Tech 3 star
LeGarrette Blount RB Oregon 4 star
Rob Ninkovich DE Purdue 3 star
Vince Wilfork DT Miami 4 star
Chris Jones DT Bowling Green 2 star
Chandler Jones DE Syracuse 2 star
Jamie Collins LB Southern Mississippi 3 star
Dont'a Hightower LB Alabama 4 star
Jonathan Casillas LB Wisconsin 2 star
Darrelle Revis CB Pittsburgh 3 star
Devin McCourty FS Rutgers 3 star
Patrick Chung SS Oregon 2 star
Brandon Browner CB Oregon State 3 star
Stephen Gostkowski K Memphis N/A (kickers weren't always rated)
Ryan Allen P Louisiana Tech NR

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2015/1/21/7861989/s…

michiganfanforlife

June 15th, 2015 at 1:25 AM ^

Harbaugh eats lightning and craps thunder. Just sit back and watch the man build a dynasty. He's getting the guys he likes all over the country, and he doesn't care about your stupid ratings system. It's something they made up for fans to follow but has no bearing on reality. I am immune to all your fancy charts and graphs that support your point. How much do you wanna bet all the kids offered at these camps were busting their asses, standing out as the best of the best, and showing that they are coachable?

DrewGOBLUE

June 15th, 2015 at 2:35 AM ^

As long as a kid has the physical/athletic potential, intelligence and work ethic to develop into a high-level player, then I don't feel like there's reason for concern.

Look at Ziggy Ansah, for example; he hadn't ever in his life played football until college. Not that every under-the-radar recruit will have as much potential as Ansah did, but Harbaugh and his assistants have a pretty solid track record of player development, which is what's most important.

BuckNekked

June 15th, 2015 at 6:39 AM ^

How many kids are out there in each junior and senior HS class each year that also play football? Well over a million? How big are the combined scouting staffs of the recruiting services? How many kids get evaluated in person by the P5 conference staffs each year? How long does it take to evaluate and rank even the top 1% of HS upperclassmen?

These "under the radar" kids that Harbaugh has seen and evaluated in person that have received offers from the staff, just a few days ago were HS juniors. And just 4 months ago werent high scouting priorities for the recruiting services. The process is in the beginning stages and only the kids with the biggest buzz have even been looked at. The ranking system is very fluid at this time of the year. These kids still have thier entire summer for camps and then thier senior tape to evaluate. 

Getting caught up in recruiting rankings in June is beyond foolish.

Leonhall

June 15th, 2015 at 8:58 AM ^

I'm not going to get caught up in the starzzzz of these players...However, I am a little perplexed...I'm happy that Richardson and Weaver are members of the greatest University in the world, but to offer them this early just seems odd....Athletically they both seem a little limited, although, a college S&C Program can help that... I am by no means a recruiting analyst or even a football coach, so I despite being perplexed, I have all the confidence in Harbaugh...just confused slightly...

Sarasota13

June 16th, 2015 at 4:21 AM ^

I agree with BuckNekked. It does not take much time to evaluate these kids in person. The cream rises to the top. The coaches have watched these players on film and spoken to others about them prior to the in person evaluations. The rating services do not rate coach-ability, intelligence, heart, or character. As a coach these qualities with athletic ability is what you are looking for. These are experienced coaches. They know what they are doing.

pafokosesi

June 15th, 2015 at 6:48 AM ^

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KRK

June 15th, 2015 at 7:24 PM ^

I love how so many people laude Beiliens ability to evaluate talent at an early age, establish a good relationship, get kids to commit then fight off big schools when the kid moves up in rankings. Yet Harbaugh is not given the same credit even though he's been a great evaluator and developer of talent.



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