Hello: Josh Metellus Comment Count

Ace



Photo via 247

In what could be a sign of things to come, Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan S Josh Metellus announced his commitment to Michigan this afternoon on Twitter. Metellus visited Ann Arbor last weekend with teammates Devin Bush Jr. and Devin Gil, both of whom have Michigan at or near the top of their lists. Metellus is the 16th commit in the 2016 class, the first at safety, and the second to announce today, following Ben Bredeson.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
2* S 2* S NR S NR S 2*, #145 S

Scout and Rivals have each thrown two stars Metellus' way, but neither site even had an article posted to his profile prior to his commitment. Metellus earned his offer at Michigan's satellite camp hosted by Flanagan, so this is another instance of the coaches seeing a prospect in person who hasn't yet received much attention from the recruiting services.

Metellus is listed at 6'0", 185-187 pounds on every site save ESPN, which is a distinct outlier at 5'10", 170. He looks closer to the general consensus on tape.

SCOUTING

This might be a first: there isn't a single evaluation on any of the sites. Highlight film goes here, then:

Metellus looks like a good athlete, enthusiastic tackler, and potential weapon as a punt gunner. Most of the pass defense highlights occurred on poorly thrown balls, so I won't attempt further analysis on four minutes worth of junior film. Perhaps more than with any other commit in the class, this is a situation where until there's more to go on, you either trust Jim Harbaugh's judgment or you don't.

OFFERS

Metellus was a Georgia Southern commit before visiting last weekend, when he and Gil both decommitted from other programs (Miami, in Gil's case). His other offers are from FIU, Miami (OH), Midd. Tennessee State, and South Alabama.

HIGH SCHOOL

Flanagan's history of producing Division I prospects is relatively short and undistinguished until the present. Bush, Gil, and Metellus have obviously all earned Michigan offers; 2017 CB Stanford Samuels is a potential five-star. This is a pretty good time to develop a strong connection to the school, which Michigan has accomplished with the satellite camp.

STATS

None posted that I could find.

FAKE 40 TIME

None available. 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

He will probably play safety?

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

The big impact here is the potential that Metellus' teammates will join him in Ann Arbor, which appears to be a distinct possibility. Metellus also fills a need at safety, and Michigan should be all set there with either ATH Kiante Enis or, potentially, Gil.

Comments

lebriarj

June 17th, 2015 at 7:14 PM ^

Jim has Uof〽️ rolling in recruiting. I'm tired of hearing how come he's settling for 2 and 3 stars. To me it doesn't matter what stars they are the only thing the matters is how the coaches develop these young men. All the 4 stars Hoke recruited got Uof〽️ no where. In Harbaugh we trust. Hail to the victors.

Taxman

June 17th, 2015 at 7:27 PM ^

Hi, first post (I think). The thing that struck me about this kid was he seemed to have a good eye for where a play was going. He went from back peddle to charge run plays, and did so while avoiding blockers. On pass plays he seemed to react fast enough to make a difference. That seems like the two skills a ss needs to have. Well, that plus no fear of dropping the hammer on a tackle.

CoverZero

June 17th, 2015 at 7:46 PM ^

Good point on his ability to fend off blocks.  That is very underrated.  This kid has strong safety or special teams ace written all over him.  Im not worried bout the 5-10, 170 at all.  Kovacs had that and this kid appears to be faster than Jordan.

CoverZero

June 17th, 2015 at 11:04 PM ^

I played strong safety and can evaluate that position better than any other position.  This kid plays with excellent leverage and control.  He has an agressive streak and is a solid tackler.  I see agression in his tape and I like that.  As Ace mentioned the coverage skills are a bit hard to gauge on this tape, however he is around the ball a lot.  I see him as a contributor at strong safety, or at worst a gunner wrecking ball on special teams.  Either way, I see more than just a generic 2 star on this tape.  This kid has good potential.

MichiganTeacher

June 17th, 2015 at 8:03 PM ^

Gotta trust Harbaugh on this one.

To me, ss and mlb are the two spots on the field where an understanding of the game - instinctual, intellectual, or both - can most complement physical athleticism, or even make up for lack of the same. This kid looks like he can hit, and if Harbaugh says he can anticipate and make plays, then I believe him.

Welcome to the Michigan family, Josh! You've made a fantastic choice.

dragonchild

June 18th, 2015 at 7:01 AM ^

So close to merging the points.

Yes, if you're in the middle of the field, knowing which way to go is more important than getting somewhere in a hurry.  If you bite hard on a PA and run a 4.3 40, congrats, you got to twenty yards from the ball real fast.  (Now yes everyone wants the guy who's fast AND smart, but what galls me is that coaches will say "you can't teach speed" and pick the fast guy every time.  Ever try to teach brains?)

But the hard hitting IS that understanding of the game at the safety position.  Being able to hit IS anticipating and making plays.  You're 6, 10, 15, 20 yards from the LoS and called upon to minimize gains.  I think the reason why many safeties don't hit hard isn't because they're soft, but because they can't.  Most safeties slow up close to the ball because they're afraid of getting juked because they know they're the last guy.  If a safety makes a mistake they give up a TD, so most play scared.

To hit hard starting from 10 yards away you need to not hesitate, read the play correctly and then take a perfect angle of approach.  If you hesitate, you lose momentum and give up free yards.  If you misread the play, the guy's gone.  If the angle's wrong you miss the tackle.  Hitting hard as a safety has nothing to do with toughness; it's a sign the guy has an excellent understanding of the game, which is critical for the safety position.  Again, everyone wants the do-it-all hyperathletic safety but the first requirement is consistent, flawless positioning.

TL; DR: Kovacs.

sj

June 17th, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^

I trust Harbaugh and I'm looking forward to seeing what his bigger plan is. I really think he has one.

That said, if Harbaugh thinks someone's good, I believe him. If Harbaugh and Saban and Meyer and Richt think someone's good, I believe that more. We'll see. 

Anchew

June 17th, 2015 at 8:28 PM ^

remember what Larry Foote said about the type of recruiting UM was doing. "Too many trust fund babies...we needed more recruits from the hood." Meaning getting guys that bust their tails to get a scholarship. Harbaugh knows what he wants. He doesn't offer everyone he encounters.

CoverZero

June 17th, 2015 at 9:33 PM ^

Exactly.  Remember all of the fuss over kids like Marvin Robinson (not picking on Marvin, just using him as an example of a highly rated kid who did basically nothing at Michigan)?   All threads over whether he would come to Michigan or Ohio etc.  Turned out to be a big waste of space to talk about.  There is a huge list of those types of kids, especially in recent years who flamed out and did nothing at Michigan.

JT Turner anyone?

 

uncleFred

June 17th, 2015 at 8:42 PM ^

after. Minimal internet. Minimal if any scouting reports. Around the time fall camp started Bo would introduce the freshmen to the fan base. The vast majority of us waited to see how these unknowns would perfrom and the season would go.

So Harbaugh goes out and personally scouts for players in venues not followed by the internet evaluators and picks guys, some totally unknown, he thinks will fit his vision. 

You just have to love this! While I'd love a class of highly visible 5 stars, I love the idea that our coach is personally selecting talent for his program completely independent of the ranking system. The angst of our opponents created by a very highly ranked class would be great fun. But I'd rather that the team win games. 

It's very clear that Harbaugh has a vision for the team. It's becoming clear that his vision is largely uninfluenced by scouting service rankings. I think I'll go with the coach. 

Welcome to Michigan Mr. Metellus! May this be the best decision you've made to this point in your life. I wish you every success on and off the field.

 

alum96

June 17th, 2015 at 10:31 PM ^

  1. Redshirted 2012s who won't returrn for 5th year - I count "up to 5".  I believe 4 have never played a meaningful snap in the Big 10 in their first 3 years.  Shake hands, get your degree, and off you go after 4 years here.
  2. A QB transfers
  3. 1 obvious OL medical, maybe 1 highly rumored WR medical
  4. 1 2013 WR has barely played and is buried on the depth chart
  5. 2 other 2013s who have been position switched a lot and are buried in depth chart
  6. 1-2 surprises ala Ferns and Countess

That's ~10 right there as a floor really and you could talk up to 13-14 if you are 'aggressive'.

 

Mr. Yost

June 20th, 2015 at 1:46 AM ^

...so I'm posting this at 1:45am because I'm board and I'll be able to come back to this post...

  1. Blake Bars
  2. Allen Gant
  3. Terry Richardson
  4. Tom Strobel

...I counted only 4.

  1. Speight or Morris

...Speight would have to be behind Malzone and Morris would have to be the #3 - it all depends on where Korn lands on the depth chart.

  1. Fox is the OL
  2. ...not sure on the WR, I hope it's not Drake Harris

...then we also have.

  1. Dukes or Jones at WR

...not sure on #5, only Shallman has switched positions a lot and he seems made for Harbaugh. However, I haven't heard anything from Dan Samuelson.

I'll give you 8-9 players and I believe we had 14 spots. So that's 22-23.

 

BlueWolverine02

June 17th, 2015 at 10:25 PM ^

I'm no expert but it seems to me that it is hard to evaluate a safety from film.  But based on how this kid hits he looks like at least a 3 star to me.  And he isn't really all that undersized for a safety.  If he works hard 205 lbs is probably attainable which seems to be about the size of our safeties now.

CoverZero

June 17th, 2015 at 11:08 PM ^

Whatever HS this is...they are very well coached in the secondary and linebackers.  They flow well to the ball, maintain position and break down to tackle well. Good coaching.

BlueCube

June 18th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^

that he has a very strong feel that Gil and Bush will be part of this team. He didn't go to the gut feel level but it sounded like he was close to it.