Hello: Brad Hawkins
Michigan's picked up a commit from NJ WR Brad Hawkins. Here is an informative post about him.
GURU RATINGS
Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 247 | 247 Comp |
4*, #38 WR, #224 overall | 4*, #42 WR, #7 NJ #206 overall | 4*, #25 WR, #6 NJ #191 overall | 4*, 92, #37 WR #198 overall | 4*, #38 WR #203 overall |
There is virtual unanimity about where Hawkins falls amongst the top football prospects in the country: about 200th. Every service ranks him somewhere between 191 and 224.
SCOUTING
Hawkins is a nice combination of burly-go-get-it and the athleticism to get separation. ESPN calls him a "physical specimen" and praises his ability to get open:
Shows some suddenness off the line for a bigger player. Has a long, strong stride to get into routes quickly and cover ground. Is deceptively sudden in confined spaces and can shift gears to flash double moves. … Above average body control opening up and adjusting to throws outside strike zone. Tracks deep ball well and fields over the shoulder throws naturally. …tremendous red zone potential as he continues to get stronger to be a significant factor on the jump ball.
247's Clint Brewster describes him as a version of Junior Hemingway:
…gives you a lot after the catch. … tough player in traffic and catches contested passes. He's not a blazer on the outside but has adequate speed and shows some quickness to take away angles from defensive backs. Power player and uses contact well in his routes. … He's able to use his body to box out defenders and snags the ball away from his body out in front. Really attacks the ball in jump ball situations.
Rivals is just as high on him as everyone else is but they were higher before his appearance at a camp stop. He dropped about 50 spots afterwards. This is their explanation as to why:
"Hawkins does a lot of things on the field very well and he will be a solid pickup for one team but there isn't a ton of explosiveness to his game. He has a knack for coming up big in big moments but consistently dominating on the field is something he needs to show more consistently."
Other camps he attended had a similar vibe, with a 7 on 7 appearance in Carolina—which was unspecified—netting him a "best hands" award. Both that appearance and the Rivals camp highlighted his reliability. Carolina:
…such a reliable receiver. He works the middle of the field very well and was always there for his quarterbacks in tough situations. Hawkins always seemed to be open because he runs great routes and covers a lot of ground coming out of his breaks.
…hard to point out any one area where Hawkins dominated on Sunday; but he does everything well. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is an all-around wide receiver who can break press coverage, gets on top of defensive backs in a hurry and catches everything thrown his way. The four-star has a basketball background and that came through in the way he was able to high-point the football and out-leap defenders.
He is one of those guys. You know, those guys. The ones that are large and good at boxing out and maybe don't have announcers moaning about how unbelievably open they are.
OFFERS
Hawkins was down to Michigan and South Carolina pretty quickly in his recruitment, but he reports an impressive offer list including OSU, Oregon, Penn State, MSU, Miami, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and so forth and so on.
HIGH SCHOOL
Hawkins's teammate Ron Johnson just committed to Michigan a couple weeks ago; 2017 OL Cesar Ruiz also has an offer. Before that Camden had a drought of D-I prospects going back to 2009.
STATS
Hawkins caught 45 passes for 805 yards and 14 TDs as a sophomore and 51 for 748 yards and 11 TDs as a junior.
FAKE 40 TIME
VIDEO
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
I mentioned Junior Hemingway above and I'll mention him again: Hawkins appears to be the kind of guy who can go up and get it in a crowd but also is slippery/mean enough to be an option on screens. He probably isn't going to blow by cornerbacks on the regular but with his ability to position his body and block out defensive backs he may not have to if he's going to be effective.
Hemingway got absolutely enormous at Michigan, pushing linebacker size as an upperclassman—Hawkins isn't that burly yet but at 202 he is filled out well for a high school receiver.
Other potential comparables are Greg Mathews and Amara Darboh.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Hawkins is the 21st commit and first outside wide receiver in the class. (IN four-star Chris Evans is tentatively slated for slot receiver.) It's likely Michigan adds one or two more guys at his position, with fellow New Jersist Ahmir Mitchell the most likely name to join him.
Past that, 21 is not much less than 25. By backdating three early enrollees, Michigan can go up to 28 if they have room, and they're recruiting like they do.
sounds like if they offer he is likely gone.
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Mitchell is fast if we can get him. More raw apparently as a Wr but he has speed. As the other person said, if Evans doesnt flip to ND he is also fast and looks to be a slot if he stays on offense. But has stated ND is his dream offer so hard to count on him. Hence I hope Mitchell picks us.
I love recruiting write-ups. Rivals: "...consistently dominating on the field is something he needs to show more consistently."
I'm sure he'll get right on that, soon, when he can.
Welcome, Mr. Hawkins.
If we can find another receiver who can show more consistency in inconsistently dominating on the field, then Brad Hawkins inconsistency in consistency domimating on the field would be counterbalanced by the consistency of the other receiver in inconsistently dominating on the field, such that the two of them together would show consistentcy in consistency dominating on the field.
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"consistently dominating on the field is something he needs to show more consistently."
Seems to be in the mold of Jason Avant. Avant was a 6'2ish 195Lb good hands freshman receiver that wasn't afraid to mix things up. No burner he that played in the shadow of Bryalon Edwards, he still managed to parlay his days at Michigan into a fairly significant NFL career.
Michigan could do far worse than Jason Avant redux.
I thought Avant as well based on the description, but I'm pretty sure that's who Hemingway and Darboh were compared to so it's all the same. Hopefully he falls closer to Avant on that spectrum than Greg Mathews.
We should be cautious going to the "all time best" in any position. Avant could be considered the "all time best" posession wide receiver UM has had. Not to mention one of the best NFL careers in UM wide receiver history - better than guys like Terrel or Desmond or Braylon. So these comparisons to him are the usual reaching for the stars.
I think Brian is more reasonable - of course we can hope for a 1000 yard season like Avant had as a Sr but Hemingway would not be a bad outcome - guy averaged 18.5 and 20.6 yards per catch as a junior and senior respectively. That would be a pretty damn good outcome. He just didnt have the volume of catches that Avant did as a senior. Very few UM wide receivers ever did.
Mathews was solid - nothing special - 30-40 catches a year and 10-12 yards per. (which was about what Avant averaged per catch - he just caught 82 balls as a senior!) Going into this year I'd love that production out of anyone on the roster not named Darboh.
Question, why are you such a downer all the time?
Statement: When you set your benchmark below the best don't ever be surprised when you don't achieve the best.
There's a difference between "what kind of player is he" or "what could he be" and "this is what I predict from him."
I wasn't suggesting he'll be as good as Jason Avant (though that's certainly within the realm of possibility) as much as saying what style of play he has. Avant was think and ran great routes. That's the type of player Hawkins is.
They never seemed to use him on the vertical routes that Braylon was always running, but Avant had NFL speed in addition to the world's best hands.
Did some Googling and figured out why people may remember him as slow. He broke his arm right before the NFL combine and ran with a cast, coming in at 4.73. Later, with the cast off, he ran an official 4.45 at the campus combine (LINK).
Avant had good speed, no is calling him slow. That said, pro day 40 times are notoriously off, so I would take that 4.45 with a grain of salt. Avant wasn't a speedster WR, he had other assets. No one is calling him slow, but he's not exactly "fast" compared to other good WRs either.
Yeah, the on-campus combines that each school holds are notorious for their favorable 40 times for players. I remember a few years ago one of the directional Michigan schools had two players clock in with something like 4.35 in the 40..
I was just about to say the same thing. Delonte Hollowell ran a 4.34 at this year's pro day. He's not a 4.34 guy. I think when they have pro days at Michigan, they repaint the lines on the field so the guys are only running 37 yards.
All Avant did was get first downs!!!
One of the most underrated players that no one talks about. Ill take Jason Avant all day.
Congrats Brad, from one Jersey kid to another, you're living the dream. And I'll just drop this little bit of schadenfreude until the fall
http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2015/07/top_nj_receiver_bra…
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And not Penn State, Rutgers, or Maryland.
I like that.
I like this dude's spatial awareness. He always knows where he is, and who's around him.
check out the big brain on Brad!!
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New Jersist? Isn't it New Jerseyan....?
What? And let me guess, you think a rap artist is called a "rapper" and not a "rappist" too, huh? Weirdo.
Way to GoBlue!
Welcome aboard! BH will help but from the sound of it we're still looking for a gamebreaker in the mold of Desmond, Charles, Braylon, and Mario...
"consistently dominating on the field is something he needs to show more consistently."
twenty eighty is the limit so now we can see how fast other's commit.
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10-13 guys who are on the team today won't be by February. I know your real question refers to the details of that, and if anyone knew, we would all know.
Walter Smith. Physical, mean, bad-ass WR who got cheated out most of his senior season (1994) by injury. Tough as nails, would have been right at home on a Harbaugh team. Elected co-captain.
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Walter Smith was a tough SOB. Loved his game.
Hawkins looks like a real beast. He looks almost like a running back when he has the ball in terms of his body type and running style. Agree with the Anquan Boldin comparision, particularly if he bulks up a little.
I'm with it.
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