Recruiting Updates via Sam Webb on WTKA This Morning

Sam Webb had an extensive recruiting roundup this morning with some good info, so I thought I'd recap what he discussed.

Nearly an hour in length total, so I'd suggest listening to the podcasts if you want more information as I am only going to mention the most important bits.

O'Maury Samuels 4* RB (Commit)

This was mentioned in the "Recent Twitter Follows" post by a few different individuals, but apparently the reason for him not taking his official this weekend is because he was re-taking his ACT. Whether that's just to qualify for UM or qualify in general is not made clear, but Sam mentions that Michigan is still monitoring the situation.

He also mentions that Arizona has his attention but, and I quote, "Michigan has not lost it's grip per se." He has some hurdles that need to be cleared, but Sam still claims that we should expect to see him in the class at this point (in other words, don't write him off).

Nico Collins 4.5* WR

For those paying attention, it's not a real shocker to say that Michigan is the expected leader for Nico Collins. Sam Webb goes into length about all the things that are pulling Nico towards Michigan and why this should not be a shock despite the fact that he's a top player out of Alabama.

The way this is all stated, laying out a background for Nico in such detail for being pro-Michigan in combination with the knowledge that Michigan basically let Oliver Martin go Notre Dame's way, I have a hunch that it's possible he's a silent. While that doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of recruiting (think Lavert Hill with MSU - if the kid was ready to fully commit he'd make it public), it sounds like more and more that the expectation is that Nico will be signing with Michigan when all is said and done.

The other part he gets into is the fact that Sam believes Nico is actually underrated as a recruit (although Scout does have him as the #147 overall while I know other services are closer to the 50-70 range). He sees Nico as a 5* talent at 6'5" and a legit 4.5 speed. And while he believes DPJ is the better overall athlete, he sees their overall talent as very close with a slim gap between the two - Nico would be a huge get. 

And along with that, he once again threw out a "gut feeling" on Tarik Black 4* Top 150 WR. He will be committing to Michigan unless something ridiculous happens.

Ditto Cezar Ruiz 4.5* C (gut feeling). 

Donovan Peoples-Jones 5* WR

I won't go into detail here, but he brought in Allen Trieu from Scout to discuss the rumor with DPJ. Short summary - both Sam and Allen believe he will commit to Michigan. No gut feeling for Sam or anything, but the evidence stacks up against any other team but Michigan - They mention academics, for example, where they state he will commit to Michigan if academics are as important as he and Mom claim they are.

This pretty much covered the whole first segment, which is almost 15 minutes long. I suggest listening if you are still worried about him. Apparently it is known that he has been out seeking advice from others the last couple of days, but their take on that is that he is looking to verify what he plans on doing and not because he's in major limbo.

DL Recruiting (Aubrey Solomon 4.5/5* DT, Jay Tufele 4.5* DT, Rutger Reitmaier 3* DT, Deron Irving-Bey 4* DE)

Regarding Rutger Reitmaier, Sam basically says that his recruitment is not over. He doesn't say much about him, but his offhanded comment makes me believe that Oregon has not locked him up despite his "re-commitment." 

Also, on Deron Irving-Bey, Sam states that his recruitment and potential commitment depends entirely on timing. I've heard him make this comment before, but my thought was that had to do with Rutger vs. Deron in that they would just take whoever committed first and the other dude would then be off the table. I'm not so sure it's only dependent on DL recruits commiting based off what he says as he doesn't go into enough detail. Apparently he is a take if he wants in, but his spot might be gone if he waits too long.

Regarding Jay Tufele, Sam says Michigan is still in good position. Sounds like it may be OSU vs. Michigan for Tufele with Utah being the home-town school that isn't out of it. I've hard Sam state many times before that the Samoan imprint at Michigan is a big deal.

Now with Aubrey Solomon, he goes into extensive detail. Like Nico Collins type detail. Discusses the impact both Greg Harden and Gwen Bush have had on this recruitment with winning mom over (think Rashan Gary's recruitment). After he says these comments (or at least I believe it was after this discussion), he mentions that Rashan Gary was actually a silent commit for a while and only came into question at the tail end after some negative recruiting tactics came into play with Clemson in combination with a good visit there - I understand this is mostly common knowledge now.

I say all of this because the way Sam lays it out, which he mentions all of this in response to a caller's statements of concern regarding Aubrey, makes me believe that Aubrey Solomon is clearly favoring Michigan. This is my speculation, same with Nico to an extent, but I haven't heard Sam discuss recruits in this detail in attempt to breed confidence except for when he discussed Rashan Gary in the past or guys he is truly confident in like Ambry Thomas and Lavert Hill. If you listen to the podcast, you will understand what I am saying. I am only interpreting, but I believe from what Sam said that Michigan is in very good position with Aubrey. I believe this is all in Segment 3 of the podcast.

I wrote more than I intended, and some of this is interpretation because Sam likes to not say things so bluntly both for his protection and probably because it's free public access versus getting information through Scout. Either way, a lot of positive things going on here.

Here's the links to the podcasts. Back to work.

Segment 1: https://audioboom.com/posts/5390839-06-recruiting-roundup-segment-1-121316?t=0

Segment 2: https://audioboom.com/posts/5390845-07-recruiting-roundup-segment-2-121316?playlist_direction=forward&t=0

Segment 3: https://audioboom.com/posts/5390986-08-recruiting-roundup-segment-3-really-121316?playlist_direction=forward&t=0