All 11 early enrollees are enrolled
Very happy to report that all 11 early enrollees are in.
Donovan Peoples-Jones and Ambry Thomas were the last two to come in on the directory earlier this evening.
There was talk of MSU continuing to recruit Ambry Thomas all the way up to the Army game. Full court press.
Alas, they lose again. The directory says he's official.
Our 11 newly-minted Michigan Wolverines-
- Tarik Black, WR
- Ja'Raymond Hall, OT
- Donovan Jeter, DE
- Jaylen Kelly-Powell, S
- Corey Malone-Hatcher, DE
- Ben Mason, LB
- Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR
- Cesar Ruiz, C
- Benjamin St-Juste, CB
- Ambry Thomas, CB
- J'Marick Woods, S
January 9th, 2017 at 2:13 AM ^
Thanks WD!
January 9th, 2017 at 2:48 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 3:24 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 3:24 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 7:03 AM ^
I thought he was an EE also?
January 9th, 2017 at 7:08 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 7:27 AM ^
Anyone have an idea how many of these they are backdating? I don't suspect after the recent misses they will get to the 32 that was anticipated but if they do...anyone know?
January 9th, 2017 at 8:37 AM ^
We are backdating at least 5-6 of the EE's this year. The class size will be around 31.
January 9th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^
Correct me if my numbers are wrong, but we had 20 players from the last class start in the fall. I think all of last year's EEs were backdated, but 25 is still the max we can have in one class. I don't see any wiggle room to add more than 5.
January 9th, 2017 at 9:09 AM ^
We backdated 5 last year as well.
January 9th, 2017 at 9:13 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 9:28 AM ^
I will post it when I find out the exact answer. I knew it was in the 5-6 range, but uncertain.
January 9th, 2017 at 9:48 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^
we backdated 7 (I believe) last year
26 in the class, 7 backdated, makes the 2016 class officially 19
6 more backdated, which means 6 + 25 = 31 max class size without doing greyshirt/blueshirt/polka-dot shirt, etc.
January 9th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
There were 27 in the last class, 26 if you take out Ahmir Mitchell. Mitchell was one of the EEs that would have been backdated, so either way 20 count as part of the 2016 class.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
minus any 2016 players that transfer that were not EE's?
January 9th, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
You can backdate as many as it will take the prior year's class to 25 scholarships. In 2015 we had a very small class so most if not all of last year's early enrollees could count back to 2015, which is why we have room to do that again this year.
January 9th, 2017 at 7:37 AM ^
I thought Kurt Taylor specifically transferred high schools to be an EE?
Paea was listed at one point as an EE
same for Hawkins
January 9th, 2017 at 8:13 AM ^
listed as an EE. I think he transferred schools for the competition. He said he wanted to be a better player and the only way to do that was to play against the best.
January 9th, 2017 at 8:19 AM ^
If memory serves, I believe Taylor transferred to another school solely to place himself against the best competition in GA.
Haven't heard much about him this year, though. In looking at his stats, he has just under 200 for the year. Maybe he got injured and I just haven't heard about it.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:10 AM ^
He had more than 200 yards, but yes, his stats weren't very impressive this year.
As for transferring, he not only played some of the best talent in GA - he played some of the best teams in the country. Loganville (GA) Grayson, which is Taylor's school, played IMG Academy, Hoover (AL) Hoover, Birmingham (AL) Ramsay, and Deerfield Beach (FL) Deerfield Beach, the last of which is Denard Robinson's alma mater and the home of several Michigan targets (including Alabama-bound WR Jerry Jeudy).
EDIT: FWIW, I have Taylor with 429 rushing yards on my recruit tracker post, but I didn't keep up with every single game. I only recorded the stats from 7 of his 15 games.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
Watching his highlights, it did look like he was pretty effective at screen passes. Any chance he's in the class solely as a 3rd down back?
January 9th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^
I get what you're saying, but I don't really know if Harbaugh believes in a third-down back. He definitely doesn't as much as Hoke did (Vincent Smith, Justice Hayes). With as much as Harbaugh rotated guys this year, I think he likes guys who have a variety of skills so the defense doesn't know what's coming. For example, who was our screen guy this year? Maybe Drake Johnson is that guy if healthy, but Harbaugh seems to do a lot of subbing to keep teams off balance.
January 9th, 2017 at 7:46 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 8:17 AM ^
Can't wait for the guys to get to work and to see them in the Spring Game! Peoples-Jones, Ruiz, and Thomas should all be major contributors this year.
January 9th, 2017 at 8:23 AM ^
I envision a season like Onwenu had in 2016
2017 OL
LT - Filiaga
LG - Bredeson
C - Cole
RG - Onwenu
RT - Ulizio
January 9th, 2017 at 8:27 AM ^
to count on Filiaga as he's not an early enrollee. As good as he may be, only practicing for a couple of weeks in pads vs. college competition is going to make it difficult to be ready.
Hope I'm wrong, but OT is hard enough for veterans, let alone a HS kid with a month of practice under his belt.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:05 AM ^
I haven't heard much about Ulizio. I think there's a good chance the line shakes out as:
LT -- Cole
LG -- Bredeson
C -- Ruiz
RG -- Onwenu
RT -- Filiaga
That's a young line: 1 sr.; 2 sophs; 2 true freshmen. But it's also a lot of talent and star power, once they start putting it together. Not sure how they'd fare early in the year, i.e., against FLA, but by mid-season I think they'd be pretty tough.
January 9th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
Plausible for sure. I can see Cole playing LT, LG, or C. I can see Bredeson playing LG or RT. I can see Ulizio and JBB playing either tackle position.
In any of those combinations, however, I see Ruiz starting. At C, or G if Cole stays at C and Bredeson moves to T. He's incredibly polished for a HS interior lineman and even moreso for a HS center. It's never ever ideal to start a freshman OL, but Ruiz could very well fit into our best 5 lineman right away.
January 9th, 2017 at 2:30 PM ^
or that he gets passed over or both?
January 9th, 2017 at 8:34 AM ^
Spring will be interesting personnel wise at WR/Slot.
January 9th, 2017 at 11:01 AM ^
I like him a lot too. Like Vilain, it's hard to be underrated as a top 200 rated player, but I think those two are.
January 9th, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^
EE class I can remember.
January 9th, 2017 at 8:47 AM ^
Very talented EE class
January 9th, 2017 at 8:50 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 9:24 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
I think I'd much rather see Ruiz compete for an open Guard spot this year while keeping Cole at C. The thought of a true freshman, even an extremely talented one, playing at C is terrifying.
Get playing time this year at G then slide into the C spot after Cole graduates.
January 9th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
Onwenu will be there competing for interior oline too.
January 9th, 2017 at 1:21 PM ^
I'm thinking a line of:
Bredeson, Onwenu, Cole, Ruiz, Filiaga
would be young but very talented and huge.
If Newsome is able to return then that would ease the OT position but there is no depth at all unfortunately.
January 9th, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^
but either way, we will be very talented but young - which is ok - should be good by the end of the season
January 9th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
The skill position players are great and all but I'm really excited for Ja'Raymond Hall and Cesar Ruiz. We need as many bodies as possible to re-stock the OL depth and getting these guys in early is so important.
And I've just got a really good feeling about Hall becoming a monster OL with Big Mike.
OL Stanfordization can't get here fast enough.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^
Love Thomas and his game. I think he plays as a freshman. Of course the WRs will play. Can't wait for the Spring Game.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
I think we may see 2 or 3 of them in the starting lineup this fall. Go Blue!
January 9th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
Great news. I'm happy to see DPJ and Thomas on campus. Those two are the studs of the class to me.
January 9th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
When would Brad hawkins SHow up??
January 9th, 2017 at 11:59 AM ^
Probably not until June.
January 9th, 2017 at 3:59 PM ^
Ruiz being able to make spring practice is HUGE.