I never saw this posted about Devontae Dobbs
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2017/08/04/top-uncommit…
Detroit — Five-star Belleville junior offensive tackle Devontae Dobbs says Michigan’s coaches are still not talking to him much.
The 6-4, 290-pound prospect, ranked the No. 2 offensive tackle in the nation for 2019 by Scout.com, currently has 26 offers and says he’s not leaning toward any one school. He added, however, that he thinks Ohio State, where he likes the game day atmosphere, would be one of his top teams.
“Especially after the Michigan game, the fans just went all on the field,” Dobbs said Friday during a Sound Mind Sound Body leadership forum in Detroit.
Dobbs recently visited Michigan State, where he talked to coach Mark Dantonio. He said his favorite thing about Michigan State is the positivity of the coaches.
“I’m working on helping my teammates get better,” Dobbs said. “The coaches want me to continue what I’ve been doing, just get stronger. I want to commit before my senior year.”
Baraka, Grady, Turner, Pipkins, Green, Morris, Kalis, Harris?
Harbaugh's 5-star recruits
Gary, Solomon
No apparent busts for Harbaugh!
IT IS ONE RECRUIT!!!!.
August 8th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^
August 8th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
Trevor Keegan. He's one of my favorite linemen in this class. He comes from a school that produced Fahn Cooper from Ole Miss, Jake Bernstein from Vanderbilt, and a couple of Bowling Green kids. There's an OLine specialist in our area that both of us have been coached by who has coached Bryan Bulaga, Kyle Bosch (kicked him out for being an asshole), and a host of guys that ended up at Notre Dame and other good D1 programs.
Long story short, he's probably one of the most polished and ready to play players in his class. Get excited because he's legit.
August 8th, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
Yeah, rankings matter, but there are definitely faults to find.
Before they arrive on campus, I'm more concerned with the list of offers a player receives. Afterwards, it's about the coaching they receive. A guy I used to coach with would often say something like, "A guy who runs faster than another but doesn't know where to go just runs himself further out of position."
Case in point: Wilton Speight was a 3 star recruit whose other offers were NC State and Miami (FL).
Alex Malzone was much higher "ranked" by the recruiting sites, and a lot of people bought in to the 4* ranking. But his only other two Power 5 offers were Pitt and Wake Forest.
Dobbs has not only a good recruiting "ranking" but an impressive list of offers as well, so I think it's pretty clear there's something else going on that we as fans don't know about...
August 8th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
There are offers and then there are "offers." I don't find that rationale more reliable than the rankings. Jourdan Lewis for example only had two offers but was a top 150 recruit. Not every recruit is going to pan out, but generally speaking the higher rated the recruit the higher the chance he's going to be a good player.
Haha Maizen you truly are a special kind. Graduated from Beilein concern trolling to Harbaugh. You're kind of a one trick pony when it comes to the point you try to make.. you have to switch it up if you're trying to reach that next level of trolling. Kind of hard for folk to take you serious when Harbaugh has landed two 5 star recruits in the last week, don't you think? Nah of course you know that but you're bored today and looking to rile people up.
Troll on good sir. Keep trying to convince everyone you believe Barton Simmons is a better evaluator of football talent than Jim Harbaugh.
And keep trying to convince yourself recruiting rankings don't matter when every piece of data we have says they do. I'm sure Kurt Taylor is going to lead the team in rushing this year too, after all, recruiting rankings are nonsense.
I think the real question here is: why do you upvote all your posts?
OMG! Maizen upvotes his own Damn posts?!
That's even weaker than his arguments!
Sorry guy youre a broken record to me. You post the exact same thing in every thread. Get more 5 stars. It doesnt matter how much data, fact, rational thought, or common sense people come at you with.. you respond with the same line every time "get more 5 stars"
Every thread you post on you lose another few hundred points, sooner or later you'll be washed up in bolivia like many a concern troll before you. At the very least you need to change up your routine.
you actually made a valid point in your last sentence. Not sure why you screwed it up by saying you'll trust the recruiting "experts" (whose opinions don't mean squat compared to just looking at someone's offer list) before that.
The experts are the coaches. And in this case, you're right that some fairly credible talent evaluators clearly like the guy. That's all you needed to say.
Have any reasons been heard why the staff migh not be high on him?
August 8th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^
Yeah, this is the 2nd time he's said this. Clearly, they have other priorities at OT. We do seem to be in good shape with a lot of top guys so maybe it's as simple as them liking other guys better.
August 8th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
i don't think it's a question of "priority" so much as it is funny business in his recruitment.
like Mayfield and Hayes in the 2018 class.
August 8th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
He has options beyond UM, OSU and MSU. He's likely to take one of those options before he joins the sinking ship in Lansing. I'd put PSU and MD ahead of Sparty.
August 8th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^
He has offers from:
Alabama
Clemson
Florida
Florida State
LSU
Penn St.
Wisconsin
Even if he did, I'd rather posters keep that to themselves when it comes to talking about a 16/17 year old kid. Seems like the staff is cool on him, and he is cool on Michigan. Harbaugh has proven the best in Michigan are a priority to him. He obviously doesn't rate there with the staff. Whether that is because he is 6'4", or he is unathletic enough for the position without the flexibility/willingness to move inside, or he has an attitude. It doesn't matter.
I think it's best to move on from him as a fan base and just wish Dobbs good luck with his future endevors. And if by some chance things turn around and he comes into the fold. Well that would be great too! We wouldn't want to have to apologize for dragging his name thru the mud because you're insecure about losing out on a kid who is rated as a 5* before he even played one snap as a Junior in High School.
August 8th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
The kid isn't even a Junior in high school yet. Until he ends up somewhere else and plays like a 5* in college let's give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt here and assume that he just doesn't have him ranked as high as some of the scouting services for whatever reason.
Also, having offers from Alabama, OSU, etc. doesn't necessarly mean they're showing MORE interest than UM - because he does have a UM offer.
It's still extremely early in his recruiting process ('19) and I don't think they really risk losing any ground with him if he has an offer, talks to the staff at least somewhat, and lives within 30 minutes of A2. If the kid wants to land at UM and UM wants him, it will work out.
August 8th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
He told scout this week he hasn't had any communication with the UM staff. Trieu and Marich have both said UM needs to pick it up soon if they want to stay in this race.
in THIS case at least, the staff doesn't think he's a good match with what they're looking for at that position? If you can, forget about the star rating for a moment. There are many intangible factors that most of us can't possibly know about Dobbs, any one of which might significant in the staff not being interested in him. Whatever, it is, who cares? I prefer to focus on the players Michigan IS recruiting actively and our chances in signing them. Dobbs obviously isn't one of them.
Good for you. Until we're reguarly beating Ohio State I'm going to care. Thanks.
Although I can appreciate Maizen's comments aren't always well received, I don't think he's saying "STARZ ARE ALL THAT MATTERS."
There's a very fair discussion to be had about Dobbs. Why is it that our arch-rival who has consistently beat us for the past 15 years as well as national-champion winning coaches are high on this kid and UM is not? Maybe there is some fair reasoning to it, maybe not. I won't pretend to understand. But, at minimum, the optics are strange. He plays a position of need and focus; he is rated high on all scouting services; he's in UM's backyard; and, every other marquee team in the country seemingly wants this kid. That's strange to say the least.
August 8th, 2017 at 10:10 PM ^
It IS strange!
SO strange you simply HAVE to say "Hmmmmm"
Any precedence of a player rated this highly from the state being offered but not really pursued? If so how'd the players career turn out?
Obviously JH has been here such a short time there isn't even any basis yet to see how players he elects to not vigorously pursue turn out.
But in the case of this one particular player, it's been apparent for some time now- apparent because the kid says it to the media at every opportunity - that he's not being pursued to the degree he FEELS he should be.
For whatever that's worth
You're not comparing him to the other lineman we're recruting and you have no idea if he's better or worse than who we'll get instead of him if they have their eyes on other people over him. Do you think we should automaticaly prioritize every local 5 star over everyone else so we don't miss out on them or lose them to a rival no matter who else is out there that's a better fit or a better player or fills a need more?
Red had good explanation and way of looking at Dobb's recrutiment. The thing is if he ends up at Michigan you are going to look real stupid. If he goes somewhere else and is not all that you are going to look even dumber. If he goes somewhere else and is an all-american then you are not so dumb. You can tell the kid wants to go to Michigan, so maybe after evaluating his JUNIOR year he may become a priority with the staff. I personally feel at this point the staff likes Keegan and Brown a little more. They are all top five guys so I think Michigan's staff knows exactly what they are doing. Dobb's may blow up this year and the staff gives him his love and unboard he comes. Win Win and you get your five star if he is still one and hasn't been passed by two guys who I think are all Michigan. Both 6'6'' monsters. Michigan is in great shape and may end up with the #1 recruiting class in the nation and Dobb's could very easily be part of that.
It seems pretty obvious now that the staff isn't recruiting him hard or at all. There must be a reason for it and probably a solid one, but who knows...... Crootin'!!!
I'll go a step further and say if he does end up being a big timer for OSU, good for him. It still doesn't mean we should have gone after him IF there was some issue that would have made him a poor addition to the program.
August 8th, 2017 at 10:33 PM ^
Oh, you can bet I'll remember either way - and if he isn't the can't miss star his pre-Jr year of HS rating says he should be I'll be reminding Maizen every time he posts his drivel, in perpetuity!
And if he is, we know he'll do the same...
That's family!
For whatever reason, Harbaugh does not appear to put any priority on Midwest kids over national kids. If a bunch of big programs love the kid, then I don't see how you don't make room for him. I'd like to see Harbaugh go after these kids more since if you take a kid from SEC territory, you hurt a team that is not on our schedule, but if you take a kid from our backyard, you hurt MSU, PSU, or OSU. MSU (and especially Dantonio) is great at capitalizing on kids who have a chip on their shoulder because UM didn't recruit them hard enough.
Right, this past year where he landed like 7 of the top 10 players in Michigan shows that he doesn't care about recruiting midwest kids.
August 9th, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^
And in 2016 we got 2 outof the top 20. In 2018, we currently have 1 out of the Top 15. This thread is about a Top 50 OL from Michigan with interest from national powerhouses that we are pretty much ignoring. If that's not putting a low priority on our backyard, then I don't know what is.
We have, for all intents and purposes, also had absolutely no presence at all in Ohio. Our 2016 class had zero Ohio commits. Our 2017 class had a paltry three Ohio commits out of 30 total, and only one of those guys was even in the state's Top 15. Our 2018 class has zero commits, And in most cases, it's not like we lost any down-to-the-wire recruiting for Ohio kids. We didn't even recruit them.
For as long as I have been following recruiting, Michigan and Ohio have formed the nucleus of the Michigan football team. Harbaugh is taking a markedly different approach. To argue otherwise by pointing out the lone exception to the rule is profoundly idiotic.
There's a lot of room for debate on whether itis a wise strategy to do this. We are getting some great talent from the Southeast, but not every kid that we are pulling out of SEC territory is a 5-star kid. There have been lots of fliers. I'd rather not see Michigan State pulling in Top 20 recruiting classes (like they did in 2016) loaded with guys that are obviously talented enough to play for Michigan while we add longshot guys from SEC territory or the Northeast. I'd also rather not OSU go completely unchallenged by Michigan in their home state. They are stockpiling talent at a level that we have never seen there.
August 9th, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^
that isn't a smart way to look at it
2016, according to the 247 composite, there were 9 composite 4 stars
Michigan got #1 and #5
#2 and #8 have been expelled from Michigan State
in 2016 we got the top 6 and 7 of the top 8 out of 10 total 4-stars on the composite
#9 was an MSU legacy, #10 was a 5'9" CB - too short for us, and #7 was a LB we did not recruit because we got 3 higher rated ones from elsewhere
2018 - 7 4stars at the moment - we have #2, 4 and 6 in the 247 composite
we have discussed #1 - McCall
#3 is a CB (Gervin who we have discussed) we are not pursuing - probably not tall enough
#5 is Sampson, a center with very few power 5 offers
#7 is a QB and we got a higher rated one from Florida
2019 - currently 10-4stars
we are pushing for #'s 2, 4 and 5 at the moment
so no, we are not ignoring the state of Michigan, we are selectively pushing for the top guys we like
August 9th, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
Michigan vs. OSU
in Michigan, OSU has gotten 1 4-star since 2016 - and it was in 2016
2016 - 1 out of 9
2017 - 0/10
2018 - 0/7
2019 - 0/10
totals 1/36 - about 3%
Michigan in Ohio for 4-stars and up
2016 - 0/12
2017 - 1/17
2018 - 0/14
2019 - 1/10
totals 2/53 - about 4%
basically we are pulling 4-stars from Ohio like OSU is pulling 4-stars from Michigan
nothing to see here
just to "...hurt MSU, PSU, or OSU. MSU (and especially Dantonio)" is so far outside of Harbaugh's M.O. it's comical to even consider.
Harbaugh and his staff have specific traits and capabilities they're looking for in recruits and for whatever reason Dobbs currently isn't a match. Maybe things change in the futre and he eventually gets an offer, who knows?
But to suggest taking him and use up a scholarship spot just to "hurt" a B1G school is not something I ever imagine this staff doing.
August 8th, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^
You strike me as the type of person who blamed RichRod's losses on a "lack of toughness."