TomVH: Quick Devondrick Nealy Update **A Little More.
Florida slot/runnig back Devondrick Nealy just sent me a text. He hasn't left Michigan yet, but he wanted to tell me the visit was "Tremendous." I'll have more once he leaves and gets back home.
**He didn't commit, but he said, "very close though."
October 10th, 2010 at 3:17 PM ^
Sounds good this does (Yoda's Voice)
October 10th, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^
He knows the lingo already, so that's a plus
October 10th, 2010 at 3:20 PM ^
I know he was in town for the charity event on Friday.
October 10th, 2010 at 3:21 PM ^
All your slot ninjaz are belong to us
October 10th, 2010 at 3:28 PM ^
I wouldn't mind a second rb in this class. But.... can he play defense?
October 10th, 2010 at 3:41 PM ^
Between Rawls and Nealy, who do you think we would prefer?
October 10th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^
Devondrick Nealy is a poor man's Dee Hart. Were he to come here, he'd probably be ticketed to slot receiver. Rawls is more of a power back/complement to Dee Hart, and seems more likely to actually play tailback for UM
October 10th, 2010 at 4:07 PM ^
With us wanting to bring in another WR (Jordan or Watkins) plus another Rb, I wonder if RR would want to use another scholarship to fill a rb/wr slot. My bet is, he'd like to reserve a fair share for defense.
<br>Tom- do you think we would take BOTH Nealy and Rawls?
October 10th, 2010 at 4:42 PM ^
We should have about 22 scholarships to give this year, and the coaches have been recruiting slot receivers all along. Nealy would probably be our first and only slot receiver.
And Rawls could potentially take the roster spot of Austin White, who transferred prior to the season.
So taking Hart, Nealy, and Rawls wouldn't be that much of a surprise.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:09 PM ^
Since there are a handful of offered slot guys still considering M, you think the coaches prefer one offered slot guy over another or they'll just take first willing to commit?
I have no idea who is better, so just looking for your thoughts.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:20 PM ^
As my scholarship breakdown indicates below, I think we need to prioritize our skill position recruits. Just my opinion.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^
Well, I think Nealy is probably the best SR on the board . . . and it's somewhat telling that the coaches wanted to get him on campus for an official visit. I'd say he's the #1 guy on their board if they do in fact want him as a SR.
October 10th, 2010 at 4:18 PM ^
I think we're recruiting him more as a slot receiver than running back.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:06 PM ^
Outstanding scholarships for Skill Positions (assuming we have 9 left?)
QB - maybe 1 (Marquise still likes UNC? - i figure Tom has something in the works)
RB - maybe 1 (Rawls if he qualifies)
WRs (including slot) - 2 (Jordan or Watkins plus Nealy?)
So if I guess correctly, we will use 2-4 scholarships left on skill positions. Leaving us 5-7 for OL plus Defense. This obviously doesn't count current commits who might decide not to stay committed. Does this sound like an accurate breakdown?
October 10th, 2010 at 3:44 PM ^
Are there any big time defensive players we may land soon? Please say yes, even if it's not true. I'd like to think that someday the Michigan defense will at least be 6th in the Big Ten.
October 10th, 2010 at 3:52 PM ^
I hope that 1) you're kidding, and 2) that this isn't going to be the general reaction for the rest of the year. They are recruiting defensive players, good ones. They just happen to be waiting longer to make their decisions or visiting at later dates.
October 10th, 2010 at 4:34 PM ^
3 years into the Rich era, we still seem to be stuck on square one of rebuilding the D.
October 10th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^
There are 17 freshmen defenders on the roster, nearly half of whom have already seen significant playing time. The groundwork is in place, it will just take these guys time to develop into the players they will be as juniors/seniors.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
I don't like defending this original "Square One" poster but...doesn't playing several freshman on defense, by definition, mean we're at square one? Now, don't get me wrong -- this will be valuable experience down the road. And it doesn't mean we're not on the right course. But this is a very large rebuilding process for the D in year 3.
Why has this happened? I think this board has done a fairly thorough job sorting through the reasons (See: Dorsey, Cissoko, Spoon, JT, Brandon Smith, etc, etc, etc).
You can't change a college football defense overnight. We're getting there. Just need to stay persistent and get some luck on our side for once.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:38 PM ^
It means that questions like "When are we going to start recruiting defense?" are dumb (as Tom pointed out). Rodriguez has had two full recruiting cycles as head coach (meaning no one older than a true sophomore was completely recruited by him). That group consists of about 20 kids with loads of talent, nearly half of our current starting lineup and a bunch more rapidly gaining on-field experience.
Square one would be "OMG WE NEEDZ RECRUITZ!!!" and some people seem to think we are at that point (or at least it appears that way from the questions they ask). Our defense will be much better next year and really good in 2012 and it will happen because of recruiting efforts that have already taken place.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
i'd plus two that if I could
October 10th, 2010 at 9:12 PM ^
of square one?
"There are 17 freshmen defenders on the roster.."
October 10th, 2010 at 4:45 PM ^
Either you are kidding or you are not. Make up your mind so I can neg you if negging is needed.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:58 PM ^
October 10th, 2010 at 4:31 PM ^
You might want to note that 1) virtually all HS players play both ways and 2) we currently have three starting defensive players who were recruited as offensive players. Athletes are athletes.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^
October 10th, 2010 at 6:14 PM ^
Yeah, but they're still starting, so - in theory - we'd be in worse shape without them. We have had quality players switch over before. Ian Gold (RB to LB), Grant Mason (WR to CB) and Morgan Trent (WR to CB) were a few.
October 10th, 2010 at 8:46 PM ^
I wish I could +1 this.
October 10th, 2010 at 9:22 PM ^
I'm recently retired and kinda new at this, so I'm unfamiliar with the etiquette. I spent 20+ years in the military, and in that sub-culture, a little gallows humor is normal and expected. Apparently it isn't appreciated here and is also often misconstrued. I know we all love Michigan football, but this is, after all, a blog about a bunch of kids playing a game, so if you want to "neg" me for making a joke, please be my guest.
That said, I stand by the square one comment. Maybe a more accurate way to put it is that we are in year one of a complete rebuild of the defense. The fact that so many freshman are playing is proof of that.
I can see that a lot of the freshman have talent (I really like Black), and they played hard on Saturday. I'm sure the defense will improve next year but it's unrealistic to say it will be good. To get over the hump and have a great D by 2012, recruiting top defensive talent this year is critical.
So that's why I asked about recruiting defensive talent in the first place!
GO BLUE!
October 10th, 2010 at 3:58 PM ^
the blog today? There's a bunch of fucking pussies who can't handle a meaningful loss, and instead of supporting the program, they're derp/derp/rabble/rabble/derp on the team these recruits may want to commit to
<br>Thanks Tom!
October 10th, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^
I love this post, and I completely agree that there are a ton of "Fucking pussies" on the boards today. But, I do wonder how much recruits look at stuff like this. I've never been recruited to play college football, and I don't know any D-1 college football players, so I really have no idea.
But, it's all moot, because there's no point in posting the stupid stuff that people have been posting regardless if recruits read this stuff. Yeah, we lost, and we got our asses kicked in doing so; so let's remember how it feels and make Iowa feel like that next Saturday. Go Blue!
October 10th, 2010 at 4:40 PM ^
Good info and great news. Can always use another slot ninja. Do you know if he is being recruited for the offense, or is he open to playing on the other side of the ball?
October 10th, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^
Is he a candidate to enroll early if he commits soon like your edit implies?
October 10th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
This has nothing to do with the 2010 season. This is a general roster management issue.
The slot position has way too many players, particularly when you consider the outside WR position seems to be fairly interchangeable (Roundtree/Odoms/Stokes). Thats without even considering some of the tailbacks who can shift over there if the need arises. The position is the deepest on the roster. It's well-stocked, while other positions are paper thin.
The people who expect recruiting to immediately fix the defensive deficiencies may be idiots, but people who look at the depth chart and how it projects to look over the next couple years are right to wonder if we need yet another RB/WR slot. Since RR has come in we've seen the OL be a major problem, QB be a major problem, LB be a major problem, and DB be a major problem. You can make excuses about unforseen attrition, but the slot position could easily handle the same level of attrition and be just fine.
Lets assume Roundtree goes pro, Grady fails out of school, Odoms gets in trouble with the law...you still have Gallon, Stokes, Dileo and probably Teric Jones or Mike Shaw who can play the position and be effective. The coaching staff has made slot a priority, to the detriment of other postions.
/rant
October 10th, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^
If you have 1-2 on the roster and with this being a 22 person class it's not exactly a huge deal.
<br>
<br>Also to say that:
<br>Qb and oline have been terrible under rr is stupid. The depth at qb might be the best in the nation and the oline is great this year with tons of depth.
<br>
<br>There's tons of depth at LB too the kids just aren't doing as well as we'd have hoped. The secondary depth is paper thin though and should be the focus but to call out all of these other position groups is pretty stupid.
October 10th, 2010 at 5:57 PM ^
Grady and Odoms will both be seniors in 2011. Stokes is an outside WR.
They're recruiting slot receivers for the future, not necessarily for 2011.
Also: Mike Shaw (another senior in 2011) is perhaps our best running back right now, and Teric Jones has already bounced around quite a bit and isn't a great prospect, anyway.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:16 PM ^
Dileo was the only slot they recruited last year and it looks like the coaches only want one this year as well, so it's not like they're ignoring all other needs in favor of slot receivers.
October 10th, 2010 at 9:05 PM ^
yeah, if RR recruits a slot this year when will he ever have the time to plan for games? I mean, how will we be able to focus on Iowa if he has to keep recuiting Devondrick? For the sake of the season we should revoke our offer to Devondrick so our coaches can instead plan for the next game...................................................
October 10th, 2010 at 10:37 PM ^
They did have Tony Drake who was projected as a slot I believe, that guy had some wheels, but then didn't end up qualifying I believe. He's at Colorado St now and is performing quite impressively for a True Frosh.
October 10th, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^
would love to get this kid and his 4.5 speed. can always use speed on either side of the ball, especially at play making positions like slot receiver
just commit already DeVondrick!!
October 10th, 2010 at 9:15 PM ^
I'm sure I am like the rest of you. I had a miserable time at the game despite fantastic weather and I have had a generally miserable weekend. I hate that we lost to Sparty. I hate it as much as every 3rd year player that has lost to them every year. However, it doesn't mean that its time to throw in the towel and write this season off or to question decisions of the coaching staff or recruiting for next year.
October 10th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^
October 10th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^
Did anyone else watch Dee Hart's committment press conference and notice when he said he "loves" playing defense? Yes, defense. Interesting!!!!
October 10th, 2010 at 11:46 PM ^
Glad he enjoyed his visit, and imagine if we had won.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqTnbYC1dbk&feature=related
Just saw his highlight tape, very impressive. He showed some playground moves that made those defenders look silly haha. But he might not be able to get away with some of that stuff in the big ten, but I am still very impressed with his tape. It looks like to me at least, that his offer was well deserved on the tape alone!
October 11th, 2010 at 1:10 AM ^
He looks like a pretty solid back from the film I've seen of him so far. Dee and him would be a pretty nice haul for our class this year.