2011 updated mock class
QB | Kevin Sousa | 6"2, 210 lbs | Orlando, Florida | *** |
RB | Demetrius Hart | 5"8, 190lbs | Orlando, Florida | **** |
RB | Malcolm Crockett | 5"11, 180 lbs | Washington D.C. | *** |
WR | Shawn Conway | 6"4, 185 lbs | Birmingham, Michigan | *** |
WR | Kris Frost | 6"3, 210 lbs | Mathews, North Carolina | **** |
WR | Sammy Watkins | 6"1, 180 lbs | Fort Myers, Florida | **** |
OL | Jake Fisher | 6"7, 260 lbs | Traverse City, Michigan | *** |
OL | Jack Miller | 6"4, 260 lbs | Perrysburg, Ohio | *** |
OL | Tony Posada | 6"5, 330 lbs | Tampa, Florida | *** |
OL | Chris Bryant | 6"5, 310 lbs | Chicago, Illinois | **** |
DE | Brennen Beyer | 6"4, 230 lbs | Plymouth, Michigan | **** |
DT | Darian Cooper | 6"3, 275 lbs | Hyattsville, Maryland | **** |
DE | Chris Rock | 6"5, 250 lbs | Columbus, Ohio | *** |
DE | Anthony Zettel | 6"4, 260 lbs | West Branch, Michigan | **** |
LB | Kellen Jones | 6"1, 210 lbs | Houston, Texas | *** |
LB | Desmond Morgan | 6"1, 225 lbs | Ottawa, Michigan | *** |
LB | Antonio Kinard | 6"4, 215 lbs | Youngstown, Ohio | *** |
DB | Dallas Crawford | 5"10, 180 lbs | Fort Myers, Florida | *** |
DB | Greg Brown | 5"10, 180 lbs | Fremont, Ohio | *** |
DB | Delonte Hollowell | 5"8, 170 lbs | Detroit, Michigan | *** |
DB | Blake Countess | 5"10, 170 lbs | Owings Mills, Maryland | **** |
S | Avery Walls | 5"11, 185 lbs | McDonough, Georgia | **** |
Total | 22 |
National signing day is still three months away, but many teams seasons are wrapping up and players are taking their official visits to schools. Michigan currently has 11 known commitments, and this list is extremely tentative and not indicative of where recruits are going.
With that being said Michigan is in great position to land a number of non-committed players. If Dallas Crawford does announce tomorrow, it will likely be to Michigan. And if he does commit, that will only help with his teammate Sammy Watkins. Watkins currently has Michigan in his top five, but in reality we're likely in his top two along with Clemson.
Missing out on Arnett did hurt, but with Watkins still on the board, Conway committed, and no senior receivers this year, it will not be terrible if Michigan misses out on both.
Many are wondering who will be the complementary back to Demetrius Hart.. Thomas Rawls would likely be that candidate but his grades are not yet in order. Michigan also recently offered both Tre Mason and Malcolm Crockett, but Auburn desperately needs a running back and they want Mason so I see Michigan making a push for Crockett. He is currently committed to Cincinnati but visited Michigan this past weekend.
Defensively Michigan needs a defensive tackle prospect. Darian Cooper (now a four-star, 250 rivals member) has Michigan in his top five and will be visiting in the winter. He's got a great relationship with Delonte Hollowell, so that can only help. If they miss out on Cooper, I think Michigan's coaches will continue to evaluate other tackles and maybe offer some in the coming weeks.
Also, Michigan recently offered Maryland CB Blake Countess. Tom caught up with his coaches and Michigan may have surged near the top of his list. Countess is very highly ranked and would be a steal if Michigan can secure his services.
Edit: I realized Devondrick Nealy is not included here.. Michigan leads for his services right now as well. 23!
November 11th, 2010 at 4:28 PM ^
I've gotta say, this would be quite an impressive class. Definitely could use another DT though.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
Some talk that Rock is seen more as a DT with the frame to add weight and the fact that he has not been impressive at DE this year. Cooper is a must.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
Jerningan please
November 11th, 2010 at 4:29 PM ^
November 11th, 2010 at 4:32 PM ^
This class is the best we could hope for. I think we may see a name or two that we're not talking about now in it on signing day. but yeah, 22 is about right.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:33 PM ^
It looks like you've got us picking up everyone except for Jernigan and Hobbi? It is a "mock" or a "dream class"?
November 11th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
I don't think this class is exceptional by any means. Is it a reach to get all of them? Probably, but like I said this the best-case class by national signing day.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:57 PM ^
I don't think it's exceptional either, but it'd mean that we land almost all of our remaining targets. I hope it happens.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^
I hate to even ask this, but why do you guys think this is not exceptional. I think this list is the best we can hope for as well. I mean this list does exclude Jernigan and Ray Drew, but if you told me early in the year that we would get Watkins, I would be fairly happy.
Who do you think would make the list exceptional that are still targets?
Edit : BTW, I didn't neg you guys, I am curious as your thoughts.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:35 PM ^
For me, an exceptional class would be something like Alabama's or Florida's from last year. Don't get me wrong though, this is a terrific class if it pans out like this. Top 15 probably top 10.
November 12th, 2010 at 9:06 AM ^
A top 10 class isn't exceptional? I hope you're not a teacher.
November 12th, 2010 at 9:18 AM ^
JC3 has high standards and I think next year we will start getting some top 5 classes.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^
I think it would be a good class, but not exceptional. Using * rankings as a guide (without getting into any arguments over the merits of the star system, "Mike Hart was a 3*", etc.), the current #10 team on Rivals is Nebraska. They have 16 commits; 11 of them are 4*.
I think the OP has us getting 9 such players. In that manner, we don't seem to have a chance of breaking the top 10. Georgia, the #14 class (currently), has 16 commits and of them 8 are 4*. I have a feeling that those schools will be adding more talent as well.
So, I believe we can have a good class, but even that best case scenario doesn't land us in the top 10 and might not land us in the top 15.
...and don't worry about the negs. That often happens when one doesn't post pictures of kittens.
November 11th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
Everyone uses negs differently and I never use them for opinion. I was curious, because it's hard for people to say what they feel without disparging the recruits in one way or another.
I can't argue with yours or JC3's points. I wish we can get all 5 stars, but baby steps right now. If you showed my that list in September, I would be really happy. But, I understand where you guys are coming from.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^
Kidding. I don't think anyone disparages the kids. These kids are all super talented. It's just a matter of splitting hairs and crossing fingers...especially when we're dealing with such a small disparity in talent. If our class isn't "exceptional", I'm happy with "good". It's certainly better than "bad" or "decent".
November 12th, 2010 at 4:32 PM ^
of people negging for no reason. I +1-ed all the posts you had -1. Idiots.
November 12th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^
I appreciate that. Unfortunately, the negs are just part of the game. They tend to even out over time. Some folks prefer to drop negs instead of explaining why they might disagree...that's usually when facts are their enemy.
November 11th, 2010 at 8:49 PM ^
Assuming we land these players on the list, 4-5 of them would be top100 players. Although none would have the 5th star, this is still much better than a team where most of their 4 stars are between 100-250.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^
Look...If we're at the point where we're deciding whether one 4* is better than another, we're still dealing with a solid class one way or the other. We're just not at the point of bringing in an "exceptional" class right now. I think RR is doing a good job of putting the focus on some high value recruits though.
November 12th, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^
If everything is considered, then this is an exceptional class. The recruits themelves are pretty darn good but when you consider we haven't had a lot of success over the last three years and there is obvious uncertainty about RR past next year, then the class becomes exceptional from the recruiting standpoint. I consider the job the staff has done to be exceptional. Not many teams with 8 wins the past two years and like 7 or 8 this year will have a class close to ours. Recruiting has to have been hard this year. There is a lot of easy negative recruiting going on and they have been able to overcome that to get some great talent.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:36 PM ^
I'll take it!
November 11th, 2010 at 4:38 PM ^
Nice list JC3. I woulld be thrilled if this came true. If you drop a Jernigan or Ray Drew, I think that would be about perfect. Too bad about Rawls, I was hoping he would get his grades up. We are missing a TE. Do you think we may come up with one or maybe try Frost over there.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:47 PM ^
Michigan is still recruiting tight ends, but they've been striking out on them. Hamilton committed to Iowa, Owens eliminated us, but we've got a shot at Jack Tabb. We'll see.
Frost doesn't have the body to play tight end.. he will get his shot at receiver, and if that doesn't work, linebacker. Either way he's a good pickup.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:09 PM ^
Thanks JC3. The WR spot is going to be crowded. I guess we miss out on Nealey and others for slot to put it in a nice way.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^
We have been after several tight ends so it seems that the coaches think landing one in this class is a priority. Other than that this class looks good to me except that Greg Brown may be fading out to be replaced perhaps by Kitchen or another DB. Nice work.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:48 PM ^
we need another DT and another S. i hope we get frost, obvs, but also that we can convince him to play at LB.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^
Are OL recruits generally interchangeable coming out of HS, or are they recruited by position?
November 11th, 2010 at 5:34 PM ^
Im glad you asked this, because when Michigan recruits offensive linemen, they teach them to play every position. So yes, some of these guys are interchangeble, and their positions will pan out after they redshirt etc.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:07 PM ^
If this is the final list it would be very good indeed....and pretty highly ranked nationally I would think
November 11th, 2010 at 5:32 PM ^
I think alot of those kids like kellen Jones will earn a 4th star(although I just read that Hollowell got moved down to a three star for some reason).
November 11th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
Rich Rod is an excellent closer, seems like he picks up a recruit or two that no one is expecting before the signing period. (Roundtree, Shaw, Barnum, and I hate to say it but Dorsey)
November 11th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^
This class would be unreal, RR's best yet for sure.
November 11th, 2010 at 9:14 PM ^
what the hell will the classes look like when we assume our rightful place in the football world at 10 wins per year?
November 11th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^
if any of these guys needs to borrow some GPA, i might have some stashed around here somewhere i can give them.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:36 PM ^
QB: Kevin Sousa(***)
RB: Dee Hart(****)
WR: Shawn Conway(***)/Sammy Watkins(****)
TE: Jack Tabb(****)
OL: Jake Fisher(***)/Jack Miller(***)/Tony Posada(***)/Cyrus Hobbi(****)
DT: Tim Jernigan(****)/Darian Cooper(****)
DE: Brennan Beyer(****)/Chris Rock(***)/Anthony Zettel(****)
LB: Kellen Jones(***)/Antonio Kinard(***)/Desmord Morgan(***)
CB: Delonte Hollowell(***)/Dallas Crawford(****)
S: Avery Walls(****)
Total: 20
So I want commits from Watkins, Tabb, Hobbi, Jernigan, Cooper, Zettel, Morgan, Crawford, and Walls and I will be a happy, happy man.
November 11th, 2010 at 6:09 PM ^
Throw Kevin McReynolds in there, please. He's way up on my list.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
so you think we have a legit shot at both watkins and walls?
November 11th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
so you think we have a legit shot at both watkins and walls?
November 11th, 2010 at 7:41 PM ^
What's the latest with Byron Moore? Do we have a shot?
November 11th, 2010 at 7:49 PM ^
He's probably going to stay on the west coast. UCLA or Washington.
November 11th, 2010 at 8:51 PM ^
Thanks. I know UM is out of the running, but do you guys have any inkling where Doran Grant may end up?
November 12th, 2010 at 12:30 AM ^
Most likely Ohio State.
November 11th, 2010 at 9:01 PM ^
gonna be very hard to actually pull of though. Plus do we even have 20 plus scholarships to give? Just wondering.
November 11th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^
Well, we need a TE badly in this class, so one has to be included one way or the other. And I guess someone is going to have to explain to me why we need a complimentary RB to Dee or another slot receiver. We have 7 RBs on scholarship next year, and 5 slots. I get that depth is a great thing to have, but we are still short on numbers on defense and it seems we would be better suited to not use the scholarships on positions we already have locked down.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:15 PM ^
What is Dorsey doing now? He is in JuCo right? Any chance he could transfer to UM next year?
November 12th, 2010 at 7:52 AM ^
Let it go. DD isn't coming to Michigan. Not after all of the BS he went through with UM admissions last year.
November 12th, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
I didn't follow the Dorsey fiasco too closely this summer, but why would his situation be different from, say, Kinard's? I don't even know where he is right now, but if he's at a JUCO why couldn't he come on to U-M next year given that he's gotten his grades up? I think it'd be a good story.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:27 AM ^
Posada is 330 lbs? Wow, that's a big boy.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:44 AM ^
Unless I missed something in the posts, where do we find a place kicker in this class?
November 12th, 2010 at 9:27 AM ^
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