Previously: Last year's profiles. S Makari Paige, S RJ Moten, S Jordan Morant.

Brooklyn, NY – 6'1", 195
		24/7	3*, 87 rating #45 ATH, #5 NY
		Rivals	4*, 5.8 rating #18 OLB, #1 NY
		ESPN	3*, 78 rating #48 ATH, #4 NY
		Composite	3*, #459 overall #23 ATH, #3 NY
		Other Suitors	PSU, Wisc, Miami, Pitt, MSU, Tenn, Neb
		YMRMFSPA	Khaleke Hudson
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from yrs truly.
Notes	Twitter. Early Enrollee. Nicknamed "Apache."
Film
Senior Year:

More than anyone else in the history of this series, Khaleke Hudson had quotes. I mean:

"He is the best combination of strength, speed and burst I've seen in a long time," said Ruane. "Every tackle, run and block is violent with him. He will be playing on Sundays someday. And I'm happy he's graduating."

No one since has touched the sheer hell-yeah quality of those. William Mohan doesn't either, but the industry gave it a run. Particularly his coach:

“He just fits [viper] like a glove … He is a relentless, Tasmanian devil type where he is just going to keep coming after you. That’s his game. His game is he is going to chase you like one of those National Geographic wolves chasing a rabbit and not giving up.”

Also:

"He is a ferocious hitter with relentless pursuit that has bad intentions on contact."

Rivals's Adam Friedman:

"When this kid fills out, if he can keep his speed, you better watch out. This kid is going to decapitate someone across the middle.”

Mohan's highlights also give Hudson's a run for their money, what with the quarterbacks fleeing the guy coming off the edge and random special teams participants getting sent into orbit. It's not Hudson's 15 minutes of tightly edited mayhem, but there's only one guy who comes to mind when you see it. And he's nicknamed "Apache." Is there a better nickname for a viper recruit than "Apache"? Probably not.

[After THE JUMP: literally Airwolf]

Other scouting takes are less likely to become season preview fixtures than the above but continue to describe a guy who fits right in there as a Don Brown viper. More from Friedman:

“I really like what this kid can do … mobility that he brings to the table at that linebacker position. … longer than [Jabrill] Peppers. He’s got a bigger frame … not faster than him, but he can change directions and backpedal and play in space a little better than Jabrill did at this level … sees the field very well. He’s able to anticipate routes and is super physical.”

24/7's Brian Dohn:

"… I’m watching William Mohan go through warmups… not the game… warmups. And I’m thinking, if this kid plays half as hard as he did in warmups, in the game, he’s going to be unbelievable.  This kid plays so fast, and so hard, he’s so explosive, changes directions well.  … He can cover, he can play in the box, he can blitz, he can chase to the sideline, he can cover a running back, down the field.  There are so many things he can do.  I guess the best way to put it is he just oozes athleticism and burst.”

24/7s overall assessment:

built for hybrid role … Lightning first step. Shuttle of 4.18 shows change of direction ability. Plays fast and physical. Chases plays down. Is a tone setter. Excels coming off edge and getting in backfield. Has to add upper body strength. Needs to work on pre-snap technique. Has to continue to develop pass coverage skills. Concern about ability to add weight.

Touch the Banner:

I love Mohan as a Viper prospect. I don’t know that he has the athleticism and fluidity to play a more traditional safety position, but as a safety/linebacker hybrid, I think he will do very well. He bends well off the edge as a blitzer, and he’s an aggressive player. I can see him taking over the position pretty seamlessly after a year or two in the system.

Briefer takes include "quick … ability to move downhill and his agility and change of direction were at high levels"; "change of direction and ability to accelerate jumped out … long and athletic"; and "plays fast and physical … athleticism to be a hybrid."

Sometimes these posts have to point out some conflicting takes and try to figure out what's more likely to be accurate. Here there is nothing to resolve. All takes are uniformly positive about Mohan's ability to do the things Michigan will ask of him.

You're probably saying "okay well what about the rating?" now. This site has made the case that Michigan viper candidates are often mis-ranked because where Don Brown sees a clean fit at his spacebacker spot, recruiting sites see tweeners who probably aren't getting drafted. Brian Dohn explicitly confirmed this when talking to Sam Webb:

"…when we do the rankings, now, it’s pretty much based on your NFL potential.  So, when you’re 6-1, 200, and you’re more of a viper/linebacker hybrid type, you’re draft status isn’t going to be as high as maybe people would think.  So, that affects the overall rating. But when you look at him as a college player in Michigan’s system… in that viper role he can do so many things."

This is a logical thing to do for a recruiting site when the #1 metric you're being judged on is how many four and five stars get drafted. It does mean that you are sacrificing accuracy for the appearance of accuracy, if the recruiting rankings are designed to actually rank college football players. It says something that every report on Mohan says he's a spacebacker and two of the three sites stuck him in their ATH category.

Also this conventional wisdom is rapidly becoming outdated.

Guys like LSU's Patrick Queen, a late first round pick despite being under 230 pounds, are ever more common draftees. In Hudson and Jordan Glasgow, Michigan more or less had two vipers go in the same draft. (Glasgow only moved to WLB as a senior; before that he was Hudson's backup.) 

It is possible that Mohan won't hit the 220 that Hudson managed at the NFL combine but it seems unlikely since he's got a couple inches on Hudson.

Another potential concern is Mohan's speed. There are conflicting takes, from "ran a 4.56 as a rising junior at OSU" camp to 24/7's slight concern on his profile:

Accelerates well and plays faster than 4.78 testing time in 40

Given the way OSU tests guys those might be the same time, but 24/7 dismisses it as soon as it comes up. So there's that. And with a guy like Mohan who's a member of the front seven it's less of a concern than it is with someone who has to play a deep half.

FWIW, we do have a couple of notes on Mohan despite the pandemic. Steve Lorenz reported that he's up to 205 from the 195 he's listed at on the official site, and that he might have a freshman year like Anthony Solomon did last year: lots of special teams as they groom him.

Etc.: Mohan got a Michigan-themed tattoo that we should absolutely force Spencer to get:

FIRST TATTOO 〽️. WOLVERINES ALL THE WAY 〽️✨. LOVE MY TEAM @UMichFootball BIG 1️⃣7️⃣ pic.twitter.com/q9xQ2Chcsb

— William M. Mohan (@William_Apache8) July 29, 2019

We should recruit more Erasmus Hall guys because their coach is infinitely quotable:

“He’ll chase you and he’ll get you. He’s just got that personality as a football player that you for as far as a goon, like a goon in hockey."

Why Khaleke Hudson? See above.

Guru Reliability: Moderate. Guy who's been known for a long time with a clean fit at his college position, but one of the two sites flat-out admits that their ranking for viper types is off.

Variance: Low. 100% agreement from all that he's a perfect positional fit. Healthy. No other flags.

Ceiling: High-minus. Seems like he might top out at something less than an NFL-level combination of speed and size. Otherwise, okay, LFG.

General Excitement Level: High. Mohan was a strong contender for sleeper of the year, but the situation at viper (described below) makes it hard to pull that trigger. He's a perfect positional fit for a spot that's usually underrated.

Projection: The Solomon projection for year one is a likely outcome, although this space hopes that Michigan is judicious about getting a redshirt here. Solomon was the only guy from last year's class who burned his for dubious reasons.

Mohan seems locked in at viper early in his career, and that's suddenly one of the most crowded spots on D. Presumed 2020 starter Michael Barrett is just a redshirt sophomore. Then you've got Solomon, Joey Velazquez, and maybe Jordan Morant. That is a lot of competitors for one spot, all of whom are scheduled to be on campus for another couple years. A Glasgow-esque WLB move could thin the ranks a bit; it's still going to be tough sledding for Mohan to get on the field quickly.

Mohan will be a strong contender for viper as a redshirt junior if Barrett keeps his job (likely) and exhausts his eligibility (you never know); sooner if he leaves early or Michigan moves him to WLB. There are some playing time transfers or position switches coming; really hard to predict at this juncture. I would make him the favorite in that race.