Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore.

Philadelphia (Imhotep Institute), PA – 6'2"/230
		247: 6'2/230                    4.03*	4*, 90, NR overall #37 LB, #6 PA
		On3: 6'1/235                    3.98*	4*, 90, #299 overall #37 LB, #7 PA
		Rivals: 6'1/220                    4.05*	4*, 5.8, NR overall #14 ILB, #7 PA
		ESPN: 6'1/220                    4.17*	4*, 81, #24 East, #251 ovr #9 ILB, #3 PA
		Composites:      4.04* / 4.03*	4*, #300/#305 overall #26/#31 LB, #5 PA
		MGo Avg:                   4.04*	4*, #356/786 overall #26/76 ILBs since 1990
		YMRMFSPA	Carl Diggs or Khalid Hill
Other Suitors	PSU, Rutgers, Illinois, FSU
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello from the Future by Alex.
Notes	Double transfer. Makes good M's.
Film:
Hudl. Game clips from EJ Holland. Sky INT.

In gauging how we feel about recruits, we often pay a lot of attention to momentum, especially near the end. Players who rise in the rankings late never rise high enough. Players who fall never fall far enough.

Bridgeman is a quandary. Until his senior film came out he was on the well-tread path from sophomore with serious Bama interest to the kind of guy Rutgers gets to pretend their class is made of 4-stars with Alabama offers. By the time he committed to Michigan he was in the low 4-star range where former top-100 players tend to settle. Because that happened just as previously committed 5-star Raylen Wilson flipped to Georgia, there was this whole "He's no Raylen Wilson" factor on top of it.

Then a funny thing happened. He transferred to a Pennsylvania powerhouse, and his rankings stayed put, even incrementing upwards. They started talking about his size a lot more, and how he was still moving very well with it, and how this was all very frightening for Philadelphian running back parents. And that's kind of the book on Bridgeman. He doesn't look like he's going to get there, but then he does, and it's like somebody hit a wall.

[After THE JUMP: Physicality.]

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What makes him Not Raylen Wilson?

Because Raylen Wilson runs like a defensive back, and the most about anyone will say about Bridgeman's speed is it's "good enough." That includes the trainers and coaches, via Sam Webb's friend and correspondent Eugene Hankerson (at about 54:20 in the podcast):

Hankerson: I had the same question, because I heard the concerns, then I went and asked a couple of trainers and coaches, and they said 'that's not a worry.' They think his speed is good enough. Helow came in to see him and Helow was like 'He's explosive, he's a dawg' that's all he cared about. Now, you know, how fast did he time in the 40? You're probably talking about a kid who ran about a 4.6/4.7.

Sam: You know what [Chris Partridge] said?

Hankerson: 'I can work with that.'

Austin Meek was trying to make the comparison between the 5-star Michigan just lost and the 4-star they gained:

Bridgeman isn’t as explosive and profiles as more of a Josh Ross-type middle linebacker in Michigan’s defense. He can play downhill, knows how to rush the quarterback as a blitzer and can operate in space when he needs to.

And EJ Holland, while praising, also hedged.

He doesn’t look slow at his weight. In fact, Bridgeman moves well in space and shows adequate speed. Bridgeman possesses the traits necessary to excel in this scheme.

In other words he has enough speed, not excess. That's not how Holland described some of last year's linebacker commits, a point he acknowledged.

I like Bridgeman more than I did when Michigan initially took him. But I still have some concerns. Unlike Deuce Spurlock, who I thought was very underrated, and Jimmy Rolder last cycle, I did not see the athleticism and speed that Michigan has valued at the linebacker position since switching philosophies. … I spent some time getting a feel for what local reporters that saw Bridgeman at his previous school thought of him, and the answers were all pretty much the same. He’s a big kid that looked like Tarzan as an underclassman but seemed to max out early.

Yikes! That sounds like the profile of a guy who peaks as a freshman then drops as his class is discovered. Bridgeman was weird though in that there were sometimes massively different takes from the same sites. In April 2021, Rivals national scout Adam Friedman was making Micah Parsons comps. Okay, that tracks. But it wasn't until February 2022, with the junior film in hand, that Alabama was issuing an offer-type substance. At the same time, a local Rivals reporter who covers Pitt (Alex Christo) was painting the picture of an Obi Ezeh.

Bridgeman lacks quickness and overall speed, but he has good size and shows to use his hands at the point of attack and is physical. He can improve as a tackler, and at times he will wait for the ball-carrier to come to him. He plays outside linebacker but will be a middle linebacker at the next level. He did receive most of his offers last spring. According to his Twitter, his last offer was late February from Oregon.

Bridgeman's commitment to Michigan came a few weeks later. By December of last year, Lorenz was on our recruiting podcast saying this was going to be a big test for Helow's scouting, because he was disagreeing with the rest of the industry.

George Helow went and saw him during spring eval, went and saw him in person, and Michigan turned up the heat considerably after that. … This will be a good eval test, in my opinion, for Helow and the linebacker position because yeah he got the quote-unquote Alabama offer; Alabama I don't think was really recruiting him that hard. I don't even know if Penn State was going that hard on him, honestly. They were for awhile; I'm not sure if it finished that way.

Klonk.

When they talk about what Michigan saw in Bridgeman, it usually starts with the physicality. Hankerson thought Semaj was underrated as a low 4-star.

I like Semaj a lot. I think that he's underrated. You talk about somebody that's 6'2"/235, can run, he's a thumper, he's physical at the point of attack. … Semaj was all over the field. He didn't get a chance to make a lot of tackles because his team was so loaded. But he was always in the right place, and he was always in pursuit.

Clint Brewster, when rating Michigan's linebacker haul (not including Moore) among the nation's best, starting describing why he thought Bridgeman was "old school."

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker chases the ball relentlessly and has a fantastic motor. He gets to the ball and arrives with violence.

Ed O'Brien of All State Preps saw him a couple of times in-person last year and kept calling him "a very physical player" who's "very hard to block at this level." Rivals's Adam Friedman came back around last September to describe him as "very active" and a solid tackler, expecially between the hashes." Maize and Blue Review's Lucas Reimink praised the "Physical Speed" and "Aggressive Mentality."

He has a very aggressive mentality to him, as he’s always hustling to the ball and looking to lay the wood on opposing ball carriers and he’s not afraid to mix it up with an OL either. … has a nose for navigating trash and finding the ball carrier. He uses his good mental processing speed to diagnose run quickly and his good foot speed to shoot gaps and attack opposing ball carriers. He likes to make the big hit and does a solid job of knowing when to make the safe tackle and when he has a chance to really lay the wood.

Imhotep AHC/recruiting coordinator Cyril Woodland introduced him "explosive. He’s athletic. He’s fast. He’s big. Shoot, he checks all the boxes." EJ Holland's first impression was of a slower Deuce Spurlock($), but a differentiation emerged once he got out to see the "big, strong thumper:($):

Bridgeman is built like an absolute tank. He is listed at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds and looks every bit of that. Bridgeman has thick builds in both his upper and lower halves and comes downhill to fill gaps in a hurry. … Something that I really liked that wasn’t apparent on last year’s film was Bridgeman’s physicality. He smacked ball carriers as opposed to just reaching. In fact, one of my film critiques was his lack of tackling technique. In this contest, Bridgeman did a great job of delivering blows and wrapping up. He’s such an intimidating force in the middle of the defense and is at his best when playing the run. He shed blockers well, used his hands to get off blocks and sifted through traffic. … I have him graded slightly below Spurlock, who most sites had as a three, but I had as a low four.

Thereafter, everyone at On3 would append something about the hits. Holland's breakdown of the linebacker class in his Hayden Moore writeup says more about Bridgeman.

Michigan has a true thumper in Semaj Bridgeman and a pair of versatile, upside athlete in Breeon Ishmail and Jason Hewlett. Moore is somewhere in the middle. He’s not as well put together or as physical as Bridgeman nor is he as athletically gifted as Hewlett and Ishmail.

The implication here is that Bridgeman isn't as physically gifted as Hewlett and Ishmail, or even Hayden Moore, but none of those dudes are stacked.

How stacked is too stacked?

The early takes on Bridgeman all reference this frame in some way. Adam Friedman gave Bridgeman a top-100 ranking as a sophomore, crediting him with "a similar build" to one of the greatest LBs in Big Ten history more than once:

Bridgeman is a special prospect with a physical makeup that is similar to Micah Parsons. He is pretty broad with good length and plenty of room to fill out his frame. Bridgeman is a big hitter than can thrive in space or rushing the passer.

Lorenz thought the size, and moving at that size, was what wowed Helow:

The size looks legit. I don't know if you guys saw the picture of his in-home visit; he's taller than Harbaugh. He looks like a big dude. So looks. The other thing Michigan was really impressed with was how quickly he moved at that size.

The build was also the first thing Harbaugh brought up.

I mean, they look like real Big Ten linebackers that can fill a gap, take on an offensive lineman, but also have the athleticism to run sideline-to-sideline and put that pressure on the quarterback. You can even line them up in the nickel defense and I think they’re going to have the ability to come off the edge. Semaj is big, long, physical, athletic. You love long and athletic—and can run. He came to our camps and was evaluated and we saw it.

The program puts great stock in measurements, and you get that reflected back from the recruiting reporters. Holland notes Bridgeman "has an impressive build at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds (height isn’t concerning for inside backers) with long arms."

Reimink—speaking prior to the 2022 season, described a "solidly built LB recruit" with good length, speed and agility who needed to gain 15-20 pounds from his 2021 listing of 220, IE before Bridgeman added 15 pounds. At Michigan all weight gain or loss is good, but this wasn't at Michigan yet, and Holland's explanation for Bridgeman's weird trip through the rankings is he gained too much bad($).

I’m concerned Bridgeman might be too big, which is hindering his speed. Ben Herbert will need him to cut weight and regain it the right way once Bridgeman arrives in Ann Arbor. The potential he had as an underclassman is still there, but he’ll need some time to develop and get his body right.

Hankerson agreed Semaj "might need a year or two to get into that strength & conditioning program. But once that happens, sky's the limit."

Coverage

One of the questions about the junior tape was whether Bridgeman could cover. Reimink's report is based on the junior film and wasn't thrilled with Bridgeman's ability to hang in man.

When dropping into Zone Coverage, he does a solid job of getting depth, keeping his eyes on the QB to flow to the passing lanes, and flashes solid hands when he has an opportunity to make a play on the ball. Because of the way he was used in HS, he doesn’t have much experience playing in man to man coverage which he will have to work on at the next level.

Even Woodland, the recruiting coordinator (read: marketing director) for Imhotep, admitted that was a good question.

Honestly, it’s just about getting him comfortable with understanding his reads and coverages.

But Ed O'Brien said that was one aspect of Bridgeman's game that got cleaned by his senior year.

When I saw him earlier this year, his ability to cover FBS-level wide receivers in the flat and cover space in pass-coverage was impressive. … athletic and active in pass coverage.

Holland was coming around when he got out there, but opined that "Bridgeman didn’t look super comfortable in pass coverage and didn’t get sideline-to-sideline in a hurry" on commitment day, but a few months later Holland went to see Imhotep and ended up seeing a lot of dropping back in coverage:

Versatility and Fit

One thing they've seen Bridgeman do plenty of is come off the edge. The versatility as more than a surprise blitzer was what had Alabama initially intrigued. It was also the defensive aspect that most impressed Reimink.

…used mainly as a Pass-Rusher off the Edge and his speed allows him to turn the edge against HS Offensive Tackles. He shows good processing speed to read pass quickly and attack gaps, often catching OL off guard with his foot speed.

Holland noted the one explosive play he did notice was on the rush.

I did not see the athleticism and speed that Michigan has valued at the linebacker position since switching philosophies. … The only true explosive play I saw from him was a stunt blitz off the edge that saw him sack Sanders during a pivotal point in the contest.

Woodland noted Bridgeman was playing SAM for them—hence all the pass rushing—but projects to MIKE at Michigan. That was a consensus from everybody, including Bridgeman, for Colson reasons:

"In Michigan's scheme, the MIKE 'backer can blitz the edge, blitz the A gap, drop into coverage, cover the receiver. They have versatility with their MIKE 'backer.

"It shows my game. So it's basically like what I've been doing in high school, and that transition, is just like a higher level. So I'm just going to adjust and adapt but it's stuff I've been doing so that's why I feel as though it's a good fit."

That's also what Helow was seeing, via Bridgeman.

Offense

These takes are largely outdated because it was the junior film that showed Bridgeman playing a lot of off-the-line tight end (wingback or fullback if you're not offended by historical terminology). A Penn State Rivals writer who sometimes writes things the program wants to say was openly calling for Bridgeman to try that instead.

This is a player who would really benefit from a full-time switch to the offensive side. Shows average burst and closing speed as a linebacker with almost no tape of him in coverage. However, his tape at TE is solid. He runs solid routes with good hands and can make it happen after the catch. He could easily move up this list with a full switch offense.

That's not Michigan's plan. But I can definitely see it.

Etc. Imhotep's Zahir Mathis is a major 2025 prospect for Michigan, who's also looking at 2025 Jabree Wallace-Coleman, and early Georgia commit. Harbaugh on birth order and pets:

A great quality individual as a person, comes from a very hard-working family. Middle child, older brother, younger sister — just like yours truly. And the cat’s a very famous cat, Shadow, in the house.

Why Carl Diggs or Khalid Hill? Yes I'm pulling my Player Only Middle Aged Men Remember card because Diggs deserves to be a type. There's a no noise highlight reel available for those of you who missed it.

Short version: Diggs was a WIIIDE middle linebacker. When he hit you, you stayed hit. When he needed to be in a gap, he was in it. When he blitzed you could hear the running back going "oh shit oh shit oh shit" from Row 25. When he had to stop a running quarteraback in space you could hear "oh shit oh shit oh shit" from Row 85. When you look him up today he has a presidential beard and is making a major positive impact on kids in his community.

Diggs played in the time of Gittleson, so yeah, I could have said Josh Ross and that would have been fine. But I'm on about a thing up in here. The people should know about Carl Diggs.

The people *DO* know about Hammerin' Panda. Semaj has a similar build, a similar personality type, and looked really good doing it against pretty decent Pennsylvania opposition.

Guru Reliability: Medium. They got plenty of looks and offered plenty of opinions, but those seemed to trail off after his junior year, and word that his senior tape was much better only held off a plunge into high 3-star. It's not possible to go from an early blue chip to unknown, but if it's possible to be a guy they all gave up on too soon, Bridgeman might be a test case for that.

Variance: High. It's possible that a Ben Herbert breakdown and rebuild unlocks whatever it was that was making Adam Friedman say "Micah Parsons" as if that's a thing any rational person should be saying about a high school sophomore. It's also possible they have to teach him 90% of linebacking, and he probably does need to learn a lot about coverage it sounds like.

Ceiling: High. It's not a likely ceiling, but if they want to compare him to a guy who could play WLB and DE for Penn State *at the same time* I'm listening.

Flight Risk Level: Medium. Helow did work this cycle:

“I picked Michigan because of the relationship me and Coach (George) Helow have,” Bridgeman said. “I also like the game plan they have and how I fit into their defense. They came down here to see me and showed effort.” … “Coach Helow is my guy,” Bridgeman said. “He can develop me to go to the next level. He knows all my weaknesses and strengths. I love Coach Minter’s scheme. He has the Mike blitzing off the edge or covering receivers. That’s what I do here (at Imhotep).”

… and I do think it's relevant that Helow was the coach who singled in on Bridgeman when other programs were pulling out of the recruitment, because Bridgeman's lost his biggest advocate on staff. On the other hand Grant Newsome was a part of his recruitment too, and this is how Bridgeman responded to the Harbaugh-NFL rumors.

It comes up every year. So I don't really think anything of it. I hope he doesn't leave, but if he does, we're just going put in the work ourselves. Grind it out.

As for the triple transfer in high school, it's not quite the Frankie situation that sounds like (emphasis mine):

Bridgeman is a 6-2, 220-pound linebacker and tight end who played at Bishop McDevitt High School his first two years of high school, then transferred to Archbishop Wood for last season after Bishop McDevitt closed its doors before last season. Now, Bridgeman will be playing for Imhotep, who played in the Pennsylvania 5A State championship game last season.

Only one of those transfers was by choice.

General Excitement Level: Moderate-. Baseline 5; +1 for might be a 5-star who needs to lose some weight; +1 for Versatility is the watchword of our linebacking faith; –1 for even Penn State was backing off; –1 for the LB coach that recruited him got oversigned; –1 for break him down and build him back up means project.

Projection: Bridgeman is the LB in his class most sized to play now but the sense is he's even more in need of a Ben Herbert bath than his 200-pound classmate. With LB depth shored up so well they were able to send an asset like Nikhai Hill-Green down to Minor League affiliate Charlotte, they fortunately shouldn't need any of them to play now anyways. Bridgeman is the highest ranked out of his linebacker class, and when that class emerges from their redshirts at least Mike Barrett and maybe Junior Colson will be gone, leaving lots of opportunity for two guys to fight for the depth spots behind Breeon Ishmail and Jimmy Rolder. The 2024 spring session should be a big one for this class, now that Chris Partridge is the guy in charge of restocking behind them.

Now that I've looked at all of them, I kinda want to say Hayden Moore is the one who's going to give guys like Micah Pollard, Jaydon Hood, and Joey Velazquez a fright from below, with Hewlett a wild card and Bridgeman a bigger swing and much bigger whiff threat than I realized going in.

As long as Harbaugh isn't in the NFL, I don't think it would take that much to convince him to try Bridgeman on offense, but who knows if Bridgeman would go for that.