Exit Emil Ekiyor
[Isaiah Hole/247]
After an official visit to Tuscaloosa turned the tide, it seemed likely. After he cancelled this weekend's visit, it seemed inevitable. Now it's official: four-star IN OG Emil Ekiyor decommitted from Michigan and flipped to Alabama this afternoon.
ROLL TIDE ROLL‼️ #Committed pic.twitter.com/a583FE0wPV
— Emil Ekiyor Jr. (@bigE__18) October 29, 2017
As Sam Webb stated in the post linked aboved, Michigan wanted to keep Ekiyor in the fold, and they've pursued other interior linemen since it became clear the interest between Ekiyor and Alabama was serious.
At #105 on the composite, Ekiyor was the top-ranked player among Michigan's 2018 commits. While Mustapha Muhammad, at #109, isn't far off, Ekiyor was the only interior offensive lineman in the class, though it isn't a pressing need. (Four-star linemen Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes both project to tackle or, in Hayes's case, tight end.) If the class calculator hasn't failed me, Michigan holds steady as the #14 class in the country and #3 in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Penn State at first and fourth, respectively.
October 29th, 2017 at 6:08 PM ^
I'm pretty sure Alabama took another center because they knew where Ruiz was going.
October 30th, 2017 at 3:51 AM ^
That's much better.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:51 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:22 PM ^
Oh hamburgers :-(
October 29th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^
You rang?
October 29th, 2017 at 4:22 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:23 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:47 PM ^
But he didn't say he was 110%. Left out that all important extra 10%.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:55 PM ^
Thanks for this perspective. I've often thought this very thing. I don't know Emil, I don't know anyone connected to him, and I've never met him. Until reading this thread I didn't even know what he looked like, and I'll probably soon forget his name. Outside of some general platitude like "I wish good things for all people", I really don't wish him anything at all.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
While our OL is showing signs of improving, if you want to be a bonafide NFL caliber lineman, go in the first or second round of the draft, and compete for national championships every single year, then Alabama is the place for you.
Bama’s OL lays waste to all in its path. Michigan’s OL is light years behind them right now.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:57 PM ^
Was curious just how good they've been at getting OL drafted, so I looked it up. Alabama has had 5 OL drafted in the last 3 drafts, and 8 in the last 5. Ohio State, Florida State, and Stanford have had 5 in the last 5. LSU and Michigan have both had 4 in the last five drafts.
So....yeah. They are pretty solid at getting you to the NFL if you're an offensive lineman.
October 30th, 2017 at 10:50 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:10 PM ^
But if I had his attention for even a minute I'd be all WTF ARE YOU DOING
I mean, he can go where he goes, but Michigan wins the battles whenever we can convince a kid that there's life after football. A scary number of retired NFL players go bankrupt. NFL don't care. Alabama don't care. But not only can Michigan get you in the NFL if not quite at the same rate, the degree can get you job outside the NFL. And as too many players find out too late, bad luck can take away your career at any moment.
I wish him well, but it's empty words. He made a choice to give up a quality program with a good degree for an elite program with a worthless one, and ain't nothing we can do about that but wish him well. And I sincerely do, but that's the thing. . . I know that Saban sure as fuck don't.
October 29th, 2017 at 6:29 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 6:35 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:11 PM ^
Really hate posts like this. You're the guy who doesn't get why people like Larry Bird look at guys like Kevin Durant and think he is a soft wussbag by taking the easy road and joining the Warriors. Why even bother recruiting OL then until after Alabama finishes their recruiting and lets the rest of the country know they're done and we can all go after seconds. Ridiculous nonsense.
Not to mention Michigan happens to have a Super Bowl OL coach as their OC, and is loaded with NFL level coaching.
Go visit a Bama blog if you need to park your nose so far up their rectums.
October 29th, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
that is what he is now listed as, and Ruiz is likely the man there
interesting that Alabama cooled on Ruiz last year and want Ekiyor this - given the choice I like Ruiz because he'll have been here a year before he needs to take over - don't know who is better in the long run but I'd rather have a sophomore vs. freshman as the starting center
October 29th, 2017 at 5:05 PM ^
But Ruiz played Center much longer than Ekiyor. Alabama cooled on Ruiz? Or did they not have as much confidence in landing him? Obviously, Ekiyor was much more amenable to their overtures.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:29 PM ^
Edit: It still works!
October 29th, 2017 at 4:29 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:32 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:32 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^
I agree. Great recruit but I dont personally know him and now he isnt playing for my team. In fact he fipped to play for an asswipe that everyone knows is a cheater. I dont wish bad things upon him but I also dont wish him well. People who say things like "I wish him well" are just trying too hard to be good sports for the world to see. Its not like Emil is even going to read their posts here
October 29th, 2017 at 6:54 PM ^
my sentiments
October 29th, 2017 at 4:33 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^
It seems like an almost taboo topic to discuss these days, but this class doesn't look great from a "experts ratings" standpoint. It certainly lacks the star power we're expecting. I'm not panicking, but I hope it gets better.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:47 PM ^
You'll get hate for that comment but I dont think its false.
Although our 2018 class has some good players it defintely isnt what everyone here expected.
Last year almost everyone here was saying "Our next class will be small but it should have more talent per recruit" or something like that. Almost like Stanfords class of last year. Two 5 star Olineman and a 5 star TE. Thats what people thought our class would relate to.
It seems for 2018 they are trying to find hidden gems in the form of 3 stars or barely 4 stars
With our 3 star/low 4 star classes Its going to be hard to compete with Ohio State in the Big Ten when they are basically getting multiple Donovan Peoples Jones level of talent recuits on offense and multiple Aubrey Solomon type recruits on defense every single cycle.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:52 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:05 PM ^
Pretty good is what we should expect? I'm sorry, and I know you're a well respected contributor here, but I can't help but disagree. The University of Michigan is an incredible institution, the facilities are top notch, and the pedigree here is amazing. Settling for 10-15 range classes isn't good enough.
I know it's just one class, but I don't think it's wrong to expect a top-10 class every year.
October 29th, 2017 at 5:26 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 6:36 PM ^
and/or scrap any kind of academic or character standards, Michigan is always going to be at a disadvantage in recruiting. I personally like the fact that we're trying to succeed on "Hard" difficulty. There's nothing wrong with expecting a top-10 class because we'll get one more often than not, but for structural reasons we are going to see some classes that just don't make that cut
October 29th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:19 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:29 PM ^
And where has this program been in the last 20 years? A national championship in the last year you're including. Then what?
So yeah, this doesn't seem bad, but it's also not good enough if the program wants to return to its former glory.
October 29th, 2017 at 6:45 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 6:19 PM ^
October 30th, 2017 at 8:53 AM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:21 PM ^
I DIDNT expect a Top 5 class. I expected a class similar to 2017 Stanford. Two 5 star O Lineman, 5 star QB, and a near 5 star TE. (Didnt expect the 5 star QB tho)
Small class but high value where its needed most. HIGH RECRUIT RATING AVERAGE
Michigans 2018 class is not as good as it should be. Its like were taking 3 stars or barely 4 stars left and right.
You are not going to win a championship with 2018 type of classes plain and simple
October 29th, 2017 at 5:27 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:47 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 6:45 PM ^
Well we've certainly met SQ's expectations apparently.
October 29th, 2017 at 5:45 PM ^
October 29th, 2017 at 5:58 PM ^
I also thought of Stanford when I first heard that Michigan would be taking a smaller class. Extremely high average rating, but small in quantity. Even Ohio State was also suppose to take a smaller class last year (18-21), and ended up with twelve top-100 prospects including five 5-stars.
October 29th, 2017 at 4:38 PM ^
With how Michigan has been playing I wont be surprised by any decommits. Otis Reese may be next. The media overhyped our team and now that they are playing like a team who lost almost all their starters should, Im sure many of these high school kids see Michigan as a team that isnt moving in the right direction even though they are.
Its been known for a while he would flip to Bama. All those "Emil says he is 100% committed to UM" articles were a good laugh. You could tell by his twitter that he was TOO interested in another school for someone who was supposedly 100% committed to Michigan
Seeing all the "Whatever" posts in here is stupid. We wont be champions until our OLine is fixed. We wont fix our Oline if we keep losing out Best OLine recruits. Isaiah Wilson and Ekiyor are big losses
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