The last 2023 Hello that has not yet been done is West Bloomfield 4* IOL Amir Herring. This was a recruitment process that hinged on whether Michigan wanted Herring in the class, which for some time seemed to be an open question. As the Wolverines chased other targets, Herring tried to heal his broken heart by looking at other suitors but Michigan didn't let him get too far. As the top targets at the position fell through, the Wolverines circled back with enough time to get the job done. Herring wound up in the class after all, and now he gets his hello:

 

GURU RATINGS

Rivals: 6'3/281	ESPN: 6'3/280	247: 6'3/300	On3: 6'3/290	247 Comp
4*, 5.8, NR Ovr #13 OG, #7 MI	4*, 83, #10 MW, #159 Ovr #6 OG, #3 MI	4*, 90, NR Ovr #13 IOL, #4 MI	3*, 88, NR Ovr #43 IOL, #10 MI	4*, 0.9068, #284 Ovr #13 IOL, #4 MI
4.03	4.41	4.14	3.69	4.07

Herring is a solid 4* prospect, with only On3 at the lower end of the rankings. All four sites have him as a top ten prospect in the state and given the deep ties between West Bloomfield and UM, it always seemed likely to end this way. That said, as stated earlier, Michigan seemed to have Herring lower on their board than what these recruiting rankings would suggest. That's what we will spend most of the next section investigating. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Mean? Aggressive? Violent?]

 

SCOUTING 

Herring is a prospect who has been in the spotlight for some time as a multi-year starter at an in-state powerhouse that has produced other high end FBS recruits. He's attended camps and been on the radar of scouts for a while now. As you may expect, then, there is no shortage of scouting about him. The first thing you see in any scouting report on Herring is that he looooooves the physical side of football and he doesn't stop at the whistle. EJ Holland ($): 

(Herring) enjoys getting nasty when run blocking and excels in pass pro. He has good feet, a great motor and plays physical on every down

Lucas Reimink of Rivals ($): 

One of the first things that stands out on film with Amir Herring is how he plays with a nasty streak. It’s exactly what you want an OL mentality to be, as he’s always looking to finish blocks and pancake opposing players. He consistently plays through the whistle

Brice Marich of 24/7 ($): 

Not afraid to show a bit of a nasty streak and in the ground game, he finishes his blocks till the whistle

Seems like there's a common phrase coming up in those reports, from three different publications no less: 

Herring is marketed as a strong, physical blocker who loves contact and plays with a high compete level and motor. Not a bad package to start out with! A big reason for these descriptors is how Herring looks physically. He's already pretty filled out and in particular, he's got a strong lower body. Touch The Banner: 

Herring is built low to the ground and can maintain good leverage. He played left tackle as a junior but from a two-point stance, and he was still able to get underneath defensive linemen.

Alan Trieu: 

Plays with good balance and keeps his feet underneath him -- also strong in the lower body

Reimink was suggesting that Herring would be well served to try and transform his body some, trading fat for muscle, but the sense overall is that Herring is already close to his playing weight. This has led some to deem him a "low ceiling, high floor" type prospect. Part of that is because the flaws are pretty clearly on display, much the way the strengths are. TTB discusses one of them: 

There’s also the issue of his size; while he’s listed at 6’3″, he looks like he might even be a shade shorter than that. That will limit his positional flexibility.

Herring has been a tackle for West Bloomfield but the combination of short stature and mobility concerns (more on that in a second) means that it is highly unlikely he will ever see the field as a tackle at Michigan. He doesn't have the length to play tackle and thus, Karsen Barnhart-esque swingman, he is not. As for said mobility issues, the concern of lateral quickness and agility comes up repeatedly in these scouting reports. Rivals again: 

Another aspect of pass pro he needs to work on is just his overall lateral quickness and agility. When forced to protect a lot of space in pass pro against quicker DT’s/NT’s at the next level, he will need to be able to adjust to pass rush moves, counter moves, and blitz pickups that his current level of lateral quickness simply isn’t capable of handling at a high level.

TTB even suggested the lack of length could mean that Herring may only be able to play center at the NCAA level, and until the agility improves, Herring likely will struggle to be a pulling guard in Michigan's offense. If I had to guess why the Wolverines seemed lower on Herring than the consensus, this would be the reason that comes to mind. 

Still, despite the physical limitations, Herring has some polish to his game. Use of hands to punch defenders came up as a bright spot in several reports. Trieu: 

Has violent hands and stops defenders with his punch. 

TTB: 

He also has a heavy punch when he decides to use it and can shock defenders. For the most part, he keeps his hands inside to control defenders’ upper bodies.

When you get a prospect in the mold of Herring, you're getting a decently projectable player with a clear set of upsides and downsides, which, in this class, is a bit refreshing compared to the flood of choose-your-own-adventure lottery ticket players at other positions. 

HIGH SCHOOL

As stated before, Herring plays at none other than West Bloomfield HS. That program produced Michigan safeties coach Ron Bellamy, who turned the program into a HS powerhouse. It also produced Donovan Edwards, and fellow 2023 commit Semaj Morgan at WR. 2021 was West Bloomfield's first season without Bellamy at the helm, going 10-3 but losing to Adams (Rochester) in the playoffs.

STATS

Is an OL.

FAKE 40 TIME 

Have not been able to find one, which is not uncommon for an OL.

VIDEO 

Here is Herring's junior year Hudl tape: 

Some tape of Herring at the Future 50 camp recently: 

Michigan OL commit Amir Herring took on some of the nation's best at last weekend's Future 50.

Check out his best reps 👇@amirherring55 | @MichiganRivals | @Rivals_Clint pic.twitter.com/IPa6OxHbnu

— Rivals (@Rivals) July 25, 2022

ETC

Wants to be a medical doctor after his playing days are over. Nicknamed "Humble Beast". Bleeds Maize & Blue ($). Also throws the discus. Has his own website. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

After reading all this over, I think Herring should've been a take in the abstract, and there's obviously no case against him being a take now, given everything else that's happened with OL recruiting. He may have some limitations, but a relatively safe and projectable OL is not the worst thing to have in the class, especially when you need bodies. This is a guy who wants to play at Michigan, is close to playing weight, has some polish to his game, and comes from a program with strong Michigan ties where he plays against good competition. His appearance at the UA Future 50 camp was well received by scouts who saw it and he was competing against other high-level prospects there. If he's getting invited to that kind of camp and at least holding his own, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be in the class. Even if you're not totally in love with his football ability, the intangibles should tip the scales to a take in my opinion.   

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Herring is the first OL in what has been, to this point, a disastrous recruiting class for the offensive line. Michigan thought they had IOL Paul Mubenga in the bag and then he stunningly chose LSU at the end, and the recruiting at the tackle position is even worse. Whether it is the decision to move Sherrone Moore to OC that is sapping his ability to recruit or it is a different reason, something is going to need to change. Ideally Michigan would like another IOL next to Herring and two tackles but they are far down the board right now. Names I'd watch moving forward include Nathan Efobi, Spencer Fano, and Caleb Lomu, but there is not a ton of clarity at this position yet.  

THE CLASS AS IT STANDS

OFFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
RB	Cole Cabana	MI	4.2⬆⬆	Speedy receiver back
RB	Benjamin Hall	GA	3.7	Battering ram with vision
SL	Semaj Morgan	MI	3.8⬇	Homegrown Gattis-ian slot
WR	Fredrick Moore	MO	3.6	Crafty, Roundtree 2.0
TE	Deakon Tonielli	IL	3.9	Catchy bouncy bballer
OG	Amir Herring	MI	4.1	West Bloomfield's interior mauler
DEFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
DT	Brooks Bahr	IL	3.7⬇	Long grow-a-3-tech
SDE	Enow Etta	TX	4.3⬆	Poor man's Rashan Gary
WDE	Collins Acheampong	CA	4.1⬆⬆	Long/tall athletic freak
WDE	Aymeric Koumba	FRA	3.7	Long/French athletic freak
MLB	Semaj Bridgeman	PA	4.0	Formerly elite, WLBish
PK	Adam Samaha	MI	3.1⬇	Local #1 kicker