Michigan added a major weapon for new defensive coordinator Don Brown late last night as Miami (FL) Columbus OLB/DE Josh Uche became the 16th comm—wait, sorry, that's the wrong guy. Michigan added a major weapon for longtime defensive coordinator Don Brown late last night as Suffield Academy (CT) OLB/DE Kechaun Bennett became the 16th commit in the 2021 class. Once again it was Miami (YTM) left hanging for this three four-star prospect with an impressive offer sheet.

Michigan Man〽️ #GoBlue @SupremeAthlete_ @BigManAcademy1 pic.twitter.com/sx7DCjr4OH

— Kechaun Bennett (@kechaun1) May 28, 2020

You see Connecticut and think Don Brown did this, but Suffield Academy has an extra blue connect.

"I was always leaning toward Michigan from the jump," Bennett said. “I kind of always knew I wanted to go to Michigan so I committed. They stood out because of the culture they have, and a couple of people from Suffield, they said I could go to Michigan and do well.” …

“Our headmaster (Charlie Cahn) is an alum from Michigan,” Bennett said.

But yeah, also Don Brown:

“I would be a linebacker-type rushing the quarterback a lot,” he said a few weeks ago. “I talk to coach Brown. He talks about the scheme of the defense, and what I will be doing and the academics."

Bennett had already visited Michigan, though a late March tour d'officials was called off. He released a top six on Tuesday before giving Rivals' EJ Holland one of the best recruiting quotes of the cycle($):

"I knew where I was going even when I dropped my top list."

Holland also notes why this might turn out to be a big win over Notre Dame.

Like Uche, Bennett projects as a hybrid pass-rusher, and in that role he has a ceiling much higher than his (higher) rankings suggest. Unlike Uche, who was 10 pounds lighter as a commit, every site believes Bennett will grow into a four-down, hand-in-the-dirt DE.

GURU RATINGS

Rivals	ESPN	247	247 Comp
4*, #12 WDE, #1 CT	4*, 80, #39 DE, #1 CT, #50 East	3*, 89, #26 SDE, #1CT	4*, #21 SDE, #1 CT, #329 Ovr

These are all pretty close, and a good reminder why we pay more attention to rankings than the 3-/4-star distinction. Bennett's an exact 3.99 in my composite scale, directly between Mario Ojemudia and David Ojabo among Michigan edge prospects. They're in greater disagreement about Bennett's size. ESPN says 6-3/210, 247 is at 6-4/220 (but 223 in articles), and Rivals measures in at 6-4/225.

Somehow Bennett engenders more disagreement about his position than Uche did. 247 says "SDE", Rivals "WDE", ESPN doesn't make such distinctions, and according to 247's east coast analyst Brian Dohn Michigan recruited Bennett as a Viper. The scouting says otherwise.

[After THE JUMP: Much in the way of otherwise.]

SCOUTING

Brian Dohn's scouting report is that of a slippery eel who's got some pounds to gain if he's to play on the ball.

Thin build but has length and frame to add 30 pounds and play at 250. Accomplished wrestler. Fires off ball quickly with low pad level. Gets up field. Disruptive against the pass. Uses speed to slip inside but flourishes getting around edge. Speed to chase plays down from behind. Stays true to assignment. Able to re-direct down line of scrimmage. Is flexible and bends at knees. Has to add strength and mass in upper and lower body. Has to be stronger to stack and shed. Must improve in run defense. Relies heavily on speed and must develop technique. Multi-year starter at Top 20 program.

That expands in the scouting writeup Dohn posted this afternoon($):

He has the flexibility to dip his shoulder and then explode around the edge, and he shows closing speed at times. He also has quick hands and is able to keep offensive linemen from landing an initial punch.

...

Against the run, Bennett is patient. He shows the foot speed to avoid cut blocks, and he is true to his assignment. He is able to get off blocks when the ball is run at him, but he has to increase his strength to be able to stack and shed against much stronger and more athletic college players.

Bennett trains with Supreme Athlete, run by Stack Williams, who highlighted motor when speaking to Rivals PSU recruiting analyst Ryan Snyder:

“[Kechaun] is a great kid and just a savage on the field and in workouts,” said Williams. “He’s such a pleasure to work with. You don’t have to teach him toughness or anything like that. That just comes natural to him. But on the field, he’s long and rangy. He’s always in the backfield. He’s great at tracking guys down from the opposite side of the field. The kid just works hard at everything he does and it’s really paying off for him.”

Rivals got a look at their New Jersey camp, after which Brandon Brown saw a long project:

Bennet has a very nice build for a young defensive lineman. He's up 10 pounds from what his profile says and looks to be all of 6-4. He's got long arms and a very athletic build but definitely needs to continue to add weight and strength.

Via the wayback machine the profile said 210 around then. EJ Holland saw Bennett do what guys with Michigan/Miami/Notre Dame offers do to Northeast competition:

I actually had an opportunity to see Bennett live this past fall, and he was an absolute monster. Bennett registered a couple of sacks and completely dominated the man in front of him. Now, the competition level wasn't great as I saw Bennett up in New Hampshire, but he showed the tools and athleticism to be a great prospect.

And tweeted a bit of it. Their Northwestern guy Louie Vaccher highlighted the Ucheness:

College coaches like defensive ends who can "bend" -- their word to describe the ability to get low and change direction quickly. They look for a pass rusher who can dip his shoulders and turn his hips, all while maintaining balance and keeping his foot on the turf to generate leverage and power.

Bennett has that ability in spades, which is why he's ranked as the No. 1 player in Connecticut and No. 225 nationally.

"My strength as a player, from what coaches say, is my motor and my ability to bend," said Bennett via text message.

And their PSU guy thought the hands were advanced:

Bennett has a ton of physical skills to work with and college teams are licking their chops to get a hold of him. His speed off the edge and advanced hand techniques are just a few reasons why he’s already been pretty heavily recruited and received a lot of attention.

Usually I can rely on Magnus for a splash of cold water on any kid from Don Brown's corner of the country but his take is even spicier than mine:

Bennett is an underrated prospect, in my opinion. He’s a long and lanky athlete who looks and plays a lot like Taco Charlton. I like his stance and explosive get-off, and he does a decent job of shedding blockers in his pass rush. He can sink his hips and change direction very well for a tall player. I also like the confidence and swagger in his game.

Regarding Bennett's position, Holland noted where he ends up on defense depends on how large he gets($).

He was on Michigan's defensive end board, but he definitely has position flexibility. 'Viper' has been thrown around, but I don't see that. He could definitely come off the edge or add some weight and be an anchor. He has an intriguing film and skillset.

#Everyone'sAnAnchor

It might help to understand what the other schools recruiting him hardest wanted him to be. Cal runs a Nebraska-like 3-4 and was looking at Bennett for their weakside (more DE-like) hybrid OLB. Notre Dame, which still runs a Mike Elko 4-2-5 under, was talking about their "Vyper" (formerly called the Drop End, lately 6-5/248 Julian Okwara) position, which is like 85% DE. Syracuse wanted him as a 3-3-5 SAM (think Noah Furbush). And Miami (YTM) was recruiting Bennett to play the same role as rising sophomore Gregory Rousseau, who was 6-6/222 and played last year at 250 as everything from a stand-up OLB to a pass-rushing nose (watch #15). Bennett's not that long but I must say after a long offseason of coach twitter sharing Rousseau clips the thought of one in Don Brown's schemes is exciting. Georgia Tech, which runs a more Don Brown-style 4-2-5, gave Bennett a choice between WDE (Chase Winovich) or OLB (Mike McCray), of which Bennett said he prefers the former:

The coaches at Georgia Tech feel that Kechaun has the size and weight to handle both positions. “I am 6’ 4”- 220,” said Kechaun. “I feel I can handle either position, putting my hand on the ground or as a standup pass rusher from the outside linebacker position.” If he had to choose, Kechaun would prefer to line up at defensive end. “I can see how playing either or both can be beneficial to me and the team,” added Kechaun.

While good academics were a strong and repetitive theme during his recruitment, Bennett told that GT reporter "I like the warm hot weather the best." This marks the first time in history that warm weather is given lip service in a recruitment that came down to school. Take that, people who wear fleece when it's 60 degrees out!

OFFERS

Bennett cut his list to six on Tuesday, with Notre Dame, Miami, Cal, Ole Miss, and Syracuse the other five making the cut. Notre Dame 4-star DE commit David Abiara just had a bunch of crystal balls flip to Oklahoma so it's nice to take away their next best option right now. Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Nebraska, K-State, Georgia Tech, BC, WVU, VT, Tennessee, Duke, and Rutgers also offered.

HIGH SCHOOL

Suffield Academy is the Connecticut prep that Brad Hawkins (originally from Camden, NJ) attended for a year. They went 9-0 and won the New England Prep region last year, a feat they accomplished five times from 2008-2014, all under 1994 alum Andrew Gamere.

STATS

Per 247, Bennett had 48 tackles, 12 for loss, and seven sacks in eight games last year. A multi-sport athlete, Bennett is one of the state's top wrestlers—he won the Western New England Prep Tournament and finished 4th overall in the state—and had a shotput of 45'4.5 and a discus of 124'9 while doing track in ninth grade.

FAKE 40 TIME

The only one I could find is from a 2018 Rivals combine, where Bennett posted a 5.12 40-yard dash along with a 4.736 shuttle, 22-inch vertical, and a 8 seconds in the cone drill. That's not FAKE so much as FOREVER AGO.

VIDEO

Junior highlights:

Sophomore highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

On the latest podcast we talked about how we believe Bennett is a hand-in-the-dirt guy. He will probably redshirt in 2020 unless he's needed for more than four games as a pass rush specialist. Since that's such a useful and rare skill, and Michigan currently only has Luigi Vilain on the roster among guys with top-tier edge potential, Bennett has a direct path to the field for pass rush packages, and for as many other downs as his body can be shaped for. I've copy-pasted the rest from Uche's hello:

His deployment after that will depend on his physical development—he has to bulk up while maintaining that speed/quickness, which can be tricky—and how often Michigan utilizes a hybrid pass-rusher in Brown's defense. He's explosive enough in that role to potentially see the field on passing downs early in his career, though it's more likely he takes a couple years of seasoning before he's ready to make a significant impact. When he's ready, he's got a ton of potential.

I should point out this takes way less projection than Uche, who was playing a role more like a Viper for his Miami high school. Bennett is skinny but plays with his hand down and doesn't have the near-safety speed or near-viper agility of Uche. He's already larger than Uche was, and even Uche didn't have those basketball gumby arms. The track here is more like that of a Mario Ojemudia or Brennan Beyer: come in as a specialist OLB, and grow into a solid DE. Those guys were in the same range as recruits—and Ojemudia was already a skinny DT-like object for Harrison—but didn't have Bennett's upside as pass rushers. Shawn Crable is another old comp.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Bennett is Michigan's 16th commit in a class that's filling up more faster than any at Michigan since the Brady Hoke one that turned Ace's fingers into nubs one February. After months of hand-wringing about the three-stars from the Northeast, Michigan suddenly has three four-stars (and another Northeasterner) in the defensive class. Their 2021 class as a whole has now cracked the top five for Rivals and 24/7, while standing at #14/ and fourth in the Big Ten to ESPN.

Michigan has long been led for AZ 4* DE Quintin Somerville, who expects to have a decision by June 20($). I project NJ 3* commit Dominick Giudice and DT prospect George Rooks to play inside, but they and T.J. Guy mean a Somerville commitment should be it for DE recruiting. The class could still very much use a pure nose, for which position Michigan is in good shape with one in-state 4-star and trails in other chases.

The class for now: