Camps are forming around Malzone: is he a program savior who just happened to be born in the right state rooting for the right team, or is he a Plan B kind of guy you'd expect to go to State in a heretofore "normal" year? Where would you put him on the Cone-Henson Scale?

Explanation of the Cone-Henson Scale of Quarterback Recruit Excitement Level:

Cone is the guy you get when Henne just completed his freshman season, and you only hope to see in freestyle rap videos or junk time against Delaware State; Henson was the late-'90s equivalent of top overall player in the country. He who cannot be charted not charted--went back to '98 so it won't be the "Cone-Mallett" scale. I have them ranked worst to first within the categories, which are:

• Need the Dudes: David Cone ('05), Justin Feagin ('08), Jermaine Gonzalez ('00), Spencer Brinton ('01transfer), Russell Bellomy ('11), Jason Forcier ('06)
• Seems Like Our Kind of Guy: Steve Threet ('07 transfer), Wilton Speight ('13), Tate Forcier ('09), Clayton Richard ('03), Andy Mignery ('99), Matt Gutierrez ('02), John Navarre ('99), Shane Morris ('13)
• Hey-O!: Devin Gardner ('10), Chad Henne ('04), Ryan Mallett ('07), Drew Henson ('98)

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Ace: I'd say Malzone fits snugly into the middle category. I expect that by the end of the recruiting cycle, if not sooner, he'll be a four-star or close to it on all of the recruiting services—Scout already has him there, the Rivals guys are hinting he'll get the bump when the non-Rivals250 four-stars are released Wednesday, and ESPN left him entirely unranked despite a glowing evaluation. 247 at least ranks Malzone, but has him behind a few players with very limited offers—the pro-style QB three spots in front of him on their position rankings holds this offer sheet: Arkansas State, Charleston Southern, Georgia State, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State. I think Malzone's gonna jump that guy.

In '96, Jason Kapsner was a recruit on par with Mallett. Michigan didn't take a QB in '97 but people figured with Kaps, Dreisbach and Brady on the roster, Henson might have to wait until 2001 for the roster to clear out. [SI]

Also supporting Malzone as an "our kind of guy" recruit is the timing of his commitment; if Michigan didn't feel he was capable of being a quality college starter, they wouldn't have offered him eight months before Signing Day in a class with room for just one quarterback. Also, Malzone seemed like a prospect who would've committed to Michigan regardless of when they offered—being a Wolverine was clearly a lifelong dream of his—and U-M evaluated plenty of highly ranked QB prospects; there was no reason to offer when they did if they didn't believe he'd be able to supplant Morris (or Speight) when the time comes.

Finally, there's his film, various camp evaluations, and recent offers; all point to Malzone as an accurate passer with solid arm strength and the intelligence to quickly absorb and take command of a playbook. The area most cited for improvement last fall, Malzone's baseball-influenced mechanics, had become a source of praise by this spring's camp season. His height (6'2") and lack of a Henne/Mallett/Morris-level cannon will probably keep him from being an NFL prospect; that doesn't so much matter at the college level, however, and I see no reason he can't succeed as a starter at Michigan.

[jump]

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BiSB: If those are the categories, then he's pretty much in the "Seems Like Our Kind of Guy" stratum. He's clearly not a Need The Dudes, as they offered him relatively early (knowing he would grab the offer) with several other non-desperation guys still on the board. He's a four-star already to Rivals, and as Ace said he's likely to move up in the other services. He had interest from other big-time programs, and seemed to be "on the rise" as they say. But he's not in the "Hey-Oh!" group simply because he's a 6'2" pocket passer and doesn't have the Henne/Mallett/Morris-level arm strength.

That said, I like that they grabbed Malzone. He seems like a moderate-ceiling, high-floor kind of talent; you can only go so wrong with a guy with a solid and extremely accurate arm. I've only seen his highlights, which don't tend to show the Tacopants moments, but they show excellent touch and ball placement, and are consistent with his 67.6% completion rate and 9.9 YPA. There are no glaring red flags mechanically, especially if he (as has been suggested) tinkered with his slightly long delivery in the off-season.

Also, Michigan needed a quarterback in this class, and before Malzone committed they did not have a quarterback. Now they DO have a quarterback. That's infinitely more quarterback than they previously had. And that is good. They took they some time courting the mega-recruits in Cali, but didn't leave themselves without a solid Plan B. Hard to complain too much.

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Seth: I normally make fun of people who get tautological in player evaluations, but gorrammit there's no better way to describe Alex Malzone's game than "he's a Quarterback!" High school highlights are usually kids showing off their arm strength, floating jump balls to the end zone and running around high school dudes, or in the case of Wilton Speight, throwing off his back foot a lot. This is Malzone:

If there's arc in most of his throws, it's because this 17-year-old has calculated the exact trajectory needed to clear the linebackers, a thing that continues to baffle EA Sports and John Navarre to this day. I've made no bones on the board about my excitement for this kid who plays on a field I went by every day on my way to school, calling him "Tiny Brees" for his accuracy and lack of height. He also looks like that guy who was throwing to John Kirby when Kirby broke Lynn Swann's 24-year-old record for receptions at Serra High. That Guy also left scouts, teammates, and coaches unable to describe his game in any sense but the tautological one.

Yeah you see it. [247]

I went to Groves, rooted for Seaholm (long story), and the neighbor's kid plays for OLSM, so I'm supposed to hate all things Rice, but Malzone is just delightful to watch in ways you wouldn't expect a "pro style" guy to be. He sees, he does. Sees, does. That ball's out of his hands so fast, and then you look downfield to figure out what it was he saw and there's a receiver not breaking stride trailed by a DB who doesn't realize he's about to come into frame.

I also got the vibe for awhile that Michigan wasn't seeing it. Coach Brown was writing another "No seriously guys HERE's the QB picture no HERE no HERE" post every other week last season as Borges chased a Swedish dual-threat, various California gunslingers, etc., only to have that list scrapped for an entirely new one filled with all the national recruits when Nussmeier arrived. That whole time I spent oscillating between annoyance and panic that the old This Is Michigan™ hubris was opening the door to, say, an in-state program that looks quite inviting at the moment, especially since (recently retired) Fracassa's program has always had its Spartan sympathies. MSU picked up their 2015 QB before Malzone dropped, but not before all my Drew Stanton nightmares returned en force.

He'll end up ranked about where Tate Forcier was, but my excitement level is more on the upper end of "seems like our kind of guy." Since I started writing for Brian this site has been all about offense predicated on running against 5.5 guys in the box, but a dead-on-balls accurate quarterback who makes quick reads and quicker decisions is a pretty nice offense too.