WTKA Roundtable 12/21/2017: Michigan Needs to Recruit a Guy Who Looks Like Prince
Things discussed:
- People are freaking out that we’re just third in the Big Ten. Not freak-out worthy but this class doesn’t have any solid Top 100 guys (Otis Reese isn’t solid) and a couple of real fliers. Probably a blip?
- Craig Ross runs through the Harbaugh 3-stars so far: they’re mostly working out.
- Craig likes Haskins more than Green.
- Certain positions (e.g. defensive back) you either have it or you don’t.
- This year’s class of DBs are all long and skinny dudes, and they took a pile of them despite not losing anyone. Brian thinks it’s about defending slot fades, which was the defense’s one weakness this year.
- Some of them (e.g. Sims) are going to be safeties, or at least slot defenders. If there’s room to play this year that’s the job that’s available since M has a solid top 4-5 outside with Hill, Long, Watson, Ambry, and JKP.
- Crootin around the conference. Big Ten East again dominating: Ohio State again, Penn State had a great class. Maryland is doing well in the rankings (still doomed). MSU has a Top 25 class. That’s 5/7 East teams who are the top five classes in the conf.
- Early Signing Day? Brian: boo, less pomp. Saban: boo. Ed: yay, Saban hates it. Craig: yay it’s more honest. Brian: but boo, more Stan Draytons.
- Doyle: hasn’t visited anywhere or been visited, signed under the same circumstances as exist now, said he’s signing with his HS teammates in February, so no worries.
- We like the Peterses.
- OL recruiting: in good shape, Frey getting Frey guys, Drevno is trying to close on Patterson and Petit-Frere. Biggest recruiting miss last year was Isaiah Wilson.
- Hoops: You can rest Wagner, and the rest of the two-deep against literally the worst team on Kenpom.
You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream on Audioboom.
Segment two is here. Segment three is here.
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December 21st, 2017 at 2:16 PM ^
Craig is a level headed guy but the difference between last year and this year and the difference is the 3 stars they brought in were targeted early in the process and they had top guys at the end. The 3 star guys this year seem more like plan c types than identified under the radar talent. Happy to be wrong.
Also Wisconsin doesn't consistently outperform its recruiting rankings, it plays an easy schedule, they mostly lose to the teams who out recruit them.
December 21st, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
December 21st, 2017 at 3:00 PM ^
Harbaugh's clearly not satisfied with Milton being the only QB in the class. The roster spot is his to lose.
I'm more curious about his confidence about the depth chart. Logically he's an insurance policy if the other guys don't pan out. It'd take some hubris for him to look at the competition and conclude the coaches are hoping he's their next Andrew Luck.
December 21st, 2017 at 8:55 PM ^
December 21st, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
December 22nd, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
Mostly true because they are usually mostly better. Doyle might feel he is the exception.
December 21st, 2017 at 2:56 PM ^
The thing that strikes me about this "freak-out worthy" class is a sensible pattern of risk-taking. For example, as pointed out by Brian in the roundtable, we took a bunch of lanky DBs when we don't lose anybody this offseason. Safety is an area where we need Dudes to fit the scheme, not Just A Guys, but it looks more like they're hoping one of these guys turns into that Dude. We brought in a human lottery ticket QB in Milton but unless we get a Maryland-like situation he may not see the field for at least three years if nothing goes wrong. They're all projects.
Point is, there are 3-stars and there are 3-stars. Harbaugh isn't clearing the shelves of "generic" meh-floor, meh-ceiling 3-stars in some desperate scramble to fill the roster with warm bodies, because with a massively young roster we don't need that anyway. I mean, there's Doyle, but there are a lot of low-floor, high-upside guys in this class. That's not something you want in normal circumstances but it's pretty much the move to make in these exact circumstances -- young team, no interest from 5-stars, hoping more for upgrades down the line than warm bodies today.
December 21st, 2017 at 4:01 PM ^
The lanky CBs are fine but like another commenter said the green twins were targeted EARLY. That is different than a late offer.
The 2/3 star WR? No explanation.
Or the generic RBs? No explanation.
December 21st, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^
December 21st, 2017 at 3:47 PM ^
Not a huge fan of this class as a whole. Obligatory; I assume they are all good kids and I hope they outplay their rankings.
There are a couple of standouts that I expect a lot from. Getting McGrone after the LB class last year is great.
Not a fan of early signing day though I was a fan of OSU missing on all their targets.
December 21st, 2017 at 4:36 PM ^
They weren't Prince's "flunkies" - they were the New Power Generation (+ Micki Free from Shalamar)! But they certainly were weird and awesome. We should def call our bench the New Power Generation though.
December 21st, 2017 at 10:34 PM ^
His name means Little Brother in French
December 21st, 2017 at 11:47 PM ^
December 22nd, 2017 at 12:32 PM ^
Folks seemed surprised by this class. I was frankly more surprised by how good the class was last year. That was magical. Unless we win 10 or 11 games a year.......I think this class is more the norm.
None of these recruits grew up with Michigan as a Football Powerhouse. We do not have the National pull that we had in the 1970s-80s.
The State of Michigan itself is a decent football state. Not a great one. And we compete with MSU. So we have to go further afield with the previously mentioned brand issues.
Our facilities used to be a differentiator and still are very good. But a lot of other programs are now at parity or have exceeded us.
I think our defense looks great to a young defensive recruit. I am not sure how offensive players think of us. We run an NFL system, so perhaps that helps with those aspiring to the NFL.
I also consider Shea Patterson to be a 5 star recruit in this class. He did not have to come here, so even if he (as a transfer) is not considering in our official 2018 recruiting class, he really is a product of the 2018 recruiting effort. The coaches only have so much "recruiting effort" to give and I bet alot of time was spent landing this big fish.
I still trust in Harbaugh and think 2018 and 2019 will be really good years. If our offense can finally patch together a decent running game and a decent passing game at the same time, we will be a strong team.
Michigan itself is a decent football state. Not a great one. And we compete with MSU.
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