ESPN Re-Ranks the 2020 Recruiting Class (M goes from #11 to #5)
ESPN has an interesting article out today re-ranking the 2020 recruiting class, now that we see the performance of the players in college. It validates the Michigan staff as better evaluators of talent than ESPN.
ESPN re-ranked Michigan #5 overall (up from #11 in their original signing day ranking) and Blake Corum from #120 overall to #18. OSU also climbed from #5 to #3.
The take on Corum:
18. Blake Corum, RB
Michigan | 2020 ESPN 300 ranking: 120 (No. 13 RB)
College football's second-leading rusher has exceeded our expectations as an every-down running back. Corum has always been fast and talented, but his measurables were less than ideal (5-8, 210). He's still on the shorter side but not necessarily small -- and there is a difference. Corum's powerful lower body and leverage have allowed him to succeed tackle to tackle, and his top-end speed is still elite when he breaks into the second level. He's starting to improve his draft stock and create legitimate Heisman buzz as Michigan seeks its second straight CFP appearance.
The takes on Michigan and OSU overall:
2020 class ranking: 5 | Top commit: WR Julian Fleming (No. 1)
Ryan Day's top-five class has performed as such with great returns, especially on the offensive side. C.J. Stroud was a late riser on the recruiting scene but has been the trigger behind the Buckeyes' high-powered offense and developed into a Heisman contender. A pair of top-10 WRs arrived in this class, and while five-star Julian Fleming hasn't quite met expectations, he is now among their leaders in receiving touchdowns. Fellow highly ranked receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is one of the nation's premier wideouts after leading the Buckeyes in receptions last season. Five-star OT Paris Johnson Jr. and No. 1-ranked center Luke Wypler have also delivered as multiyear starters.
2020 class ranking: 11 | Top commit: ATH Braiden McGregor (No. 32)
This class initially finished just outside the top 10, but the Wolverines have received great returns and it has proved to be among the five best from the 2020 cycle. Michigan's top two signees, DL Braiden McGregor and WR A.J. Henning, have not quite met expectations, but both have contributed to a class with great depth. Undersized but dynamic ESPN 300 RB Blake Corum has delivered as a productive offensive playmaker. Four-star OL Zak Zinter has been a multiyear starter, and fellow four-star Roman Wilson has proven to be a nice get out of Hawai'i, as he has been among Michigan's top targets at WR. ESPN 300 signees Jaylen Harrell and safety R.J. Moten, as well as three-star DL Kris Jenkins, have developed into defensive starters.
October 19th, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
Yeah. Great returns vs. Developing talent. Saying that its a lottery and we lucked out is kinda bullshit. This should be about coaching, not identifying talent.
October 19th, 2022 at 10:04 AM ^
Exactly.
These young men didn't get faster (or very much quicker) between their Rivals, 247, etc. appraisal / evaluation. They worked with their coaches and staff in Ann Arbor to develop.
Michigan has a fantastic staff. Coaches, S&C, Academic support, etc..
Oh, one other factor. The character and commitment of the men on this team.
Go Blue!
October 19th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
They did get faster though. DJ Turner for example had a listed 4.62. Now he's the fastest guy on the team at a 4.28
October 19th, 2022 at 10:39 AM ^
M,
Perhaps I could have been clearer in my comment. And, we can use DJ as an example.
My "guess", or assumption, would be that when DJ arrived in Ann Arbor, his 40 time was about the same as it was in his profile - 4.62. And, though work with the coaching staff and his work ethic, he improved his time and it dropped to 4.28.
So, I don't think he was running a 4.28 when he arrived on campus, rather - his times have improved by working with the staff.
October 19th, 2022 at 1:27 PM ^
Good point. I think our training staff is very talented and deserves a ton of credit.
Competitive sprinters generally continue to increase their times over the course of their twenties. Good training has a lot to do with it, but it is part of the natural athletic progression during that time period. All Michigan players should be getting faster from 18-23 and they should realize they have untapped potential.
October 19th, 2022 at 10:13 AM ^
This is especially true for linemen. Sure, there are size prerequisites, but development into skilled, cohesive units is all about coaching. For all the glitz and glamor of the skill positions, most games are still won and lost on the line of scrimmage. Look no further than Alabama's struggles this year, or Georgia's emerging dominance.
October 19th, 2022 at 1:09 PM ^
You mentioned linemen. A critical trait that is not measured by rating services is the ability to process information. On the OL multiple things are happening in the blink of the eye that require specific reactions. Failure of any one of the O Linemen to have the right specific reaction in the blink of an eye typically results in an unsuccessful play. Some of this can be coached by intense repetition but some of it in intrinsic. Can scouting unearth this specific skill? What is the difference between a Kyle Kalis and a Zac Zinter? Both had the requisite physical skills to be very good lineman. But Kalis struggled and Zinter was clearly good as a freshman. Perhaps Zinter can process the requisite information in the blink of an eye while Kalis required two blinks.
October 21st, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^
Plus I think with lineman their personality/attitude is a big factor. You have to have a mean streak in you to play those positions. Maybe some of these guys who seemingly have everything just lack that nasty attitude. Not everyone enjoys contact or likes to hurt other people (in a football sense not physically hurt people just because) They may be big strong dudes but without that attitude they’re probably not going to make it in big time football. Other positions can get away with it. For example there have been plenty of receivers who are all about going over the middle knowing they’re going to get blown up but don’t care, and plenty who do.
October 19th, 2022 at 10:27 AM ^
Tesla said it better
October 19th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
I've always thought our coaches did a pretty good job getting lower rated kids and develping them. Other than Mazi, I'm not sure there are a lot of high stars on defense. The coaches have found smart kids and built them up with what looks like a top notch strength and conditioning program. Everyone around the program deserves a ton of credit.
October 19th, 2022 at 10:59 AM ^
This seems like the most appropriate way to judge a recruiting class, in year three, once they have actually have played and been coached. Wondering if there is a historical summary of Harbaugh's classes.
October 21st, 2022 at 9:18 PM ^
This right here. The initial rankings are fun and all but they aren’t the truth. There should be another ranking following the results. It would be a much better and more relevant data point than the rankings out of high school. I understand how the numbers break down just fine as far as the success rate for 5 stars versus 4 stars etc. IMO there are a small number of guys who are obviously very physically gifted and pop out. Once you get past them though I really think it starts to turn into a crapshoot and the good coaching staffs are the ones who succeed here. I’m sorry but there’s no way these evaluators can tell with certainty the appropriate ranking of every high school player who will potentially play college ball. If this was the case MSU would never sniff the playoffs and especially not Cincinnati last year. We all know teams with high recruiting rankings get the benefit of the doubt usually going into the season and really help perpetuate poll inertia (think SEC teams). We might all take these other underdog type of teams more seriously if we had a better idea of their actual proven talent level and not their talent based on high school recruiting.
October 19th, 2022 at 11:05 AM ^
Did any team move up more than Michigan? If no team did, it seems two fair perspectives, or conclusions, would be - and, those have been noted in other comments: first, the staff can very effectively identify talent, and second, they are very good at developing said talent.
October 19th, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
Something bizarre that I noticed - not saying this is good or bad: from 2020-2023 (so far), Michigan has just one commit from the state of Ohio.
October 19th, 2022 at 12:12 PM ^
Hasn't that been the case since Tressel? I know we've been selling a lot of jerseys in Ohio since last year, but they put up the wall almost 20 years ago.
October 19th, 2022 at 12:25 PM ^
Yep, Tre$$el made it his first priority. We used to drink Ohio's milkshake, Howard, Grbac, Woodson, Crable. Now we only get what they toss to the curb.
October 19th, 2022 at 12:28 PM ^
I randomly chose the 2010-2013 classes and 36 commits were from Ohio
October 19th, 2022 at 12:40 PM ^
Yeah Hoke really tried to re-establish Ohio
October 19th, 2022 at 1:12 PM ^
Perhaps it's an example of my elderly intolerance, but I really question why anyone today cites ESPN as a source. Someone wrote that everything that ages must decay. This is certainly the case with the Eastern Seaboard Programming Network. It is becoming similar to the deterioration of Sports Illustrated. In my younger days, the comment was always, "Did you read what SI said ...". Sadly, the magazine stinks worse than Henry Luce does today. For you youngsters, he founded the magazine. I watch ESPN when there's a decent football game on. But, even then you see poor production techniques, repetitive crowd scenes, commentary without factual basis, etc.. This was predicted by Jack Arute on a long ago WTKA morning show. Likewise, while watching at the gym the morning shows appear to mirror each other. I'm guessing a bit as the sound is off. In any case, if they could get Lebron James to sign with the Cowboys, they would never have to come up with any new subject for discussion. I'm afraid the mouse has eliminated any hope of credibility.
October 19th, 2022 at 5:00 PM ^
This was predicted by Jack Arute on a long ago WTKA morning show.
What a blast from the past. Don't think I've heard Jack Arute's name since the 90s...
October 21st, 2022 at 10:00 PM ^
I don’t watch any of the sports shows anymore, haven’t for awhile now actually. I remember back in the 90’s and into the 00’s sportscenter was basically the background page of my tv. Unless I was watching something specifically my tv was on ESPN. Now I haven’t watched a show of theirs in maybe 10 years? Longer possibly. Although one exception would be after the games are done late Saturday night I might watch college football final. I use iHeart radio and listen to the fox sports national broadcast. It has its flaws of course but they spend money and put effort into trying to have the best product they can. It’s funny that In this day and age I’ve reverted back to radio and not television for sports news, well along with online sources of course.
October 19th, 2022 at 1:32 PM ^
It seems clear that Harbaugh's staff has had a good eye for talent. I'm pretty sure our NFL Draft output is greater than our aggregate recruiting ranking over the 2015-22 period.
October 19th, 2022 at 5:14 PM ^
They definitely do, and we're very lucky for it. Some people have commented that Hoke's recruiting largely relied on the recruiting services for evaluation. Don't get me wrong, Hoke and Mattison definitely had an eye for DL talent, but at other positions it makes you wonder. Remember the talk that Borges relied on that QB guru to tell him which QB to recruit each year? The 2013 OL class, that had six 4*/5* OL commits but essentially didn't produce a single quality starter? And it wasn't just here. There are plenty of examples, the Justin Rogers of the world for example, high 5* players that often aren't seriously recruited by any big programs (Roger's biggest offers were UK and MSU), and that proceed to do approximately nothing in college.
At any rate, we're very blessed for Harbaugh and his staff's talent evaluation. But there's still room for improvement. Strong evaluation combined with recruiting elite talent (especially athleticism; the Dax Hills and JJs of the world) is what's really needed to reach the pinnacle of college football...
October 20th, 2022 at 10:02 AM ^
“Measurables were less than ideal”
Give me a break. Anyone who actually looked at his film could see how little that mattered. And the re rank to 18 gives the lie to “we have to rank based on NFL draft stock” (I haven’t heard any first round buzz for Blake). He was big enough to be an elite college RB. With apologies to TomVH, ESPN just sucks at recruiting analysis