Michigan to host Muskegon 2018 OT Antwan Reed this weekend
Michigan is set to host 2018 Muskegon High OT Antwan Reed this weekend for the BYU game. Reed is 6'7", 270-280 and is only 14 years old, a bit young for his grade.
He goes to school at my alma mater - he wasn't been playing organized football for very long, but he has vast potential. The top programs in the country are starting to take notice; he's visiting Notre Dame on October 10.
Kudos to the staff for getting on him early, would be great to see a Muskegon player at UM. Hasn't happened since Terrance Taylor.
And in case anyone questioned the 6'7 part:
September 23rd, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
Not sure we need to know if the 6'7" is really legit. If he's 14, I'd be psyched if he was 6'4". To be honest, if he grows another inch or two, he might be too tall.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:01 PM ^
True, players like Ogden are one in a million. He also plays on the varsity basketball team. Not sure he'd be Power 5 caliber in basketball but I'm sure some teams would give him a look.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
It probably depends on how much he grows, if it all. At 6'7" he's almost certainly not a Power 5 caliber basketball player, but at 6'10" I bet he'd get a lot of looks. A beefy, 6'9"-6'10" guy who can move his feet is rare.
The fact that he plays varsity basketball is good for him as a football prospect too. Good for conditioning (keeping his weight down) and for footwork and coordination. This is definitely a prospect to keep an eye on.
September 24th, 2015 at 12:42 AM ^
September 23rd, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
I'd love of team full of 7'+ players, as long as they had the strength, speed and skills of smaller players. The problem is that those people are few and far between. That height is a much bigger advantage in basketball, so they don't often choose football. If being too tall was a problem for OTs, why are tall DEs in such demand?
September 23rd, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^
Because players get to a point to where getting low enough to play effectively is difficult. Yes, if you had a 6'10" OT who can move and get low enough, that's great, but it gets very difficult at that size.
Think of a PG. There is a height to where guys can be too tall to play it effectively. Sure, 6'6" PGs exist and there was that Magic guy, but it's very rare. The majority of the best PGs were shorter than 6'3".
They discussed that 6'10" kid at Arkansas last week (who we recruited) and the analysts mentioned that his height would be a turn off for NFL coaches. There's a reason you see tons and tons of 6'6"-6'7' OTs in college and the NFL, but very few taller than that.
September 23rd, 2015 at 3:40 PM ^
Sure, it's more important for a 6'10" OT to be able to get low. But that's important anyway. If a couple of inches were so critical for getting leverage, wouldn't defenses just use shorter DEs? Instead, you hear the same assessments, this guy is too short to play DE in the NFL. They want them to be 6'6". The truth is that there are very few 6'10" football players. That's why we see very few in the NFL If this were a country full of 7 footers, plenty would play in the NFL.
The NBA puts a lot of value on size at the PG now. Every team would rather have a 6'6" PG, than a short one. I don't think your argument makes a lot of sense. There's a very large pool of players 6'3" and under. There are limited positions they can play since size is such a big advantage. PGs aren't small because they have some inherent advantage. Smaller players become PGs because it's their best chance to play at a high level. Many of their skills are less related to size. There are so many players that some are going to be really good.
September 23rd, 2015 at 10:41 PM ^
Let's not act like 6'6" basketball players are few and far between. NCAA basketball is filled with them. It's just very difficult to do what a PG needs to do at 6'6".
And for an OT, I'm not talking about just 6'10" guys. Every college football team in the country has a handful of 6'6" offensive linemen. Yet there are almost no 6'8"+ offensive linemen. That's not because people all stop growing at 6'6", it's because once you get above that, the job becomes increasingly difficult.
DE is similar - once you reach a certain height, being able to move really well is hard. Teams don't want 6'3" DEs, they want DEs who are huge enough to get leverage and move fast. But that's not easy at 6'8". Everyone wants a LeBron at DE, but he's rare. So if you're not LeBron, you either need to give up size or speed, and the best answer is usually size.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^
and fewer males in the general population. More people stop growing at 6'6"" than don't.The tallest of the them move to basketball over football in HS. The number of HS football players 6'8" and up is microscopic. It's not because tall athletes would suck at HS football. It's because they're rare and even more valued in basketball.
Your point about LeBron is correct. Guys like him are rare. But think about how foolish it would be to say he couldn't play football or a position in BB because he's too tall. That was exactly the point I've been trying to make.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
What are they feeding these kids? Other kids?
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
You need one more iteration of that...
They're feeding them other kids that have already eaten other kids. It's some third level cannibalism.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
Milk. And meat. They do a body good.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
September 23rd, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
More like regular, steroid-laced milk, not that candy ass organic.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
offensive linemen kick ass.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
6-7 at 14?! Holy crap.
September 23rd, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
That size at the age of 14 is incredible!
September 23rd, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
September 23rd, 2015 at 1:16 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 23rd, 2015 at 2:04 PM ^
No Rojo 2.0
September 23rd, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^
Go Reds! They are a fun team to watch this year. Wouldn't say better than years past but still very solid.
September 23rd, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
Hopefully this youngin puts it all together and goes on to do big things. Would be great to see him develop and continue onto Michigan and get a degree... Especially given how terrible Muskegon and Muskegon heights are lately with violence.
September 23rd, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^
Muskegon's been good to Michigan. Oosterbaan was from there, correct?
September 23rd, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^
September 24th, 2015 at 12:28 AM ^
has been good to UM. As mentioned, perhaps the greatest all around athlete in UM history as to all sports. But just at the NT position, we've had TT along with Mike Teeter from Fruitport and Mike Reinhold from MCC but is actually a product of Fruitport as well and only transfered to Catholic due to voters not passing taxes and cutting the program for a year. I agree, Muskegon is fun to watch this year. Not sure about Fairfeild's allegiance but do know Tony tried his damndest to steer anyone we wanted from the Big Reds to AA.
Was a time when MSU picked up the lesser rated talent from the area along w/the MAC schools but that could be changing as the green and white train seems to be gathering steam in the area as of late.
September 23rd, 2015 at 5:36 PM ^
At this level he is basically just picking up his blocking assignment and throwing them out of bounds right?
Like could you imagine being a normal size (or even a big for that matter) high school player and lining up across from this guy. I would just drop into coverage every play.
They'll get bonus points if they try him out at tailback.
September 23rd, 2015 at 10:31 PM ^
Big Red Pride!
Norse Pride!
September 24th, 2015 at 5:38 AM ^