Vincent Gray Crystal Ball

Submitted by CincyBlue on January 9th, 2018 at 10:47 AM

Allen Trieu just predicted in-state CB Vincent Gray to Michigan this morning. Gray is 6'2 and 180 pounds 3 Star CB out of Rochester. Seems he was heading to WVU before Michigan offered before the early signing period.

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corundum

January 9th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^

We already have a lot of bodies at DB. Wonder if this is signaling some unexpected (or expected) attrition.

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HarbaughsLeftElbow

January 9th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^

Considering we basically play 5 DBs at a time I don't think think we have that many. Is always great to have a tall guy who can cover.

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JimmyFresh

January 9th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^

Might also just be a proactive attempt to get lots of guys in here before 2019. Hill, Long, Kinnel, and Watson could all be gone after this coming season.

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corundum

January 9th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^

Well Kinnel and Watson will definitely be gone, as they will be out of eligibility.

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Guy Fawkes

January 9th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^

I'd be thrilled if either Long or Hill stays. Losing both would be a big blow. Sims needs to pan out.

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kaz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^

Who could that be that would effect us?

Lavar, Long, Thomas don't seem likely.

Watson is the only other possibility, but with those three and four more guys already coming in I can't imagine a fifth guy this year would help.

I'm just assuming it wouldn't be any of the guys who signed a couple weeks ago. Also, 1-2 of those guys could be moving to safety.

I'm thinking we just like him and want him

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MotownGoBlue

January 9th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^

Who’s Lavar? Don’t overlook St. Juste in the secondary.

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DavidGoesBlue

January 9th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^

I’d be excited to have LaVar Ball as a corner. He’s never been beat 1-on-1. /s

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4EverBlueGirl

January 9th, 2018 at 1:55 PM ^

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IndyNova

January 9th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^

3* U!!!!

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NYC Fan3

January 9th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^

Let's not knock a kid that the coaches offered. Let things play out first as he may never be a part of this class. He may also turn out to be all Big Ten one day.

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MeanJoe07

January 9th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^

sure, but you should be concerned with what is most likely a that is a guy that is decent but cant match up to the teams with elite talent. if we have to say well he COULD be a sleeper blah blah blah every time we offer a new kid then maybe our recruiting just sucks.

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BlueWolverine02

January 9th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^

a kid that we offered late, after all the 4 and 5 stars already turned us down. forgive me if I don't get excited about this recruiting class.

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kaz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^

Every team holds slots for their top remaining choices and then picks up lower picks as the slots become available.

They also frequently tell the player that they are in line to be picked up if a slot opens. Some will wait, some won't

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MJ14

January 9th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^

If Don Brown wants him then everyone here should want him. Defense isn't the problem here nor has it been anywhere that Brown has coached. Don Brown knows what he is doing.

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PaulWall

January 9th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^

If don brown "wanted" him, he would've already been offered. this is a plan c for the coaches. good, bad, whatever, I'm not the judge. He's a million times the athlete I ever was, but he was not plan A or plan B.

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Guy Fawkes

January 9th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^

Obligatory Mike Hart was a 3* post.

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East German Judge

January 9th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^

Obligatory 2.0....so were a lot of other players at Michigan who didn't have Mike Hart type college careers.

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pkatz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^

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JonnyHintz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^

So why judge the kids while they’re still in high school? I mean people are really going to complain about taking Ronnie Bell, who the scouting services have admitted to never seeing play in person because he doesn’t go to camps. They clearly don’t know whether the kid will be any good or not considering they’ve never seen him. Yet people are still going to side with the sites over the coaching staff who have actually done an evaluation of the kid. Fact is, people get TOO caught up in stars. I’ve seen too many guys surpass their ranking and too many guys never live up to their ranking for it to really matter where a specific kid is ranked. The staff saw the kid, they saw something they liked, and thought he was good enough to be on the team. And that’s good enough for me.

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Maynard

January 9th, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^

The facts do not line up with this argument.

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JonnyHintz

January 9th, 2018 at 5:43 PM ^

And how don’t they?

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East German Judge

January 10th, 2018 at 12:27 AM ^

Parts of your argument are 100% correct in that there are many examples of 2 or 3 stars having great careers and 5 stars fizzling out. However, over the course of any time period, 5 stars are more likely to have success than 4 stars, and 4 stars more likely than 3 stars, etc. Talent evaluation by even the best coaches is a bit of a crap shoot.

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JonnyHintz

January 10th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^

But you’re looking at GROUPS of 5*s and comparing them to GROUPS of 3*. I’m talking the individual rankings of individual players. Yes, as a whole, 5* players are more likely to be successful than 3* guys. But there have been enough misses by recruiting gurus to say people shouldn’t bitch and moan every time a 3* gets an offer

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UMFoster

January 9th, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^

You didn't watch the game last night did you?

Also,

There are 369 4-5* players this year per 24/7.

There are 1,823 3* players this year per 24/7.

Out of 1,823 3* players there is bound to be some that play like a 5*. There is also bound to be a TON that play like 0,1, or 2*.

Obviously there are going to be some 3* players that play better than some 5* players, but that is bound to happen when you have a group 1,823 3*'s vs. a group of 369 4-5*'s. I would say the ratio of 4-5*'s that become successfull vs. become busts is a lot better than 3*'s that become successful vs. busts.

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JonnyHintz

January 9th, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^

Sure I did. And when you have entire teams full of 5* players, it means something. When you’re talking about a single individual and his ranking, there’s really no reason to get caught up in his ranking. Plenty of 5* guys are busts (Derrick Green, Ondre Pipkins, Boubacar Cissoko, Grady, Shane Morris, Will Campbell to name a few) and plenty of unranker or 3* guys have stellar careers (Mike Hart, Jake Ryan, Graham Glasgow, Ryan Glasgow, Jordan Kovacs, Khaleke Hudson to name a few). There’s no reason to judge these kids before they even make it to college. You, nor the recruiting gurus know what these kids will turn into. It’s all speculation.

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UMFoster

January 10th, 2018 at 7:55 AM ^

Pipkins was a bust because he couldn't stay healthy. Cissoko had off the field issues.

What happened to Brady Pallante, Jared Wangler, Maurice Ways, Reon Dawson, Da'Mario Jones, Csont'e York, Dan Samuelson, Jaron Dukes, Ross Douglas, Allen Gant.

Those are all 3 stars that didn't even sniff the field at Michigan. (Ways plays sometimes in garbage time.)

"And when you have entire teams full of 5* players, it means something."

Your statement proves that 5* players pan out more than 3*.

It is statistically proven that 5*-4* players have better odds of making it to the NFL than players ranked 3* and under.

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JonnyHintz

January 10th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^

Never said they didn’t pan out more. All I said was there have been enough 5* flameouts and 3* success stories to hold judgement on these kids while they’re still in high school.

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BK-bloo

January 9th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^

Obligatory Derrick Green was a 5* post.

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Guy Fawkes

January 9th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^

Agreed Brotha, I was being sarcastic in my post. That "Mike Hart" line comes up every recruiting post. Gimme all the Starzzz

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Expert In Bird Law

January 9th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^

Are we about to run 2-1-8 defense?

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Matte Kudasai

January 9th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^

We need guys like this. Long and athletic DB’s who can cover or play safety. Don’t be bummed about a high 3 star with his measurables.

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Maize and Blue…

January 9th, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^

they start at 370 on the 247 composite and he is 681. Ranked 17th best in the state with 4 DBs ranked ahead of him. 2 going to State, 1 to Kentucky, and 1 to Wisconsin. Michigan doesn't usually recruit the 17th best player in the state especially in a year with only 7 four stars in the state.

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iMBlue2

January 9th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^

Gone?

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Caesar

January 9th, 2018 at 11:20 AM ^

This might be what is going on here. At first I didn't understand why Michigan would go after another DB.

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JonnyHintz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^

Yeah. Great context. We lose a linebacker so we go after a corner. Makes perfect sense

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Jkello007

January 9th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^

not a DB.

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pdxwolve

January 9th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^

... but I really never had the speed for it. I don't know what the hell they're talking about.

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bacon

January 9th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^

. . . YOU ARE overstAting it. Being a DB isn’t about speed it’s about Unreal quickness at The position. The pats have succeeded for years Having guys that are quick Over fast. Like Malcolm butler. He’s Exciting to watch.

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Jkello007

January 9th, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^

Joke GIF

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bacon

January 12th, 2018 at 7:22 AM ^

Right back at you. Look at the post again.

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iMBlue2

January 9th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^

Was a S/DB until August, Jabrill was the # 1 CB In his class...just saying

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EconClassof14

January 9th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^

I mean roster balance is still a thing right... 5 dbs is ridiculous in this class. Take a flier on a OT or DT please

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kaz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^

A random 3* OT or DT ever sees the field? Far better to go with the ones that the coaches have a good read on than wasting a slot for four years.

I'd rather hold the slot for next year if that's our choice.

Also remember a couple of these guys are penciled in to slide to safety where we clearly need to upgrade our coverage skills

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reddogrjw

January 9th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^

also make great special teams guys too

I think the staff also wouldn't mind being able to red-shirt some defensive backs since every 2017 freshman defensive back burned their red shirt last year

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bamf16

January 9th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^

Can he play safety and, you know, not get beat deep?

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Chipper1221

January 9th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^

I think thats where Sims is going to end up

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kaz

January 9th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^

He specifically doesn't need to, any of the 5 clones we're signing do. And the answer to that apparently is yes since some are already being discussed as potential safeties

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ak47

January 9th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^

Given the small size of this class and few remaining spots I'm more worried about what this says about how they feel about guys like Reese, Petit-Frere, and Friday than I am about him as an actual recruit. Either we are going to have some harmful to depth attrition that hurts us next year or we aren't getting many if any of the top guys left on the board to have room to keep bringing in more recruits. The board should be narrowing, not growing.

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Mr Miggle

January 9th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^

It was pretty clear that his offer was contingent on us having room for him. It came just before the early signing period and Harbaugh asked him to wait. He was committed to Missouri at the time, not WVU.

If a spot has suddenly opened up, I'd guess it's from attrition, not losing out on our top recruiting targets.They should have just had their end of season interviews with the players and have a better idea of who is returning. None of the recruits have taken any visits lately. Those are all coming up.

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