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| Cincinnati (OH) Oak Hills offensive lineman Caleb Stacey decommitted from Michigan on Saturday in favor of the Cincinnati Bearcats |
Cincinnati (OH) Oak Hills offensive lineman Caleb Stacey decommitted from Michigan on Saturday and committed to the Cincinnati Bearcats. The 6'4", 280-pounder said that he wanted to stay closer to home.
It's hard not to guess that Stacey's decommitment resulted partly from Michigan's other pursuits along the offensive line. Stacey was Michigan's lowest rated commit, and even though he was the only one that many pegged for center, he might have thought that the road to playing time would be a difficult one. Because let's be honest - no kid thinks that Cincinnati is a better football team or that his chances of making it to the NFL are better as a Bearcat. Of course, it's certainly possible that he's telling the truth about distance from home, but there are likely other reasons, too.
Michigan now has 23 commits in the 2012 class, four offensive linemen, and zero kids who are likely to play center. While this does open up the possibility that Michigan could take two higher rated offensive lineman, such as Puyallup (WA) Puyallup OG Joshua Garnett and Chicago (IL) Simeon OT Jordan Diamond, it also means Michigan is dangerously thin at the center position for the future. Aside from two seniors (Rocko Khoury, Ricky Barnum), the only player on the time with a bead on the center position is rising redshirt freshman Jack Miller. Unless Michigan can pull another center in during the 2012 class, the 2013 center position will consist of a redshirt sophomore Jack Miller, inexperienced position changers from guard or tackle, and any freshman from the 2013 class.
For other updates on former Wolverines and former commits, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.
Any chance Kozan can play center?
ReplyDelete@ MEZMAN 9:31 a.m.
ReplyDeleteKozan has mentioned that he can snap/play center, and his size is adequate for a center. So yes, if Michigan gets Kozan, he could be Stacey's replacement.
What is the maximum size for a Center?
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming it varies some depending on the height of the QB and whether the QB is in a shotgun formation or not but overall my guess is around 6'4. Based on that every current Michigan OL commit is too tall. I know that some people thought that Wormley could play OL and not DE in college. He's 6'4 which could work but he'd be coming it at 255 which seems light but for some reason I seem to remember MIller came in at that weight.
Unless we recruit someone new the only other thing I can think of is moving Bars inside since he's the shortest OL commit (tied with Kalis). I know he's a OT but we have plenty of OT recruits and he's the lowest ranked of them so Bars as C cover is more valuable than Bars as the 6th OT on the depth chart.
What is the maximum size for a Center?
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming it varies some depending on the height of the QB and whether the QB is in a shotgun formation or not but overall my guess is around 6'4. Based on that every current Michigan OL commit is too tall. I know that some people thought that Wormley could play OL and not DE in college. He's 6'4 which could work but he'd be coming it at 255 which seems light but for some reason I seem to remember MIller came in at that weight.
Unless we recruit someone new the only other thing I can think of is moving Bars inside since he's the shortest OL commit (tied with Kalis). I know he's a OT but we have plenty of OT recruits and he's the lowest ranked of them so Bars as C cover is more valuable than Bars as the 6th OT on the depth chart.
IIRC, way back in the early '90s Steve Everitt played center at 6'5".
ReplyDeleteTo the main point, though, yeah, it seems like they're rarely taller than that.
@ KB 1:44 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI'd guess the maximum size you'd want for a center would be 6'4" or 6'5". He's usually the shortest guy on the offensive line. I don't think the quarterback's height really has anything to do with it. It's more the idea that centers have to be able to get leverage on 330 lb. defensive tackles, some of whom are 6'2" or 6'3".
Bars is a possibility. I don't think he's going to remain a tackle. I know he's listed as a tackle, but my guess is that he'll become a guard. We'll see, though. Tackle/guard are pretty interchangeable for the most part.
Mike Brewster (OSU's just graduated 5 star center) is 6'5" so it is possible to be a center at that height, but most of the time they are shorter.
ReplyDeleteI'm not concerned about losing Stacey from a talent-level standpoint, but losing our only center recruit in the class when we will only have one on the roster in 2013 is scary.
Do you think he got Peace'd?
ReplyDelete@ Lutha 7:16 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI do not think he got Peace'd. I think this was an honest decision on Stacey's part.
First, let's acknowledge that this is a pretty significant insult to the kid - implying that he is scared off by competition in a sport where toughness is extremely valued and at a position where resilience and determination are particularly important.
ReplyDeleteFar from it being 'hard to not guess', it seems downright preposterous to assume he would be backing down from competition. Michigan has (at most) 2 returning players on the interior OL in '13. Even if a couple guys beat him out, he's STILL going to be in line for playing time. This is Michigan, not like the kid didn't know he was going to have to compete. If he was an immediate-playing-time kinda guy he would have been signed up elsewhere long ago.
Finally, recruiting rankings for OL are notoriously unreliable. Besides Kalis (and I guess Magnuson), Bars and Braden aren't going to scare a guy like Stacey away from playing time. Especially since Magnuson and Braden are probably going to be tackles (where need is also severe). Bars and Kalis are also listed as tackles, and while everyone assumes they'll move inside, Stacey was the only recruit listed as an interior linemen.
If he backed down, it's because the coaches told him something. Not because he's afraid of the competition. Maybe that's what you meant, but it wasn't clear.
It's a pet peeve of mine when FANS expect players/students/kids to share their perceptions and values. Yes, Michigan is a better football program and Caleb is surely aware of this, but football is only part of the decision for kids. They consider school, social-life, fit, coaches, relationships, environment, family, travel, weather, etc. I see absolutely no reason to not take his reasons at face value here. He's from Cinci and he's going to school there. It's not like he's switching to Hawaii. Michigan fans seems particularly bad with this. Every year dozens of kids choose 'inferior' schools over Michigan and every year people act like it's ridiculous and unexpected.
@ Lankownia
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Caleb Stacey would have committed elsewhere a long time ago if he was scared of competition. When he committed (he was Michigan's second commitment), Michigan didn't have anyone else in the fold and there were clearly going to be spots opening up. But by the time he decommitted, there were 4 other guys vying for playing time and Michigan was still recruiting 2-3 kids for his class.
I don't think it's ridiculous that Stacey chose another school. It happens, and yes, kids do choose schools for various reasons. There have been other reasons in the past, and I have acknowledged those. But from what I understand of Stacey's situation, I think the other guys Michigan has coming in are a significant part of it. There are other considerations, too, of course...but perhaps not as significant.
I've read enough direct quotes form Stacy to know he's not a dumb kid. He knew Michigan had a need and was going to recruit numbers for the position. Their last OL commitment was over 6 months ago (Kalis in July), and even then they were hunting for additional linemen. So, the depth situation hasn't changed... It just doesn't seem logical to get scared off unless the coaches steered him in that direction.
ReplyDelete@ Lankownia 11:57 a.m.
ReplyDeleteNobody's suggesting that he's dumb. And just like you've stated that "If he was afraid of competition, he would have decommitted a long time ago," I could just as viably say "If he wanted to play closer to home, he would have decommitted a long time ago." Yes, things could have changed in his personal life to make him want to stay closer to home, but things also could have happened with regard to his recruitment.
Sure, but we know a decent amount about his recruitment (or least the context for it) and next to nothing about his personal life (as it should be.) Since we can assume that not much has changed in the context of his recruitment (i.e. last change was in July, mostly skill position guys since) it's reasonable to conclude that it really was something else. There's no reason not to believe him.
ReplyDelete@ Lankownia 12:23 p.m.
ReplyDeleteSure, there's reason not to believe him. I'm not calling him a liar, but it is very reasonable that he wouldn't want to admit being concerned about competition or a lack of playing time. He could have seen Kalis and Magnuson playing guard - and playing it well - in the Army All-American Bowl. He could have heard that Jordan Diamond is going to commit to Michigan. Just because you haven't heard about it doesn't mean that nothing has changed.
Well, that's true. Maybe there's something behind the scenes that I don't know about. But, unless you have insider information that I don't (and I don't mean the Rivals/Scouts/ESPN stuff), the information WE have available says that nothing has changed related to the Michigan depth chart.
ReplyDelete