Friday, March 9, 2012

Weekend Visitors: March 9-11, 2012

Rumors have been swirling that Massillon (OH) Washington cornerback Gareon Conley (#21)
might be the next recruit to drop for Michigan
(image via Friday Night Ohio)
Zach Bradshaw - WR - Damascus (MD) Damascus: Bradshaw is a 6'3", 205 lb. wideout with 4.56 speed.  He has an offer from Michigan, along with Maryland, South Carolina, West Virginia, and several others.  He had 28 receptions for 395 yards and 6 touchdowns last season, plus 250 rushing yards for 2 touchdowns, and 2 punt return touchdowns.  (Highlights here.)

Gareon Conley - CB - Massillon (OH) Washington: Conley is a 6'1", 170 lb. cornerback with an offer from Michigan, plus from the likes of Northwestern, Toledo, and West Virginia.  He had 26 tackles and 4 picks as a junior in 2011.  There is a good chance that Conley will be committing to Michigan on this weekend's visit.


David Dawson - OT - Detroit (MI) Cass Tech:
Dawson is a 6'4", 305 lb. offensive lineman who committed to Michigan in mid-February.  Despite being projected by most as an offensive guard, he says that Michigan's coaches want to start him out at right tackle and see how things go.  (Commitment post here.)

Jaleel Hytchye - CB - Cincinnati (OH) LaSalle: Hytchye is a 5'11", 170 lb. cornerback who does not yet hold an offer from Michigan.  He does, however, have offers from Kentucky, Kent State, and Western Kentucky.  Last season Hytchye made 30 tackles, 14 pass breakups, and 4 interceptions.  Because Michigan is generally looking for corners who are 6'0" or taller, chances are slim that he will get an offer at this point.  (Highlights here.)

Ty Isaac - RB - Joliet (IL) Catholic: Isaac is a 6'3", 215 lb. runner with offers from all over the country, including Michigan.  He is generally thought to be #1 on Michigan's running back board and early leaders seem to be Michigan and Notre Dame.  He carried the ball 178 times for 2,114 yards and 45 touchdowns as a junior in 2011.  (Highlights here.)

Shane Jones - LB - Cincinnati (OH) Moeller: Jones is a 6'1", 220 lb. 'backer from the same high school as 2012 wide receiver target Monty Madaris (Michigan State).  He made 89 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks as a junior in 2011.  He looks like a weakside linebacker or possibly a MIKE.  He holds an offer from Michigan, along with Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Penn State, among others.  (EDIT: Jones, like Anzalone below, also canceled his trip to Michigan due to the linebacker position being full.) (Highlights here.)


Colin McGovern - OT - New Lenox (IL) Lincoln-Way West: McGovern is a 6'7", 280 lb. tackle with offers from Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, among others.  He also had an offer Michigan, although the Wolverines are currently full at the offensive line positions unless something changes.  (Highlights here.)

Shane Morris - QB - Warren (MI) De La Salle: Morris committed to Michigan in the summer of 2011.  (Commitment post here.)

Dylan Roney - DE - Novi (MI) Catholic Central: Roney is a 6'2", 215 lb. defensive end from the class of 2014.  He has no scholarship offers at this point.  Roney made 75 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery as a sophomore in 2011.  He is the teammate of incoming freshman defensive end Matt Godin and 2013 running back commit Wyatt Shallman. (Highlights here.)

NOTE: Wyomissing (PA) Wyomissing Area linebacker Alex Anzalone was originally scheduled to visit Michigan this weekend, too.  However, he stated that Michigan told him they were full at his position, which could mean several things.  Since Anzalone looks like a SAM to me, it might mean that recent commit Mike McCray took that spot.  It could also mean that Michigan has received a silent commitment from another player.  And another possibility is that the coaches are saving a spot for E.J. Levenberry.

17 comments:

  1. Any preliminary thoughts on Gareon Conley? We seem to be in on some higher rated guys. Any chance we take three CBs (considering we only took 1 last year)

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    1. I haven't seen a whole lot of Conley (aside from what you see above). To me he's not really an outstanding athlete. He's a bit like a J.T. Floyd - lanky body, average speed. Mattison might be able to make something of him, but he wouldn't be at the top of my list.

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    2. Conley would fill the need of having a big CB for match-up purposes. Richardson and Countess are not big guys (can't remember how big Lewis is though), and I think not getting Standifer last year makes them really want a bigger CB this year. I also think they will get a 3rd CB in this class, and probably try and hold-out for one of the elite guys. Conley gives then that liberty.

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  2. anzalone isnt a big loss. i played against him this past year and he wasnt mentioned much. he performed well at a couple camps and thats how he got such high marks...plus he isnt as big as listed. he might be like 6'1" at the most from what i saw while playing him.(im 6'3")

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  3. I am thinking that we get Conley in the fold, then we use another scholarship on a higher regarded DB whether that is a Safety or another bigger corner IMO.

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    1. You would think they could take 3 corners. They only took Richardson last year and, while they took more the year before, I don't think any of them redshirted so there will be a decent gap.

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  4. Hoke should go after tre bell. He looks really good on tape.

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  5. I don't see what teams are seeing in Ty Isaac. He looks like a great HS player that does not have the tools for the college game. He's big and fast, yes, but he has a VERY awkward, upright running style, has very limited lateral movement ability, is not a quick twitch athlete, and isn't particularly physical for a player his size. Also, the competition in his video is pretty suspect, IMO. Joliet Catholic is not the powerhouse that they used to be and play against a lot of small schools. In fact, they almost lost to Division 5 Muskegon Heights a couple of years ago. I don't know - I just don't see on film what others are seeing. I hope he ends up at ND, honestly.

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    1. You're pretty much echoing my concerns. That's why he wasn't at the top of my wish list when I put it together a couple weeks ago.

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    2. I kinda thought the same thing when I watched the video, but his offer list is hard to ignore.

      My feeling is that, in general, this coaching staff is way too concerned with size. I get it for OL, but I don't think it's that much of a benefit at RB or WR. CB too. Sure, it's nice to have size, but agility, speed, etc. are far more important. The desire for 6'2 RBs is especially curious.

      Not that I'll mind if we look like some super-charged version of Wisconsin/Stanford in a few years, I'm just a little skeptical.

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  6. I hope Michigan gets DeVeon Smith.

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  7. I think you could say the same about Tyrone Weatley or Anthony Thomas, but plug them in the right system with a massive offensive line and that type of player seems to thrive.

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  8. I think you could say the same with Tyrone Weatley and Anthony Thomas (A-Train had solid lateral movement), but plug these type of players in the right system with a massive offensive line and they seem to thrive.

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    1. Those guys weren't any better than Morris, Hart, Biakabatuka, etc. Any size back can work when you have a punishing OL composed of future NFL players.

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    2. Agreed. Running back is one of the more overrated positions. A good offensive line can make an average running back look great.

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    3. True, a good OL is going to make a lot of kids look great. The problems I see with Isaac, though, are ones that I think will cause him problems in college. As mentioned above, he runs with a very upright style and seems to have stiff hips. Most of his highlights lack his showing much cutting ability in traffic or the physical punishment of defenders. He's just running away from a lot of small, white kids. That's not going to work too well in the Big Ten. He does seem to have pretty good vision, though, which makes him seem quicker than he is. His speed is definitely as asset. He's just not what I'm looking for in a RB. At RB, I tend to look for the skill sets of a Trent Richardson type back, not the taller-lankier kids. Hope I'm wrong. Obviously, a ton of coaching staffs disagree with me. I just won't cry if we don't land him.

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