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| Thomas Rawls (#38) is transferring to Central Michigan |
Rawls was a late addition the 2011 recruiting class, needing some late academic success to propel him toward a scholarship at Michigan. He was probably headed to CMU if not for the offer to play in Ann Arbor, so this development is approximately three years in the making. My commitment post from February 2011 suggested that Rawls would be in over his head a little bit in the Big Ten, and I gave him a TTB Rating of 68. I always believe that Rawls was too slow and lacked elusiveness, and he didn't break as many tackles as a 5'10", 217 lb. running back should.
Rawls played sparingly during his three seasons as a Wolverine behind a variety of mediocre-performing running backs like Fitzgerald Toussaint (who did have a good year in 2011), Vincent Smith, Derrick Green, and De'Veon Smith, among others. His most productive season was as a sophomore in 2012 when he had 57 carries for 242 yards (4.2 yards/carry) and 4 touchdowns; that year included his career highlight, a 63-yard touchdown run late in a blowout win over Illinois. This past season, he had 3 carries for 12 yards and 1 touchdown in the season opener against his future team, but he never saw another snap again at running back and was relegated to special teams duty. He finished his Michigan career with 73 carries for 333 yards (4.6 yards/carry) and 5 touchdowns, plus 1 catch for 6 yards.
This leaves Michigan with four tailbacks on the roster for 2014: redshirt junior Justice Hayes, redshirt sophomore Drake Johnson, and sophomores Derrick Green and De'Veon Smith. The Wolverines have recently sent out offers to Sarasota (FL) Booker's Marlon Mack and Minneapolis (MN) Washburn's Jeff Jones, but neither appears to be even planning to visit Michigan, even though Mack decommitted from UCLA as soon as the Wolverines offered him. It would appear to make sense for Michigan to grab a running back before National Signing Day in a couple weeks, but things are quiet on that front right now. The last time Michigan skimped on an important position in a recruiting cycle, they didn't take a quarterback in the 2012 class, which left them in a bind when Denard Robinson and Russell Bellomy got injured at various points.
Rawls is the eighth member of the 2011 class to depart prior to exhausting eligibility, joining Chris Barnett, Greg Brown, Tamani Carter, Kellen Jones, Antonio Poole, Tony Posada, and Chris Rock.
I think skipping a RB in a recruiting class is much less significant than skipping a QB since a FR/SO RB can be more easily productive than a FR/SO QB. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAgreed, we should be fine.
DeleteFour scholarship tailbacks is not enough, especially when none of them are proven producers, and one of them is a proven non-producer. They should have grabbed a RB in this class right from the start, instead of taking a reach like Wangler, and now that 3 more scholies have been freed up (including one from a RB), it should be a no-brainer.
DeleteHow about those Basketball Wolverines?
ReplyDeleteThey took care of business and beat sparty when they were down. If Payne and Dawson were playing they would have lost though.
DeleteHate that argument, because what if M had McGary. Bottom line is that they pulled out a huge road win and have really come together as a team.
DeleteYeah. Those what ifs are pretty pointless -- I thought M was doomed without MM and we are doing fine. M basketball team pulled off three straight wins against top-10 teams. That's all that matters.
DeleteAsh and Furman out, too.
ReplyDeleteYep, kind of surprised about Ash since he was seeing playing time and with Pipkins coming back from an ACL he would have gotten more snaps one would think.
DeleteSince many of the players on the roster currently have played some RB at times during their HS careers, I am not convinced we need to take a RB in this class. Heck, we can even get away with playing one of the FB's as a TB if needed. Been done before in one back sets way back to the Rob Lytle days when he flipped from FB to TB and in one back sets frequently.
ReplyDeleteYeah. We should target an elite back for 2015. If DH keeps wanting to be a flake and not come back, then some other guy.
DeleteFullbacks were very different back in the 70's. We actually used them to run the ball a significant number of times, instead of just as battering rams. None of our fullbacks now is capable of producing much yardage. If we have to resort to one of them as a ball carrier, we're in trouble.
DeleteSuduri, Michigan targets elite backs every year, last year it was Derrick Green, this year it was Leonard Fournette, next year it's been Damien Harris. I think Damien might come back, but if he doesn't, I'm pretty sure Michigan will be fine at back. If he shows no signs of coming back, I am more than willing to bet that Weber will be recruited extra hard, and and Jacques Patrick may come back into play.
DeleteI know Michigan targets elite backs every year. Every major program does.
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