Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Devery Hamilton, Wolverine

Baltimore (MD) Gilman offensive tackle Devery Hamilton (image via Scout.com)
Baltimore (MD) Gilman offensive tackle Devery Hamilton committed to Michigan on Wednesday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Clemson, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, and Wisconsin, among others.

Hamilton is roughly 6'6", 290 lbs.

RATINGS
ESPN: 3-star, 79 grade, #33 OT
Rivals: 4-star, #26 OT
Scout: 4-star, #13 OT, #144 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 92 grade, #24 OT, #215 overall

Hamilton was offered late in the Brady Hoke era, just a couple weeks before Hoke was fired. Hoke had already developed a relationship with Gilman, which had produced defensive end/tight end Henry Poggi in the 2013 class (Gilman's head coach is Biff Poggi, Henry's father). He visited Ann Arbor in late April and obviously enjoyed the visit. He is not a prospect who talks much to the media, so it was difficult to keep track of exactly how he was feeling. When it came time to decide, the three finalists were Maryland, Michigan, and Stanford.

Hamilton has a good frame for playing offensive tackle or guard at the next level. He is already near 300 lbs. and should be able to carry enough weight to play at the next level without sacrificing too much of his athleticism. He moves well in a straight line for a guy his size, and he also shows some good lateral agility in his pass set as well as when moving up to the second level. He has the ability to bend at the knees and drive block, and he keeps a wide base when doing so. He also uses his hands well to control defenders, or to disengage from blockers on defense.

On the negative side, Hamilton frequently pops up too high when run blocking. This is absolutely the #1 concern I have about him going on to the next level. He needs to learn to roll his hips, and he needs to continue to get stronger in both the upper and lower body. I have some concerns about the lack of pass blocking shown in his highlights, because that indicates to me that he might be a little rough in that area and there wasn't much to highlight. I would also like to see him get a little better at his hand placement, because he tends to let his hands slip to the outside and will get called for holding if that continues.

Like a lot of high school linemen, Hamilton is raw and inconsistent. He can stay low, but he doesn't do it enough. He can drive people off the ball, but he should do it more. He has the feet to pass block on the edge, but for some reason that doesn't show up much in his highlights. I mentioned the other day that Ben Bredeson could potentially play all five positions on the offensive line, and I think that Hamilton could play just about anywhere but center. He's a high-level prospect who has the potential to be an all-conference guy. He also plays some on defense, but he would probably be limited to a 3-tech tackle and I think his upside is considerably higher on offense.

The Wolverines now have nineteen commits in the 2016 class, and Hamilton is the fourth lineman, joining Bredeson, offensive guard Michael Onwenu, and offensive tackle Erik Swenson. Terrance Davis could the next and last lineman to be added to the class, although the coaching staff will probably continue to try to add an offensive tackle just in case.

As for recruiting from Gilman, Michigan also had an offer out to offensive guard Stephen Spanellis, but there does not seem to be much mutual interest at this point. Gilman also features 2017 quarterback Kasim Hill, who camped at Michigan last week and already holds a handful of FBS offers. This commitment bodes well for the way that the program is perceived from within the inner circle, since Hamilton's head coach has an inside look at what's going on with the players.

TTB Rating: 76 (ratings explanation)

8 comments:

  1. Any reason why you mention the staff trying to add a Tackle just in case? Fear of losing one of Bredeson/Swenson/Hamilton in the end? A current tackle already making it know he won't be at UM in the future?

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    1. As we saw with Khalid Kareem, anything can happen. But the way this class is going, Michigan is still (in my opinion) really lacking an elite left tackle like a Taylor Lewan or someone with that type of potential. Michigan's going to lose a bunch of linemen after the 2016 and 2017 seasons, so if the numbers allow them, I wouldn't be surprised to see them take five or six guys up front.

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    2. Is there a Taylor Lewan anywhere in this class? I like Price, but Hamiliton's vid and Price's vid struck me as pretty much interchangeable ..... at least to my untrained eye.

      I'm thinking your garden variety Taylor Lewan ain't a yearly happening.

      The kid I love playing OL this year is Terence Davis, he starts walking forward and half the D Line buckles. Makes me laugh out loud.

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    3. A few guys I would put on par with Taylor Lewan: Jean Delance, Nathan Smith, Alex Akingbulu. Those are guys who can move like Lewan did, and Nathan Smith plays with a nasty edge like him. I'm not saying they'll eventually be picked in the top half of the first round, but they have the size and athleticism reminiscent of him.

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    4. I really like Akingbulu as well, I keep wondering if he can catch.

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  2. will you be updating / revising your TTB ratings later in the recruiting cycle? I'm just curious since we don't know much, for example, about Benjamin St-Juste. While based on your best guess on the information that is currently available, he is a 51 and Hamilton is a 76 - but five months from now we may have more information on both of them, and thus a revised rating may be warranted. thanks - by the way - for doing these. its appreciated.

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    1. Yes, I will be revising the TTB Ratings. I will most likely wait for after their senior seasons are completed, though.

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  3. Pretty solid offer list. Good to see another OL recruit, this one sounds like he has good upside but may bust out. We'll see.

    Doesn't about every tall OLmen have some sort of technique issue at the HS level?

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