2011 Offer Board Update

Wide receiver Charone Peak

The 2011 offer board has been updated:

Added Gregory Robinson (OT).

Added Keith Lewis (FS).

Added Giorgio Newberry (DE).

Added Charone Peak (WR).

Added Jon Lewis (DT).

Added Joel Hale (DT).

2010 Recruiting Grades: Cornerback

Demar Dorsey: good football player, questionable dancer

Michigan picked up four commitments in 2010 from players who will likely end up at cornerback. Cornerback was a glaring need in the 2010 class, considering that the Wolverines enter this coming season with only three scholarship cornerbacks (Justin Turner, JT Floyd, Troy Woolfolk) on the roster, one of whom (Woolfolk) might play safety like he did in early 2009. These four cornerbacks might not immediately fix the defensive backfield, but they'll at least fill up the depth chart and offer some competition.

The first player to commit was Courtney Avery from Lexington, OH. Avery played quarterback - and played it well - as a high schooler, and if he were any taller than 5'10", he might have been worthy of some scholarship offers as a signal caller. Avery had been committed to Jim Harbaugh's Stanford Cardinal prior to pledging for Michigan, but impressed enough at Michigan's summer camp to garner an offer. Shortly afterward, he became a Wolverine. Avery has some shortcomings as a defensive back. He is an aggressive tackler, but he's small-ish and might lack ideal speed for man coverage. I think he'd be better off as a corner in a largely zone scheme, but he's the type of kid who could be a solid backup and perhaps contribute as a gunner on the punt team.

Following Avery, Terrence Talbott from Huber Heights, OH, committed to the Wolverines in mid-August. (His brother, Terry, is a DT commit in this class.) Talbott is a little sturdier than Avery at 172 lbs., and he's a bit smoother of an athlete. Talbott has good speed and excellent leaping ability. He's also a solid tackler and potentially a player who could see some time on special teams. I like him a little more than Avery, and I also think Talbott has better man coverage abilities.

Longtime Michigan lean Cullen Christian finally committed to play in Ann Arbor around Thanksgiving 2009. At the time, Christian was the highest rated defensive back and desperately needed in the wake of Boubacar Cissoko's departure from the team. Christian is a bigger cornerback at 6' and 180 lbs. He has the ability play deep safety but has insisted that he wants to play cornerback, and that's where I think he'll stay. I have some questions about his speed, but his technique is sound; he's a decent tackler but needs to improve in that area.

Demar Dorsey was the last cornerback to commit to Michigan, waiting until National Signing Day. Michigan fought hard to steal him from the likes of Florida and USC. He was an Under Armour All American and while he's rough around the edges, he has swagger and speed to burn. I think he'll be a free safety eventually, although Michigan's most immediate need is at cornerback, which is where he'll begin his career. Dorsey has had some off-the-field issues as a youth, but if he can keep those behaviors behind him, the sky is the limit.

Predictions: Courtney Avery will almost surely redshirt in 2010; I think he'll be a decent backup and special teams player throughout his career. Terrence Talbott will likely join his brother and Avery in the redshirt brigade (no relation to the band, by the way), but I think he has a chance to be a one- or two-year starter late in his career. Christian will play in 2010, whether he starts or not; he reminds me of Donovan Warren in some ways. Dorsey is the most likely to play this coming season; like Denard Robinson, he's just too talented to keep off the field. Whether he's returning kicks with Darryl Stonum, starting at corner, or the backup deep safety, his speed and athleticism can't spend a year on the bench.

Grade: A. Rodriguez and Co. did as well as anyone would have expected. I was underwhelmed early on when Avery and Talbott were the only ones onboard and Cullen Christian kept postponing what many thought would be an early commitment, but it all worked out in the end. In two or three years, Michigan's secondary is going to be crawling with speedy, hard-hitting athletes.

2011 Offer Board Update

Added Ja'juan Story (WR, pictured above).

Added Bill Belton (SB).

Added Nick Waisome (CB).

Added DeVondrick Nealy (SB).

Added Jordan Walsh (OG).

Removed Eddie Goldman (NT), who is a Class of 2012 recruit.

Mailbag: DeAnthony Arnett

You don't seem very high (or at least high as many Michigan fanatics) on
DeAnthony Arnett. Any particular reasons why?

There are a few reasons why I'm not particularly high on Arnett, although there's a lot of personal opinion involved.

First of all, I think he's a good player. I can't argue that he's not. He has some talent.

However, many people in Michigan think he could be a make-or-break type of recruit for Rich Rodriguez, and I don't see that. He's an outside receiver and Rich Rodriguez puts an emphasis on getting the ball to his quarterback, his running backs, and his slot receivers. On a team that lacks big-play speed at the outside receiver position (except junior Darryl Stonum), Michigan just finished a recruiting cycle in which they secured commitments from two slow-ish receivers (Jeremy Jackson and Ricardo Miller) and another who isn't exactly a blazer (Jerald Robinson). Furthermore, Michigan recently added 6'4" Shawn Conway for the class of 2011. So if Rodriguez is intent on bringing in a bunch of tall receivers with mediocre speed (all of whom earned early offers and committed early in the process, so you know Rodriguez really wanted them), why would a 5'11" receiver be a necessity?

Furthermore, I'm not sold on Arnett's elusiveness. He does a good job of adjusting to the ball in the air, but he's not exactly a huge home run threat with the ball in his hands. He cuts once and goes, usually only to be caught after another few yards. Can he get open, catch the ball, and gain a few yards after the catch? Sure. Is he the reincarnation of, say, Desean Jackson? No.

Also, I'm not a fan of what I've seen from Arnett in the media. This is where the biggest slice of personal opinion shows itself, but he seems like a bit of a prima donna in the making. I like my players sans ego, thank you very much. Every high school star believes he's a notch above the rest, but Arnett seems to lack the humility that I've seen a few recent beloved Michigan commits show. There's a reason Ricardo Miller and Devin Gardner have endeared themselves to Michigan fans so quickly; we like blue-collar athletes with good-natured competitiveness. And there's a reason some Michigan fans (including myself) were upset when Boubacar Cissoko waved demonstratively against Notre Dame, despite the fact that he was beaten repeatedly.

I don't think Arnett will be a bad player. He has above average skills for a college recruit. But I don't necessarily want him to be a Wolverine, and I certainly don't think his commitment would make or break this recruiting class. I will be neither surprised nor dismayed when he signs elsewhere next February.

Image via detnews.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring Roster Tidbits

Ryan Van Bergen: Breakout year coming?

MGoBlog and The Wolverine have done a good job of breaking down the spring roster, so I won't waste your time or mine in parsing the roster much further.

There are a few noteworthy bits from today's press conference and the roster that I would like to highlight, however.

- Regarding the quarterback position, Rodriguez admitted that Denard Robinson is going to start seeing reps at wide receiver. While he stressed that Robinson is still going to compete at the quarterback position, this seems to be the beginning of the transition from the quarterback position to receiver that many of us have been expecting. I expect Robinson to be a full-time receiver by 2011.

- The popular number of pounds to gain this offseason was 17. Linebacker Isaiah Bell (237), offensive tackle Mark Huyge (305), tight end Brandon Moore (260), and offensive guard Patrick Omameh (293) all gained this amount.

- It seems apparent that the rumor we heard about the offensive and defensive lines is true: Rodriguez wants them to be bigger than they have been for the past two seasons. There's really no other way to explain the fact that there are now five (5!) offensive linemen over 300 lbs. when last year's only 300 pounder was freshman Quinton Washington. With almost six months left until the season, a couple other guys might get there before September, too.

- Tight ends Kevin Koger (251), Martell Webb (257), and Brandon Moore (260) are all getting in the "hefty" range for tight ends. There were a lot of people who thought Rodriguez was moving toward using tight ends heavily. This is significant evidence to the contrary. These guys seem to be blocking tight ends in the making.

- Ryan Van Bergen and Steve Watson are both listed as defensive ends. Van Bergen was a DT last year, and Watson was the third-string Quick end behind Craig Roh and Brandon Herron. Watson is likely to ride the bench once again, but as I expected, Van Bergen seems to be Brandon Graham's replacement at DE.

- Junior Hemingway is 227 lbs. That's too heavy for a receiver who wasn't that fast to begin with. If he continues to play at 220+ pounds, he won't be any kind of deep threat. This bodes unwell for Michigan's downfield passing game.

2010 Recruiting Grades: Linebacker

The realization that Michigan could be headed toward a 4-2-5 defense in 2010 makes the recent class's linebacker recruiting a little murky. The Wolverines desperately needed some linebackers in the class, but largely failed to get what Michigan fans - and anlaysts - wanted to see from Rich Rodriguez. Presumably, Michigan's two starting inside linebackers will graduate after 2010 (Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton), leaving only J.B. Fitzgerald, Kenny Demens, Isaiah Bell, and Mike Jones to play those two spots; only Fitzgerald has seen significant playing time thus far.

One of Michigan's first commitments of the cycle, Youngstown, OH, linebacker Antonio Kinard arrived on the scene. He played fullback and middle linebacker in high school, but throughout the recruiting process, he and analysts insisted he was being recruited for the Quick end position. Shortly before National Signing Day, Kinard revealed that the coaches would start him off at the weakside linebacker position. So it looks as if Kinard will be groomed to be Mouton's potential replacement. Kinard is 6'4" and only 202 lbs., so he has some filling out to do. He has the speed and athleticism to be an excellent defender, and it's promising that he actually played ILB as a high schooler.

Michigan's second linebacker commitment came from Josh Furman, a SAM prospect from Millersville, MD. Originally recruited to play SAM, the potential switch to the 4-2-5 essentially eliminates the SAM linebacker. So it remains to be seen what position Furman will play. However, his physical skills might be the most impressive of any player in the entire class. At 6'3" and 194 lbs., he supposedly ran a 4.37 laser-timed forty (which is surely fake, but still impressive, if only for its audacity). His speed is impressive, but he tends to run upright and could struggle with his agility at the next level. I don't expect the SAM linebacker position to disappear permanently (it might only be a one-year experiment to maximize talent), but Furman has the frame and skills enough to bulk up to weakside linebacker size. As for the 2010 season, I expect Furman to get some reps at strong safety.

Predictions: Kinard will almost surely redshirt in 2010, and I'd expect him to be around 230 pounds by the time he earns some playing time in a couple years. He's a more natural fit at inside linebacker than some of the other linebackers (Bell and Jones, for example), but I don't see him really pushing for playing time until his third year. Furman, on the other hand, could very well play in 2010. I think he could be an excellent special teams player with his speed and size. Furthermore, while I don't see him starting this year, he could very well get some backup minutes in the role of SS (or SAM). I wouldn't trust him in deep zone coverage just yet, but he would be a good matchup in coverage on tight ends.

Grade: C. Michigan really needed a middle linebacker in this class, which the coaches failed to secure. It's possible that Jake Ryan could play MIKE, but so far it seems he was recruited to play Quick end. Kinard has good upside, but he's a couple years away from contributing. That's fine because there are other options at weakside linebacker, but an immediate-impact sort would have been nice. Furman is a good player and could play a variety of roles; he reminds me a bit of recent Wisconsin Badger Jonathan Casillas, but with better pass rushing ability.