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| Wide receiver Eldridge Massington |
Port Saint Lucie (FL) West Centennial defensive tackle Jay-nard Bostwick was offered by Michigan. Bostwick is a 6'4", 280 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, and Oregon, among others. As a junior in 2011, he had 74 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. He has set an official visit for Michigan on January 18, which doesn't leave much time for Michigan to woo him, but the fact that he's visiting puts Michigan in solid position.
Trotwood (OH) Trotwood-Madison cornerback Reon Dawson was offered by Michigan. Dawson is a 6'2", 175 lb. prospect who is committed to Illinois; he has also been offered by Pitt, Purdue, Virginia, and West Virginia, among others. Dawson is the teammate of linebacker commit Michael McCray II and visited Michigan with McCray a few weeks ago, and he seemed very open to the idea of interest from Michigan. However, he also has a defensive end teammate named Jarrod Clements who is committed to the Illini. Dawson has supposedly taken a leap forward since his junior year, improving his stock enough to make him a legitimate Michigan prospect. This offer appears to be an insurance policy against Massillon (OH) Washington cornerback Gareon Conley committing elsewhere, particularly to the Buckeyes.
Detroit (MI) Cass Tech offensive tackle Dennis Finley was offered by Michigan. Finley is a 6'6", 285 lb. tackle prospect who is committed to Michigan State; he also holds offers from Ohio State and Wisconsin. I was a little surprised when Ohio State swooped in with an offer, because I was not impressed with Finley's junior highlights. Perhaps he has improved since then, but he was really slow off the ball in 2011 and seemed like a lower echelon prospect. It is expected that Finley will remain committed to MSU, but it's a curious development. Is Brady Hoke truly trying to flip Finley, is he just trying to waste Mark Dantonio's time, or is he trying to put pressure on fellow Technician offensive lineman David Dawson to commit?
Mesquite (TX) West Mesquite wide receiver Eldridge Massington decommitted from USC. Massington is a 6'3", 205 lb. receiver who tore his ACL early in his senior year. Michigan was high on his list before committing to the Trojans, but it's unclear if the Wolverines will re-enter the fray. It's looking more and more like they'll miss out on Crete (IL) Crete-Monee wideout LaQuon Treadwell, so it might not be a bad idea to push for Massington. However, the Texas product visited Alabama last weekend and plans to enroll somewhere in January to get top-of-the-line rehab for his knee. If anything develops with Michigan, it will have to happen quickly. Here's a scouting report I wrote on Massington over the summer.
Plymouth (IN) Plymouth offensive guard Dan Samuelson was offered by Michigan, despite being committed to Nebraska. Samuelson is a 6'5", 275 lb. prospect who also holds offers from Illinois, Pitt, and West Virginia, among others. Samuelson has indicated that he has no plans to change his commitment.
ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Oakley (CA) Freedom running back Joe Mixon was offered by Michigan. Mixon is a 6'0", 180 lb. back with offers from Arizona State, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington, among others. As a junior in 2012, Mixon had 182 carries for 1,354 yards and 20 touchdowns. His running style reminds me a little bit of Alabama freshman T.J. Yeldon, although Mixon isn't as physically developed. He's a very high-effort, physical runner.
OFF THE BOARD
Massillon (OH) Washington wide receiver/cornerback Gareon Conley committed to Ohio State. Conley had previously been committed to Michigan, but that was before the Buckeyes came calling. I do not wish him ill, nor do I wish him luck. The only thing I regret is that I spent so much time putting together his Recruit Tracker post throughout the season. Argh!
Arlington (TX) Martin running back Kyle Hicks flipped from Texas to TCU, which is an interesting development because Texas typically dominates in-state recruiting. He attends the alma mater of redshirt freshman quarterback Russell Bellomy.
Dallas (TX) Kimball defensive tackle Justin Manning committed to Texas A&M. He is one of 33 (yes, 33) players currently committed to the Aggies.
Ashburn (VA) Briar Woods linebacker Matt Rolin flipped from South Carolina to Florida. This had been brewing for a couple weeks. Rolin was selected for the Under Armour All-American Game, but he tore his ACL early in the year and will miss the all-star game.
Los Angeles (CA) Loyola cornerback Cameron Walker committed to Cal. Walker knew Michigan's coaching staff from the time when they were at San Diego State, and he was offered fairly early in the process. But as a field corner type of prospect who's 5'10" and 180 lbs., he probably doesn't offer what Michigan wants at this point, which is a bigger player to man the boundary corner position.
MISCELLANEOUS
I put together a list of players who plan to visit this coming weekend. Cameron Hunt will be playing in the state championship game this coming weekend, so he's postponing his visit to January.
I can't remember the details of the SEC's new recruiting policies, but I seem to remember that SEC programs can't sign more than 28 players to LoI. Does that mean that A&M has to jettison 5 commits?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the SEC's recruiting rules are these days...
DeleteBased on what I've heard and read about Finley, well, I just do *not* get that offer. What if he jumps on it? Do they really want him just as badly as, say, Cameron Hunt?
ReplyDeleteI really have no clue with the Finley thing. I'm not impressed, either. I don't get it.
DeleteI don't really understand the Joe Mixon offer. Why go all the way across the country for a talent like that? Not impressed with his film at all. I can think of 7 or 8 '14 running backs in Michigan and Ohio alone that I'd prefer.
ReplyDeleteReally? Hmm. I don't think the first couple plays on his film are that great, but if you watch the whole thing, I actually really like the way he runs. I expect that he'll have a lot of big-time offers by the time all is said and done.
Deleteany chance we land Jay-Nard?
ReplyDeleteWell, he's planning a visit, so I wouldn't say it's out of the question... But I would say the chances are slim.
DeleteCurious developments on the recruiting front in the last few weeks. Hard to know what to make of it all. It is clear that the coaches want another linemen, and it seems they want another DB, but aren't casting as wide of a net there.
ReplyDeleteHi Thunder, among all the committed WR, plus the 2 true freshmen that we have this year, who do you think has the highest potential? I don't mean he has to be as good as Braylon/AC, but at least NFL potential ala Arrington? I am a bit down on Darboh, as usually real good WR can get a catch or two in his freshman year, but he couldn't. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHmmm...honestly, it's tough to say. I don't think any of them are surefire studs. I think Chesson has the most potential down the line, but he was pretty thin and raw coming in. He probably needs another year or two to get to a good weight.
DeleteI also like Csont'e York but he's somewhat limited due to a little bit of a lack of speed. He could be a good jump ball guy with some ability to stretch the field (he's not as slow as, say, Jeremy Jackson), but he's not a blazer.
Can you explain what a "field corner" is ? And what is the opposite corner called? What are the difference between the duties of the two? Thank you
ReplyDeleteI wrote up a post on this when Mattison was hired. The "field corner" is the weakside corner mentioned in the below post, and the "boundary corner" is the strongside corner; the former typically aligns to the wide side of the field, and the latter aligns to the short side.
Deletehttp://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-back-4-3-under-defensive-backs.html
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