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| Chicago (IL) Marist tight end Nic Weishar |
Jayru Campbell - QB - Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Campbell is a 6'3", 190 lb. quarterback prospect. He does not have an offer from Michigan, but he has been verbally offered by Alabama, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. The Wolverines did not offer a 2014 quarterback until National Signing Day 2013, so it may be a while before we find out if Campbell meets Michigan's standards. UPDATE: Campbell did not make it to campus.
Tommy Doles - C - Grand Rapids (MI) Christian: Doles is a 6'5", 255 lb. interior line prospect. He has offers from Iowa State, Michigan, and Northwestern. He is teammates with wide receiver prospect Drake Harris and has visited Michigan numerous times. There are some who think Doles will be Michigan's next member of the 2014 class.
Jalen Embry - CB - Detroit (MI) King: Embry is a 5'11", 180 lb. prospect with offers from Ball State, every direction of Michigan, and Toledo. He's a 3-star to 247 Sports and their #55 cornerback. Embry attends the alma mater of rising sophomore running back/returner Dennis Norfleet.
Carl Fuller - LB - Detroit (MI) King: Fuller is a 6'3", 195 lb. prospect with offers from Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Syracuse, and Toledo. He looks like a future middle linebacker, and I think that might prevent Michigan from offering because the Wolverines already have another MIKE committed in the form of Michael Ferns III. I think Fuller is a superior prospect to Embry, but the former might be more likely to get offered. UPDATE: Fuller is no longer visiting this weekend.
Drake Harris - WR - Grand Rapids (MI) Christian: Harris is a 6'4", 180 lb. wideout with offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and numerous others. He has recently hit it off with 2014 Michigan quarterback commit Wilton Speight, and this will be Harris's third visit in as many weeks (for Michigan's games against Penn State, Michigan State, and now Indiana). He is "committed" to Michigan State because he originally intended to play basketball, too, but now he seems to be more interested in pursuing a football career.
Tyree Kinnel - S - Huber Heights (OH) Wayne: Kinnel is a 6'0", 190 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. He had 55 tackles and 2 interceptions as a sophomore in 2012. Kinnel also visited Michigan last October, but he attends the alma mater of Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller as well as former Michigan players Terrence and Terry Talbott, both of whom left the program early (due to discipline and injury issues, respectively).
Lawrence Marshall - DE - Southfield (MI) Southfield: Marshall is a 6'4", 215 lb. defensive end prospect whose most recent offers came from Mississippi, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma; he also has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State, along with several others. Marshall has visited Michigan several times in recent weeks after being committed to Ohio State for about three days in February.
Malik McDowell - DE - Detroit (MI) Loyola: McDowell is a 6'7", 290 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, USC, and numerous others. He projects to strongside defensive end in college. The race appears to be between Michigan and Notre Dame right now.
Mikey Weber - RB - Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Weber is a 5'10", 190 lb. runner with offers from Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, and Syracuse. He had 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2012.
Nic Weishar - TE - Chicago (IL) Marist: Weishar is a 6'5", 215 lb. tight end prospect with offers from Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, along with several others. I wrote up a scouting report on him several weeks ago. UPDATE: Weishar will now be visiting next weekend.
Any preliminary thoughts on Doles?
ReplyDeleteHe's a decently athletic kid when he's been playing at 240-250 lbs. I like his attitude and athleticism. His success will likely just depend on how big he can get and how well he carries the added weight. Some places list him as an offensive tackle, but he'll probably be a center or guard.
Delete"Jalen Embry - CB - Detroit (MI) King: Embry is a 5'11", 180 lb. prospect with offers from Ball State, every direction of Michigan"
ReplyDeleteDo you mean Eastern Michigan? Or maybe he has gotten an offer from every direction of Michigan :).
I enjoy your articles, Go Blue!
I have to admit I like really Embry...a lot more than Thunder, but he's a coach and I mainly sit on my couch.
DeleteI like his film and he supposedly looked very good at a recent camp. The lack of offers suggest Thundr is more accurate.
One of the many Anonymous posters on this site likes Embry. Great to know.
DeleteWhich TE do you like the best out of Daniel Helm, Garrett Dickerson, Nic Weishar?
ReplyDeleteIf Doles drops, does that eliminate Mustipher and Jamarco Jones since they are likely interior linemen? They are rated significantly higher, but maybe Doles is a West Michigan sleeper like Ben Braden?
I like Helm best as a receiver. The other two guys are more combo (block/catch) tight ends.
DeleteI don't think a Doles commitment would eliminate Mustipher/Jones. I could see the coaches taking Doles, Mustipher or Jones, and then one or two offensive tackles.
The OL spots for the 2014 class should be limited to 4 max, and if we get the right kids position wise for the first 3 OL spots, limit it to 3 OL this year. OL is now a position of strength, and we need to strengthen up other areas still, like WR, TE, CB etc...
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree with the idea of only taking 3 OL in any class. I am a strong believer in taking a consistent number of OL every year (4 or 5) rather than taking a huge class one year (6-7) and a small class another (2-3).
DeleteThere are currently 14 linemen, 2 guys graduating, and no juniors on the roster. Taking 3 linemen would put us at 15, which is right where you want it to be. I would be okay with taking 4 if they're right guys, but there's no real need there unless some guys starting quitting/transferring.
DeleteIt's not a position of strength till someone proves they are even PASSABLE at the college level. We don't know. Right now it's Lewan, Schofield and ?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,
DeleteLanknows,
DeleteBut you are always recruiting based on unknowns because the older proven guys will be gone when the new recruits are asked to contribute. So you have to go by what you have with the younger guys (even if not proven) because they will be around. Based on numbers and ratings, the OL is the strength of this team so if there is an area where you might go slightly lower than normal, it's the OL.
@Kurt,
DeleteDisagree. For kids who have never proven they can handle college (i.e., recruits) the uncertainty is MUCH higher. If you have kids that have played and proven themselves the uncertainty is much lower. You address uncertainty by recruiting not just quality but quantity too. The recruiting rankings are useful but they don't mean your kid isn't going to be a bust.
I'll give you an example. Last two years Michigan has had Jake Ryan and Cam Gordon, so they knew they had that position decently locked up. They didn't have to fill a need for SAM in the '12 or '13 class - they could wait till 14. Yes, they needed a backup for Ryan once Gordon departs after the season but the urgency to find a backup isn't the same as for starter. Compare the SAM recruiting to MIKE and WILL recruiting. If you have a returning starter for 2 or 3 more years you don't have to throw multiple scholarships at a position.
If you're talking about the next 4 years, the strength of the team is certainly at LB where you have Ryan and Morgan for 2 more years plus Bolden and Ross for 3 - plus other recruits behind them. Michigan can all but quit recruiting the position after they land a SAM to go with Ferns, and the next class will be small again.
Meanwhile, on OL - there isn't a single kid who has even played (save some mop-up duty for ONE GUY - Miller). That should change after this year, and those kids made it through their RS seasons in tact, but until they play and prove themselves you don't know if you have starter-material or not. Some of these kids will be busts and Michigan has to find FIVE new starters.
Don't get me wrong - I think between the 4 recruits last year and Bryant we'll be able to find at least a couple of good starters but you never know if you have a Lewan (NFL player), a Mealer (mediocre backup), or an O'Neill (bust) on your hands until they play -- all those kids were 4-star recruits .
You are not recruiting based on unknowns when you have knowns - proven young players (and Michigan does, to varying degree, in Countess, Pipkins, Ross, Bolden, Wilson, Funchess, Williams) you might be able to afford to skip recruiting a position in a given year. If you don't know who can play, let alone start, you keep throwing numbers (scholarships) at the position.
Michigan needs to keep recruiting OL hard - until people prove themselves. That may happen this fall, but if Bryant and Miller and Burzynski win starting jobs, will you still be OK with not going after recruits at the position or will your faith in the recruits be shaken?
McDowell and Harris both! Two biggest recruits on the board and the two potential saviors from the inevitable in-state recruiting critiques that will occur if they whiff on both.
ReplyDeleteYou would take 3 because you took 6 in the previous class...and if the first 3 are all on the top of you board, only a 4th should be considered if they are elite
ReplyDeleteThe only way you take fewer than 4 is if you feel comfortable enough with the true freshman and RS freshman to identify a starting 5 for 2014. That sounds easy on paper (Magnuson-Kalis-Kugler-Bosch-Braden) but in reality it's a lot harder to tell with young kids who will be ready to start so quickly. If the kids play - and look the part - we'll be fine. If they sit behind vets all year, questions will remain.
DeleteAre we just forgetting about Miller or Bryant?
DeleteLankownia has proven time and time again they have next to no idea what they're talking about. We have many highly touted recruits. We are going to find a successful starting 5 when 9 or 10 of our recruits were all in the top 250 and we have Funk coaching OL.
I think 4 is a bit much with how many we've taken the past two classes and how small our class is projected to be right now. If we consistently take 4 every year and they're staying for 5th years, we''ll have 20 on the roster before you know it. That's a bit overkill. Hoke has fixed the OL problem. I know Thunder only thinks we need 6 or 7 WR on the team, but I think we need a few more right now because talent is so scarce.
-JC
Stone-brained people like JC amaze me. No matter how many times they experience recruits not working out, the next recruiting class is always filled with can't-miss perfection.
DeleteFunk hasn't done jack. The OL and run game have deteriorated under his watch.
Is Marshall really only 215 lbs? That's really really light
ReplyDeleteHe has over a year before he'd ever have to step on a college campus. Ojemudia was real light coming out of high school as well.
DeleteTaylor Lewan was only 250 lbs coming out of high school.
I haven't weighed Marshall personally, but he's listed at anywhere from 205 to 225 on various websites, so I figure 215 is a good middle ground.
Delete