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| Upper Marlboro (MD) Riverdale Baptist cornerback Sir Patrick Scott |
Scott is a 6'1", 175 lb. prospect.
RATINGS
ESPN: 3-star, #57 CB
Rivals: 3-star CB
Scout: 3-star, 77 grade, #40 CB
247 Sports: 3-star, 87 grade, #64 CB, #653 overall
Scott came to Sound Mind Sound Body in Detroit, and he attended Michigan's summer camp. Shortly afterward, he was extended an offer by the staff. The Wolverines jumped to the top of his list, and overtook the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He set a visit for the BBQ, but it had been unclear if he would have a chance to commit before some other players got to the spot first.
Scott is a physical corner. He has long arms, and he does a good job of jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage. He also does a good job of flipping his hips, turning to run, and tracking the ball in the air. He is not a big hitter, but he tackles well and plays fundamentally by holding outside contain. He tackles low and wraps up nicely.
Scott's athleticism is somewhat lacking, however. He does not change direction well, he takes some time to get up to top speed, and he does not have great makeup speed. There are a lot of "almost" plays on his highlight reel, and in college, I'm afraid the plays he is "almost" good enough to make in high school will turn into big plays for Big Ten opponents.
I am not enamored with Scott, but that is partly because I want the Wolverines to pull in a dynamic playmaker at the cornerback position. Especially with Jabrill Peppers playing safety, there is basically no heir to Jourdan Lewis's throne as a true cover corner. I think the Wolverines are getting a lot of mid-level guys who are big and physical, but perhaps that's not the best way to go in college. I think boundary corners are pretty easy to find, whereas field corners are rare.
Michigan now has 22 commits in the 2016 class, including three corners: Scott, Floridian Antwaine Richardson, and Canadian Benjamin St-Juste (who could reclassify to 2017). All three seem to be boundary guys or perhaps safeties. They will probably continue to look for a true cover corner in the class, and I assume they're done with boundary types.
TTB Rating: 68 (ratings explanation)
Any cover corners who are high on Michigan? Seems most of the targets have been the boundary type so far.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the kind of kid Narduzzi uses to rape WR's at the line of scrimmage. Definitely very comfortable and instinctive in press-man coverage. Agree that his quickness and speed don't look elite. I wonder if he showed some decent quickness at the Detroit camp he attended, because UM offered him right after that. When you look at the kind of kids Durkin is targeting and the Lyons/Countess "trade", it's clear UM will be looking to rough up WR's.
ReplyDeleteExactly and until the Ref's start calling the hand jousting and man handling at the line that Sparty and others do and have done, I say, lets join them.
DeleteBad word choice but I get your point.
Deletere: physical corners..if you can't beat em join em.
If you could get inside the staff's collective mind, why do you suppose (Durkin strategy and preferences aside for a moment) they're taking so many boundary CBs?
ReplyDeleteDurkin's mind: "Damn, I thought it would be easier to get field corners interested to come to Michigan than it has been. Just had to snap my fingers @ Florida and 3 speed burners would fall of a tree."
DeleteWell, Michigan State seems to have no trouble developing NFL-caliber corners out of lightly regarded recruits, year after year, so no reason why we can't.
ReplyDeleteTrae Waynes was a track champion who was 6'1 who was raw at football. That is different then the litany of guys UM is recruiting this year who have mediocre speed. Denard played in the middle of nowhere in GA. The guys UM are getting - aside from dude from Canada - are playing in big towns where tons of scouting happens.
DeleteThis feels like the Brady Hoke school of recruiting - ugh. You simply cannot teach speed and it is frustrating to see us basically get 3 of the same player. I do recognize its a 2 way street and for some reason the defensive recruits - aside from 1 DL- have been a lot of low rated guys with athleticism shortfalls. So we can say "why dont you recruit X?" but X has to want to come to Michigan.
The only guy that reminds me of a typical MSU raw recruit on the defense is the LB we plucked out the south - he has athleticism to burn just undersized. They bulk those guys up, teach them football, and in 2-3 years they wreck havoc.
Considering that both Narduzzi and Dantonio offered the Scott, I don't think you can make the argument that this kid is more of a Hoke recruit than an MSU recruit.
DeleteSay what you want about Hoke, but he killed it when it came to recruiting athletic corners.
DeletePeppers, Lewis, Stribling -- all had very good speed. Richardson is a bust limited by his size, but that's a kid Michigan beat every big program in the country for. Taylor and Hill are both very good local athletes. Even his safeties like Thomas and Wilson are very good athletes.
What Harbaugh is doing is the total opposite of what Hoke did in the secondary. Good or bad....we'll find out. Hoke took this approach with skill position guys and it hasn't paid off.
Killed it might be a bit premature. Peppers and Lewis are good ones. Wilson is decent at safety. Hill is TBD. The story is not completely written, but the other guys are not exactly on the path for success (Clark, Gant, TRich, Dawson, Douglas, Clark, Thomas, Stribling, etc.). Dawson, Thomas, and Stribling were all bigger guys whom Hoke hoped could compete at CB or at least nickel, but it is not trending well for them. I know you like Stribling, but the guy completely disappeared when Mattison switched to press coverage last year. TRich is a major bust.
DeleteRecruiting athleticism is one thing, but it is clear that this new staff is thankfully looking beyond just heights and 40 times with their defensive recruits.
Except that MSU defensive backfields are not effective because they are particularly fast overall. They jam receivers, disrupt routes and they are aggressive. They rarely play off receivers..they are always on the ball. And, as pointed out, they're helped by a pass rush that's actually effective.
Delete@PS
DeleteI said they were 'athletic' not necessarily great players. Hoke killed it in terms of getting high caliber athletes at DB - guys who were fast and or fast for their size. That doesn't always translate to being good football players. Two different things, they can be.
Harbaugh is going for DBs that are not necessarily high caliber athletes that are hotly pursued by other schools. Will he turn them into good football players? Are these 'projects' with a load of potential that can be developed into great college players. Maybe. We'll find out.
You are right about Gant though - he was never considered a high caliber athlete. Most of Hoke's guys were highly regarded. And you can't really accuse him of star-gazing given the other positions. It's just a difference in philosophy - the secondary was one spot where Hoke's guys agreed with the recruiting sites, other programs, etc and they had great success in being competitive in landing those guys.
An effective pass rush is the key to it all. Without that, the rest of the defense is going to have trouble. I'm more concerned about the lack of an elite DE candidate than I am the lack of an elite DB right now.
DeleteThere's some reason for optimism there. At least one big 10 opponent thought Ojemudia was underutilized and we have three freshman who come with impressive recruiting profiles.
DeleteBeyond the edge players we have a bunch of veteran LBs who should aid in blitz packages (or least give coaches confidence in calling them) and large DLmen with plenty of talent and strength (Henry, Mone, Wormley, Glasgow, etc.) Throw in the potential of Peppers blitzing and I think you'll see an improved pass rush this year even though we lost Clark and Ryan.
Of course it goes both ways. Good coverage gives the DE more time to get in there...
I'm pretty sure the theory here at CB is as follows: our big strong Corners are going to punch you in the chest, knock you off your route, flip their hips and get a hand in front in order to screw up your quick drops and timing routes while we get after your QB. I think that this is an excellent plan, just a long as the second part actually happens.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that you couldn't improve speed, until I watched Lance Long coach up my kid from not quick and adequate top end speed to useful quick and an extra gear. Having watched Lance get a lot of kids faster and some truly athletic kids get much quicker, I'm less troubled by these big corners than is Thunder. I would like to get some additional intel on St-Juste's wheels tho.
As an aside, Scott certainly has Pete Carrol's shoulder tackle technique thing down pretty good.
What did Lance Long do with your kid to get that extra gear? Was it a training thing, technique thing, or motivational thing?
DeleteLance probably calls it explosion training. He warms them up over 40, but then shortens the runs as he asks for speed. Lots and lots of 20s, he is always correcting form and working at technique. Then 10's and starts from about every position imaginable, on their backs, stomachs, pushup position, etc. They'll do ladders probably three times a week. He does a lot of work like the vids you saw Freddie Canteen and Brandon Watson doing, a lot of change of direction work, alway accelerating out of it, Then he does a fair amount of technique out of a stance which probably isn't all that useful to a soccer kid, but most of his kids are playing football. That's the first half hour. Then they go in to lift and do core work. Box jumps, squats, lots and lots of pushups and planks. He kicks butt. Some of his D-2 kids are flat out beasts. I believe he got more of what he does from the sprint coach at Mississippi State than he has from the 3 or 4 NFL strength programs he has wandered through.
DeleteHe kind of embodies that fight in the dog thing as when you look at him it's nearly impossible to imagine a guy that tiny making an NFL roster, he's so little. But then you figure out that he's basically just one tiny quick twitch muscle. And all heart.
I have an open mind about these guys, but there is a huge shift in the profile of guys Hoke recruited vs Harbaugh.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the slower CBs are more "competitive" though, so it shouldn't be a problem.
So you're saying Hoke was a good recruiter but a poor coach, and Harbaugh is a poor recruiter but a good coach. Is that right?
DeleteI'm saying Hoke and Harbaugh take different approaches to DB recruiting. I hope Harbaugh is a better football coach.
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