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Thursday, December 17, 2020

2021 Recruiting: Early Signing Day Grades, Defense

 

Junior Colson (image via Freep)

Check out last night's post for the offensive side of the ball (LINK).

DEFENSIVE TACKLE: D-
Need: 2
Signed: 1
Michigan only signed one player at a position of need. That player is Dominick Giudice (3-star, #102 WDE, #2007 overall). No offense to the young man, but he was so far off 247's radar that they left him ranked as a weakside end despite the fact that he's already 6'4" and 260 lbs. Michigan should be able to land higher-profile recruits at the position. There were several defensive tackles that Michigan just seemed to stop recruiting (Victory Vaka, Anthony Hundley, Tywone Malone, etc.). Of course, insiders will often say that some players aren't a fit for the Wolverines, but you know what else doesn't suit the culture in Ann Arbor? Losing. Michigan still has a shot to sign Rayshaun Benny (verbally committed to MSU but not signed) or George Rooks (reportedly leaning toward PSU), but the staff may need to look to the transfer portal to shore up the interior.

Hit the jump for more.


DEFENSIVE END: B-
Need: 2
Signed: 2
Kechaun Bennett (4-star, #22 SDE, #349) and T.J. Guy (3-star, #50 WDE, #927) both signed with Michigan. Again, I don't even agree with the positions for those guys, so I don't agree with the rankings, either. But Michigan's best pass rusher was going to be Branden Jennings, who flipped to Maryland on signing day. Michigan has had some dynamic pass rushers in recent years, from Frank Clark to Taco Charlton to Chase Winovich to Josh Uche. But aside from Uche, the current staff has struggled to identify the next dynamic edge guy. Bennett and Guy both have potential to be good players, but they missed a year of development since Connecticut and Massachusetts both canceled football season due to COVID. So any extra improvements they would have made in the 2020 season will have to wait until college, putting them a year behind.

LINEBACKER: A
Need: 3
Signed: 3
The 6'2", 228 lb. Junior Colson (4-star, #5 OLB, #95) is Michigan's highest rated defensive player, and he has a chance to be outstanding. He can rush the passer, but he also played receiver and kick returner, so that indicates some versatility. Floridian Jaydon Hood (4-star, #14 ILB, #246 overall) was rumored to be waffling and pulled a signing day surprise by inking with the Wolverines instead of pushing his signing until February. He reportedly struggled a little bit to adjust to the defense at St. Thomas Aquinas after transferring there this past fall, but I do trust in Hood's athletic skills. He might take some time to learn whatever system Michigan runs in 2021, but if he sticks it out, I think he will be a good player. Tyler McLaurin (3-star, #30 OLB, #493) could be a SAM linebacker or perhaps an eventual defensive end. I don't see him as a standout athlete, but work ethic and the weight room could get him somewhere.

CORNERBACK: C-
Need: 2
Signed: 1
Ja'Den McBurrows (3-star, #43 CB, #549) was the only signee at a position that needs talent. I think he's a little undervalued, perhaps because of his listed 5'10", 165 lb. size. But he has good quickness, isn't afraid to be physical, and is always around the ball. Michigan does not lose any corners to graduation aside from Ambry Thomas, who opted out of the 2020 season anyway, but they need an influx of talent. It would be nice to see the small-ish McBurrows paired with a taller corner.. There's still a chance with Ceyair Wright, who is planning to sign in February.

SAFETY: B+
Need: 1
Signed: 1
Rod Moore (3-star, #37 S, #499) is a player with good coverage ability who could probably play corner if that's what Michigan needed. I think those types of players have been missing at Michigan over the years. You can teach a guy to tackle or bulk him up, but it's hard to teach speed and instincts in the passing game. Michigan didn't need a ton at safety after taking a huge group of safeties in the 2019 and 2020 classes, so the staff didn't really push for anyone else at the position.

10 comments:

  1. Great write-up Thunder

    DL has to be an F, IMO. We've been run over & run through the last few years, but haven't taken a DT in the last two cycles. Agree on pass rushers as well, which we lack severely as witnessed after Salt & Pepper were injured ... Any chance Hutch comes back?

    Corner should be an F too. Big-time position of need, and we took one low rated guy. Meanwhile, ohio has 4 more elite WRs ... who's going to cover them?

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  2. I don't see how Hutchinson returns to this defense unless a new coach can sell it quickly. He's probably a lock for 2nd rd at latest despite his injury. He could blow up the workouts.

    I like the Hood a LOT. Colston is a solid pickup as well. Who the hell knows what's going on with DL recruiting. Whoever is coaching them next year need to get some run stoppers in the portal. That's #1 issue on defense. CB play sucked too but you gotta be able to stop the run at least.

    Farewell to the defensive recruiting team. Don Brown and company have recognized talent on a division II level. Please take your dumb mustache with you.

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  3. Regarding the defensive line ... it makes me wonder if Don Brown really values interior defensive line pressure. Greg Mattison did, I think -- if memory serves he said the entire defensive scheme starts in the middle of the defensive line. But I'm not sure Brown agrees with that. My sense is Brown is more a disciple of "pressure off the edge," which is why he seems to really go for twitchy defensive ends, and the hybrid LB/DE type of guys. It seems to Brown, any big body in the middle is okay because the only role there is to take up space, but not necessarily get QB pressure.

    I could be wrong. Am I?

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  4. Development for HS senior and college freshman is as much about physical as technique. Just given their rankings and the depth ahead of them, there's not much chance of our DL recruits being freshman contributors. I don' think the story changes too much without COVID football in NE or with. Hopefully they are eating growing and working out hard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All the more reason to bring in positions of need, like at DT. We have the 2018 guys still "developing," though none are any good. Are we going to wait until 2024 to realize we need to recruit to our needs & vulnerabilities?

      Harbaugh can't turn this around leaving the same holes on the roster. Keeping him only delays the inevitable

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    2. Smith and Hinton are DTs. They weren't better than Kemp or Jeter or Paye who came in as ends.

      Thunder made an analogy to WR group being like a basketball team but I think you want to approach your DL group in a similar way. Yes recruit some 'pure' DTs but also bring in guys who you project to grow while maitaining their speed an athleticism. We need Brian Mone and Rashan Gary but we also need Chase Winovich and Chris Wormley. If you aren't paying attention to the fact that most recruits are adding 20, 30, 40 or in Frank Clark's case 70 pounds, then you aren't paying attention.

      -Lank

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    3. Hinton & Smith are Sophomores, the others are 5th year seniors. Even then, the older guys aren't producing much more - our DL sucks

      Agree with your second paragraph, but we aren't even doing that much. We only recruited 2 DTs (even though Hinton was an SDE) since Aubrey Solomon - FOUR cycles ago!

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    4. Smith didn't look any better than Welschof (a SDE recruit who everyone expected to bulk up and move inside and has).


      Michigan needs to do a better job building up guys at DT like they did with Mattison.

      It's not as simple as just recruiting bigger bodies. I'm not even opposed to that - but they would be idiots to ignore guys like Wormley, Jeter, and Welschof who are going to grow into interior linemen based on some sort of purity test.

      You need a basketball team approach on the DL just like WR. That includes big bodies, short bodies, tall bodies, growing bodies, and quick-twitch LB you can grow into guys who hold the edge.

      -Lank

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  5. I count 7 recruits listed as DTs over the last 5 classes Gary, Dwumfour, Solomon, Hudson, Paea, Hinton, and Smith. This excludes SDEs everyone assumed would get to DT sooner or later.

    Does that seem too low? IDK but the first team I checked to compare against - Notre Dame - had the exact same number.

    Some guys moved in and some moved out, as one expects in college football where people change positions and grow.

    -Lank

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    Replies
    1. "Michigan needs to do a better job building up guys at DT like they did with Mattison"

      That's the whole point. You agree, but want to argue ... We took ONE this year in Goudice, who is more of DE, and a long-term project at that. Last year, we took none. This is why we cannot stop the run against ANY team, and fail to apply pressure on QBs ...


      *I know you're reaching when you went back to 2016 - FIVE cycle's ago - and included an OT (Hudson) & OG (Paea). Now that's desparate spin

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