River Rouge (MI) River Rouge defensive tackle Davonte Miles committed to Michigan on Friday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan State, and Pitt, among others.
Miles is listed at 6'5" and 275 lbs.
RANKINGS
ESPN: N/A
Rivals: 3-star SDE, 5.5 grade,
247 Sports: 3-star, 86 grade, #45 DT
Hit the jump for more.
Miles was offered by Michigan back in May during the COVID shutdown. I don't know that he made a visit to Michigan's campus in the meantime, but being an in-state guy with a chance to stay close to home, he went ahead and committed.
Miles is a somewhat tantalizing project. River Rouge has 6'3", 324 lb. Pius Odjugo (Central Michigan commit) in the middle of the defensive line, so they can afford to move Miles around from defensive tackle all the way out to a stand-up defensive end spot. He's certainly an interior guy at the next level, but he would be a load to handle coming off the edge for high schoolers. Miles shows intermittent ability to bend and has decent athleticism.
Technique-wise, Miles has some work to do. He's not consistent with his hands, and he tends to reach for tackles rather than sinking his hips and breaking down. He can bend, but he doesn't always do it. Playing a defensive end spot doesn't do him many favors for the next level, because he's not getting necessary reps taking on double-teams and defeating blocks as a 3-tech. From an effort standpoint, it seems like Miles plays tentatively. He doesn't sell out to make tackles, he doesn't finish tackles, he doesn't always wrap up, etc. It just seems like he grabs ahold of ball carriers and hopes to hold on long enough until somebody else can get in on the tackle.
Overall, Miles is a big body, which is nice. Michigan needs those. He's a work in progress, though. I'm reminded of former Michigan defensive lineman Renaldo Sagesse, a Canadian who rounded into an okay backup before embarking on a career in the CFL.
Michigan now has four commits in the 2022 class, joining fellow in-state defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren, linebacker Tyler Martin, and tight end Marlin Klein. Miles would be the first player for Michigan to come from River Rouge, a program that produces occasional FBS prospects, such as Wisconsin safety Reggie Pearson.
TTB Rating: I will not give a TTB Rating until the 2021 class is finalized.
See, this is the kind of DL we should have as a 4th or 5th commit, not 2d
ReplyDeleteHopefully we get Benny, and land a transfer
I think you're really nit-picking if you're talking about the order of commitments. There's still a year before NSD for 2022, and a lot of top recruits wait until later in the process to decide. Especially in the 2022 and 2023 classes where young guys haven't been able to take visits or go to camps all summer.
DeleteDepending on the other DL guys they can bring in he may be one of those guys that get processed out. Maybe he improves technique and proves me wrong but he definitely is an arm tackler and, from his highlights, doesn't really throw anyone around like he should at that size. I agree, 4th or 5th DT option down the road but not someone UM should take this early. MY early rating on TTB scale, 64.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is for NEXT year? This is yet another problem with recruiting under Harbaugh, and leads to bad optics. No need to take a commitment this early. We're running the risk of processing a local kid, further damaging relationships
ReplyDeleteYou get processed for basically three reasons:
Delete1. Your academics fall off
2. You get in trouble
3. You fail to develop
I don't think #1 and #2 will be a problem with him. And the staff doesn't have the luxury of worrying about #3, really, because they need DTs.
I'm not guaranteeing that Miles will end up a Wolverine, but I do have confidence that it won't be because of "processing." He might just decide he wants to be elsewhere, maybe this coaching staff disappears, etc.
I'm glad we're (finally) addressing the position. But this is a really low rated kid who basically missed his Junior year ... he'd commit later if we offered
DeleteThis reminds me of a Summer Swarm commit, where we took really low rated prospects too early, and then filed them under your third reason. Doing that to a local kid doesn't help longterm
Glad we're focusing on need, and wish we did so in 2020 & 21, maybe one might be ready soon
Now, I hope we take 2-4 more, though with higher potential
Good teams don't have to worry about processing kids for reason #3 because they don't offer kids like this early. However, if UM finds a bunch of better players who WANT to come to UM then having bodies doesn't really matter. They just stop contacting a player like this and then end up looking like A-holes. See Swenson (Swanson... Samsonite; I was way off).
DeleteI'll also add that Tyler Martin (LB) is probably another kid that may be processed out, unless he bulks up and plays DT too. He's just a slow LB right now.
ReplyDeleteThunder,
ReplyDeleteIs there any talk at all that this 2022 player could choose Michigan?
https://247sports.com/Player/Jaheim-Oatis-46047745/
Just wishing. He's a mountain, 345 as a junior. And a mauler.
joseph dreamed dreams
I don't think Michigan has even offered him. He'll probably go to LSU or Alabama.
DeleteSo it turns out it's not really about the type of player but the ranking of said type of player.
ReplyDeleteWHAAAA I WANNA 5 STAR!
We got one. Actually several.
I HATE HIM HE IS OVERRATED.
He is making all conference teams and got drafted in the 1st round.
HE LACKS LEADERSHIP AND TOUGHNESS!
Anyway, some people just want to argue and complain.
-Lank
Seems like Michigan is exploring all avenues to address the DT situation that has been a weakness the last couple years.
ReplyDeleteI think recruiting is part of the problem but just as important has been retention (Solomon), slow development (Dwumfour/Jeter), and some poor identification (Mason/Jeter). I think we got a bit spoiled in Mattison era (especially with him and Hoke both here) with elite development, even of walk-on types. Nua seems to have done excellent work with Paye and Hutchinson but the interior has not been nearly as good.
As with OL I think you either have to have a high success rate (as Rich Rod did with OL and Mattison did with DL) or you have to attack the position group with lots of bodies and scholarships until you solidify.
I am hopeful Michigan is fixing the situation as they did, eventually, along the OL.
-Lank