Concord (CA) De La Salle safety Zeke Berry committed to Michigan on Friday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, and USC, among others.
Berry is listed at 6'0" and 195 lbs. He claims a 4.55 forty.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #33 CB, #283 overall
On3: 4-star, 96 grade, #3 S, #59 overall
Rivals: 3-star CB, 5.6 grade
247 Sports: 4-star, 94 grade, #8 S, #64 overall
Hit the jump for more on Berry's commitment.
Berry was committed to Arizona at one point when Don Brown was the defensive coordinator. As a versatile athlete, that made sense for the man coverage-loving Brown, who probably could have used Berry very well. However, Berry decommitted when it became apparent that there were better places to go to school; Brown is now the head coach at UMass, anyway. Oregon made a push for Berry, but after his official visit for The Game against Ohio State, Berry went ahead and made his commitment public.
As mentioned above, Berry is a very versatile athlete. While his 4.55 forty time isn't one that lights the world on fire, he looks more explosive on the hoof. Playing against good competition at De La Salle, he shows breakaway speed at receiver and good closing speed on defense. He does a good job of tracking the ball in the air and can deliver a blow when he arrives at the intended receiver. He also has some upside as a blitzer off the edge.
Normally I leave a section for negatives, but I really don't see much there, so I'll skip it. He's good.
Berry reminds me of former Michigan safety Dymonte Thomas. Thomas was a guy who was an excellent running back, played a middle linebacker type of role in high school, and then transitioned to safety in college. It took a while for Thomas to develop, but I think Berry is further along and should be ready to play at a high level earlier. Thomas turned out to be a rangy free safety who was a solid tackler. Berry looks like a guy who could play a backup role as a freshman and then be ready to roll in year two and beyond.
Michigan now has 20 commitments in the class of 2022. The last player from De La Salle to sign with Michigan was tight end Devin Asiasi, a 2016 signee who transferred to UCLA after one season in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines have a pretty dang impressive defensive back class:
- CB: Will Johnson
- CB: Myles Pollard
- FS: Kody Jones
- SS: Damani Dent
- Nickel: Zeke Berry
TTB Rating: 82
Whoa - you don't hear this often:
ReplyDelete"Normally I leave a section for negatives, but I really don't see much there, so I'll skip it. He's good."
I like this secondary class a lot. Seems very 'multiple' in the sense of a bunch of guys who can play anywhere in the secondary.