Name: Damani Dent
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 190 lbs.
High school: Jacksonville (FL) Terry Parker
Position: Safety
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #9
Last year: Dent was a senior in high school (LINK).
TTB Rating: 82
Dent was a little known prospect to Michigan fans before he was on the verge of committing. That type of thing can tend to happen when you're from Florida and your other two best offers are from Oregon and Pitt. Not that there's anything wrong with those schools, of course, but they're not traditional recruiting powerhouses.
I do like Dent and his potential. He's supposedly a student of the game, and he's an aggressive and intelligent player. I think if he sticks around long enough at Michigan, he could be a good player. I had a hard time placing him in the countdown, because another undersized safety, Rod Moore, played quite a bit as a freshman in 2021. Dent could follow in his footsteps. Or the safety depth chart could be full enough with Moore, R.J. Moten, Makari Paige, and others to leave Dent redshirting.
Safety is traditionally not a spot where freshmen get a lot of run, so I'm betting against the chances of finding lightning in a bottle two years in a row. I'm guessing Dent will play in a game or two as a backup and preserve his redshirt.
Prediction: Redshirt
They may have a hard time keeping him off the field - athletic safety types tend to get play on special teams and Dent sounds like a heady player who could end up ahead of the curve. This may be a tough call for the coaches to preserve the redshirt or not.
ReplyDeleteThen again if he's the "diamond in the rough" some expect he's not going to be around 5 years anyway so the redshirt concern is moot. Best case scenario for Michigan is that he is too good to stick around 5 years - second best case is he has just enough physical limitations to stay off NFL radars while being a smart guy who is highly effective at the college level.