Youngstown (OH) Chaney linebacker Jason Hewlett committed to Michigan on Monday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Kentucky, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, and he was committed to Cincinnati until recently.
Hewlett is listed at 6'4" and 220 lbs.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 3-star, 79 grade, #33 OLB
On3: 3-star, 87 grade, #68 LB
Rivals: 3-star, 5.6 grade, #42 ATH
247 Sports: 4-star, 90 grade, #21 ATH
Hit the jump for more.
Hewlett had committed to Cincinnati back in September, and Michigan was not really involved. Cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale, a Youngstown guy, got the Wolverines involved in the past month even though an offer didn't come until last week. In the meantime, Hewlett backed off of his pledge to the Bearcats. He silently committed to the staff on Friday and then went public three days later.
Hewlett is a good all-around athlete with the versatility to do a variety of tasks, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. Listed around 6'3"-6'4" and 215-220 lbs., a lot of his future depends on how his body develops. He has ball skills as a wide receiver and kick returner, he has speed to play in coverage, and he has the physicality to come off the edge as a blitzer or play off-the-ball linebacker. I wouldn't put it past him to play tight end at the next level if that's where he's needed.
Only two things are holding Hewlett back, and those are a) lack of physical maturity and b) a focus on a specific position. Once Hewlett gets in the weight room and the staff lets him get settled at one spot, I think Hewlett can be a force. Personally, I would put him at Jaylen Harrell's outside linebacker position, let him work on some pass rush moves, drop him in coverage occasionally, and let him do his thing.
Overall, Hewlett is a good prospect with a lot of upside in Michigan's defense. There are other edge rushers in the class (Collins Acheampong, Enow Etta, Aymeric Koumba), so competition will be stiff, and Hewlett may be able to play some inside linebacker, whereas the other guys are stuck somewhere on the defensive line or at outside 'backer.
Michigan has not landed a player from Chaney High School since offensive lineman Robert Tabachino in the early 1980s. They might land two in this cycle, though, because safety D'Juan Waller may also commit to the Wolverines soon. Michigan currently has 19 commitments in the class of 2023.
TTB Rating: 81
In your history of recruit evaluation and tracking, who has been the biggest surprise to you, both in out-performing your initial evaluation, and under-performing?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting question. I might turn this into a "mailbag" post. I'd have to do some research. It's something I think about on occasion, but there are a couple hundred recruits/rankings to consider.
DeleteTwo things:
Delete(1) It doesn't have to be a really in-depth analysis; even an intuitive review of players that stand out in your mind would be interesting.
(2) For those that surprised to the upside, what would be really interesting is for you to point out the specific areas of improvement in technique that allowed them to over-perform. For example, you often cite the ability to "flip the hips" as a key for corners ... did the surprise upside guy learn to do that?
#2 fascinates me because it gets to the question of what can be coached, and what is just natural ability. I'd love to read about specific players that had a technique problem early, but worked at improvement and succeeded at it.
Great question and great offseason mailbag content.
Delete@ Anonymous 11:42 a.m.
DeleteThis isn't my full response, but one player that popped immediately into mind is Nick Eubanks. I ranked him very low (a 44, IIRC) because I thought he would end up transferring because of the other two tight ends in the class. It turned out one other guy transferred unexpectedly, and the other one stuck around and he and Eubanks made a nice duo. But again, that ranking was more of looking at the context of the team and misjudging how things would play out rather than an indictment of his abilities.
But yeah, thanks again for the question and the clarification here. I'll take a look at it.