Oak Lawn (IL) Brother Rice defensive tackle Roderick "Trey" Pierce committed to Michigan on Wednesday evening. The former Wisconsin commit picked the Wolverines over offers from Auburn, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas, among others.
Pierce is listed at 6'3" and 290 lbs.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 3-star, 77 grade, #49 DT
On3: 3-star, 86 grade, #116 DL
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #16 DT
247 Sports: 3-star, 89 grade, #51 DL
Hit the jump for more.
Pierce was committed to Wisconsin at one point, but the coaching uncertainty left an opening for Michigan and other schools. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was named the interim head coach, but after Pierce had decommitted from the Badgers, Wisconsin picked Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell to take over in Madison. Pierce was also looking at Illinois as a potential destination.
Pierce is a sturdy defensive lineman who does not have any bad weight. In his physique he reminds me of former Michigan defensive lineman Willie Henry. Pierce plays low and does a good job of getting his hands on offensive linemen, keeping them off of his body. He shows a nice swim move and does a nice job on slants, moving laterally while also gaining ground and making it difficult for offensive linemen to adjust. When he makes contact, he brings hips and can stop runners in their tracks, playing with excellent leverage.
I have a couple questions about Pierce, but they are more about his ceiling than his floor. His first step is not the greatest - which prevents me from a full-on Willie Henry comparison - and his size leaves me wondering whether he can add enough weight to play the nose tackle position and hold the point of attack.
Overall, I think Pierce is a high-floor prospect who should be able to man the 3-tech position pretty easily. Whether he's quick enough to play defensive end (Kris Jenkins's spot) or gets big enough to play nose (think Mazi Smith) remains to be seen. If I had to pick a Michigan player for a comparison, I would single out Matt Godin, who was a lean defensive tackle at 6'6" and 294 lbs. that had a pretty solid career at Michigan (57 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 interception) from 2012-2016. Pierce is shorter but a similar player overall, in my opinion.
TTB Rating: 79
We could be solid in the middle of our DL for awhile. Refreshing after the dark times
ReplyDeleteI wasn't hit by an issue with his first step, but you do notice that he drives through contact with his feet. Be it initial contact with an incoming blocker or a ball carrier, those feet are mostly moving. I'll take him. I'd like the bigger Illinois DT as well. With Bahr, that's a really nice, serviceable group of D linemen.
ReplyDeleteRoanman