Marrero (LA) Archbishop Shaw wide receiver Jacob Washington committed to Michigan on Monday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Baylor, Georgia Tech, Miami, Missouri, Ole Miss, and Penn State, among others.
Washington is listed at 6'3", 180 pounds. He claims an 11.53 in the 100 meters, a 23.44 in the 200 meters, and an 18.75' long jump.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #24 WR, #203 overall
On3: 3-star, 89 grade, #54 WR
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #68 WR
247 Sports: 3-star, 89 grade, #57 WR
Hit the jump for more on Washington's commitment.
Washington was offered by Michigan in April 2024. Hailing from Archbishop Shaw - the alma mater of wide receivers coach Ronald Bellamy - the receiver joined running back teammate Jasper Parker in having an offer from the Wolverines. Both players are now committed to Michigan after Washington took officials to Baylor and Georgia Tech, then following it up with an official to Ann Arbor this past weekend.
Washington is a big-bodied receiver, which is something the Wolverines have lacked in recent recruiting classes. He shows at least glimpses of being able to high-point the ball, and he catches a back-pylon fade for a touchdown in his highlights. I also liked his ability to go down low and make some nice adjustments to catch balls near his shins, something that's not easy for someone who's 6'3".
The route tree for Washington appears to be pretty rudimentary, and he doesn't seem to be asked to do too much - fades, slants, hitches, digs, and outs. He also doesn't seem to offer very much after the catch; there are some awkward stumbles at times after catching the ball on in-breaking routes, and sometimes it just seems he doesn't fight very hard for extra yardage. There's only one clip of his downfield blocking, and even that shows a guy just running interference rather than really trying to physically dominate his man.
Overall, Washington is the big-bodied, long-striding receiver that is lacking from the current roster, so he's a potential piece of the puzzle. But he's not physically dominant at this point and needs to keep adding weight to a very lanky frame. I'm reminded of 2017 recruit Tarik Black, who spent a few seasons at Michigan before transferring to play a year at Texas. Over four years in college, he made a total of 50 catches for 757 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Washington is the first receiver in the 2025 class, and he joins teammate Parker as the Louisiana natives in the class. The last Louisiana product to sign with Michigan was wide receiver Amorion Walker in 2022.
TTB Rating: 72
"I'm reminded of 2017 recruit Tarik Black, who spent a few seasons at Michigan before transferring to play a year at Texas."
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves, Michigan's coaching staff back in that time frame was a bit ... odd. According to MGoBlue, under Harbaugh Michigan had a receivers coach in 2015 (Jedd Fisch), but then no named receivers coach until 2022 when Ron Bellamy moved over from safeties. So six years with no named receivers coach. Someone may have been doing something in that space on an un-named basis.
Two question for you, Thunder:
Q1 -- Do you think the lack of a named receivers coach during the time of Tarik Black (and others) may have hindered Michigan's receivers group?
Q2 -- Do you think Michigan receivers have shown better development since Ron Bellamy was named to that post starting in 2022?
McElwain was our WR Coach before moving on to Central
DeleteI like this kid. Not the most Harball of guys. But - not unlike Tarik - can be a downfield threat for a QB that can deliver. As you say, 'a piece of the puzzle' especially if Bellamy can coach him up
I do remember Jim McElwain, but it's interesting ... the MGoBlue site does not mention him for their 2018 team, which is what Wikipedia cites as the year he was there:
Deletehttps://mgoblue.com/sports/football/coaches/2018
Anyway, the point is still valid: there seemed to be a lack of focus on a coach for that position, and it's curious to me why. Surely somebody was coaching them, but which position coach would that have been? The quarterback / passing game coordinator?
That's interesting
DeleteFrom 2o19-21, they also list Gattis as OC, but as I recall WR was his position group
Yes, McElwain and then Gattis were the WR coaches during that span. So Michigan did have position coaches working with those guys. They also had some quality graduate assistants working with the position, such as Roy Roundtree.
Delete1. I'm not super-impressed with Gattis overall, but I do think he's a decent WR coach. It's kind of a chicken-or-egg thing, and I lean egg. The wide receivers weren't productive during that era because they weren't a focus of the offense; I don't think the offense was held back by the lack of receiver talent/development.
2. I don't think I've noticed much of a change when it comes to WR development. I think Michigan has developed WRs adequately for a while, but they don't use them in games very much. That's why you saw Nico Collins putting up good YPC and making huge plays but not getting many catches. Ronnie Bell developed and was good. The latest round is Roman Wilson and Tyler Morris, while it's too soon to tell for guys like Moore and Morgan. Anecdotally, I feel like the WRs are better at blocking now than they were before; I had specific issues with Tarik Black being unwilling to block, but it seems like Bellamy is putting an emphasis on it to where even a guy like Roman Wilson (who's undersized and has had some injury issues) is willing to block. I think someone like Black would not have seen the field for Bellamy, or at least not until toward the end of games.