Michael Onwenu, Wolverine

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech offensive guard Michael Onwenu

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Detroit (MI) Cass Tech offensive guard Michael Onwenu committed to Michigan on Tuesday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Alabama, Illinois, Miami, North Carolina State, Ohio State, and Penn State.

Onwenu is 6'3" and 365 lbs. He is committed to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 80 grade, #17 OG
Rivals: 4-star, #191 overall
Scout: 4-star, #5 OG, #169 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 94 grade, #5 OG, #140 overall

As a Cass Tech player, Onwenu had been on Michigan's radar for a long time and started visiting campus with his school a few years ago. At the time he was around 6'0" and well over 300 lbs., so it was unclear how he was going to develop. His first offer came from Ohio State in May of 2014, which is part of the reason why he had an affinity for the Buckeyes. Brady Hoke's staff offered him last July before his junior year began. He was thought to be an Ohio State lean at one point, but the Buckeyes' treatment of former teammate Michael Weber (his position coach recruited him up until the last minute and then took a job with the Chicago Bears immediately after Signing Day) left a sour taste in his mouth. Jim Harbaugh's staff, meanwhile, had been recruiting Weber and Onwenu hard, and Michigan's established pipeline with Cass Tech players seemed to bode well for their chances. After visits to campus this winter and spring, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Onwenu would end up committing to the Wolverines.

Onwenu was being looked at for defense by Hoke's staff, but Harbaugh and offensive coordinator/line coach Tim Drevno have made it clear they want him for the interior offensive line. That's not to say that he won't play defense at some point, because Harbaugh lets guys work on both sides of the ball at times. His position may not be determined for a while.

As an offensive lineman, Onwenu has surprisingly good feet for his size, and he can move when he wants to move. He also packs quite a punch, and he's not going to get overpowered by anyone.

In my opinion, though, there are more negatives than positives when talking about him on offense. There are a lot of technique issues to work out here. Onwenu is slow out of his stance, sometimes steps with the wrong foot, does not use good hand placement, and does not finish plays on a consistent basis. Even on his highlights, it's rare to see more than a few steps with any kind of purpose. Once he reaches his assignment - a guy who's unlikely to move around the mountain - Onwenu essentially stops to watch the play.

The place where Onwenu shows a sense of urgency is at nose tackle on defense. He looks like a totally different player. He's quick off the ball, uses good technique, and finishes plays. He probably won't be much of a pass rusher because it's tough to contort 365 lbs. in enough ways to wiggle around offensive linemen, but he can be a run-stuffer in the middle, especially if Michigan is going to run any 3-4 looks.

Overall, Onwenu is a good pickup for the staff. I think he's a guy that has some potential, and you have to look at a kid like that in your home state as a priority. Whether he has more upside on offense or defense is somewhat immaterial - the important thing is to get him on your team somewhere. Even on offense, he has the physical tools to mold into quite a player; it's the mental aspect that seems to be lacking. If he stays on that side of the ball, hopefully Drevno can work the kind of magic that Darrell Funk never seemed to be able to harness.

Onwenu is the seventh overall commit and the second offensive lineman in the 2016 class, joining offensive tackle Erik Swenson. Michigan will only lose guard/center Graham Glasgow to graduation after this coming season, but there are four redshirt juniors who will need to be replaced before long. The 2016 class is scheduled to be at least 15 players strong (LINK), but that number will surely increase, and various recruits have been talking and tweeting about calling this class the "Fab 25." I would expect the Wolverines to take 4-5 linemen in this class to prepare for those upcoming departures. The pipeline of Cass Tech will see Onwenu join a team that already includes cornerback Terry Richardson, cornerback Jourdan Lewis, offensive guard David Dawson, and safety Delano Hill.

TTB Rating: 74 (ratings explanation)

Michael Weber, Wolverine

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech running back Michael Weber committed to Michigan.

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech running back Michael Weber committed to Michigan on Wednesday night. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Michigan State, Ohio State, USC, and Wisconsin, among others.

I wrote up a scouting report on Weber in March (LINK), and not much has changed since then; after all, it was based on his junior film. He is slated to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 82 grade, #14 running back, #169 overall, #2 in-state
Rivals: 4-star, #10 running back, #105 overall, #1 in-state
Scout: 4-star, #13 running back, #104 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 94 grade, #13 running back, #144 overall, #2 in-state

Weber was one of Michigan's earliest offers in the 2015 class, but Kentuckian Damien Harris committed first. The presence of perhaps the nation's top-ranked running back seemed to bother Weber, who lost some interest in Michigan and started to build relationships with the likes of Michigan State, Ohio State, USC, and Wisconsin. Then Al Borges was fired, Harris decommitted, and new offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier re-prioritized Weber this winter and spring. As you can tell by my comments on the March scouting report, I thought Michigan held a slight lead by that point. Despite touted teammate Joshua Alabi committing to Ohio State recently, Weber skipped a planned visit to Michigan State, drove to Ann Arbor with one of his coaches, and committed to Michigan on Wednesday evening.

Weber is a solid player who has been dominating the Detroit area (and the state) for the past three years. I mentioned in that scouting report that he reminds me of Emmitt Smith in the way he runs - not extremely fast, not extremely powerful, not extremely shifty, but he gets the job done efficiently. One other thing to note is that Weber reportedly caught the ball well at a recent camp, which strengthens the Smith comparison and adds another dimension to a well rounded game. I have noted in the past that if Michigan's offensive line develops like it should with all these big-time recruits, any halfway decent running back should be very productive. I do not see Weber dominating the highlight reels in the future, but he should be a good running back for the Wolverines who has some potential for the NFL.

This gives Michigan ten commits in the 2015 class, which is currently scheduled to hit just 11 or so (LINK). He's also the only running back (with Harris likely headed elsewhere), and Michigan will probably stand pat with just one back in this class unless something changes. The Wolverines have landed the top two in-state players (Weber, WR Brian Cole) and three of the top four (QB Alex Malzone is #4), according to the 247 Composite. Weber is another in a long line of Cass Tech players headed to Michigan, where he will join offensive lineman David Dawson, linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone, cornerbacks Jourdan Lewis and Terry Richardson, and safety Delano Hill. Furthermore, his Wednesday night visit took place with Delano Hill's younger brother, Lavert, a 2016 cornerback who also holds an offer from the Wolverines.

TTB Rating: 82 (ratings explanation)

Delano Hill, Wolverine

Jourdan Lewis and Delano Hill at The Opening last summer

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech safety Delano Hill committed to Michigan on Saturday.  He had previously been committed to Iowa while also holding offers from Illinois, Pitt, and Syracuse.

Hill is a 6'1", 198 lb. prospect.  He claims a 4.44 forty, a 4.34 shuttle time, and a 32" vertical.  As a senior in 2012, he had 60 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 1 touchdown return.

RATINGS
ESPN: 3-star S, 79 grade, #23 S
Rivals: 4-star S, #23 S
Scout: 4-star S, #24 S
247 Sports: 4-star S, 90 grade, #24 S

Hill visited Michigan back in the spring, but Michigan's coaches didn't give him a ton of recruiting attention throughout the process and did not appear to be on the path to offering him a scholarship.  Iowa, which does a good job of recruiting the Detroit area, swooped in with an offer that  he accepted back in July.  The Hawkeyes had a poor season, going 4-8 as the team adjusted to several new assistant coaches.  It's unclear whether this lack of success had an effect on Hill's decision, but he was offered by the Wolverines this past week and visited Ann Arbor for a bowl practice on Friday.  By Saturday morning he had selected the Wolverines.

Cass Tech head coach Thomas Wilcher claims that Hill is the best pure athlete on his high school team, which includes several Division I prospects like cornerback Jourdan Lewis, cornerback Damon Webb, running back/linebacker Deon Drake, and running back Mikey Weber (along with several others).  Hill reportedly ran a 4.40 at Nike's The Opening in July.  His speed is well documented and shows up in games, too, which isn't always the case for guys who have good forty times.  He has good length and leaping ability, which should prove to be an asset in coverage.

My biggest question mark about Hill - and this is significant to me because it might determine his future position - is his tackling ability.  While some scouting reports tout his tackling ability, I don't see it on film.  He's not a very aggressive tackler and doesn't display a natural instinct to stay in front of runners.  Rather than squaring up ball carriers for solid hits, he tends to reach.  And while I have seen a clip or two of him being physical with shedding blocks during his senior season, that was a problem for him as a junior.

Normally, I am not a fan of moving a player back in the defense; witness the way Josh Furman has struggled with going from outside linebacker in high school to safety in college.  As a high school strong safety, moving to cornerback could be too much of a shift to overcome.  However, Hill's lack of physicality makes me think that his best position could be boundary corner.  Unless he gets significantly stronger and more aggressive, he could be a liability as the last line of defense.

At this point in the recruiting process, Hill is the type of player that often fills out a roster.  While he's not a truly elite athlete, he offers some upside due to raw athleticism and the potential to help out on special teams.  This is not a player whom you expect to come in and challenge for a starting job immediately.  He helps to fill the void left by Gareon Conley (who decommitted in favor of Ohio State) and potentially softens the blow of losing out on Seffner (FL) Armwood defensive back Leon McQuay III, an elite prospect who is also heavily considering Florida State, USC, and Vanderbilt.  This gives the Wolverines 24 commitments in the class of 2013, a group that should reach 25 or more.

TTB Rating: 71 (ratings explantion)

David Dawson, Wolverine . . . again

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech offensive guard David Dawson (image via Rivals)

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech offensive guard David Dawson committed to Michigan again today.  He originally committed to the Wolverines in February but . . . well, you can find the story here.

My opinion on Dawson hasn't really changed since he committed the first time, so here's his original commitment post.  As far as I know, he hasn't released any highlights from his senior year, so I might recalibrate my projection if I see a little bit more recent highlights.

His updated rankings are as follows:

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star OG, #1 OG, 84 grade, #87 overall
Rivals: 4-star OG, #6 OG, #151 overall
Scout: 4-star OG, #8 OG, #182 overall
247 Sports: 4-star OG, #6 OG, 94 grade, #108 overall

We had a spirited discussion recently about whether Dawson should have been re-offered by Michigan coaches.  You can find that discussion here if interested.

Dawson (and teammate Delano Hill) gives Michigan 24 commits in a class that will almost certainly reach 25, if not more.  As the fifth offensive lineman in the class, Michigan could sit tight or perhaps pursue another commitment from someone like Corona (CA) Centennial's Cameron Hunt, particularly if redshirt junior offensive tackle Taylor Lewan declares for the NFL Draft.