Review of 2005 Recruiting: The Running Backs

Kevin Grady never had a 100-yard game in college

The Roster
Mike Hart, So.
Jerome Jackson, Jr.
Max Martin, So.

The Offerees
Andre Criswell
High school: Detroit (MI) Renaissance
Ratings: Rivals 2-star FB; Scout 2-star RB
College: Michigan
Other notable offers:
Scoop: Criswell arrived as a fullback in 2005 and redshirted behind Kevin Dudley.  As a redshirt sophomore in 2007, Criswell caught 2 passes for 32 yards in mop-up duty against Eastern Michigan and Minnesota.  On special teams he made 4 career tackles.  When Rich Rodriguez arrived in 2008, he gave Criswell a chance to play at both tight end and defensive end, but Criswell never saw the field at either position.  He was not given a fifth year of eligibility, but instead spent the 2009 season as a graduate assistant.

Kevin Grady
High school: Grand Rapids (MI) East
Ratings: Rivals 5-star RB, #22 overall; Scout 5-star, #5 RB
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Michigan State
Scoop: Grady arrived as an all-everything tailback out of western Michigan and spent his freshman season as the primary backup to Mike Hart.  He ran the ball 121 times for 483 yards (4.0 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns; he also caught 14 passes for 113 yards (8.1 yards per catch).  However, his freshman year was the high point of his career.  Off-the-field troubles and the healthy return of Hart limited him to 55 carries for 187 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns, in addition to just 1 catch for 8 yards.  He tore his ACL in the spring of 2007 and sat out the following season.  As a redshirt junior in 2008, Grady saw limited time as a backup tailback behind Sam McGuffie and Brandon Minor, notching just 14 carries for 33 yards (2.4 yards per carry) and 1 touchdown.  He accepted a switch to fullback for the 2009 season, and ended the year with 10 carries for 80 yards and 1 touchdown, in addition to 5 catches for 29 yards (5.8 yards per catch).  Grady ended his career with 200 carries for 783 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns, plus 20 receptions for 150 yards (7.5 yards per catch).  He was not drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft and has not played in the NFL.

Mister Simpson
High school: Cincinnati (OH) Colerain
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #20 RB; Scout 3-star, #53 RB
College: Michigan Cincinnati Jail
Other notable offers: Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Maryland
Scoop: Simpson redshirted as a true freshman in 2005.  He left the program prior to the 2006 season and transferred to Cincinnati, where he never saw the field due to a little problem called "burglary."  His most recent arrest, as far as I can tell, was in January 2011.  His football career appears to be over.

Rashawn Jackson
High school: Jersey City (NJ) St. Pater's
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #7 FB; Scout 3-star, #46 RB
College: Virginia
Other notable offers: Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, USC
Scoop: Jackson began his career at running back in 2005, but switched to practicing at linebacker halfway through the season; he didn't play in a single game and redshirted.  As a redshirt freshman in 2006, he remained at linebacker and made 7 total tackles on special teams.  He moved back to fullback in 2007 and ran the ball 20 times for 72 yards (3.6 yards per carry) while also catching 6 passes for 42 yards (7 yards per catch) and 1 touchdown.  As a redshirt junior in 2008, Jackson ran the ball 16 times for 62 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and caught 14 passes for 79 yards (5.6 yards per catch).  As a fifth year senior in 2009, he became the team's feature back and ran the ball 96 times for 461 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns; he also snagged 25 passes for 222 yards (8.9 yards per reception).  He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft but signed as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers, for whom he played 2 games in 2010 without accumulating any statistics.

Conclusions
Biggest bust: Kevin Grady.  Not only did he never have a 100-yard game, but he rushed for less than 800 yards over five years and had multiple off-the-field issues.  As far back as the recruiting services go (2002), Grady might be Michigan's biggest recruiting bust.

Biggest miss: Rashawn Jackson.  He's the only choice, but since he's the only one of the four to sniff the NFL, I guess he fits here.

Best in class: Jonathan Stewart.  Stewart ran for 2,981 yards and 27 touchdowns at Oregon.  Then he was a first round pick of the Carolina Panthers.  He has 3,500 rushing yards for the Panthers and 26 rushing touchdowns.

All offers are recorded on the 2005 Offer Board.

2005 Offer Board

56 total offers

QUARTERBACK (3)
Jason Forcier - San Diego, CA (Michigan)
Harrison Beck - Clearwater, FL (Nebraska)
Rob Schoenhoft - Cincinnati, OH (Ohio State)

RUNNING BACK (4)
Andre Criswell - Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Kevin Grady - Grand Rapids, MI (Michigan)
Mister Simpson - Cincinnati, OH (Michigan)
Rashawn Jackson - Jersey City, NJ (Virginia)

WIDE RECEIVER (10)
Antonio Bass - Jackson, MI (Michigan)
Mario Manningham - Warren, OH (Michigan)
LaTerryal Savoy - Mamou, LA (Michigan)
Rendrick Taylor - Bennettsville, SC (Clemson)
Nate Boateng - Brooklyn, NY (Florida)
Mohamed Massaquoi - Charlotte, NC (Georgia)
Andre Amos - Middletown, OH (Ohio State)
Eric Huggins - Conway, SC (Oklahoma)
Kevin Cousins - Richmond, VA (Penn State)
Selwyn Lymon - Fort Wayne, IN (Purdue)

TIGHT END (2)
Carson Butler - Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Ed Dickson - Bellflower, CA (Oregon)

OFFENSIVE TACKLE (5)
Justin Schifano - Webster, NY (Michigan)
Andy Kuempel - Marion, IA (Iowa)
Dace Richardson - Wheaton, IL (Iowa)
John Jerry - Batesville, MS (Mississippi)
Alex Boone - Lakewood, OH (Ohio State)

OFFENSIVE GUARD (5)
Tim McAvoy - Bloomington, IL (Michigan)
David Moosman - Libertyville, IL (Michigan)
Cory Zirbel - Murray, KY (Michigan)
Ronnie Wilson - Pompano Beach, FL (Florida)
Hivera Green - Conway, SC (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE END (5)
Eugene Germany - Pomona, CA (Michigan)
Chris McLaurin - Orchard Lake, MI (Michigan)
Allan Smith - Kansas City, MO (Boston College)
Kyle Moore - Warner Robins, GA (USC)
William Wall - Chatham, VA (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (4)
James McKinney - Louisville, KY (Michigan)
Marques Slocum - Philadelphia, PA (Michigan)
Terrance Taylor - Muskegon, MI (Michigan)
Craig Bokor - Bedford, PA (Pittsburgh)

LINEBACKER (2)
Brandon Logan - Lexington, KY (Michigan)
Jerome Hayes - Bayonne, NJ (Penn State)

CORNERBACK (11)
Brandon Harrison - Dayton, OH (Michigan)
Chris Richards - North Hills, CA (Michigan)
Johnny Sears - Fresno, CA (Michigan)
Lionel Mitchell - Chatham, VA (Alabama)
Avery Atkins - Daytona Beach, FL (Florida)
Anthony Wiseman - Hyattsville, MD (Maryland)
Demetrice Morley - Miami, FL (Miami)
Kendell Davis - Alliance, OH (Michigan State)
Jamario O'Neal - Cleveland, OH (Ohio State)
Justin King - Pittsburgh, PA (Penn State)
Kevin Thomas - Oxnard, CA (USC)

SAFETY (4)
C.J. Byrd - North Augusta, SC (Georgia)
Chris Rowell - Warrensville Heights, OH (Iowa)
Nic Harris - Alexandria, LA (Oklahoma)
Victor Harris - Highland Springs, VA (Virginia Tech)

KICKER/PUNTER (1)
Zoltan Mesko - Twinsburg, OH (Michigan)

2010 Countdown: #62 Kelvin Grady

Name: Kelvin Grady
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 167 lbs.
High school: East Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, MI
Position: Slot receiver/running back
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #19
Last year: Not ranked.

The brother of former Michigan running back Kevin Grady, the younger Grady came to Michigan to play basketball. But he didn't quite fit in Coach Beilein's system and left the basketball team. Grady then decided to walk on to the football program in 2009 after having been a star high school running back. Grady was impressive enough that he earned starter-level playing time early in the season. He caught 10 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown, but was surpassed late in the season by Roy Roundtree; Grady started dropping passes and then didn't even play in the final three games of the year.

The word from insiders is that Grady will be given a shot to earn playing time at either slot receiver or running back in the fall. Without a returning starter at the running back position - and underwhelming performances during the spring game - Grady might offer some depth. I'm not expecting much from him this fall. He's too slight to play running back in the Big Ten, and there are better options there; and the combination of Roundtree and Martavious Odoms at slot receiver is potentially deadly, not to mention up-and-comers Terrence Robinson and Jeremy Gallon. It's a good thing for Michigan that someone with Grady's talent might be its fifth best player at the position; it's a bad thing for Grady himself.

Prediction for 2010: Scarce duty as backup slot receiver. He won't match the stat totals from 2009.

What Could Have Been . . . Christian Wilson

Christian Wilson (#33)

Christian Wilson, a 6'3", 235 lb. running back/tight end from McKees Rocks, PA, committed to Michigan back in 2007. He was expected to be a part of the class of 2008 after Lloyd Carr convinced him that he could play an H-back role in Mike Debord's offense. It's somewhat odd that Carr would recruit a guy for a position that didn't really exist when he probably knew that he wouldn't be there past the 2007 season.

Regardless, the hiring of Rich Rodriguez forced Wilson to rethink his options. Rodriguez honored the offer and told him that he could play linebacker, but Wilson wasn't interested. He pictured himself as an offensive player, but Wilson would only fit Rodriguez's offense as a fullback . . . and Rodriguez molds his fullbacks out of walk-ons.

Wilson took the hint and opened up his recruitment. He committed to North Carolina and played as a freshman. He caught 2 passes for 19 yards as a true freshman in 2008 and added 5 more catches for 30 yards in 2009.

Michigan's starting fullback in 2009 was Kevin Grady, who notched 10 carries for 80 yards and 1 touchdown. He also caught 5 passes for 29 yards.

Grady was probably a better player for Michigan's offense, but moving forward, the fullback duties will fall to fifth year senior Mark Moundros and redshirt junior John McColgan. It would be nice to have an athlete of Wilson's caliber to play fullback, but considering the fact that a former 5-star running back in Grady only touched the ball 15 times, committing a four-year scholarship to a fullback might not make a great deal of sense. It would be nice to have an extra inside linebacker on the roster, but if Wilson didn't want to play defense, he probably wouldn't be great at it, anyway.

Illinois 38, Michigan 13

Carlos Brown taken down on first contact? Inconceivable!
Nope...wait a minute...yeah, that's conceivable.

This was a day that will go down in history as . . . a loss to Illinois.

What I learned from Saturday was that Rich Rodriguez is not the savior of the Michigan program. He is not a genius who can make lemonade out of . . . I don't know . . . used bicycle tires. He is a football coach who has huge flaws, especially when his team has huge flaws itself.

Illinois was a 1-win football team before Saturday, and that win didn't even come against an FBS school. They beat the winningest program in college football history, and it wasn't even close. Michigan's inexperienced and untalented defense gave up 500 yards total, 377 of which came on the ground. Illinois had not one 100-yard rusher, but two (running backs Micheal Leshoure and Jason Ford) . . . and that's not counting the 97 yards rushing from their nearly-benched starting quarterback, Juice Williams.

In last week's game against Penn State, the offense seemed to blame. They consistently failed to give Michigan's defense a chance. This week both sides of the ball seem to have regressed from earlier in the year. Michigan continues to turn the ball over on offense (3 fumbles) while failing to get turnovers on defense (uhhh . . . 0 fumbles, 0 interceptions). Prior to Saturday's game, Michigan was 105th in the country. I'm assuming they're even lower now, although I refuse to look up the stats.

I have to admit that I turned off the game with a few minutes left in the third quarter. I'm usually very calm when watching games on TV, but when free safety Mike Williams lost contain on Juice Williams for about the tenth time on the zone read option, I screamed "Stop doing that!" at the TV. I figured that meant I had had enough, so I shut it off. Mike Williams goes full speed all the time. Unfortunately, he's often aimed in the wrong direction, despite racking up 16 tackles. Other leading tacklers this year include walk-on safety Jordan Kovacs and walk-on linebacker Kevin Leach, so when safeties and/or slow, undersized quasi-linebackers are notching the majority of your takedowns, something is wrong.

Speaking of something horribly wrong . . . 38-13. Against a one-win team. A one-win team that led by a score of only 14-13 at halftime.

Offensive game ball goes to...Roy Roundtree? Sure. I guess. I don't know. The offense only mustered one touchdown and two field goals against a bad defense. Choices are slim.

Defensive game ball goes to...Brandon Graham. Seven tackles, one sack, one blocked punt.

Let's see less of this guy on offense...Carlos Brown. I can't believe Rich Rodriguez left Brown in on the goal line. That was the most ridiculous coaching decision from yesterday. Brown is fast, but he hasn't broken a tackle since that one time in his freshman year when he was playing Madden and hit the truck stick. If Minor is healthy enough to come in on fourth down, he's healthy enough to come in on first down. And if he's not? Put Moundros in at fullback and Kevin Grady at tailback. Hell, put John McColgan in at fullback with Grady at tailback. Put Vincent Smith or Michael Shaw at tailback. Brown pussy-footed his way into the hole on 3rd down (maybe 2nd down) and I let out a loud sigh. That whole set of downs was asinine.

Let's see less of this guy on defense...Michael Williams. I'm sorry for predicting that he would/should start at safety prior to the season. I thought he was better than this. He's not. He was single-handedly responsible for Juice Williams's rushing TD and about 50 more of Juice's yards. My high schoolers can defend the zone read option better than he did. Put Troy Woolfolk back at strong safety, move Kovacs to free safety, and plug J.T. Floyd back in at cornerback. I'd rather have a bad cornerback than a bad safety.

2009 Countdown: #39 Kevin Grady

Name: Kevin Grady
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 230 lbs.
High School: East Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, MI
Position: Running back/fullback
Class: 5th year senior
Jersey Number: #24
2008 statistics: 14 carries, 33 yards, 1 TD
Prediction for 2009: Backup fullback, goal-line and short yardage tailback

Grady has had a somewhat disappointing career so far at Michigan. He came in as a 5-star recruit following Mike Hart's freshman season and people expected him to be Michigan's next great back. But he hasn't produced much and has since been passed up by less-ballyhooed (but still talented) players like Brandon Minor, Michael Cox, Carlos Brown, and Sam McGuffie.

The word from Coach Rodriguez is that Kevin Grady is playing some fullback, and it looks as though he might be a short yardage tailback. Mark Moundros is ahead of Kevin at fullback, but Kevin has a little more speed than Moundros. There are several tailbacks ahead of Kevin, but he's the largest tailback on the roster; he won't run past anyone, but he will run through them.