2011 Offer Board Update

Fort Myers, FL cornerback Dallas Crawford (#4)

The 2011 Offer Board has been updated.

David Andrews (OC) committed to Georgia.

Added Kiehl Frazier (QB) and Mike Bellamy (RB).

Added AJ Jordan (WR).

Added Sammy Watkins (WR), Avery Walls (SS), Prince Holloway (WR), Marquise Williams (QB), Trai Turner (OG), Jonah Austin (OT), Renaldo Thomas (FS), Dallas Crawford (CB), and Kevin McReynolds (DT).

Added Shawn Conway (WR), who committed to Michigan.

Added Armstead Williams (ILB).

Karlos Williams (FS) committed to Florida State.

Image via http://www.naplesnews.com/

Mailbag: Regional connections in scouting

Being fairly new to paying attention to recruiting, what can you tell me about the correlation between football rich recruiting areas and the connections of Michigan assistant coaches and scouts? It seems obvious someone on the staff knows Florida.

Bobo from Punxsutawney, PA

Coaches are assigned specific recruiting areas, especially talent-rich states. For example, Tony Gibson is a born-and-bred West Virginian, which is in close proximity to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Therefore, Gibson's recruiting base centers in those three states. It's important for coaches to make personal connections with high school coaches, staff, and kids, so typically a coach will maintain the same recruiting area from year to year, even when they change jobs, if possible. If a Big Ten coach who recruits Illinois gets hired in the SEC, his most fruitful recruiting ground could very well be Illinois. But there's no need to heavily recruit the state of Utah, for example, so a coach who's assigned to California would likely handle any stray talents who find themselves lost in the middle of the Beehive State.

If you visit Mgoblue.com's coaches page, you can find biographical information for each coach. Michigan's ace Florida recruiter, quarterbacks coach Rod Smith, is from West Virginia, but he spent six years coaching at South Florida. The go-to guy for Texas and Louisiana recruits, running backs coach Fred Jackson, was born in Baton Rouge, LA, and attended Jackson State. Bruce Tall is a native Ohioan. The coaches are from various places and have coached at myriad institutions, but it's a pretty good assumption that they tend to recruit near their hometowns or where they've spent considerable time. For example, it's a little bit odd that Greg Frey recruits Illinois, since he's from Florida, played at Florida State, and coached at places like South Florida and West Virginia; he must have drawn the short end of the stick, and it may not be a coincidence that no Illinois players have committed to Michigan since Frey's arrival.

Below is my best effort - okay, maybe not my best effort, but I don't get paid for this - to define assigned geographic recruiting areas. (The state of Michigan is recruited by almost all the coaches.)

Bruce Tall
Tony Dews
Tony Gibson
Greg Frey
Fred Jackson
Rod Smith

The map is a very general outline of the coaches' recruiting areas and should not be taken as gospel. For example, several coaches recruit in Florida and, as mentioned above, Tony Gibson recruits some in Ohio. It would be impossible to create a map that specifically defines each coach's recruiting area, in part because sometimes personalities or positions are matched with recruits. For example, Florida juggernaut Rod Smith was the main recruiter for quarterback Tate Forcier, who hails from Whale's Vagina, California.

Shawn Conway, Wolverine

Shawn Conway's best asset

Wide receiver Shawn Conway, from Seaholm High School in Birmingham, MI, committed to the Wolverines on Saturday. He visited for Michigan's Junior Day without any offers, but left the event as a commit. The internets are angry. To the internets I say . . . shush.

Conway was definitely under the radar. Michigan discovered him at the 7-on-7 camp in Ann Arbor last summer. He had sat out his sophomore year after transferring from Cass Tech in Detroit, and during his junior year, had as a quarterback the kid you see in the video below. (I don't want to bag on a sophomore quarterback who was supposed to be a backup going into the year, but not many sophomores are great quarterbacks, so it's nothing about which to be ashamed.) Rich Rodriguez definitely was not cowed by the internet reactions to commits from kids like DJ Williamson, Antonio Kinard, Ray Vinopal, and Carvin Johnson last year. Williamson and Kinard didn't have any other FBS offers at the time of their commitments, either. Fans were angry. If you didn't believe it before, believe it now - Rodriguez doesn't care about message boards.

As for Conway's talents, make no mistake - he has significant physical skills. According to an interview with TomVH from MGoBlog, Conway claims to be 6'4", have run a 4.49 forty, and have a 38" vertical jump. While I always assume that measurables are fudged a bit by players and recruiting services, I would not be surprised if he's actually 6'3" with a 37" vertical and a forty in the 4.6 range. This kid is the real deal.

I am not inclined to question Rodriguez's decision to offer Conway. The highlight video below shows a kid who made highlight-reel catch after highlight-reel catch despite the fact that he only had 11 total receptions in 2009, according to a poster on MGoBlog (EDIT: Rivals reports that Conway had 76 catches for nearly 900 yards and 10 touchdowns, plus another 500 yards on punt and kick returns). His speed has been questioned, but he's close to 6'4". How many 6'4" receivers have truly elite speed? He's fast enough to threaten defensive backs, and his height and leaping ability make him a deep threat, regardless of his speed. Furthermore, some of his highlights are against teams like Farmington Hills Harrison (Drew Stanton, Agim Shabaj) and Detroit Country Day (Jonas Gray, Kenny Demens), schools that possess significant athletic talent.

I have also seen suggestions that Conway will become a cornerback or tight end. I am quite confident that neither will happen. First of all, he looks too stiff to play cornerback, and even if he's not quite 6'4", he's probably too tall - there aren't many guys like Lenny Walls out there. Second, he's too slight to play tight end; he would have to bulk up way too much. This guy is a receiver.

In a way, Conway reminds me of Marquise Walker. Walker was unlike Conway in that he was a highly touted recruit (although, for all we know, Conway could blow up in the recruiting world), but he was tall, had great hands, and wasn't blazingly fast. I see some of these same qualities in Michigan's newest commit. I also think that any Michigan fans who criticize Conway's offer but look favorably on Jeremy Jackson should rethink their positions. Jackson has good size and hands as well, but he's slower than Conway. Conway has 4-star talent but probably won't be a 4-star to the recruiting services unless his quarterback talent improves.

Welcome to Michigan, Shawn.

Junior Day Visitors: February 20

I'll try to keep a running list of who's attending today's Junior Day at Michigan. Names may be added or deleted, as not all those expected will make it in.

DeAnthony Arnett - WR - Saginaw, MI (unconfirmed)
Bryan Baird - DE - Bellbrook, OH
Willie Beavers - OL - Lathrup Village, MI (unconfirmed)
Brennen Beyer - DE - Canton, MI
Kyle Brindza - K - Canton, MI
Greg Brown - CB - Fremont, OH (unconfirmed)
Jeron Clayton - RB - Ann Arbor, MI
Shawn Conway - WR - Birmingham, MI (committed)
Vincent Croce - DT - Olney, MD
Chris Dukes - CB - Cincinnati, OH (unconfirmed)
Ashton Gaines - WR - Detroit, MI
Melvin Gordon - ATH - Kenosha, WI
Doran Grant - CB - Akron, OH (unconfirmed)
Ryan Griffin - S - Ann Arbor, MI
Ray Hamilton - TE - Strongsville, OH
Justice Hayes - RB - Grand Blanc, MI
Delonte Hollowell - CB - Detroit, MI (committed)
Jermal Hosley - WR - Highland Park, MI
A.J. Jordan - WR - Trotwood, OH
Joe Kerridge - FB - Traverse City, MI
Kyle Lints - OL - Traverse City, MI
James Lucas - WR - Canton, OH
Jalyn Massenberg - ATH - Detroit, MI
Ben McCord - WR - Warren, MI
Brian Mihalik - DE - Avon Lake, OH
Jack Miller - DE - Perrysburg, OH
Cheatham Norrils - CB - Toledo, OH
Valdez Showers - WR - Madison Heights, MI
Raymon Taylor - CB - Highland Park, MI
Aundrey Walker - OT - Cleveland, OH
Kevin Williams - DT - Holland, OH
John Zakrzewski - S - Traverse City, MI
Anthony Zettel - OG - West Branch, MI

2011 Offer Board Update

Charleston, SC offensive tackle Brandon Shell after defeating Kimbo Slice

The 2011 Offer Board can be found here.

Added Darius Jennings (WR).

Added Quan Bray (QB) and Brandon Shell (OT). Shell is the great-nephew of former Raiders coach Art Shell.

Added David Andrews (OC).

Removed Allan Wasonga, who does not yet have a Michigan offer.

2011 Offer Board Update

Washington, DC running back Malcolm Crockett

The 2011 Offer Board has been updated to include the following:

Added Chevelle Buie (SR) and Michael Bennett (OG).

Added Malcolm Crockett (RB) and Mike Blakely (RB).

Added Kourtlandt Akins (OT).

Added Cardale Jones (QB), George Farmer (WR), and Devin Smith (WR). Smith is from the same high school as cornerback Justin Turner.

Sheroid Evans (SS) and Desmond Jackson (NT) committed to Texas.

Added Wayne Lyons (FS).

Image via www.washingtonpost.com

Position Switch: Cameron Gordon to Safety

Wide receiver Cameron Gordon has switched to safety

AnnArbor.com published an article yesterday about wide receiver Cameron Gordon making the switch to safety. A former 4-star wide receiver, he came to Michigan in part because the coaches told him he could compete at wideout. He spent his freshman season redshirting. Reports from practice indicated that he had good hands and, at 6'2" and 210 lbs., was willing to go over the middle. Unfortunately for him, Rodriguez's offense at Michigan hasn't shown a propensity for using wide receivers in the middle of the field. That would be practically the equivalent of having a rifle-armed defensive tackle. The offense predicates itself on getting athletes in space, and Gordon doesn't have the speed or quickness to shake free from cornerbacks.

The article doesn't identify which safety position Gordon will play, but one can assume that he'll play the weak safety position, where he'll likely compete with freshmen Marvin Robinson and Carvin Johnson, redshirt sophomore Jordan Kovacs, and redshirt junior Mike Williams. This position requires less speed and a more physically imposing presence than the strong safety position. As the article illustrates, Gordon displayed some good hitting ability during special teams practice, so much so that the defensive coaches hinted constantly that he should move to defense.

This switch is far from surprising. In last season's preview profile of Gordon, I suggested that he would be better off on defense. I still think he's best suited for linebacker, particularly the weak inside linebacker position held tenuously by Jonas Mouton. Perhaps this is the next step in a slow transition to WILL, because I don't foresee Gordon having the speed to play weak safety, either. There are times in this defense where the strong safety has to roll over to play man coverage on the strong side, meaning the weak safety has to back up to play the deep middle or a deep half. In my opinion, this would expose Gordon, as it did Jordan Kovacs at times last year.