Welcome readers, today’s post is brought to you by the ineptitude of Davenports WiFi network. Seriously guys, wireless networks aren’t that hard to control.
In any event today’s post is going to be about one of my favorite topics, Michigan Football recruiting. Most people don’t get caught up in recruiting until signing day but I guess I am not most people. Keep in mind that everything I say is NOT set in stone in any way.
So…Shavodrick Beaver decommited and then switched schools to Tulsa. Yeah, uh, maybe he really does want to be the next Shaun King? Different school, pretty much the same scenario. Folks, this actually is kind of a big deal. Right now Tate Forcier is the only scholarship QB Michigan has on its list of recruits for next year. Right now Michigan is targeting Denard Robinson from Florida. He is listed as an athlete on rivals and is a 4 star recruit who actually is rated slightly about the Beaver. If he came to Michigan he would have a chance at QB but most likely would end up at receiver or CB (based mostly on need) after a red shirt year. He is a possibility but he isn’t exactly the answer I think we were all looking for. Michigan is putting a lot of eggs in Tate’s basket but frankly I can think of worse baskets to be in.
Other less likely options for QB in this class include Tajh Boyd and Eugene Smith. Tyrik Rollison (Rivals #2 dual threat QB) most likely wont qualify academically so is not being recruited for that reason. Tajh Boyd has been committed to West Virginia and Tennessee but as of right now isn’t committed anywhere. Michigan is not realy recruiting him to hard which is somewhat strange because he is very talented, but they may be sold on the fact that he truly is either committing to Oregon of Ohio State. Eugene Smith is a current West Virginia commit and Rivals #5 dual threat QB. Smith maintained interest in Michigan for roughly a month with Beaver and Forcier still committed at the time. He is most certainly an option still for this year, but given his current commitment to WVU it may be hard to persuade him to come to Michigan where there will be more competition.
On a brighter side, if my idea for the starting QB spot is actually correct (Tate Forcier to end up being the starter by the end of the year and possibly earlier,) then any other QB who would have signed with this class would more than likely be red shirted. That being the case, maybe saving a scholarship for the likes of Devin Gardner (2010 QB from Inkster, MI) isn’t a half bad idea. He is a teammate of current 2009 commit Cameron Gordon and is projected as a top 50 ish player for 2010. I am not trying to say that losing the Beaver was in any way a good thing, but it may have a silver lining with Gardner. Aside from Gardner, AJ Westendorp is also an option to be a preferred walk-on to Michigan for 2009. He is from Holland Christian and has picked up quite a bit of a buzz around West Michigan. Currently he holds an offer from GVSU but that’s it. I don’t think he will ever get an offer from Michigan, but he is a smart kid and could get academic scholarships from UM. Maybe scholarships mixed in with an opportunity to play QB at Michigan will be enough to sway him our way.
As for Michigan recruiting for positions other than QB, we landed Will Campbell (again) to no ones particular surprise. Rich Rod needed a big year recruiting the defensive line and he got it. Will Campbell, Craig Roh and Anthony LaLota are all in the Rivals 250 and big Will is Rivals #25. Michigan also currently has Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones who are both 4 star recruits. A decommitment from one of the two is possible but in my opinion, not probable. This years defensive line recruits, if all stay committed, could be really special and could make us forget quickly about the loss of Terrance Taylor, Will Johnson, and Tim Jaimison.
To be honest the only positions we really need to add more depth to are: QB (as stated earlier), CB, OL, and WR. Michigan just lost the commitment of Dewayne Peace, a 3 star WR who was a camp offer in the summer. Losing Peace, this leaves Cameron Gordon as our only true outside WR in this class. Adding Je’Ron Stokes is a definite possibility though as he is visiting Ann Arbor this month. CB on the other hand is a bit more of a reach. A few high profile guys have us on their list like Dre Kirkpatrick, but I would say we have about as good of a chance at getting him as we did getting Ted Ginn Jr. a few years back. The most likely CB prospect currently for Michigan is Jayron Hosely out of Florida. He is a 4 star recruit and you can expect Michigan to push hard for him. After that it gets a little dicey. Michigan may have to add a few “shots in the dark” type of recruits to get the number of needed CB’s for this year. Michigan currently has 2 pretty good OL recruits in Taylor Lewan and Michael Scholfield. Adding Quinton Washington (4 star) is possible and at this point probable. After that I might expect maybe one more OL to be added.
Please let this not discount from that fact that I really really want Jelani Jenkins. He would be an immediate starter at linebacker and he is arguably the best recruit in all the land. Also remember it is severely doubtful he actually does go to Michigan, my guess is a Florida lead for him.
It is conceivable that Michigan could end up with a couple more 5 star recruits and a few more 4 star recruits. It is also possible that they add a few more mediocre players and are done for the year. As always I am hoping for the best of the best, but the exciting part about tracking recruiting the way I do is the fact that recruits constantly change their mind. You never know what kind of “snake oil” could be in Michigan’s future.
1 comments:
My man, I like the knowledge...You can cross off Boyd from your list of interested QB's seeing as he is taking his last official visit to Clemson (WTF) and will decide between OSU, Oregon, and Clemson... I don't know how much of a push we made for him, but the kid lit up the Army All American Game, so I hope they at least tried.
I'm with you 100% on Denard Robinson...not only can he come in and try his hand at QB, but he is a nice compliment to the throw-first Tate with his running ability. His teammate is coming up with him this weekend, a 2 star DB that injured his knee real bad this year, so no one was real high on him, but apparently he could be a huge sleeper and those 2 have intentions of playing together. If we could someone get them as a package deal, that would be terrific.
I'm a little concerned with outside WR, but Hemingway got a medical redshirt for this year, and we'll still have him, Matthews, Stonum, and Clemons all on board next year. Add Ricardo Miller and Jeremy Jackson in 2010, it isn't as big of need, but the idea of adding Je'ron Stokes would be great.
As we saw last year, Rich can get a lot of quality players in a short amount of time...I see this class filling up with first and foremost our positions of need, and then if there are any prospects that are fast and athletic that can play multiple positions, we'll take those too...Should be a wild ride until Feb 4.
Also, Tate enrolled early, so I really think he'll be given every chance to start next year.
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