UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[The Oracle]

And a project at that. A shit ton of upside, but still a project.

[WM Wolverine]

My disappointment isn't just in missing Wilson but also in missing Jedrick Wills, Henry Bainivalu and Aaron Banks in the past month as well. I was hoping M could land 1 or 2 of those OT's, they landed 0.

[WM Wolverine]

fwiw, none of those alone is terribly surprising but to miss out on all the top OT's on the board is.

[WM Wolverine]

I believe I read somewhere (mgoblog most likely) M 'passed' on Aaron Banks, not sure if true.

[entropy]

what do you guys know about Andrew Ward from Muskegon MI?

[WM Wolverine]

Surprised Sparty isn't/wasn't interested in him. Just the obvious; undersized but athletic linebacker that was briefly on our radar during the early evaluation part of recruiting.

[The Oracle]

Michigan stopped recruiting Banks after his visit this fall.

[Jeff Buchanan]

My disappointment isn't just in missing Wilson but also in missing Jedrick Wills, Henry Bainivalu and Aaron Banks in the past month as well. I was hoping M could land 1 or 2 of those OT's, they landed 0.

I get that. It is a little strange that an offense like Harbaugh's doesn't attract top OT prospects. OTH, it's all about relationships. Some speculation at mgobard, albeit dissed by some trusted posters there, that Kirby Smart at UGA took a page from Harbaugh's recruiting playbook and will hire one of Wilson's HS coaches, relatives or the like to the UGA staff.

I do think M's academic standards, not just getting in - which I don't think is a barrier, but rather the potential issues with staying eligible, and the weather is a negative factor for M and most of the BT for that matter.

It would take some digging but maybe the past great M OLs, mostly under Bo, were cold weather raised to begin with. Weather wasn't a factor for them. I also think the demands of modern offenses placed on OLmen is a lot different than they were through the 80s and early 90s. So, you're talking about a smaller group of big dudes (a small group to begin with) that are really strong enough and talented enough (reduces the size of the pool again) to perform with the speed and agility required in the modern football offense playing against really strong and athletic defenses.

Moreover, M is trying to pull from that small pool while competing against elite teams with the track record that demonstrates a better path to the NFL (Alabama and osu among a few others). M isn't there yet having demonstrated a decade of suckitude, few players to the NFL and HARBAUGH!!! alone isn't going to hack it. Maybe after M demonstrates they can get to the top, win NCs and get these big dudes into the first and second rounds of the NFL draft. Just my 2 cents. Recruiting is not my thing.

[WM Wolverine]

All the misses make sense from the recruiting rules, M just missed on all of them. It happens. Hopefully the lower rated guys exceed their recruiting rankings.

[UMStan White]

Banks has academic issues.

[klondike]

I can't remember if I posted this somewhere else but I tend not to get all breathless about HS recruits. So, Wilson, meh.

But this I know. Football teams are not going to win a lot of big games unless they are winning on the DL and OL. You'll end up with a lot of 2 and 3 loss seasons and that's not going to get the team into the CFPs.

On the flip side of that sentiment is the reality that it isn't easy to project All American performance on either the OL or the DL but especially the OL. Success of these 300+ pound dudes depends to a large degree of how hard they want to work and develop their craft. Being big and good in HS has nothing to do with doing that at the college level or in the pros.

Sure, Wilson is good ..... at the HS level ..... and that might predict success going forward. It certainly doesn't hurt. The bottom line is that we're not going to know how good the OL pass protects and run blocks until we see it. I'm less inclined to believe that big dudes who are good in HS are going to be better in college. Count me not too worried about not getting Wilson.

That's why Bo would always over recruit OL. Knowing most wouldn't live up to their HS billing but some would. Not knowing, sheer numbers would find a solid line most years.

[Rocky Bleier]

Jeff, if cold weather is an issue recruiting the top O-linemen, why does it not hurt OSU? I have to admit, however, that Wisconsin and MSU do pretty well with 3 stars.

Stan, has Notre Dame lowered their academic requirements?

[Rocky Bleier]

Don at MGoBlog posted this:

No wonder Harbaugh was such a failure at Stanford?check out these Scout rankings of his OL recruits during his four years in Palo Alto:
2007
OT Brad Hallick: 3-star
OG Matt Bentler: 2-star
OT Tyler Mabry: 3-star
OG George Halamandaris: 3-star
2008
OT Jonathan Martin: 3-star
OG Sam Schwartzstein: 3-star
C David DeCastro: 4-star
2009
OG Khalil Wilkes: 3-star
OT Kevin Danser: 3-star
2010
OT Cameron Fleming: 3-star
OT David Yankey: 3-star
OT Dillon Bonnell: 3-star
OT Cole Underwood: 3-star


Not a single 5-star, and only one 4-star?the rest are lowly 3-star projects. Clearly, Harbaugh and Drevno have no idea what they're doing when it comes to recruiting and developing OL talent.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Jeff, if cold weather is an issue, explain the rushing success of OSU and Wisconsin.

Their OLs are really good for the offensive scheme both schools run.

I don't think that excellent OL play is coming from highly regarded HS guys who have lots of options, don't pick M because they tend to (1) stay close to home or (2) pick college programs that are not going to be as strenuous as prominent BT schools (3) don't like the cold - not during the football season becasue its not but during December - March. If you live in SE Michigan, step outside (20 with a wind chill of 9).

My view is that we're all sore about M's rushing offense under Harbaugh. Harbaughffense relies on a punishing ground game. Dreveno is supposed to be pretty good, has worked with Harbaugh extensively and delivered top OL prospects out of college to the NFL but it's just not happening at M. So we over focus on it. Worry about it.

My explanation for the poor run offense under JH is that it takes all 11 players on offense to make run plays work. One or two missed blocks, a bad read, hesitation makes the difference between a 2 yard gain and 15 or more. We saw this over and over and again (not mentioning names) but that's why M's run offense is not that great ...... and how many games that M needed to win but lost or were a little close for comfort required just one more 1st down to seal the deal and M couldn't get it.

I think the coaches know what the problems are with the run game and will work to correct them. I don't think getting one or two highly regarded OL prospects from HS is the key thing. It might be one thing out of a 1/2 dozen or more. What M needs right now is solid, serviceable depth on the OL. A lot of it. A lot like Don Brown had on the DL. As was pointed out up thread, Bo had depth and out of that depth came a few unexpected All-Americans.

[Rocky Bleier]

I lay the lack of OL depth at the door of one Brady Hoke. I still believe in Drevno, but I'm getting a bit impatient. We couldn't run against a sound defense the last two seasons. And I live in northern Wisconsin where the temperature last night was -20 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm coming to visit you when I retire! :smile: