UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[WM Wolverine]

Rivals btw is ranking the top ~250 and giving out rankings to a lot more recruits I think this next week. Lots of unranked kids will get ranked and others that are ranked will be reevaluated and re-ranked...

The ranking I give on my board is my own but its largely derived from the other recruiting services rankings.

[WM Wolverine]

Kids are deciding sooner and sooner with every season, M's 10 commits is up there outside of a handful of schools... I do believe not seeing these kids in summer camps does have a downside, there is reason to believe Texas struggles last season were a sign of that.

[lineygoblue]

To Jamie's question, .. I think what is happening, is that in this class, players are seeing an opportunity to jump in and be in a key role on a team that really needs help, but is now going to be very well coached. They want to get in while they can.

I'm also liking that all the recruits are kids from either Michigan or Ohio. I think that makes it less likely that they will decommit.

[Tslisher]

Anyone hear much about this guy?

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110505/OPINION03/105050425/1131/sports0201/U-M--MSU-at-the-top-of-coveted-defensive-tackle’s-list

[Hannibal]

Pipkins sounds like a stud.

Are we still in it with Wormley? 3 DEs is a big class. On top of at least 2 DTs.

Ojemudia's offer list is a little on the "meh" side. Brown's is more impressive.

[lineygoblue]

Ojemudia comes from arguably the top HS football program in Michigan, and he stands out on that team. No offense, Hanni .. but he's not a "meh" ...

He may turn out to be more of a hybrid DE/OLB, rather than a DE that puts his hand down all the time, but the guy can play.

That makes three commits from FHH. I don't think Michigan has had 3 commits TOTAL from FHH before this.

[Jamie H]

Ojemudia had 127 tackles last season. That's 9 tackles a game from a defensive lineman. That seems almost crazy.

[geo weidl]

Liney, looks like your avatar is working quite well.

[lineygoblue]

Anything for the cause, Geo ...

[Hannibal]

He may turn out to be more of a hybrid DE/OLB,.

Yay

[lineygoblue]

That's not necessarily a bad thing, Hanni. With the speed of offenses nowadays, and the way they like to bring receivers out of the backfield, you want a guy on the edge with wheels who can both rush the passer, and also drop into coverage.

Those traditional 6'4" 250 linebackers or 6'6" 265 DE's have a hard time doing both.

[Rocky Bleier]

Rich Rodriguez didn't exactly ignore the state of Michigan while recruiting, but he was looking for a different kind of player and coveted many of the ones who played in Florida. Therefore, he really didn't go head-to-head with MSU for a lot of players. Thus, the so-called MSU dominance of the state. Hoke, on the other hand, is competing with MSU for the same players. So far, it hasn't exactly been what I would call a competition. :-D

[SeattleLionsFan]

The part that should be scary for sparty (which autocorrects on my phone as apathy) is that Mich is pulling guys from OLSM and Harrison. Which they have not done well with recently, including under Carr. (and I know they've never done well at Harrison)

[Jamie H]

The thing is, I think most college coaches would tell you that you need to recruit locally to have success. Pulling in guys from places like Florida is great, but trying to make it your primary source? You need to get the easy ones--the kids that grew up bleeding maize and blue that you don't have to sell. Maybe not even just guys from Michgian, but guys from the midwest in talent rich places like Ohio. Then you can fill out your class with some top recruits from a long way away.

I felt like Rodriguez never made local recruiting a focal point. Hoke is clearly operating differently.

[WM Wolverine]

Sparty really capitalized after Carr's retirement and really put the full court press on the in-state kids, allegedly contacting recruits during no-contact periods. RR not having ties to the midwest really hurt him in his first full recruiting class ('09). Guys like Edwin Bakers (instead of Vincent Smith) & Chris Norman (instead of Brandin Hawthorne) would look great as Wolverines.