UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[iam416]

Gibson is really, really talented. He can be a fantastic "spread" QB. He'd be dynamite at Auburn.

So, from earlier indications, who are the players M is targeting as their 2016 QB?

[Hannibal]

I'm hoping that we'll see:

Clark
The huge towering OL who just decommitted from Wisconsin
Marshall
A couple of dudes that Durken was targeting at Florida
An under-the-radar QB, since it sounds like none of the blue chippers are poachable. This Burrow guy sounds like he is extremely underrated, what with offers from OSU, Harbaugh, and Nebraska on his resume. That's a lot better than Malzone, who had poop offers other than UM.

Not getting my hopes up about Weber

[iam416]

Clark is such a flake that it's impossible, IMO, to get a strong read on him. He's really talented, though, so you ride it out and hope for the best.

I heard the Marshall visit went well for M, but I reckon SC still has a chance to re-position itself.

The Wisky OL is peculiar. My understanding is that he didn't decommit but was rather denied admission, which is stunning. I've heard OSU reached out to him -- so I'm not I'm panning M at all for recruiting him. It's just weird is all.

Burrow's competition is total garbage. Even after OSU offered and he committed, I was nonplussed. Then I saw him play two playoff games, including the state title game, and the kid is legit. Really good athlete. Probably could have had at least a MAC offer as a Safety (if he played it full-time). Oklahoma is also trying to flip him. UFM has Beck visiting Athens once a week until signing day to make sure he doesn't flip.

Anyway, if JH gets Clark and Marshall, that's a success. If he throws in Smith or some other quality kid Durkin was in on at Florida then that's a total win, IMO.

JH never had a chance to make this class top 20. Make the best of it and move on to 2016.

[Da Geezer]

Talent:

Messiah DeWeaver is the 2016 OB as of now is all I have heard. I hope JH goes for a home run with the # 1-3 QB in the class. Just in the last week, look at how many of UM's targets are committed or considering UCLA. I think Rosen committing to UCLA has something to do with that. QB is such an important position, why wouldn't someone like Clark want to go with Rosen? UM had the same situation when they recruited Drew Henson, and that was before social media. I have heard that DeWeaver is looking around.

[hack]

Couldn't agree more. Get the top QB.

[lineygoblue]

I really like how JH is hitting the recruiting trail.

I don't care if he doesn't "flip" a single recruit. What's most important is that he's getting himself out there, and establishing that HE is the face of Michigan football. He's making good impressions everywhere he goes. He's drawing attention from players who have never looked Michigan's way before.

If that's all he accomplishes in this shortened recruiting season, that's fine with me. I think it pays dividends in the 2016 class and beyond.

However, I still think its possible that he nails down 1-2 "surprise" commitments this year.

[iam416]

Thanks, Geezer. I know M has DeWeaver, but I have a hard time believing he will be JH's QB.

I really like how JH is hitting the recruiting trail.

JH hits the recruiting trail like most other coaches -- probably the same as Coach Hoke for that matter. JH has name value, though.

But, make no mistake...there are dozens of coaches out there working just as hard. And, Coach Hoke signed the #6 and #4 classes (according to 247 composite) in his second and third seasons. So, you know, none of this is particularly unexpected. JH is going to work really hard like most coaches do and he's going to recruit well like M coaches should.

[Hannibal]

Isn't DeWeaver a Top 250 guy? I have heard a lot of good things about him.

[iam416]

Yeah, he's borderline top 250 and probably about 12-15 in Ohio. I guess it's hard for me to assess him because Trotwood isn't exactly a pass heavy offense.

So, Toledo Central Catholic won the D3 title. They beat Trotwood 17-14 in the semifinal. Trotwood was a grown ass man team that plays manball both ways and gave TCC all they could handle.

TCC then played Athens (Joey Burrows) and won 56-52. Athens had zero chance of stopping TCC's run game and TCC had zero chance of stopping Athens.

So, for the stuff I see, it's hard for me to say -- I just remain naturally skeptical of a Trotwood QB. BUT, his camp reports are strong, so he's definitely a legit recruit. My comment was more in the line of thinking that JH is going to go all-out for a superstar QB recruit. Malzone, Speight and deWeaver may work out, but I think JH will want to augment that group if he can. JMO.

[Hannibal]

Recruiting was generally Hoke's strength but that staff really shit the bed on QB recruting. We got only one blue chipper in four classes and we didn't even take a QB in 2012. 2015 QB recruiting was troubling right from the start and Speight was a terrible offer to give out without a 2015 stud ready to commit.

[iam416]

Additionally, the staff's development of QBs created a synergy of suck.

If Morris was as billed and if the staff was at all competent in QB development, he should be able to bridge to a QB JH really likes. As it is, I rate that as less than likely.

[Hannibal]

Morris alredy had issues coming in. It was evident that he was overrated from the getgo. I compared him at the time to Justin Zwick. Turns out, I was being way too optimistic.

[Hannibal]

With that said, I'm not ready to give up on Morris yet. The physical tools are there and so is the brainpower. It's going to take some great coaching but that's what I'm expecting.

[iam416]

Justin Zwick is an apt analogy.

[The Oracle]

Sounds like Gentry is visiting. Pretty great news right there.