UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[hack]

Thanks. It's really encouraging that JH is in on some serious players for whom the primary competition is cratering. If he can finish strong with this recruiting class that'll speed up the parity timeline awfully fast.

[WM Wolverine]

Of course HARBAUGH!!! will.

[froot loops]

I'd take the Spartans first 4 running backs over anything Michigan has, the good news for Michigan is that it should be really, really easy to upgrade the running backs.

[WM Wolverine]

Hoke tried to recruit only RB's he'd hope to outrun...

Derrick Green was massively overrated. Green is a bowling bowl type of RB like Kevin Grady and like him showed little ability to make a cut when needed, lousy feet is a kiss of death for running backs... Ty Isaac runs far too upright which makes him far easier to tackle than he should be, is apparently extremely fragile; he also seems to run for the sideline rather than cutting plays upfield... Drake Johnson was impressive to me as any RB for M but I don't think he was completely healthy or as quick as he was in '14... Deveon Smith is what he is, serviceable RB who should be your #2/#3 RB...

Hopefully only the two best of the above return for '16 and help is on the way from the '16 recruiting class or a transfer. Dymonte Thomas was a HS running back who can run into offensive lineman just as well as M's current RB's or in Isaac's case, towards the sideline...

Agree with Talent on Kareem Walker's talent level (not a 5-star imo). Very good talent but not a playmaker going to cause a defense to gameplan, use an extra defender to stop him. I like him a lot for M because he's ready to play early even though his ceiling isn't an AA level...

Absolutely love Mecole Hardman's ceiling, he'll likely end up in the SEC. He's probably the recruit I want the most on the offensive side of the ball. He can also play cornerback, return kicks and punts, line up in the slot, play wildcat and kick field goals.

[hack]

Agree about Green, and about Hoke's taste in RBs in general. Blame goes to Fred Jackson too.

[UMStan White]

As I told DROC during the game, Green and Issac must really suck to be not getting a single carry. Outside of Cissoco, those two have to be the biggest 5 star flops to ever play in the Big Ten.

[iam416]

I thought it odd that there was an optimism about Isaac after he was outplayed by at least 4 RBs at USC. Green was a contemporaneous "no way" -- I mean, I never thought he was that good. He's one that really like OSU, too, and one that Tressel or Fickell would have taken in a white hot minute -- UFM didn't like him as much and went after Elliot.

I did like Smith. My take on Smith is surely somewhere in these 590 pages, but I thought he was really good between the tackles. I'm sure I was suspect of his competition, but I thought he'd be a grinder. But I missed his missing vision. If he could see the field he could grind out 2-3 yards and break 10-12 yards, which would be plenty fine for JH. If Ray Charles were on the team, then Smith wouldn't have the worst vision on the team. But that's about it.

Other Ohio guys I really liked were Bolden, Gedeon, Wormley and, hell, a blast from the past, Kevin Koger! I didn't think much of Strobel or any of the Dayton-area kids Hoke seemed to really like.

I also really liked Malik Zaire, but thought ND really reached with DeShone Kizer.

[hack]

I think it was pretty clear that Green was overrated. Even when we landed him, I recall Brian addressing that at mgoblog. But it's a matter of degree. To not even get a meaningful carry as a junior on a team with no running game? Wow.

[Hannibal]

Isaac didn't get outplayed by four RBs at USC. His 5.9 ypc was second on the team. He was significantly better than Silas Redd, a running back who looked very good in his two yearas at Penn State. There was legitimate reason to expect him to do something at Michigan, just as there was legitimate reason to expect Jake Rudock to do something at Michigan, which he finally did in his last four games.

[iam416]

re: Walker ... he's pretty damn good. I thought he looked better as a junior, but OSU still very much wanted him. That said, they weren't going to wait on him. They will wait on someone like Sam Bruce or Binjamin Victor forever.

So, on my UFM recruiting scale, he's a solid to upper 4* based on how long OSU kept after him before signing Plan B. Rashan Gary is a 5* b/c he could jerk OSU around for months and if he wanted in on NLOID, they'd make sure they had room (please note, OSU has as much chance at Gary as Kent State does).

[iam416]

Isaac didn't get outplayed by four RBs at USC.

I thought he was 4th or 5th on depth chart at the end of the season. Or I thought the writing was at least on the wall that he was going to be no where close to getting carries. Anyway, he was at least clearly beat out by Tre Madden and Justin Davis.

[hack]

Something's off with Isaac in general. As WM points out, there's an upright running style, to start. He's 6-3. He also seems to go down quite happily at first opportunity. But, again, everything opportunity is there for any RB on the roster to step up and take, and Isaac hasn't even been in the discussion for two months. Looking like a waste of a scholarship. IMO his USC highlights were not all that impressive. Nice. Not thrilling, but nice.

[Hannibal]

I vaguely remember seeing some weight gain on him either this past spring or this fall and taking that as an ominous sign. It sounds like work ethic is a big issue.

[hack]

In spring I think it was reported that he was doghoused as well.

[Rocky Bleier]

There's a significant lack of desire in Mr. Isaac. Has the most to offer physically of any M back, but gives the least effort. The sideline is his friend.