UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Jeff Buchanan]

For those that don't follow recruiting as closely - like me - as our experts here, I'll pass on what I'm reading about these two commits from Rivals (mgoblog has a good piece up on Funchess with Williams to follow) .....

Funchess is a big skinny kid for a B10 TE right now (6' 4, 205) with a lot of potential for growth; he's a redshirt if there ever was one. He also is a very good TE and is a cusp 3*/4* football player. Had a decent if not spectacular offer sheet including MSU who has been scarfing up players from his HS along with Missouri, VA, Neb, and so, this is a nice turn of events for M.

Williams is a potential OT so, this appears to be a really good move by the staff.

By all accounts, two very good gets ..... Hoke continues to reel in quality ohio and Michigan high schoolers to start this class and the feeling is that this is going to continue.

[jaadam4]

and he's my favorite ND fan.

Favorite ND fan? That's like saying he's the smartest retard.

[*JD*]

Just a blip on the latest commits:

Michigan Football Recruiting: Devin Funchess, A.J. Williams Commit
Apr
22
1:49p
by Sean Yuille

READ MORE: Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan football team picked up two commitments on Friday. Both of them are tight ends, and one is from Michigan and the other is from Ohio.

Devin Funchess is the new commit from Michigan. Specifically, he's from Farmington Hills. He decided to commit on Friday to Michigan, passing up offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska and Virginia.

A.J. Williams is the Ohio tight end that committed to Michigan. He is from Cincinnati, and his offer list includes Arkansas, Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State, NC State, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

Neither Funchess nor Williams has been rated by Rivals. On Scout, Funchess is a four-star recruit and the No. 6 TE in the nation. Williams is a three-star recruit and the No. 15 TE on Scout. ESPN hasn't rated Funchess or Williams, either, but it does have Funchess on the ESPNU 150 watch list.

Michigan Football Recruiting Class Of 2012

OT Ben Braden (Rockford, MI) - 6'6", 285 lbs., NR
OG Caleb Stacey (Cincinnati, OH) - 6'4", 275 lbs., NR
MLB Kaleb Ringer (Clayton, OH) - 6'0", 219 lbs., NR
OLB Royce Jenkins-Stone (Detroit, MI) - 6'2", 215 lbs., NR
TE Devin Funchess (Farmington Hills, MI) - 6'5", 205 lbs., NR
TE A.J. Williams (Cincinnati, OH) - 6'6", 260 lbs., NR
(Height, weight and stars from Rivals.com)

[jaadam4]

On Edit: This post is only intended to address WM's previous. Mauk does have a UM offer and has visited Ann Arbor. In short, this post is compliant with forum requirements.

lol.. ok that was funny

[*JD*]

Funchess highlights:

[YOUTUBE]WHXgs6ju0E4[/YOUTUBE]

[lineygoblue]

Whoa. This is a big day for Michigan recruiting.

I haven't seen Williams play, but I HAVE seen Funchess play. He may be a bit light at 205, but the kid comes from arguably the best HS program in Michigan, and can flat-out play ball. He may even become a "big" WR. He's quite tall for a WR, but he has great hands, and can block. That will be a "must" in Hoke's offense. Receivers will be required to block. Robinson and Gardner will LOVE throwing to this guy.

Not having seen Williams play, but only reading about him, I'm wondering if they may even consider putting him on the other side of the ball and making a DE out of him. With him being 6'6" and 260, he could probably play inside or outside on the DL, if he has the speed, Which he apparently does.

Anyway, great day for Michigan recruiting. We're getting some guys who can play ball. Some that may be able to step up this fall and at least be a role player.

Get a look at this guy... sheesh

[lineygoblue]

Favorite ND fan? That's like saying he's the smartest retard.

Heh ... Nah. Mike's one of the good guys. A ND fan with a lot of class. He's earned the respect of our M-BORG over the years.

[WM Wolverine]

Agree that Williams is a more likely OT, 6'6"/260 lbs is enormous for a tight end and I'm sure he's got more room to grow. I've got him as a TE for now but don't expect him to stay there.

[Hannibal]

Sort of meh beginnings to the class so far. When I look at the offer lists for these guys I'm seeing too much "Indiana", "Illinois", and "Cincinnati", and not enough "Notre Dame", "Ohio State", and "Penn State".

[SeanB]

It would be interesting to see what the response would have been if Rodriguez was taking these guys, not Hoke, who can do no wrong at this point.

[lineygoblue]

If Rodriguez would have snagged Funchess for Michigan, I would have been impressed. Funchess is a can't miss, as far as I'm concerned.

[Pasadena Blue]

Hoke kind of carpet-bombed the offers .., some of the lesser "offerees"/ "safeties" are snagging up the schollies. Hoke and co probably couldn't afford to get turned down by the high 4*/5* and then find all the high 3*/4* all scooped up by other schools and I think that's why we are seeing what we are seeing so far.

It was a possible complication of the strategy, and probably a necessary evil until the program is winning again and can be more confident of hauling in the high 4*/5*'s.

The counter to this though ... is that the #2 all-time wins/win %age school seems to still snag the top flight recruits despite sucking about as much.

as always, F' ND.

[WM Wolverine]

Put links to the commits recruiting profiles at rivals on the first page, plan to do the same to the recruiting board later.

[*JD*]

How about videos?

[lineygoblue]

Videos from Rivals are hard to copy and paste. If anyone knows how to do it, good luck.