UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[WM Wolverine]

Class is complete with Braden in... Those in Auburn are confident Diamond is theres.

[Hannibal]

Ugh.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The Dennis Norfleet grab provides Borges with interesting options.

I can see a Borges WCO with a defense having to deal with 4 vertical routes, Morris at QB and a guy like Norfleet being a huge threat underneath.

Think Darren Sproles now of the NFL, NOS (5'6, 190) ...... Norfleet is almost an exact replica of Sproles.

[Hannibal]

What a nightmarishly bad finish to the class. Awful. Significantly worse than anyone's worst case a couple of months ago and, by far, the most disastrous finish that a Michigan class has ever had. There's not a single person here who would have predicted that we would whiff on literally every single blue chip prospect that we were in on. On top of that, we lost Pharoah Brown and Caleb Stacey.

[Jeff Buchanan]

What an incredibly bad finish. Awful. Significantly worse than anyone's worst case a couple of months ago. There's not a single person here who would have predicted that we would whiff on literally every single prospect that we were in on.

Disagree (from Ace at mgoblog):

Thought, after the general panic caused by Michigan's 0-for-3 weekend, that this would be a good time to take a look back at initial expectations for the class. Enter the 2012 recruiting board (not updated in a long time, I know), where Tim outlined the needs at each position for the class. Here's a breakdown of each position group and the number of prospects Tim projected the Wolverines to get based on need:

QUARTERBACK: 1. Not filled, but can I interest you in a Shane Morris? I thought so.

RUNNING BACK: 1+. While M missed out on Bri'onte Dunn, Drake Johnson and Siome Houma are both in the fold. (edit: Now Norfleet)

WIDE RECEIVER: 2. Done, not only with high-caliber prospects, but high-caliber people in Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson.


TIGHT END: 1-2. Welcome, Devin Funchess and A.J. Williams.


OFFENSIVE LINE: 4-5. Michigan has filled the minimum requirement with high-quality prospects, and Jordan Diamond would give them one of the best offensive line classes in recent memory.


DEFENSIVE TACKLE: 2. Ondre Pipkins should be a 3+ year starter at the nose, Henry fills a need at the three-tech, and both Chris Wormley and Matt Godin could end up here, too.


DEFENSIVE END: 2. Wormley and Godin are joined by Tom Strobel and Mario Ojemudia, giving Michigan a talented and versatile set of DEs.


LINEBACKER: 2-3. Michigan has three All-Americans plus an early enrollee in Kaleb Ringer (UA All-American Joe Bolden also enrolled early).
SAFETY: 2. Jarrod Wilson, Allen Gant, and Jeremy Clark all project to safety.


CORNERBACK: 1+. All-American Terry Richardson addresses that need, though it would've been nice to get one more.

The only need that isn't already addressed in this class is quarterback, and Michigan already has one of the top quarterbacks in 2013 committed (and doing a little recruiting himself). Not only that, but the talent level puts this class easily into the top ten nationally. There's the ledge, and you shouldn't be anywhere near it.

[Mackenzie]

Will Norfleet redshirt?

[Hannibal]

I'm sorry, but that guy's a dunce. He downplays the Brionte Dunn miss as if middling 3* Drake Johnson is going to make up for it. We have no center, and it sounds like we didn't get Jordan Diamond either. When Grant went to Oklahoma, we lost our shot at a college ready tight end who can catch (Funchess is a project and Williams is either a pure blocker or headed for OT). Chesson is only a "high caliber prospect" if you are in the Big East.

Raise your hand if you thought three months ago that this class would be down to four offensive linemen.

The class still exceeded expectations and it might be one of the best that we've ever had defensively, but there were a lot of late whiffs on offense and some costly decommits.

[WM Wolverine]

Its a top 5 - 7 class in the country and did a terrific job at addressing M's most every need; save for blue chip QB, RB...

M is (now was before all the movement today) rated top 5 or better in the nation at OL, DL, LB & even RB with Norfleet at rivals. DB class is plenty strong, TE need is addressed and I like the two WR's they added. This is a very strong class, regardless of where Diamond lands (sounds like Auburn is highest bidder).

[Hannibal]

The scouting report (and the offer list) on Norfleet read, to me, like a poor man's Justice Hayes. Meh.

[WM Wolverine]

Norfleet was a guy I expected to me a Wolverine till the coaching change, he's a good talent. 4* at least two recruiting services.

[WM Wolverine]

M's recruiting class rankings:

*Scout: 3
*CBS: 4
*Rivals: 5
*247 sports: 7
*ESPN: 8

Terrific class by any measure.

[SeattleLionsFan]

The scouting report (and the offer list) on Norfleet read, to me, like a poor man's Justice Hayes. Meh.

He seems faster than Justice no?

[Rocky Bleier]

Like Hanni, I'm disappointed at the finish, but this group is fabulous compared to any of Rich Rod's classes. I'm definitely happy.

[Mackenzie]

I can understand some of the recruiting concerns. I, like many others, were more hopeful that we could close the signing class a bit better than it seems to be turning out--so far. But, I agree with the sentiment of others that we need to balance out what we may have missed with what we have. And that, given the dismal happening of the RR era, is a glass that is more than half full rather than even being close to half empty.

[hack]

Drake Johnson and Siome Houma are both in the fold.

Not so snappy a comeback to the notion of having Brionte Dunn. While we may not suffer for not getting Dunn, that is not a good argument.

Agreed it's no time to panic, but no doubt about it, the class isn't as stupendous as it seemed like it could have been a month ago. That said, if the coaching staff is what we think it is, these guys should be a very, very good class.