Wednesday Recruitin' Is Signing Most Of The Class
It's early Signing Day, hooray?
Anoma foreground. Probably not Cesar Ruiz background. But maybe!
I much prefer the full on early February blitz to this ghostly half-life. Should there be a liveblog? Probably not since there is one scheduled announcement relevant to Michigan, not half-dozen there usually are on Real Signing Day.
That announcement is coming from 5* MD DE Eyabi Anoma, who has been widely expected to go to Alabama for the duration of his recruitment. Brian Dohn popped up this morning to say Michigan is "making a very strong push" and could be the pick, but if that comes off like an attempt to build drama to you, you are wise in the ways of recruiting. The last second flip-flop does happen. I wouldn't get your hopes up. He commits shortly after 2 PM, FWIW.
There have been a couple of events to note. Michigan flipped German DE Julius Welschof from Georgia Tech. He's their third sleeper-ish recruit of the past week and rather indicates where this class is headed: to a spot outside the top ten, in all likelihood. Ace will assemble a hello later today; that's likely to be like the two for MI FB/HB Ben VanSumeren and MO WR Ronnie Bell, light on scouting for a relatively obscure guy.
Welschof does have a fringe four-star ranking from 24/7, excellent size at 6'6" 248, and a camp outing at Michigan. So he's only sleeper-ish.
The other thing to keep an eye on: who signs and who does not. Someone who doesn't sign probably isn't actually a commit. GA LB Otis Reese will wait until February as he decides between Michigan and Georgia. DC QB Kevin Doyle told Nick Baumgardner that he will sign in February with his teammates. Doyle hasn't undertaken any non-Michigan recruiting activity after his commit and came in with full knowledge that Joe Milton was also in the class, so that's probably not the prelude to a departure. I can't imagine Shea Patterson is going to make an impact on a guy two classes behind him.
[UPDATE: also there's this:
Kansas City (Mo.) Park Hill WR Ronnie Bell will not be announced today. I'm told he can't sign another NLI this year (he already signed one to Missouri State for bball). He told our @BriceMarich he's signing a financial aid agreement now, then a NLI in February.
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) December 20, 2017
Wouldn't expect that would impact his status in the class at all.]
So what's left?
Not much. We'll take Doyle at his word, so Michigan has 18 commitments and Reese in a class that I thought might get up to 22, tops, before Shea Patterson transferred in. The fish still on the hook:
- LA WR JaMarr Chase. Chase just visited TCU. He has an official to LSU scheduled in January. Both TCU and LSU folks are talking up their chances. Kind of feels like an "everyone hears the good things" kind of recruitment.
- CA WR Chris Olave. Olave had to cancel his official last weekend but tells Greg Biggins that he plans to reschedule it in January. UCLA, OSU, Utah, and one of USC or Tennesssee appears to be the top five there. There was some optimism in Ann Arbor about Olave prior to last weekend, FWIW. He still seems pretty wide open.
- FL OL Nicholas Petit-Frere. Petit-Frere appears to be a genuine mystery recruit; since his last Michigan visit nothing of note has really happened. Florida is "in the thick of it"; Loy says ND is "definitely still involved"; etc. Nobody really knows.
- AZ OL Jarrett Patterson. Patterson took his UCLA trip, and both UCLA and Michigan sources believe UCLA still trails afterwards per Lorenz and the UCLA 24/7 site. (Sort of: Patterson "still might be leaning" to Michigan, per those guys. Very wishy-washy language.) He is still going to wait for February, it appears, but if Michigan is still ahead in the immediate aftermath of an official to his other finalist that bodes very well. We've put in a CB for Patterson to Michigan.
- GA OL Jalen Goss. Goss visited Auburn and is taking his recruitment to Signing Day. I don't think Michigan will end up being a major factor for him.
- NJ DT Tyler Friday. A Brian Dohn CB to OSU put folks on alert but it doesn't appear to be causing a stampede of any variety; the subsequent two picks, one from an OSU guy, are to Michigan. Sam Webb completed another three-part odyessy with a recruit's parent, and those are almost always indicators that the kid in question will end up in a winged helmet. Still looking good there.
- GA ATH Michael Barrett. Barrett has had no recruiting activity since his visit to Michigan but oddly has not pulled the trigger. Starting to wonder if he has a committable offer at this instant. He's the kind of guy who would probably want to secure a spot and sign early, right?
The most likely outcome is probably Patterson, Friday, and Barrett. Oh, and maybe...
Krieger Clone #5
pictured: Michigan's 2020 secondary
Michigan tossed out an offer to MI CB Vincent Gray two days ago, and I am confused about this. Outgoing defensive backs: zero. Incoming defensive backs: four. Gray does fit this class's model of a fleet of interchangeable 6'2" guys with long arms, but surely four of those dudes in one class is sufficient? I don't know.
Gray is a Mizzou soft commit who's taken recent visits to Iowa State and West Virginia. The Mountaineers expected to add him to their class today, but the Michigan offer appears to have successfully gotten him to wait:
By all accounts, Gray was set to sign with the Mountaineers on Wednesday, despite his "commitment" (rumors are he already decommitted) to Missouri. The Wolverines have asked him to wait, though, and he says that he likely will, choosing to visit Ann Arbor in January and then sign with a school later.
The WVU site believes the Michigan offer is a contingent one, FWIW. Given the way the board looks I'd be surprised if there wasn't a spot for him down the road.
Etc.
Former Michigan commit Leonard Taylor currently forecast to go to... Kentucky. Bad move on the decommit.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:32 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 4:58 PM ^
Part of me wanted a class of all wisconsin linemen.... ;-)
December 20th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
I thought that leonard taylor was an OSU lean after his decommitment from UM. What happened? His stock fell?
December 20th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
He was a five-star when he committed to M. Now he's down to #253 on the composite.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
To be clear, Sam has absolutely not said that he thinks we get him, just that it is not the surest of sure things that he is going to Bama and that Michigan is still in it. Sam has said that the kid is a bit of an anomaly compared to other recruits and that he wouldn't be surprised if something crazy happened. A source of his (From anoma's school) thinks he is coming to Michigan, not Sam himself.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
An Anoma-ly
December 20th, 2017 at 2:18 PM ^
No, its an A-bama-ly. He gone
December 20th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
Hopefully there is some real smoke otherwise he is just trolling his own subscriber base.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
Seems to me that Jeter will end up as a DT and DIB and Upshaw will be a DT/SDE tweeners similar to Wormley. Welschof and Hutchinson seem to be SDEs only. I really hope we can get Friday to join in on this class as well. He could be an excellent nose tackle.
December 20th, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
His teammate Cam Goode is as rock-solid to Virginia Tech as it gets (probably doesn't have any other realistic options at this point anyway), and doesn't intend to sign during the early period, either. It's just a weird thing with kids at that school - though I expect VT to try to lean on Goode to sign anyway, just no ceremony.
Of course, regardless of whether or not a kid intends to decommit after not signing in this early period, remaining on the market while a ton of schools now know their needs (or have new needs after losing a kid who signed with someone else, etc.) certainly opens wiggle-room if and when new suitors suddenly come calling.
December 20th, 2017 at 6:24 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
This early signing day is weird...so used to building up to that first Wednesday in February, after the season, that this feels like some weird blip. Pre-anticlimatic.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:11 PM ^
I like it. VanSumeren went from who to commit to signed to we got the best fullback in the country and we know how to use them! That is impactful. Flipping that German freak of an athlete is awesome!
And now we will have 4-5 spots remaining in the class. No longer have to recruit the 17-18 kids who have already signed. All resources focusing on finishing strong with the last few guys that can push this class over the top.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:21 PM ^
No, no, I'm not criticizing the class. I love our class! Just the fact that this new signing day feels odd because the season is still rolling. There's no hype at all. I kinda miss the hype.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^
Right, I just don't think we get VanSumeren, Bell, or Welschof this past week without the early signing period. The excitement is there if you look for it. And I think for the most part the people who signed today were no doubt going to sign in February. Now February ONLY focuses on those wildcards, and every staff just got a bunch more time to spend on recruiting just those few spots. That may be even crazier!
December 20th, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^
Leonard Taylor....he can go anywhere he wants, but he's opting to go to an SEC bottom feeder? I mean, if that's where he's most comfortable then by all means go for it. But I wouldn't be expecting to compete for championships or get heavily noticed by NFL scouts while you're in Lexington.
I wouldn't know, and this is only speculation, but I wonder if there is any off-field or academic stuff going on where other schools cooled off on him.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:08 PM ^
October, planning official visits to 3 schools.
November, looking to schedule official vsits
December, planning two official visits, looking to schedule more
When you see an uncommitted recruit not taking any official visits, one explanation is academics. You have to send in transcripts and be on track to qualifying to get approved for those visits.
Grades aside, I wouldn't say he could go anywhere. He's fallen over 200 spots in the rankings. It wouldn't surprise me if kids that take big tumbles like that still end up overrated.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:17 PM ^
I did too earlier this morning. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the key.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
December 20th, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^
If you have too much fiber, present in fruit and vegetables, very little pushing will be necessary. It's been my experience that lots of fruit and vegetables charges me up to about 10psi. The results to the porcelain can be catastrophic.
December 20th, 2017 at 6:10 PM ^
Poster #1: "If Brown happens, I'm going to faint."
Poster #2: "There have been times when I've had brown happen and I almost passed out. Don't be embarassed, it happens to everyone."
December 20th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^
So if I am reading the info correctly on him, he has been out working the last couplke of years.
Although raw, we will be getting a 20 year old fellow who likely is more mature than the typical recent HS grad. Kinda like getting a BYU kid who went on a mission. May be stronger given his age and perhaps closer to completing his frontal cortex maturation.
December 20th, 2017 at 1:59 PM ^
we were getting Anoma just played themselves. Shame on you.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^
Evan Petzold of Scout now has him going to Michigan as of this afternoon.
December 20th, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
LOL Petzold just tweeted that Anoma has committed to Alabama.
Gullibility is a bad thing.
December 20th, 2017 at 4:57 PM ^
So does the early signing day mean the end of "Signing With the Stars"?
It would be kind of anti-climatic at this point.
December 20th, 2017 at 6:13 PM ^
another Jim Harbaugh initiative.
December 21st, 2017 at 7:53 AM ^
Wouldn't be surprised.
Next they'll close down Cracker Barrel.
December 20th, 2017 at 8:24 PM ^
December 21st, 2017 at 12:02 AM ^
December 24th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
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