Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson, LB Deuce Spurlock, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE/LB Micah Pollard, DE Derrick Moore, DT Mason Graham, DT Kenneth Grant, DT Cam Goode, T Andrew Gentry, T/G Connor Jones, G Alessandro Lorenzetti, C Olu Oluwatimi, TE Marlin Klein, TE Colston Loveland. Ponchatoula, LA – 6'4”, 180 [Barron] 247: 6'4/175 3.60* 3*, 87, NR overall #101 WR, #31 LA Rivals: 6'3/170 3.73* 3*, 5.7, NR overall #34 ATH, #22 LA ESPN: 6'3/170 3.95* 4*, 80, #128 SE #44 WR, #16 LA On3: 6'4/180 3.68* 3*, 88, NR overall #88 WR, #23 LA Composite: 3.83* 3*, 0.8826, #522 ovr #72 WR, #25 LA Other Suitors ND (decommit), Bama, LSU YMRMFSPA Nico Collins Previously On MGoBlog Commitment alert. Notes UA All-American. Twitter. Early Enrollee. Film: Senior Highlights: Hudl. Play of the week. The best Pixar film since their acquisition is debatable, but Coco makes enough of the lists that I think it can serve for some consensus. It is a brilliant film, gorgeous, deep, and almost perfect except for one unfortunate uncanny valley (Spoiler Alert). See, for much of the movie this kid who's traversing the Land of Dead is doing so wearing skeleton facial paint to disguise the fact that he, unlike all the rest of this realm, still has his muscles and flesh. And you're thinking: Did none of these (ex-) people watch sports? Sport fan brains are wired to tell how much meat a player carries on his bones if nothing else. Swap Steve Breaston's jersey for Jason Avant's, and you'd still have to get 100 rows back to fool anybody. The latest moment like this was in Michigan's spring game. Nobody had seen Amorion Walker, the early enrolled wide receiver from the sandal gap of Louisiana, and nobody seemed to have accurate rosters of who was on maize or blue, but nobody who follows Michigan recruiting had trouble identifying #4. They would have known, for example, that ever since this Southerner whose catching radius has its own zip code had the best 40 time (4.41) and vertical (40 inches) at Bama's June 2021 camp, Michigan had worked extremely hard to pry Walker out of Notre Dame's class, and that Notre Dame everything short of abandoning their most hallowed tradition (losing to a mid-major school) to prevent it. They also might have known that Special Agent Ron Bellamy played for Walker's coach, that Sam Webb was alerted by the staff that they saw this as a 5-star recruitment, and he should get be on hand for the announcement on (early) Signing Day (Sam's second visit to see Walker). That everyone who saw Walker play apparently agreed with the two winningest schools with the nation's best scouting staffs, but couldn't bring themselves to rate the guy higher than 3 stars because he looks like a twig. Then the twig teleported past Will Johnson and settled in the soft spot in Cover 2. Okay, we see it. Now feed the boy. [After THE JUMP: Can we pay out NIL in meat?]
Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson, LB Deuce Spurlock, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE/LB Micah Pollard, DE Derrick Moore, DT Mason Graham, DT Kenneth Grant, DT Cam Goode, OT Andrew Gentry. Monument, CO – 6'7”, 285 Via Twitter 247: 6'7/285 3.57* 3*, 85 #123 OT, #5 CO Rivals: 6'7/285 3.60* 3*, 5.6 no ranking ESPN: 6'7/285 3.53* 3*, 76, #189 Midlands #82 OT, #5 CO On3: 3.70 3*, 87 #52 OT, #3 CO Composite: 3.56* 3*, 0.8559, #1022 ovr #90 OT, #6 CO Other Suitors Oreg St, NW, IU YMRMFSPA Mark Ortmann or Trevor Keegan Previously On MGoBlog Hello from the Future by Me. Notes Twitter. Six-Zero Academy. Film: Senior Highlights: Hudl. May 2021 camp. Game tape. Six Zero workout. Another. Another. There are three categories of three-stars Michigan recruits. Type I we refer to as "3.5" stars but more accurately they're 3.75 to 3.95. They're your Kenneth Grants, Colston Lovelands, Gemon Greens, Mike Harts, Chase Winoviches, Roman Wilsons, Tom Bradys: guys one site might rate four stars and the others were tempted to but were worried because they have an obvious flaw (e.g. Hart: too short), or played somewhere nobody can scout (Wilson in Hawaii, Loveland in Idaho.) Type II are the underrated. They're the "finds," the guys who floated out of sight of the scouting industry by avoiding camps and playing in lower divisions or Massachusetts high schools with names that sound like law firms. This is your DJ Turner, Rob Renes, Glen Steele, Rod Moore, Andrew Stueber, Andrel Anthony, Kwity Paye, Josh Uche, Josh Metellus, Deuce Spurlock, Patrick Omameh, Ronnie Bell, or Hassan Haskins. Lately the sites have been getting better about following clues outside of their scouting, for example when Michigan pulls a camp guy out of the South and has to fend off attempts by Miami or Auburn to flip him at the end of the cycle. Type III are what silly people assume all 3-stars are. They're Plan B or Plan C guys. Occasionally they're pulled in late over MAC commitments late in the cycle, or right after Michigan loses a drawn-out battle with their top target. They're almost* without exception high-academic dudes. But usually they're ra-ra Michigan guys who commit on the offer super early in the cycle, go dark to the sites, and then either meet some secret target of development the Michigan coaches set for them, or drift off. Davonte Miles (Bowling Green) and Aaron Alexander (UMass) were that in this class. Those who signed and went on to contribute meaningfully include Mark Huyge, Rondell Biggs, Rueben Riley, Shawn Lazarus, Drake Johnson, JT Floyd, Thomas Gordon, Jon Runyan Jr., Desmond Morgan, Troy Woolfolk, Brandon Watson, Vincent Gray, and David Harris. A large portion of those that stick depart with a degree and eligibility remaining, having only barely contributed. Of those who didn't make it in the class, only Rashad Weaver was ever regretted. I can say "Sir Patrick Scott" and over half of you probably can't remember who that is. Connor Jones would be our type specimen for Type III in every way. He committed on Christmas Even 2020. He never wavered or visited other schools. There was zero scouting after that, either, and he was ignored by recruiting reporters but for two visits to Michigan, or when an adult associated with him had to clarify he still exists. The guy's even listed at a weight well below what he'll eventually have to be, and was seen running up and down his street with a Michigan flag after 42-27 (Same). . Except one thing: before the ink on the NIL was dry, Michigan's coaches, publicly and even more so privately, were raising glasses like they just pulled off an intelligence coup. * [Tay'shawn Trent, but that was on his school blowing their remote learning program during COVID.] [After THE JUMP: Do we believe them?]