Welcome Home Tate!

Robert "Tate" Forcier has always loved Michigan even when he was a grade school'er. In a weekend with few bright spots for the Wolverines, Michigan landed one of the best QB's in the country. Tate came to Ann Arbor this weekend for his official visit and quickly committed. Many Wolverine fans were nervous when 4 star Kevin Newsome de-committed a couple of weeks ag0, but it seems the Michigan staff always had a back-up plan and Tate is now the Man! Tate also plans and enrolling in January and being ready for the 2009 season.

Kevin Newsome, had a high upside but needed some work to play right away.

Tate Forcier, is a polished QB right now and should be ready to play next year, but the ceiling is a bit smaller.

BTW: I'm all for another Tom Brady! Welcome home Tate!

As always, VB with the write up on Michigan's next QB:

Player Notes: Forcier is a pass-run quarterback who is a much better fit for this UM system than his brother was for the old one. Forcier switched schools entering his sophomore season to avoid starting over his older brother Chris (now at UCLA). Tate is a pass-first dual threat quarterback. For those worrying about a lack of speed, it may be comforting to know that he had more rushing yards than Kevin Newsome as a junior. Tate is a little bit short (around 6-1), and his arm strength is not elite. However, he is fairly fast (faster than his former Wolverine brother), and his arm is very accurate. For the Scouts, Inc. evaluation of Tate, check out his site. One thing to keep in mind about Tate is that he has had a private QB tutor for much of his football-playing career, so his floor is very high, but he may be close to his ceiling as a passer.

Recruiting Notes: Like his older brother before him, Tate Forcier grew up a fan of the Michigan Wolverines. This gave Rich Rodriguez and company a leg up in his recruitment. However, with a family member leaving the program just a couple of years before Tate would enroll, it was unclear whther there would be hard feelings towards the Michigan program. Forcier was offered early in the process, when Russell Shepard and Kevin Newsome were the only other signal-callers holding offers from Rich Rodriguez. Speaking of offers... Tate posted all of his online (and it was really annoying to Google him every day and see that another hack columnist around the country had noticed). However, Tate said he wouldn't start trimming his list until the Pryor situation was resolved. When Pryor picked against Michigan, many thought Pryor's other "finalists," Penn State and Michigan, were among Forcier's top schools (along with Oregon). Before Kevin Newsome committed, he and Tate talked on Myspace about attending school together. When Shavodrick Beaver also gave his word to become a Wolverine, Tate was not to be dissuaded, still speaking highly of Michigan. When Kevin Newsome decommitted, Forcier was almost immediately in town for an official visit to the Utah game. Shortly after, Forcier made the decision to pull the trigger and commit to Michigan.