Green Day

Go out and recycle something!  Today is Green Day for Michigan Wolverines fans.   Might as well be an early St. Patrick's Day!

Derrick Green minutes ago announced his decision for the Wolverines from a final list of Auburn, Tennessee and Michigan. 

Derrick is rated as the #1 RB to both Rivals and Scouts.   He is ranked #8 overall by Rivals and #6 by Scout.  He is of course a 5 star to both services.   Derrick is the highest rated Big Ten recruit to both Rivals and Scout's this year.

We have talked about his recruitment at length so I won't get too detailed in the re-cap.   DG was out to Ann Arbor a couple times and got really close to the Michigan coaches including RB coach Fred Jackson.   To help matters, his other top schools fired their coaches and both staffs didn't have the time to make up Michigan's relationship distance. 

Derrick is also close to Michigan commit David Dawson.  They became friends at Nike's Opening this past summer.   If you think about it, Michigan was the perfect fit for many reasons including:

• Opportunity for playing time and Michigan's top RB out with a leg injury.
• 5 Star QB in the class with him
• A 2013 class with 6 offensive lineman all 4 stars or above.
• A first rounder NFL offensive tackle decided to come back for another year at Michigan.
• Relationship with the coaches
• U of M academically speaks for itself

It's been awhile since Michigan got such a highly ranked offensive skill position player and mostly this late in the recruiting cycle.   I guessed earlier this week that DG is the highest ranked RB Michigan has picked up since maybe Tyrone Wheatley.(Edit: actually since 2002 and Kevin Grady)

Senior stats per Scouts profile:   Green finished the season with 184 carries for 1,285 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also had seven catches for 110 yards and one touchdown. Due to his team's large leads in many games, Green sat out 17 entire quarters as a senior.

Derrick is 5'11 and 220 power back with good speed.  He has quick feet and is hard to tackle.  I expect Derrick to compete for starting RB job right away.  Fitz had a very up and down year, which ended with a terrible leg injury.  Derrick and Fitz (if healthy) would seem to split starter reps at tailback during Fall Camp. 

I think there is high probability that Derrick is the last recruit in Michigan's class.  The only guy left on the board now is Texas TE Durham Smythe who is currently in South Bend.   Smythe is planning a signing day announcement, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't leave South Bend as a member for the Fighting Irish.





Welcome to the Wolverines Derrick and Go Blue!!!