Monday, June 15, 2015

Michigan Monday: Recaps Commitment Weekend!

The Michigan coaches took this tour to spread the word on Michigan Football, teach kids how to play the correct way and get a chance to evaluate talent.  I think they accomplished all 3 goals and this weekend's commitment of two players confirms that. 

When you read this write up, the first thought that might pop into your mind is:  "what is the deal with the low rankings for both of these recruits?".  It's a fair question, but we know recruiting services are not perfect and can't see everyone, we also know that Jimmy and staff have a good eye and they are recruiting athletes that can play multiple positions at the next level.   So the question is, do you want to trust the guys at Rivals and Scouts or Jimmy and staff?


The first commitment to drop this weekend was Florida CB Antwaine Richardson who happened to be a teammate of incoming freshman Shelton Johnson.   Antwaine performed in front of the Michigan coaches at the South Florida camp last week. 

He is rated 3 stars from Rivals and 247, Scouts and ESPN have yet to put a ranking on the young man.  Rivals lists him at 6'0 and 168 pounds.  His offer list doesn't look like a 3 star with the likes of Miami, WVU, Syracuse, Rutgers, Iowa State, South Florida, FAU and others. 

There is not a ton out there on Antwaine but he comes from a big time Florida HS program at Delray Beach and the coaches must of liked what they saw at the Miami camp.  AR is the 11th commitment in the 2016 class, which is expected to be in the low 20's. 

The second commit to drop is another Florida athlete in Fort Lauderdale/Cooper City DE/TE Rashad Weaver who committed to Michigan last night.  Rashad is really under the radar as he is ranked as a two star by Rivals and not ranked by the other services.  The young man is 6'5 and 245 pounds and could play on either side of the ball at the next level.  From the below quote from Rivals via Mgoblog, it's clear Michigan is recruiting him as a big guy with a flexible future:

"I started camp at the D-end, and went all the way through all the drills and the one-on-ones, winning those," he explained. "Then with like 10 minutes left, they pulled me over to tight end one-on-ones, and I did four routes and caught a couple balls. They told me they like me at both positions and they're recruiting me as just a big athlete. Possibly even both ways at the next level.
"A couple days later I was sitting on the couch, and Coach [Jay] had asked me something. I don't remember what I responded, but he said, 'how would you feel if I told you that you have a full scholarship offer to the University of Michigan?' I told him that I was sitting there smiling like a little kid that just got a whole bunch of candy. He said again when I got off the phone with them that they like me on both sides."

Rashad is clearly a smart kid with this offer list:  Temple, Columbia, Air Force, Cornell, Colgate, Illinois, South Florida and Syracuse. 

Look for both of these guys to jump up the ranking as they play their senior year as a Michigan committed player.

More to come?

  • Two recruits from Florida de-committed from other schools on their Michigan visit.  LB/DB Devin Gil from Miami and S safety Josh Metellus de-committed from Georgia Southern.  Both players are from Hollywood, FL Flanagan HS.

2 comments:

ScottyDoggs said...

I appreciate what Harbaugh is doing... he's looking at talent or speed and development capabilities, not a star system that does not do justice to many players, and over rates many.
This probably explains why many teams that have a highly rated recruiting class(es) do not measure up in the years ahead.

The Pittsburg Steelers built a dynasty by looking for obscure players in unknown schools. To do what Harbaugh is doing requires a tremendous amount of football intelligence, and confidence in yourself ( not to second guess yourself). Harbaurgh goes off the charts in both categories (A++++)>

Scott K said...

Two more commits and a scolding from Dan Mullin.... Go Jimmy GO BLUE!