It is sad that a college football fan’s Christmas is a day where 18 year old boys tell the nation where they are going to spend the next 2-5 years of their life. Now that college football makes about as much money as the NBA, today has become a holiday for some. I can’t lie, I am definitely excited to see where some of these kids end up. Brady Hoke salvaged last years recruiting class by keeping most of the players on board and offering a sleeper in Desmond Morgan which saw a lot of minutes in his freshman year. Not only did our coach of year do his best effort to field a good class with just under a month to trying, he jumped in head first to fill the 2012 recruiting class.
It has been a year now that I have been following this next batch of incoming freshman. How drastically different the social media makes recruiting. Just a few years ago I wouldn’t know more than the few top rated commits for Michigan, and then ESPN would show the recruiting class rankings. Now I know which high schools most of these future Wolverines played for, their metrics, and even some stats. I can picture next year’s depth chart with the freshman class included, and even make predictions of how their freshman years will play out.
Michigan made a huge splash early in the recruiting process. They stole the consensus 5 star Kyle Kalis away from Ohio, infiltrated a normal MSU feeder (Farmington Hills Harrison) to pick off 2 of their best players and almost getting a 3rd if the WR could have met academic requirements, offered scholarships to rising stars (Pipkins started at the bottom of the Scout 250, and now is a 5 star recruit that dominated the Army All-American game), and found players who filled the teams needs. Maybe most importantly, Brady Hoke has recruited high character players that are proud to be playing for Michigan. Many of the recruits have said they would not have considered U-M if Rich Rod was still the coach, and many parents have raved about how respectful all of the Michigan coaches have been during the in-home visits. One of the easiest ways to recruit a high school senior is to mess with his impressions of different schools. Many coaches will ask a prospect what other universities they are considering playing for, then the coach will go one by one saying any bad thing they can think of about those schools.
What might be the most incredible part of this year’s recruiting class is that it is a consensus top 5 class, yet it is filled with non-skill position players. It is easy to get hyped up on the QB who can throw 80 yards from his knees, the WR how has the 45” vertical, the RB who is 205 lbs yet still runs a 4.4 40. There aren’t as many drills or metrics that can grade how good a lineman or linebacker is. There is no quarterback in this year’s class, there is a 3 star running back, 2 up and coming receivers who are sleeper recruits, and 1 four star CB who will likely need to redshirt next year. Probably the skill player that will contribute the most next year is a Cincinnati de-commit, Dennis Norfleet, who is a 5’7” all-purpose back from Detroit. He will likely start the year on special teams as a kick returner and possibly even the punt returner.
This year’s class seems like just the beginning of some incredible years here in Ann Arbor with the 2013 recruiting class under way and Michigan already signing 2 five star players, with many many more interested. The 2012 class is necessary to give depth to both lines, and will likely provide multiple first team conference players, and maybe All-Americans or first round draft picks but the 2013 class is shaping up to change the landscape of B1G football to move it back to a decade of the big 2 and little 10 schools.
Go Blue!
No comments:
Post a Comment