Michigan Commits and Targets At The Opening

The much anticipated Nike Camp, The Opening, was this past weekend in Beaverton, Oregon. Loaded with talent, it has been said to be one of the best camps of the year, if not the best. On hand were the best high school players from all over the country, including 7 Michigan Commits and several Michigan targets.  Representing the Maize and Blue were QB Shane Morris, DB Jourdan Lewis, TE Jake Butt, OG David Dawson, DE Taco Charlton, OL Kyle Bosch, LB Mike McCray.  All of these players were there, but Kyle Bosch did leave early due to personal reasons so I won't really have much to say about him, but he did show up the first day so he deserves to be mentioned. 


Two of Team 134's members made the all-tournament team. TE Jake Butt and DB Jourdan Lewis.  Both of these guys showed up big time in 7-on-7 play and were definitely deserving of the honors.  If you pay any attention to the recruiting sites, then you will know that people are saying Jourdan Lewis's rankings should skyrocket.  I said before the tournament that he would prove he's one of the best DB's in the country and he showed it this past weekend.  Making big time plays and even an interception in the finals to gave his team a shot at the championship late in the game.  Jake Butt came up big for his team and he quickly became one of his quarterback's favorite targets.  I watched some video and he made some great plays, including a nice grab on the sideline, where he got both feet in and maintained possession.  

QB Shane Morris didn't make all tournament team, but he was mentioned as one of the best quarterback's at the tournament along with USC commit Max Browne.  There has been some debate as to which was the better player, but there is no doubt that they are both outstanding prospects.  Morris didn't receive a lot of time on ESPNU, but there are some highlight videos and he looked good.  Threading the needle and showing great accuracy.  Some have been calling Shane Morris "overhyped" and that there is a large gap between him and Browne, but I'm not so sure.  Morris may not have been considered the best last weekend, but they are both outstanding.  There is absolutely no reason to think last weekend was a bad showing for Morris.

LB Mike McCray had a good weekend also.  Played very solid, didn't really hear too much about him, but he did play well.  Now the linemen didn't play in the 7-on-7 so they pretty much did drills all weekend.  But Taco Charlton definitely impressed.  He showed that he's a freak athlete and even without pads on he looked like he had them on.  From all accounts Taco has definitely been working hard in the weight room and it is showing.  I saw a few highlights of him and he is very fast off the edge and that seemed to be giving some of the guys he was going against trouble.  

OG David Dawson didn't have the best weekend.  Played good, but could have been better.  I think part of it may have been from the off-field concerns over rumors of a de-commitment from Michigan.  He did announce that he spoke to the coaches and he cancelled his Florida camp trip.  I have said from day one that Dawson is solid to Michigan and he has continued to say so himself.  I think people need to leave this young man alone.  Time and time again he has said he is a Michigan Man and we should all believe him.  We as a fanbase need to support him.  He's one of the best linemen in the country and he is committed to Michigan until he says otherwise.  Either way, I have full faith he will sign in Michigan come February.


There were also many Michigan Targets on hand so I'll just give a quick rundown of the major ones and my feel for their weekend and how things are going as far as their interest in Michigan.

1.  Laquon Treadwell:  Everyone should get excited because there seems to be a consensus that he is coming to Michigan and even Rivals is 75% sure he's going to Michigan.  The consensus is that it is almost inevitable for him to end up at Michigan.  He has said he possibly wants to take another couple of visits to different schools but as far as him it looks good he will end up in Ann Arbor.  As far as his camp performance, he proved to be one of the best wide receivers there solidifying his claim to be one of the nation's best.  Looking very good off the line of scrimmage and going up after jump balls and outplaying defenders.  I'm excited for what the future brings as far as he goes.  

2.  Derrick Green:  The nation's top running back, according to Rivals, was also on site and he didn't disappoint from what I'm hearing.   Right now, he seems to have solid interest in Michigan, but it should be a long time before anybody knows about his intentions.  He has released a top group, but it contains 13 schools and he has listed them in no order.  This could be a recruit that we don't know about until National Signing Day.

3.  Kendall Fuller:  One of the country's top corners was also on site.  A bit of a disapointment as far as Michigan's chances as he had the Clemson Tiger paw shaved into one side of his head and the Virginia Tech logo in the other side.  All the experts have said that Michigan is clearly in the third place, so I'm not sure it looks good as far as Mr. Fuller goes.  Kendall played very well this weekend and even in the finals game had an interception and ran the ref over on the return.  Gotta love that about him, but I just don't see him ending up at Michigan. 

4.  Alvin Bailey:  Big play WR with the very recognizable flat top was also on site.  Played very well and was just outrunning defensive players for the football.  I think Bailey is very good and if we could get him and Treadwell it'd be amazing.  Again, this is a recruit that probably isn't coming to Michigan, especially if Treadwell opts to commit anytime soon.  With limited scholarships, I just don't see it.

5.  Leon McQuay:  Leon was there and had a good weekend.  Michigan is in his top group and he could possibly end up there.  If Treadwell commits to Michigan, I'm not sure how it will affect McQuay because I know him and his teammate Bailey really want to play college ball together.  This could be one of the big remaining question marks for Michigan's 2013 recruiting class. 

There were other targets on hand, but these are all the main guys that I believe Michigan is after and I think that one of these names will end up in Ann Arbor for certain with a very good shot of more than just that.  We'll see.  The tournament was covered like crazy all over the scouting sites.  So if I left anything out let me know but I didn't feel the need to go crazy in depth because there's not much I can say that hasn't been said.