What Happens If Michigan Strikes Out On The "Big 3?"

Alright so by now you all know that Michigan is hard after the "big 3" in WR Laquon Treadwell, RB Derrick Green, and Safety Leon McQuay III.  I'm going to give a breakdown on where I think we stand with each of these guys and a recruit that I think could be a viable option and very suitable replacement for each individual.

Let's start with Leon McQuay III.  The highly coveted five-star safety out of Florida made his official visit to Michigan last weekend for the Northwestern game.  While Leon is usually very quiet, I did see some interviews that he did after his visit and it looks like he had a great time.  Obviously, the game atmosphere was huge, but if you don't know, a major factor in Leon's recruitment is the school's music program.  Michigan has a very good one and he was able to hang out with two of Michigan's current players Jack Kennedy and Joe Reynolds.  Many of the Michigan fans know them as JDK and Rey.  They are both great musicians and even have a song that plays in the stadium before games.  I think this is a huge help with Leon because he can see that he will be able to make music and the school as well as the football program will support him and help him get his name out there.  But let's not forget Michigan is battling USC, Oregon and Vanderbilt.  It will be a very tight race, but I believe Michigan will be in the conversation at the Under Armour Game on January 4th where Leon makes his decision.

Week 11 Predictions and Notes

Entering Week 11 of the college football season, Michigan fans have been wondering one thing all week long. Who will start for the Wolverines on Saturday against Northwestern. I suppose the answer is your guess is as good as mine. I'm not sure if Denard will be fully healthy for the game. The ulnar nerve in his throwing elbow is probably not fully healed. I think it's safe to say Denard will start, but I don't know if it's just as safe to say he'll play the whole game. Devin Gardner did very well last week in his first career start against Minnesota, but I think the bottom line is that right now, this is Robinson's team. Regardless of the quarterback, Michigan (6-3, 4-1) could take a giant step forward in the tight Legends Division race by getting past Northwestern (7-2, 3-2).

More Drama With The 2013 Class?

Well as I'm sitting here in southern Maryland weathering hurricane Sandy, I figured I would talk about what seems to be an impending storm in recruiting for the 2013 class for Michigan.  I won't speak much about it, but there is some more drama with David Dawson.  If you haven't heard by now (you must live under a rock), but Michigan and Dawson decided to part ways a short time ago.  It seemed to be that Florida was in the driver's seat, but now that's not the case, or at least according to Dawson. 

Mr. Dawson has recently named a top-3 of Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.  What many disgruntled Michigan fans see as a slap in the face, it seems Dawson seems to favor schools in the B1G.  Given his family situation, it seems fitting that he wants to stay close to home.  I believe the ribbing from a few "bad apples" in the Michigan fan base has kind of left a salt in his mouth and I believe he may be sticking it to the Michigan fans.  We will see how it plays out, but looks like he could be lining up for one of Michigan's bitter rivals.  He has said he is taking visits and look for him to make a decision at the All-American game, if not sooner.

How To Close The 2013 Recruiting Class?

Just wanted to do a quick post on who I think the last couple spots go two in 2013.  There are many who place the scholarship limit at 24 for 2013, which leaves 1 spot.  However, I think that with these pending offseason issues, the potential for depth losses, and the chance of someone entering the NFL Draft early, I think the class will probably have 25 recruits.


The conceived options are WR Laquon Treadwell and RB Derrick Green.  These two guys are among the best at their respected positions and if one pulls the trigger before the other, I can't possibly see the coaches turning the other one away.  These kids are both top notch and have high interest in the Wolverines. I think the more likely of the two to commit first would be Treadwell even though he has a pending visit to Oklahoma State.  Derrick Green is visiting for the bbq, but I don't possibly see him pulling the trigger so soon in the process.  Still plenty of time for him to make up his mind.. 

USC Takes Over Top Spot On Rivals for 2013 Team Rankings

According to Rivals, Michigan has been surpassed in the 2013 Team Rankings.  Picking up their most recent commit today from 4-star DB Jalen Ramsey, the Trojans have passed the Wolverines.  Most say that when new individual player rankings come out in August Ramsey is likely to pick up his 5th Star.  What is incredible is that USC is operating with scholarship reductions for the 2013 class.  


Scout and ESPN have yet to update their team rankings so I'm curious to see what they do with things.  I'll give you a quick breakdown comparing each team's class as they are viewed on Rivals.  You can be the judge regarding whether you agree and I'll give my opinion at the end of which team I think has the best class.

Updated 2013 ESPN300 - Michigan Commits And Targets

ESPN has updated its football rankings and released its list of the 300 best football players for the 2013 recruiting class.  Michigan's commits and targets have filled the list.  Brady Hoke and his staff have done an excellent job in all of his recruiting classes, but Michigan's 2013 football recruiting class has been absolutely phenomenal.  


The ratings on this list are not perfect by any means, but they do give us a better understanding of these players, especially after The Opening last weekend where some of Michigan's players had some great performances.  The questions everybody seems to have had over the last week or so is where Michigan's commits and targets would end up if they performed well at the Nike Camp.  Well, some of Michigan's players did great and we can see that in the updated rankings.

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.  

Breaking Down Michigan's Spot In Scout 300 List

Over the past few weeks, we have been breaking down the class rankings from the major recruiting services.  We have already done ESPN, Rivals, and 247Sports, so now it's finally time to break down Scout.  I would go into breakdowns of each recruit as we did in our 247Sports post, but it's kind of pointless since we did that post less than a week ago.  If you want to find out more info about each recruit than listed, I suggest either checking out the 247Sports post linked above, or check out our Football Recruiting page.


So let's get into Scout's list of the Top 300 players in the country for the 2013 recruiting class.  As usual, there were a few rankings that made little sense, but there were also some that seemed to fit pretty logically.  Along with this, there were plenty of players that were pretty clearly over or underrated both of Michigan's commits and recruits on other teams or uncommitted.  Regardless, let's just look at the rankings and see how Michigan's commits and targets placed:

Top Priorities for 2013 Class

Photographed are current commits QB Shane Morris (left) and DB Jourdan Lewis (right).  They are just two members of the current top recruiting class in the country for the Michigan Wolverines.  But the real question that's on my mind and pretty much all Michigan fans that really follow recruiting is how does Coach Hoke close this class out.  With commit #22 coming in with Channing Stribling this week, many have the opinion that Michigan will only take 2 more recruits for this class.  


I say they take 3.  Some people don't like the commitment of Stribling, mostly because they were wanting the coaches to hold out for guys such as Kendall Fuller, Leon McQuay, etc., which makes sense, but maybe the coaches know something that we don't.  There seems to be a concensus that Fuller has Va. Tech and Clemson as his leaders and Michigan will lose out on him.  McQuay, I'm not too sure, but he seems far from making a decision.  In my opinion...trust the coaches, they know what they are doing.  So I'm going to put out a few names that I think may close the class out.