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:

Michigan's 2013 Top 247 Comprehensive List

Michigan has already been well represented on the ESPN150 and the Rivals250 and now they're done a great job at getting on the 247Sports list of the Top 247 recruits in the country.  There are certainly some head-scratching rankings on the list, but Michigan did pretty well with a total of 13 commitments and two targets appearing on the list.

COMMITS

21. Shane Morris (QB)

This marks another list where Michigan's only 2013 quarterback commitment finds himself as the highest ranked commit for Michigan.  He has been playing fantastic and actually won MVP honors at the Columbus Elite 11 camp where he earned a bid to play in the National Elite 11 competition.  Another thing to note is that Morris is now the highest rated 4* on 247Sports' list, which means that if he stays where he is right now, the odds are really good that he will be given 5* status soon.At 6'3", 190 pounds, Shane Morris is primarily a pocket passer, although he has shown the ability to move around in the pocket if need be. Most analysts refer to Morris as having the strongest arm in his class. The only major concern I can see at this point is accuracy. Through the Elite 11 process, Morris has shown streaks of brilliance in delivering the ball on a string, but he needs to work on making that a consistent outcome. He has the arm strength to put the ball just about wherever he wants it. 


Other Notable Offers: Alabama, Cincinnati, Michigan State.

Commitment #16: RB DeVeon Smith

Like I said, commit watch! DeVeon Smith has become Michigan’s 16th commit of the 2013 class. He wasn’t bluffing about Michigan being his childhood favorite. 

Smith is a 4* running back out of Warren, OH who Scout ranks 58th in the nation and 7th at his position. Impressive. He holds offers from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue, and West Virginia. Smith is 5’11” and 195 pounds. Michigan was actually the first to offer Smith, and he grew up a Michigan fan. He is known for being talented enough to run over defenders as well as around them -- a good fit for our pro-style offense. He has also been heralded for his ball security, rarely fumbling even with such a heavy workload. As a junior, he earned Division 2 All-Ohio second-team honors. He racked up nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. It feels good to steal another one from Urban. 

Smith is the 12th commitment for Michigan in the ESPNU 150 watch list. He is the 7th commit out of Ohio. Scout also ranks Smith #3 out of Ohio for the 2013 class, which is very impressive considering the talent coming out of Ohio this year. 

I know now everyone is wondering about Ty Isaac, but basically, Smith’s commitment doesn’t tell us much. Yes, the coaches wanted 2 running backs for this class and now have them, but I highly doubt they turn down the potential #1 running back of the 2013 class in Isaac. If after his USC visit (next weekend) he still sees Michigan as his #1, he will probably commit, and the coaches will probably welcome it. No harm in having 3 top-notch running backs in the class, they’ll just have to work a little harder when it comes to the numbers crunch. 

Weekend Visitors

4* RB DeVeon Smith (commit watch)

Everyone should be on commit watch this weekend regarding DeVeon Smith because there is a huge possibility he commits. We all know Michigan is looking for (probably) 1 more running back, and with Ty Isaac still undecided, our focus now turns to 4* DeVeon Smith. 

Smith is a running back out of Warren, OH who Scout ranks 58th in the nation and 7th at his position. Impressive. He holds offers from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue, and West Virginia. Smith is 5’11” and 195 pounds. Michigan was actually the first to offer Smith, and he grew up a Michigan fan. He is known for being talented enough to run over defenders as well as around them -- a good fit for our pro-style offense. He has also been heralded for his ball security, rarely fumbling even with such a heavy workload. As a junior, he earned Division 2 All-Ohio second-team honors. He racked up nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. To steal an OSU recruit and life-long Michigan fan would be great. Smith has plenty of potential.

By the way, conspiracy alert: if Smith doesn’t commit this weekend, there’s a huge chance that means Isaac has told the coaches that he will probably commit at some point. My thinking is he really wanted to visit USC (he probably already had his plane tickets, etc.) and we know the coaching staff’s rule of no visits after committing. Maybe Isaac wanted to commit, but couldn’t since he was planning on visiting USC this weekend. If Smith does not commit (assuming he wants to and the coaches tell him to hold off), it’s a strong sign Isaac will commit at one point or another.

Now another point to make is that Smith is probably still wanted in this 2013 class. Him and Isaac are different players, but both excellent players. Isaac is more dynamic, but Smith is a bull, something the coaches like. If there’s room in the class somehow, the coaches will want Smith too. It’s not like we’re loaded at RB. 

TE Scott Orndoff (commit watch)

Finally, Mr. Orndoff will be making his visit. Orndoff was originally a Wisconsin verbal, but has recently decommitted. He has expressed great interest in Michigan, and has been planning a visit for a while now. He has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others. Orndoff stands 6’4” and 240 pounds. He is from Pittsburgh, PA and receives a 3* ranking from both 247 and Scout. Scout ranks him the 13th best tight end in the class, while 247 has him as 23rd. Orndoff received Michigan’s offer right after Signing Day, so he has clearly been someone they’ve been looking at. We know the coaches want a third tight end of this class, and Orndoff seems like a great fit. His recruitment has also been blowing up as of late. 

The other tight end the coaching staff was seriously looking at was Jacob Matuska out of Ohio, who recently committed to Notre Dame (as a DE even though he wanted to play tight end). There aren’t very many offers out to uncommitted tight ends left and Orndoff seems to be the one the coaches will go after the hardest. I would not be surprised if he commits this weekend. 

DL Henry Poggi (commit watch)

Again, another commit watch. This weekend could be crazy. There were rumors circulating on Twitter the other day that Poggi might commit this weekend, but he said himself that that isn’t true. However, this will be Poggi’s third visit to Michigan. According to Scout, he’s also already visited all his “favorites,” albeit only once. Michigan is the only school he’s visited multiple times. His favorites, other than Michigan, include Stanford, Ohio State, Virginia, and Vanderbilt. I don’t understand how those are his favorites considering his offer sheet, but who am I? He has said he wants to make it back to OSU, but who knows if that will change this weekend. You know the rule.

Poggi is a 4* tackle out of Baltimore, MD who Rivals ranks as 43rd overall in the nation. He stands 6’3” and 250 pounds. He finished his junior season with 49 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, and one forced fumble. Poggi is a beast, with about 20 offers from schools like Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, and Stanford. Poggi plays a position of need for Michigan and he would be an excellent get.

RB Derrick Green

Green is a name we don’t hear as often as the rest. This is probably because we are more familiar with Michigan’s top running back options (Wyatt Shallman, Ty Isaac, DeVeon Smith). He is a 4* RB from Richmond, VA and Scout ranks him 20th at his position and 124th nationally. He has over 20 offers including Michigan, Auburn, Miami, Ohio State, South Carolina, and USC He stands 5’11” and 220 pounds and has admitted to favoring a pro-style offense as opposed to a spread. This is interesting because he grew up an OSU fan and has always loved them. Truthfully, I am surprised he is visiting this weekend. However, he is very intrigued with Michigan and does favor a pro-style run offense, like I said. “Seriously considering Michigan is against Buckeye religion,” he has said. Does this mean he’s seriously considering Michigan? We’ll learn more this weekend. 

S Delano Hill


Hill is a safety out of Detroit Cass Tech (yet another one!) who stands 6'1" and 185 pounds. He is a 3* on Scout who is ranked 25th at his position. Hill actually joins a bunch of Cass Tech sophomores who are visiting Michigan this weekend. Hill has offers from Illinois, Iowa, and Syracuse but is also hearing from multiple schools. He has been wanting to hear from Michigan, and now has been asked to visit. Although Michigan has been planning on taking one safety in the 2013 class (Dymonte Thomas), there is a chance Hill gets offered. 

Which Prospects Have Michigan in Their Top-3?

The Wolverine coaching staff has already secured 13 verbal commits from top prospects. But the class isn’t finished, and there’s many more players who are very interested in playing at Michigan. There are 11 prospects who have Michigan in their top-3. Three of them are visiting Michigan next weekend. Let’s get to know them...

1. 4* RB Ty Isaac

We all know who Ty Isaac is. He’s Michigan’s #1 prospect for the remaining spot at running back. And he’s a beast. Click here to check out an in-depth post I wrote on Isaac.

Isaac is visiting Michigan next weekend (March 10th). 

2. 3* RB DeVeon Smith

Smith is a 3* running back out of Warren, OH who 247 ranks 31st in the nation at his position. He holds offers from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, and Penn State. Smith is 5’11” and 195 pounds. Michigan was actually the first to offer Smith, and he grew up a Michigan fan. He is known for being talented enough to run over defenders as well as around them -- a good fit for our pro-style offense. He has also been heralded for his ball security, rarely fumbling even with such a heavy workload. As a junior, he earned Division 2 All-Ohio second-team honors. He racked up nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. To steal an OSU recruit and life-long Michigan fan would be great. Smith has plenty of potential. 

3. 4* WR Laquon Treadwell 

Treadwell is another player we’re all familiar with. That’s because he’s the #1 WR on Michigan’s board. Check out the in-depth post I wrote on him here. 

4. 3* WR James Onwualu

Onwualu is a 3* wide receiver out of St. Paul, MN who 247 ranks 50th in the nation at his position. He holds double digit offers from schools like Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Stanford. Onwualu is 6’1” and 205 pounds and is the #1 prospect out of Minnesota. One of the reasons I’m sure Onwualu interests the Michigan coaching staff is his athleticism. He carries the ball from the backfield, catches passes split as a wide receiver, and even lines up on defense on occasion. There’s even been talk of him playing corner or safety at the next level. Multi-positional athletes have been a recurring them this year. Onwualu would be an excellent slot receiver, considering his size and athleticism. I believe Onwualu is vastly underrated and that Michigan would be lucky to get him. 

Onwualu is visiting Michigan next weekend (March 10th). 

5. 3* CB Gareon Conley

Conley is someone I wrote about yesterday when I wrote about Michigan’s options at the cornerback position. 

Conley is a 3* cornerback out of Massilion, OH who stands 6’2” and 170 pounds. I believe he fits the frame of the kind of cornerback we’re going after: tall. He holds offers from Michigan and Northwestern although I’m sure he’s going to be getting many more offers soon. Scout recently came out with a list of the top 2013 prospects from Ohio and Conley ranks 16th, ahead of Jaron Dukes, Jacob Matuska, Kevin Gladney, Shane Jones, and Taco Charlton...just to name a few you may be more familiar with. As a junior, Conley had 4 interceptions, 1 of which was returned for a touchdown. He also led the team with 9 pass break-ups. Tom Greene of Scout calls Conley “one of the top sleeper prospects in Ohio for the class of 2013.” Clearly, Hoke knows what he’s doing.

Conley is visiting Michigan next weekend (March 10th).

6. 4* DL Henry Poggi

Poggi is a 4* tackle out of Baltimore, MD who Rivals ranks as 43rd overall in the nation. He stands 6’3” and 250 pounds. He finished his junior season with 49 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, and one forced fumble. Poggi is a beast, with about 20 offers from schools like Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, and Stanford. It’s too early to say much about his options, but Poggi is very interested in Michigan. He has already visited Michigan twice, but is planning another visit soon. Poggi plays a position of need for Michigan and he would be an excellent get.

7. 4* LB Mike McCray

McCray is a 4* outside linebacker out of Trotwood, OH. Rivals ranks him 44th overall in the nation. He has more than 20 offers including ones from Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. I’m surprised he does not have more big-time offers, although I’m also kind of relieved. Hopefully he is impressed with how early on Michigan realized his talent. This kid is a beast. He stands 6’4” and 230 pounds and runs a 4.61 40. McCray came from the same high school as Roy Roundtree, Michael Shaw, and Brandon Moore. His 2013 teammate Cameron Burrows, however, is already committed to Ohio State. Even though McCray doesn’t have an OSU offer yet, I can promise you he will eventually. Luckily for us, I don’t think that will matter. McCray has a large interest in Michigan right now and plans to make a decision on March 7th or 8th. He is good friends with Michigan commits from Ohio, Taco Charlton and Jaron Dukes. He has said that he could see himself at Michigan. It would have been an easy and educated guess to assume Ohio State would land McCray but like I said, they haven’t offered him yet. Not to mention he has said they aren’t recruiting him right now, unlike Michigan who is going after him hard. McCray will choose between Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee next week.

McCray is visiting Michigan next week (March 6th).

8. 4* LB E.J. Levenberry

Levenberry is an early 4* outside linebacker out of Woodbridge, VA. Rivals ranks him 15th overall in the nation, which means he will probably end up getting a 5th star. He stands 6’3” and 226 pounds. He holds over 20 offers, including ones from Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. An impressive offer sheet, to say the least. E.J. Levenberry is one of my favorite recruits because not only is he one of the top ranked of the bunch, but his top schools are currently Michigan, Florida, and Florida State. Yep, that’s correct. It’s Us vs. The Florida Schools. And ESPN has reported that Michigan is currently on top. Apparently Levenberry loves Hoke. Him and I have that in common. Levenberry has met Shane Morris and Dymonte Thomas, and has heard from both of them how much Michigan impresses them. He is also very impressed with Coach Mattison and how he has coached Ray Lewis. Last but not least, Levenberry’s father went to school with (Michigan sophomore CB) Blake Countess’s father, so they go way back. He said that Blake’s father said great things about Michigan. All in all, I’d say we have a great shot. Granted it will be hard to overcome the Florida schools, but I think Levenberry has made a great connection with Michigan so far. 

Levenberry is visiting Michigan for the Spring Game (April 14th).

9. 4* LB Dorian O’Daniel

O’Daniel is a 4* outside linebacker from Olney, MD (Our Lady of Good Counsel HS). Rivals ranks him 37th overall in the nation. O’Daniel stands 6’1” and 205 pounds. He runs a 4.55 40. He holds more than 20 offers including ones from Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The reason I mentioned his high school is because it may sound familiar. Our Lady of Good Counsel is the same high school that sophomore CB Blake Countess came from. This is the second linebacker recruit with a connection to Blake! It’s also the high school where (class of 2013) highly touted 5* cornerback Kendall Fuller comes from. I wrote about him recently here. He is another recruit we are after. Could we get two from Our Lady of Good Counsel HS? Hmm... O’Daniel has Michigan at the top of his list right now. Interestingly enough, during our big 8-recruit weekend haul, Florida also had a big weekend. I mention this because Florida is (was?) one of O’Daniel’s favorites, yet during that weekend, they took 4 linebackers. We’ll see if that plays a part in his decision.

O’Daniel is visiting Michigan for the Spring Game (April 14th) along with teammate Kendall Fuller.

10. 4* LB Ben Gedeon

Gedeon is a favorite LB prospect of mine but I hadn’t really considered him an option since he’s from Ohio. Not that Hoke hasn’t been recruiting the hell out of Ohio, but Gedeon has Michigan and Ohio State in his top group. Ugh. That shouldn’t take away from his excellent ball skills though. Rivals ranks Gedeon 224th overall in the nation. He stands 6’3” and 215 pounds and has lots of offers. Offers include Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, and Tennessee. Gedeon is actually an excellent athlete, but is mainly being offered as a linebacker. He wasn’t planning on taking any more visits until after his basketball season, but the coaches got him to visit this weekend. He should be on campus tomorrow. They know as well as we do how fast this class is filling up. To get Gedeon on campus (other than for a game) would be huge, because it’s basically a forgone conclusion that he would be blown away. To steal another one from under Urban’s nose? Would be oh, so nice...

11. 4* LB Peter Kalambayi

Kalambayi is one prospect I don’t think we hear as much about. He’s an all-star though. Kalambayi is a 4* prospect out of Matthews, NC. Rivals ranks him 62nd in the nation. He holds double digit offers including Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio State, and Oregon. As a junior, Kalambayi had 79 tackles, 6 sacks, and 13 tackles for loss. He is an excellent pass rusher, which is something we could use. Kalambayi actually had an offer from Rich Rod as a sophomore, but Coach Hoke has visited his school since then and let him know the offer still stands and we want him to join the 2013 class. He is thinking of deciding at the Army All-American game, but we’ll see if that changes anytime soon.