With the commitment of DE Anthony Lalota, the pending commitment of DE Craig Roh, all the junk with DT Will Campbell and the Kevin Newsome drama, Michigan's 2009 recruiting class has changed it's look a bit. I'm going to break down the current crop of commits, what impact they may have as Wolverines and what lies ahead for the rest of recruiting.
Quarterbacks
CA Tate Forcier & TX Shavodrick Beaver. Note: Beaver may or may not have gained an extra star for having the best name in the class. I'll have to look into this.
So, ok, first thing's first. Kevin Newsome is gone. Big deal? Maybe. He's got a ton of talent and could potentially be Donovan McNabb. Then again, he has to work on his mechanics and accuracy so he could end up being Tavares Jackson. He left because Rich Rod's style of offense isn't an NFL machine. Torches and pitch-forks and all that.
So where does his departure leave Michigan? Well, thankfully, Tate Forcier was still hot and heavy on M while Newsome was still in house. Not longer after big Kev's departure, Tate signed on. We lost a potential super-duper star, but we gained a very mobile, extremely accurate quarterback who is not much of a step down. That worked fine.
Beaver, meanwhile, is Newsome lite. Smaller than Newsome, the Beav is still quick as hell and has tons of potential. Hopefully, coaching will do him wonders.
M is still recruiting four-star FL Eugene Smith, apparently. I don't see M landing him with two QB's in tow, but stranger things have happened. Would rather see them land an OL or a high-quality DB or LB, but it wouldn't be terrible.
So what does this mean in terms of on-field stuff? Well, with the somewhat emergence of Steven Threet as a legitimate collegiate quarterback, Force can presumably come in next year, redshirt and learn the offense before hopefully starting in 2010 with the Beav improving and keeping Force and Threet on their toes.
Running back/Slot
FL Jeremy Gallon, FL Vincent Smith, OH Fitzgerald Toussant, MI Teric Jones
So, apparently, Rich Rod loves these little dreaded, electron-sized guys who can disappear at the snap of your fingers. See: Odoms, Martavious; Shaw, Michael. Gallon & Smith are your standard "three-stars because I could squish them with my shoe" guys. Not much is known about Teric other than his name is awesome and that he and Beav should be close pals.
Then there's Toussant. Originally thought of as a throw-in of sorts with Liberty OH teammate Isaiah Bell (more on him later), Toussant has been showing signs of making a huge climb up the rankings ladder. Signs like 843 yards rushing in four games. Oh, and touchdowns. Like, a lot of them. If he maintains this pace, he should be a high four-star, potentially a five. So, that's pretty good, right?
Michigan is always looking at tiny, electron sized dreadheads, so you never know who could be next. I would hope that this is it and the attention goes elsewhere.
All could be contributors either in the slot or in a back-by-committee role, with "Slayer of Worlds" Fitzgerald Toussant as a potential star. Depth isn't an issue here with these guys being added to McGuffie, Shaw, etc. Feeling good here.
21 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Micah Green 9 months ago
Hehe it's a good thing you Michigan fans look to the future. Cause you ain't got nothin' to be happy about cfb wise. lol
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Jeff Contizano 9 months ago
Craig Roh committed tonight so the line will benefit greatly from him in the future. Overall the class is shaping up very nicely, I'm excited about all the speed and talent coming to Ann Arbor! Beaver is a treat, I think he may be just as good as Forcier.
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Tim Trunzo 9 months ago
It's hard to take any of your analysis seriously when you've misspelled three of the recruits names (two of them very blatantly).
It's not Tetric..... it's Teric (where did that extra "t" come from?)
It's not Pearce..... it's Peace (where did that "r" come from?)
It's not Touissant..... it's Toussaint (the "i" was completely misplaced)
Not to mention the minor error on Lalota... which is actually LaLota (it's a small mistake, but that second "L" is also capitalized.
Not to be rude, but again, it would be a lot easier to take your word on these things if you showed that you had done the smallest bit of research on these guys and had actually spelled their names correctly.
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Ryan 9 months ago
Wow, minor mistakes and my credibility is shot? Don't think you're being a BIT over dramatic about it?
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Ryan 9 months ago
I guess I was wrong on Roh, too...dick.
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rci rci 9 months ago
No, you are a random guy writing this so you don't have credibility to begin with. If you want to earn credibility, you should actually know the names. By the way, Toussaint was never considered a "throw in." The UM staff was very very high on him from the get-go.
Also, I respecfully disagree with your assumption that Peace or "Pearce" will not contribute. He was a star at UM's summer camp, he won the Dallas-Ft. Worh combine MVP, and is tearing it up in his senior season. He also ran a short shuttle that would have been the fastest time at the NFL combine last year. The kid is vastly underrated.
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Ryan 9 months ago
RCI,
I never claimed to be a guru about any of this but I haven't exactly been off base about much either.
Whether or not the staff thought Toussaint was good is irrelevant. He was un-rated when we signed him, hence the "throw-in" comment. He's obviously a very good player and looks like a great early pick up for the Wolverines.
Peace, if at all, will contribute in the secondary. With Stonum, McNeal, Roundtree and now Ricardo Miller, there won't be enough room for Peace. If you're basing a guy on his times, then you're looking at the wrong things.
Again people, I'm not claiming to be the guru of recruiting but until I screw something up a bit more seriously than the spelling of a flippin' name, give me a break.
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jordan krumrey 9 months ago
You do know isiah Bell is and Under Armor All-american right.He is also in ESPN 150.Stop looking at the different recruiting sites they are useless and the star scale is a joke.Pat White at WVU=3 star recruit...what happened to him 2 time heisman pre season watchlist candidate.Turner i think has potential for greatness if used the right way but we will see.U need to go more by how many scholarships a player recieved instead of stars they have.As of now Tate forcier is second highest recruited QB in the country.If u have more scholarships that shows u have something teams want.That kid is the real deal.Oh and as for Forcier and Beav, they won't be RS maybe Beav but not Forcier.Both those kids expect to be enrolled at Michigan in december giving them plenty of time to start in on the offense before spring ball.
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Ryan 9 months ago
I never said I agreed with the recruiting sites. I've seen a few games with Fitz and Bell; Bell has impressed and he's under the radar from the guru's. You say don't look at the recruiting sites, yet you mention him from ESPN's recruiting, one of the LEAST reliable?
Also, if Threet continues to develope the way he has, I wouldn't be surprised to see Force red-shirt.
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Ryan 9 months ago
I never said I agreed with the recruiting sites. I've seen a few games with Fitz and Bell; Bell has impressed and he's under the radar from the guru's. You say don't look at the recruiting sites, yet you mention him from ESPN's recruiting, one of the LEAST reliable?
Also, if Threet continues to develope the way he has, I wouldn't be surprised to see Force red-shirt.
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rci rci 9 months ago
Sorry for being harsh. I was having a bad day or something. It was a good article overall.
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jordan krumrey 9 months ago
Also it Dwayne Peace not Pearce.
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Ryan 9 months ago
Yes, typo's happen.
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Karlos Mack 9 months ago
threet won't be the starter next year he is going to understand that he does not have the speed to do some of the things those players can do
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jordan krumrey 9 months ago
U do know Threet is about as fast as Mike hart right?Threet can run just look at the 56 yarder yesterday.89 yards on 3 carries isn't too bad.
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Ryan 9 months ago
I wasn't comparing. I didn't say Threet was a statue but I'd bet Force is a bit more mobile.
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Peter Pfeiffer 9 months ago
Ryan, I liked your post but I particularly enjoy the comments--I just joined and the reason why is the extreme knowledge of some of the posters here. It puts a lot of professional sportswriters to shame. I'm new to following it and it seems like a great way to learn about recruiting and college football.
I do have some writing experience and I would encourage you to be a little more appreciative of anyone who takes the time to read your posts and shows enough interest to comment on them. I am, and will be, grateful for the feedback. Errors are fair game and pointing them out will help you improve. Being defensive doesn't help a bit.
I'm hoping to learn more about how often top recruits really become stars. A look through lists of former 5-star preps definitely shows some current top players, but there also seem to be a lot of flops, injuries, etc. I wonder if a 3- or 4-star player has just about as good a chance, especially in the right program.
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Ryan 9 months ago
Peter,
I more than accept the comments, it's those that are disparaging or down-right nasty that I don't. I'm glad that you're not in the latter category.
As for the "guru" ratings, they're very deceptive. At Michigan, for example, Kevin Grady was a 5-star back who was supposed to be the next big thing in Ann Arbor. Mike Hart, who came in the year before, was a 3-star (going off memory, so this is probably wrong) nobody who wasn't counted on to do much. We all know how that turned out.
In years past, I haven't been into it much but since I befriended a guy very close to some in the program, it's been easier to keep up to everything.
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Dan Vincent 9 months ago
All these kids can play. Just let RR get his system in place and any 3/4 star can shine. These young athletes all have potential through the roof and some never seem to level off. A 3 star athlete can become a 5 by his soph year in college. Everyone matures at a different rate, (mentally and Physically) its finding a good athlete with tremendous room to improve.
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Cody Thomas 8 months ago
Anthony Fera is going to Penn State.
Why are so many recruits de-commiting from Michigan?
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Ryan 8 months ago
God, oh God, I wish I knew. Campbell is the only shot to come back. McNeal and Newsome are gone, baby, gone. Fera doesn't make me wanna slit my wrists yet as apparently there's another guy in the picture as far as kickers go.
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