Michigan Wolverines Football: Breaking Down the 2009 Class

Wide Receiver

MN Bryce McNeal & TX DeWayne Peace.  Not an area of urgent need and I suspect this will be it for wide receivers not named Shaquille Evans.

Peace is your standard three-star recruit, decent size and speed, could see another position or be a permanent special teamer.  Very meh about this one, but there are bound to be a few of those in most classes.

McNeal, on the other hand, is a four-star top 250 player for Scout and a top 100 for Rivals.  Good size (6'2") and wheels, he appears to be in the Mario Manningham mold. Hopefully, he left out the "drop everything over the middle" and "admit to smoking pot" parts out. One of the only true outside receivers on the roster, he should be a star at M.

Peace won't have much of an impact but McNeal could be a breakout star by his Sophomore season.  I expect him to either see limited, but tantalizing, action his freshman year before busting out the following fall. Very excited about McNeal.

Offensive Line

IL Michael Schofield & NJ Anthony Lalota.  Lalota will be in both offensive line and defensive line sections as he's one on Scout and one on Rivals.

Schofield is a big, mobile guy and exactly what Rich Rod likes in his offensive lline. Obviously needs to add size, but once he's been Barwis-ized, he could be beastly. 

I doubt Lalota sees the offensive line unless he shows that he is secretly Jake Long back on campus and incognito. He's raw but incredibly talented. Again, expect to see him on the d-line.

One real commit (Schofield) is a bit troubling, but M graduates no one from the line next year and will have several from 2008 (Dan O'Neill, Ricky Barnum and so on).  Would like to see Rich Rod add at least one more, though again, it's not incredibly dire.

M is still hard after Brennan Williams, though he seems like a long shot. Expect, if any, a relatively unknonw three-star to fill out the ranks. 

Defensive Line

MI William Campbell, LA Dequinta Jones, NJ Anthony Lalota, AZ Craig Roh.  Yes, I know Campbell has technically de-committed. He's still with M, trust me on this.  Roh is an assumption. Hopefully, I'm not kicking myself later tonight.

Campbell is like..woah.  A potentially dominant tackle and a guy who could see a good amount of time next year.  Definitely a tremendous pick-up for the line assuming he doesn't tank and become Gabe Watson.

Jones is a relative unknown and, though listed as an end, projects to tackle with his frame. Solid things, when said, have come out about him and his offer sheet (TCU, Bama, Arkansas) is decent. Hopefully, a bit more soon.

Lalota is nice pickup.  A nice, shiny four-star with tons of talent and fills a huge need. Ditto for Roh.

This could potentially be your front four in two-three years.  All will no doubt be broken down and built back up by Barwis.  Once successfully Barwis-ized, this could be a dominant unit.  I think I just peed a little.

Once (assuming again) Roh commits, this should be it. A great haul overall, filling needs and bringing in quality talent.

Linebacker

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