Wolverine Wednesday: Michigan Goes Two for Tuesday with New 2011 Recruits

On Monday of this week, Michigan needed one QB and three or four offensive linemen. On Wednesday morning, they sewed up their QB and finally got the ball rolling with an offensive line commit.

Let's talk about the QB first

Lake Nona (outside of Orlando, known for its country club that several PGA stars call home) QB Kevin "Don't call me Sammy" Sousa made his verbal commitment to the Wolverines. 

Kevin is a 6'3", 215-lb. three-star QB that has only been playing football for two years. He was a soccer player before playing QB. With only two years on the gridiron, his QB skills are a bit raw—which is exactly what Michigan needed in the 2011 class. 

As you might imagine, Tate Forcier had a QB coach as soon as he could walk, so he is pretty close to his ceiling. Kevin, on the other hand, has the physical skills; now he just needs to learn to read defenses and work on his passing and footwork skills.

Kevin is doing the right things to improve those skills. He is attending a number of camps/combines and continues to get better each time the recruiting gurus see him. 

Tom Luginbill from ESPN weighs in on Kevin: "Once again Kevin Sousa (Lake Nona, Fla./Lake Nona) shows up to an Elite 11 regional camp and each time he gets better. In fact, this was by far his best outing and he is starting to really iron out some kinks in his delivery and become more smooth and fluid as a passer.

"Athletically he is ultra impressive, but there were times on Friday when he got his feet, timing and delivery to sync up and for that moment, was the best guy in the camp. He can do some things that are very impressive and with a redshirt year, some program is going to get a nice little gem."
 
With Tate, Denard Robinson, and Devin Gardner, Kevin is the perfect QB for this system and perfect to redshirt, work on his QB skills, and be ready in a few years. Kevin had offers from Illinois, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Vandy, FIU, Louisville, Wake, and many others.

Tim from Mgoblog has his regular high-quality write-up on Kevin. 

Here are some spring game Highlights. Yes, Florida schools have spring games!



Now on to the new offensive line recruit

Jack Miller is an offensive line recruit from Toledo, Ohio who made his commitment to the Wolverines yesterday as well. 

Jack is 6'4", 270 pounds and is rated a three-star defensive lineman by all the recruiting services. Wait a second! A defensive lineman? 

Michigan offered him a spot, and his preference to play at the next level is on the offensive line. So the recruiting services are going to have to switch his position. 

Some believe he might be a better fit on defense. Either way, Jack had an impressive list of offers including the likes of Stanford, WVU, North Carolina, Pitt, MSU, Illinois, BC, and many more. With Michigan's needs on both lines, he is a good pickup for whichever position he plays in Ann Arbor. 

Jack is a good local pickup and obviously a Michigan fan. He fills a position of need but, like Kevin, might need some time to learn his new role on the offensive line as a guard or center.

You can find another well-written piece on Jack from Tim at Mgoblog.

What's next for the Wolverines?

Michigan still needs to fill a couple more skill positions. Look for one more WR and a RB (Demetrius Hart, we hope it's you!). The rest of the spots will go to defense with an emphasis on defensive line and at linebacker.

Clearly Michigan can thank me for the two new recruits, since just yesterday I started listing the 2011 verbal commitments on the left hand toolbar!