Offensive line will be a huge position of emphasis for Brady Hoke and co. in the 2012 class, seeing as the Wolverines have only take four offensive linemen over the last two classes. The depth chart up front is already looking thin, and any injuries to the four returning starters (Lewan, Molk, Omameh and Huyge) will result in a dangerously inexperienced front five leading the way. Michigan should take at least five or six offensive linemen in this class. The coaching staff has already offered 21 recruits at the position, so they are well on their way to addressing their needs. Michigan looks to be in good shape early with several recruits, and a few of those are of an elite caliber.
2012 OL Jordan Diamond
Leading the way on the list of offensive linemen considering Michigan is Jordan Diamond of Chicago Simeon. Diamond grew up a Michigan fan and one of his fellow linemen at Simeon was 2011 Michigan signee Chris Bryant. The popular opinion from recruiting analysts, including Scout's Sam Webb, is that Diamond is Michigan's to lose. This would be a huge commitment for Michigan, as Diamond reports offers from a host of top schools, including the likes of Ohio State, Florida State, Auburn and Notre Dame. It'll be interesting to see if Diamond prolongs his recruitment and courts the interest of the other elite schools that are pursuing him or if he pulls the trigger early and commits to Michigan before the 2011 season begins.
Diamond's film is very impressive, especially based off of the agility and speed that he possesses. For a tackle his size, he displays a lot of athleticism when blocking. He routinely gets up field on running plays, tossing linebackers aside while also displaying good foot work on passing plays, coupled with relentless hands that make it difficult for any defensive end to get to the quarterback. Size wise, Diamond, who is 6'6" and weighs around 290 lbs, really doesn't need to get much bigger. If he does become a Wolverine, the staff would likely look to get him a bit more sculpted and have him playing around 300 pounds. A lot of offensive line recruits are far behind their college colleagues when it comes to weight, though, and the fact that Diamond is familiar with his frame and athleticism at that size is a good sign. Diamond is likely to be rated among the top ten tackles in the country, and he would be Michigan's first offensive linemen of that caliber since Dann O'Neill (let's hope to God he doesn't end up like O'Neill, though).
Mission: The 2012 In-state Defensive Haul, Part III James Ross and Danny O'Brien are likely to be rated as the top two players in the state of Michigan by sites such as Rivals and Scout, but Terry Richardson is the prospect who has garnered attention from the likes of Alabama, LSU, and USC.
Terry Richardson 5'9" 160 lbs. Cornerback Detroit Cass Tech According to Scout, Richardson had four interceptions and 20 tackles as a sophomore and finished this past season with eight interceptions and 30 tackles. Don't be alarmed if those interception numbers go down in 2011. Teams took their chances throwing toward Richardson in 2010 instead of risking throwing toward 2011 Michigan signee Delonte Hollowell, who partnered Terry at corner this past season. Teams will likely give Richardson the same treatment when he's a senior. Richardson reported a 4.64 forty yard dash back in 2009. It's safe to say that his time is likely down to around the 4.5 range. Let's look at Richardson's junior film and break down his strengths on the gridiron.
A few things stand out to me in Richardson's film, the most prevalent being his pure athleticism. There are numerous plays where Richardson is forced to use his leaping ability to break up passes and even with his small stature he looks like he's able to go up against bigger receivers. I really like the play at 7:16. He has to turn and run with the receiver but he stays with the ball the whole way and he makes a hell of a play when the ball's at its highest point. Richardson has good speed as well and he'll hit hard, if he can't get to the ball, when he breaks on receivers. Overall, he looks to be a good tackler, though he doesn't seem as physical as Hollowell at the line of scrimmage. Richardson looks to be a mirror image physically of the three recent cornerback products to come out of Cass (Hollowell, Dior Mathis, Boubacar Cissoko) and he looks to fall in a similar range talent wise, which is saying something.
As I stated at the beginning, Richardson has drawn serious interest nationally and he reports scholarship offers from Alabama, LSU, and USC along with Michigan and numerous other schools. Notre Dame and Ohio State are also actively recruiting him, though I wouldn't expect an offer from Notre Dame as they tend to pursue defensive backs who are a bit taller (edit: lol I was wrong). He's already been invited to the Under Armour All-American Game, which is an ESPN event, so don't be surprised if their rating of Terry is slightly inflated. He'll likely be a solid four star from both Scout and Rivals at the end of the day, though. I think he has the potential to be a solid player at the next level and if it wasn't for his stature, he'd be one of the elite defensive back prospects in the nation. Defensive back is a very difficult position to transition from high school to college, though, simply because high school teams seldom throw the ball. He'll need a year or so to put on more weight, as well. Cass Tech is Michigan's most productive pipeline, but that doesn't mean Richardson is a lock to commit to Michigan. I'd expect him to explore the interest from the SEC and from schools out West before he makes his decision. Michigan is in as good of position right now as anyone, though.
Mission: The 2012 In-state Defensive Haul, Part II We've already looked at DT Danny O'Brien and the importance that he holds to the 2012 class. Next, we'll look at O'Brien's strongest competition for the honor of top player in Michigan, James Ross.
James Ross 6'1" 212 lbs. Inside Linebacker Orchard Lake St. Mary's Ross had 95 tackles, four fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles and an interception and according to Scout he finished his sophomore year with "103 tackles, five sacks, five forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and an interception in his first year of high school football." So, yeah, he's pretty good. Let's start by looking at James' junior highlights.
The obvious thing that sticks out from Ross' video is his aggressiveness and how hard he hits guys. For a linebacker who isn't intimidating from a physical standpoint he is very violent. You can see how good his instincts are as well, as he hits the gaps in the line like a running back. The few times that fullbacks or linemen are able to make contact with Ross, he shrugs them off fairly easily. He also does a good job of keeping his feet moving after contact with the ball carrier, even when his legs come out from under him. Some of his hits look to be above the waist and he could be even more effective if he hit a little lower at times. That's nothing that coaching can't take care of, though. He has the speed to play sideline-to-sideline and you can see that he can drop back into coverage, which makes me wonder if he couldn't double as an outside linebacker at the next level, where he'll be asked to cover tight ends or slots on occasion. Like most recruits, Ross will have to bulk up but it's nothing a college weight training program can't address. He should be able to easily play at or around 230-235 lbs.
Ross has offers from multiple BCS conference schools, but the three biggest as of now are Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. Evidently Ross grew up an Ohio State fan and his high school is not one of Michigan's pipelines. The last Michigan player of note to come from St. Mary's was Morgan Trent, and since then the school has sent multiple players to Penn State and three others to MSU, Florida State and OSU, respectively. However, Ross' dad is a huge Michigan fan and he will surely be in his son's ear and there are rumors afloat that the hiring of Greg Mattison was a huge plus for Michigan in Ross' eyes. It's obviously still early and Ross is a guy who should see even more elite offers come his way, but Michigan are in a good position as of now.
Mission: The 2012 In-state Defensive Haul, Part I I head this section as is partly in jest, but also partly in emphasizing the opportunity that the Michigan staff has within the state of Michigan in 2012. I'll cover this in depth from other angles later, but I feel as if the stars will align for Brady Hoke in 2011 and he will get all of the proverbial bounces in a number of facets. The depth of talent in Michigan in the 2012 class on the defensive side of the ball, namely in Danny O'Brien, James Ross, Terry Richardson, and Royce Jenkins-Stone, is one factor that sets up well for Hoke in the coming months. Let's look at one leg of the Big Four in detail.
Danny O'Brien 6'3" 282 lbs. Defensive Tackle Flint Powers Catholic
O'Brien will likely be the most difficult to sign of the poorly-coined-by-me Big Four from Michigan's standpoint and could very well be the most important signing of 2012 when all is said and done, which is why we'll discuss him first. There isn't any free video on O'Brien available as of now, unfortunately (and I don't have any premium accounts so I haven't seen any film either). According to Scout, O'Brien had 90 tackles and nine sacks in 2010 as a junior and he reports offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Syracuse and Tennessee. Now some of you may be asking, "Say, that isn't that impressive of an offer sheet," and I would agree, however, O'Brien is a special case in that he already has two distinct leaders, both top programs, in the pursuit of his signing, those being Tennessee and Michigan. Namely, O'Brien has made it clear via the recruiting sites and TomVH that Tennessee is his overall leader. He's been to Knoxville on multiple occasions before, both to camp and as a visitor, and according to Rivals he'll be down there again next week. Tennessee has had recent success in Michigan, with the signings of Darris Sawtelle, an offensive tackle from the 2007 class, and with wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett who is part of their 2011 class. O'Brien will be a tough player to pull away from UT (that's right Texas fans, I just did that), but you have to like Michigan's chances. For starters, there is unlikely to be any competition with the likes of MSU or tOSU for O'Brien's signature, simply because of the lack of interest that he's shown in anyone other than UM and Tennessee. Now, this doesn't mean that can't change (Anthony Zettel to Penn State, anyone?), but for now, there's no evidence pointing to anywhere other than Ann Arbor and Knoxville. Secondly, Greg Mattison. Not only has Mattison been coined as the best recruiter in the country by Urban Meyer, and "legendary" by Jesse Palmer (hair gel, just saying), but Mattison will also go into the 2011 season as the most over-qualified coordinator in college football (yes, including you, Charlie Weis). To keep it short, when you've coached Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata and you've won a national championship, you can expect to have some pull when recruiting. I would expect the coaching staff to go full force on O'Brien, to have him down for multiple games come fall, and for Hoke/Mattison to pull a "you're the next *insert great Baltimore player*" (we'll get to this when we look at Jenkins-Stone) on O'Brien. Now, I mentioned O'Brien's importance, and I can't stress enough how vital he could ultimately be. Position wise, the other three from the Big Four (god it just sounds worse every time I type it) includes two linebackers and a cornerback. Michigan took four linebackers and five defensive backs in the 2011 class to accompany a swath of returning players at both positions. Those are two positions that aren't necessarily of need depth wise (talent wise is another story). Conversely, defensive tackle is a position that will be scarily slim come 2012, when only Terry Talbott, William Campbell, Richard Ash and Quinton Washington, none of whom has yet to prove himself, will return. Michigan will be returning to a 4-3 defense under Hoke, which means two defensive tackles in every class will be a goal, and the staff will likely look to sign at least three to four DTs in the 2012 class (we'll look at other prospects in the coming days). O'Brien is a talent that the state of Michigan doesn't see all too often, and for him to be on the cards at the same time that Michigan desperately needs a player like him is too good to pass up. The coaching staff will surely see this (right?), and it's one of many positive sells the coaching staff will be able to make to O'Brien and I think it will definitely factor into his decision, whether he chooses to go to Michigan, Tennessee, or somewhere else entirely.
