Michigan Football

[Peake]

I thought I'd put start a new thread so people who want to know can keep up with what is going on with UM.

1. Urban Meyer may have turned 5-star Brionte Dunns sights back to OSU. Bill Greene said if Luke would have stayed Brionte would have been gone. Greene says 60-40 now he sticks with OSU.

2. Urban has been calling majority of the UM commits. This is fine, world of recruiting works this way. The one he really likes is Joe Bolden of Cin. Colerain. Joe was the third commit to UM and will enroll early, so no go on him. UM has really made their presence known in the Cincy area, and I feel that will not change, but with Urban in place few kids in the future will probably come out of central Ohio.

3. UM will get the wideouts they want this year, but who will they be? They are taking two in this class and one is going to be 4-star Amara Darboh. Darboh reminds me of Adrian Arrington. That leaves one spot for three recruits. 4-star Jordan Payton was all set to commit a month ago, but he went to Notre Dame and had second thoughts. 5-star Stephon Diggs is a kid who had work to do in the classroom, and he busted his tail and UM got right back in it with him. He is the former teammate of current starting DB Blake COuntess. They are very close friends, but unless he visits soon they won't hold a spot for him. The other is 3-star wideout Jehu Chesson. Chesson is an excellent athlete and at 6'4 can burn it. He ran a 10.5 in the 100m last year, but plays in a really awful football league, so the level of competition he plays against is questionable.

So on UM's board for wideouts it looks like this:
Want.
1. Darboh
2. Diggs
3. Payton
4. Chesson
Most likely to get.
1. Darboh
2. Chesson
3. Payton
4. Diggs....and I say this because he will have to be on campus in a week or his shot is gone.

4. If UM doesn't get Dunn at RB they are not going after another RB this year. They feel they have a legit shot at Ty Issacs next year, and having Toussaint for two more years means they aren't too concerned. They had a strong runningback class last year and were able to redshirt both which is huge.

5. So if Dunn doesn't commit that leaves one or two spots. Expect that spot to go to either a TE or an OL.

6. Speaking of wideouts, don't forget that Daryl Stonum got red-shirted this year, he along with Roundtree and Gallon will be back next year. In pretty solid shape there.

[Peake]

So.

Amara Darboh is set to announce in 4 days. He is a Wolverine.

So, that leaves four spots.

This is what remains.
1. WR Jordan Payton, 4-star
2. WR Stephon Diggs, 5-star
3. WR Jehu Chesson, 3-star
4. OL JOshua Garnett, 5-star
5. DB Yuri Wright, 4-star
6. TE Pharaoh Brown, 4-star
7. TE Tyler McNamera, 4-star
8. OL Jordan Diamond, 5-star
9. RB Brinote Dunn, 5-star

This is most likely what you are going to get for your final 5.
1. Amara Darboh=lock
2. Jehu Chesson=wideout recruiting over
3. Yuri Wright=has loved UM the entire process and UM told him they were done with DB's, but not anymore.
4. Brionte Dunn=The feeling is after the in school visit and talking to coach is he will end up blue, still a 51/49 shot imo.
5. Tyler McNamera=long shot but he can play next year and will play with the #1 QB in the country the following.

What happens with the others?
1. Stephon Diggs=Florida Gator. Has wanted to go south the entire time.
2. JOrdan Payton=Cal Golden Bear. I think at one time he was blue, then Irish, but I think he stays put in Cali.
3. JOshua Garnett=Washington Huskies. He went on one official (Michigan) the rest have been to UDub. All Huskies.
4. JOrdan Diamond=Wisconsin Badgers. I don't think he is a kid that wants to play right away, and he can develop at Wisconsin.
5. Pharaoh Brown=Oregon Duck. I want to say buckeye if they come calling, but doesn't look that way. He will put on the ugly uniform for the Ducks.

[WitnessProtection]

Is UM courting any other top RBs besides Dunn?
Who will they have coming back at RB for 2012?

[Peake]

Nope it's Dunn or no one.

UM will bring back:
1. Vincent Smith, Sr.
2. Fitz Toussaint, RJr.
3. Stephen Hopkins, Jr. Fullback
4. Thomas Rawls, RFr.
5. Justice Hayes, RFr.
6. Drake Johnson, in coming
7. Sione Houma, in coming Fullback

*Mike Cox will be a 5th year senior but not expected to get a 5th year.

[WitnessProtection]

Thanks for the knowledge, peake!

[Peake]

No problem.

Another interesting tidbit. Could be something could be nothing.

1. Zack Banner just listed UM in his top 5 and the west coast analyst said more like his top 3.

2. I seriously doubt he leaves the state of Washington, but.....I would say UM is in a solid second place.

This leaves Diamond, Garnett, and Banner all going after one spot. IMO Garnett is #1 on the board, but I am sure UM would take any of these.

3. I still don't believe UM gets any of these three, but it is a good position to be in.

[Peake]

Couple items of interest:

1. Stephon Diggs ship has sailed. UM went to his school to see him and he was not there. He told the staff he WOULD be there, but he was on an official to Cal (weird and why?). So basically he lied to the staff. So....he is no longer considered a recruit. His coach was very upset with how he handled the situation. Anyways, I was told that OSU is not really a player for him either. Too late in the process.

2. Jehu Chesson's in home went great. He is a Wolverine according to those close to him. Expect him to be the second wideout for this class.

3. If/when UM gets Darboh and Chesson they will be very satisfied with this pull. Darboh is compared to a stronger Adrian Arrington, and Chesson is compared to Tai Streets.

4. With that said, expect the final three spots to stay open for a while. UM feels they are in it with some big time national guys and are willing to wait on them.

That is all.

[Peake]

Oh one more item.

Sugar Bowl called today, offered UM the spot (as long as they make top 14...bye bye Houston and Georgia).

[Peake]

One more item:

Joshua Garnett dropped a bomb on a local interview today. Said he realized he wanted to go out of state to school. I have thought all along he was a Husky, but looks like it is a Stanford/Michigan battle now.

Kid is super smart, and academic reputation is important to him. I still have a hard time thinking he leaves the west coast, but it is a good problem to have.

Pour some Sugar on meeeee.

[Peake]

Going to be an interesting day tomorrow.

Just to make sure we are clear.

Sugar Bowl exec's called and offered UM the bid (of course if they make top 14 which the exec's are banking on).

At 10:30 exec's from the Fiesta called to say they are interested because with the Oklahoma State blowout there is a chance you see Bama go to Sugar.

Should be interesting.

[mister b]

Hoke has done a great job getting the ship righted at UM.

He is deserving of every award that comes his way.

With Hoke at UM and Meyer going to OSU, we could very well be seeing the return of the Big 2 and little 8. (I know it would be little 10 now but us old schoolers remember what it was like back in the day with Bo and Woody).

[Peake]

Amara Darboh, 4-star, WR out of Iowa commits to UM today!!!!

4 spots remain in this class. Jehu Chesson is on deck I believe.

Pour some Sugar on meeee!

[Peake]

Here is what things are looking like:

Michigan has 4 spots remaining with 5-6 people in mind the fill them.
1. Dunn
2. McNamera
3. Garnett
4. Banner
5. Diamond
6. Wright

* a kid to remember is 4-star OT Evan Goodman, he is visiting next week. He is currently committed to Arizona State.

IMO according to certain good guys this is the feeling.

1. Dunn will decide in the next week or so, he has to if he wants to enroll early. So, if he still visits with current commit Kyle Kalis next week, he is Blue, if not he is a Buckeye. My feeling is he will stick Buckeye now. I say that because of Fitz Toussaint, no one knew he was going to be that good, and he will sit behind Fitz but can play now at OSU.

2. McNamera has to visit imo. If not, I just don't see it. So, visits, I would say 75% chance. As of right now, nope. Check back in another week.

3. Which OL will drop for UM? IMO Garnett is the one they want the most, but will take any of the three (maybe 4). Garnett imo has MIchigan a solid #1a or 1b with Stanford, but we shall see. Good news is Stanford is going to be Stanford again, UM is nearly where they should be and will stay. Imo Garnett will be Blue.

4. Yuri Wright loves Michigan=Wolverine.

5. So if things work out perfectly, which they never really do, then I will assume UM takes Garnett and Yuri and holds onto the two other schollys and back loads for next years class.

Team stuff:

So there is a dilemma heading into next year. Who to keep on for a 5th year. TE Brandon Moore will stay, as will OG Ricky Barnum, but the best special team player will also be fighting for a spot. Do you keep a kid because he is a great special teams player. Tough call.

The feeling right now on the DL is Michigan will be running guys in and out next season to keep people fresh. This UM staff believes that the two current DT's (Will Campbell and Washington) aren't good enough to be every down players, so expect to see a nice rotation. Hopefully one of the two step up, but as of right now this is where the weakness will be.

Wideout depth worries UM next year, not so much for next year but the following.
Stonum, Gallon, and Roundtree make this wr unit as good as any in the conference, but after that they have Dileo, Jeremy Jackson, and little used Jerald Robinson. They really need Amara Debroh and probably Jehu Chesson to develop quick because Roundtree and Stonum are gone after next season.

All I've got.

[Peake]

Brionte Dunn will set up a visit to either OSU or UM tomorrow. Whoever he sets it up with probably is where he is going.

[Peake]

So....things are looking to shake themselves out.

1. Jehu Chesson will visit Iowa, but is expected to commit soon after his trip to Iowa.

So that leaves 0 room for wideouts, and Jordan Payton was informed of that when he recently named Michigan in his top 3. Hoke and company said you are too late.

2. So basically three spots remain. Bad news. Brionte Dunn=buckeye. He scheduled a visit to OSU this week. That basically says it all. Two points on this.
a) Meyer has yet to coach a successful big back (Deshawn Wynn was his most successful big back 650 yds rushing). Meanwhile Fred Jackson can boast he has coached 7 1000 yard rushers.
b)It may turn out to be a good call for him, he would sit behind Fitz for a year or two.

3. So with those three spots Michigan can turn their sites more towards a TE, which they really need. They offered another TE today.

4. If, and very small if, UM swings and misses on the three 5-star OL, then they can take one more WR. The 4-star WR from Moller is scheduled to visit in January. Big Maybe here.

[seofan_via_dublin]

On the Dunn-OSU/UM battle, this is where we stand as of today's report from Eleven Warriors:

"Brady Hoke and the staff will make an in-home visit to the Dunn family tomorrow, while Urban Meyer and his staff will visit the Dunn home next week. Dunn will make a trip to Ohio State this weekend for his first official visit and will get up to Michigan the following week for his last official. While he still has some work to do in order to be eligible to enroll early, this battle should be over soon and it appears it will be a dogfight until the end."

Dunn will enroll in school in winter, so he must make his final commitment in the next couple weeks.

[Peake]

Certain good guys inside of the UM Athletic Office feel like this will now be an uphill battle for him. Said they are crossing their fingers but feel they have to switch their focus to TE recruiting because they feel unless something happens where he hates Meyer, he is headed to OSU.

I was told his recruitment is much like former OSU LB Chris Spielman. Said that he has a genuine interest in Michigan and his best friend is going there, but family are all buckeyes and are not letting him forget it.

I seriously doubt at this point he is blue.

I don't think it will be a good fit for him in the OSU offense, but I also don't think he wants to sit behind Fits for two years.

[The General]

The real good ones dont sit behind anyone much these days Peake. They at least share time and it works out great at many places.

[Peake]

Don't get me wrong I'd love to have this kid, but it looks unlikely at this point. There is no doubt he is good, but right now they have a stud back, and I think Dunn will be good, but Fitz is basically a 1000 yard rusher in 6 games. Fitz is the real deal and I am solid with him.

Vinny Smith gives you a nice third down back and plenty of senior leadership. He is one of the better backs catching it out of the backfield.

Michigan brought in two 4-stars last year in Justice Hayes and Thomas Rawls, they were both able to redshirt, so I am confident both of them will be ready to contribute. Rawls is just like Dunn in terms of size and running style, maybe not as tall. Plus, UM has added two backs already in this class. So, if we get Dunn huge bonus, if not I am still feeling good about things. Put it this way, Jamel Berry was a former 5-star and Fitz Toussaint was a 3-star, who would you rather have at this point?

Michigan is fine and will be fine, plus they feel they lead for Ty Issacs, nations #1 rb in the 2013 class.

[Peake]

Some interesting news.

Michigan has parted ways with DB 3-star Anthony Standifier. Standifier didn't take care of his school work and did not get accepted to Michigan. Standards for acceptance have went up since Dick Rod took over because of some of the boarder line kids he was recruiting. Anyways, Michigan feels they have a very good shot at Yuri Wright (4-star DB) so not a huge deal, and they thought Standifier was probably going to slide over to S, and UM already has two of those.

So....

Now Michigan has 5 spots to fill again.
1. Chesson-99%
2. Wright-75%
3. Garnett-50%
4. Sam Grant-50% just offered by UM, TE, committed to Boston College but teammate of Kyle Kalis, and visiting UM next week. Things look good.
5. Dunn-Banner-Diamond- less then 10%