The 2009 Recruiting Class

The first day of the official singing period has come and passed. And while a stray recruit is still out there looking for a home, odds are Michigan is done for this year. 22 recruits sent in their LOI (letters of intent) yesterday, of which 7 of them are already enrolled at the U and working out with Barwis getting a leg up on conditioning for their freshman season.

Quarterback
• Tate Forcier ★★★★, 6-0/184 - San Diego, CA
• Denard Robinson ★★★★, 6-1/179 - Deerfield Beach, FL

Running Back
• Teric Jones ★★★, 5-8/186 - Detroit, MI
• Vincent Smith ★★★, 5-6/159 - Pahokee, FL
• Fitzgerald Toussaint ★★★★, 5-10/185 - Youngstown, OH

Wide Receiver
• Cameron Gordon ★★★★, 6-2/211 - Inkster, MI
• Je'Ron Stokes ★★★★, 6-1/178 - Philadelphia, PA
• Jememy Gallon ★★★★, 5-8/165 - Apopka, FL

Offensive Line
• Taylor Lewan (OT) ★★★★, 6-7/272 - Scottsdale, AZ
• Michael Schofield (OT) ★★★★, 6-6/272 - Orland Park, IL
• Quinton Washington (OG) ★★★★, 6-3/315 - St. Stephen, SC

Defensive Line
• William Campbell (DT) ★★★★★, 6-5/317 - Detroit, MI
• Anthony LaLota (DE) ★★★★, 6-6/260 - Princeton, NJ
• Craig Roh (DE) ★★★★, 6-5/230 - Scottsdale, AZ

Linebacker
• Isaiah Bell ★★★, 6-0/209 - Youngstown, OH
• Brandin Hawthorne ★★★, 6-0/181 - Pahokee, FL

Defensive Back
• Valdimir Emilien (S) ★★★★, 6-0/186 - Lauderhill, FL
• Thomas Gordon (S) ★★★, 5-10/199 - Detroit, MI
• Mike Jones (S) ★★★, 6-2/200 - Orlando, FL
• Justin Turner (CB) ★★★★, 6-2/186 - Massillon, OH
• Adrian Witty (CB) ★★, 5-9/175 - Deerfield Beach, FL

Kicker
• Brendan Gibbons ★★, 6-0/202 - West Palm Beach, FL

The biggest key for Michigan this off-season was to address the QB situation. Both recruits for 09 will likely be the #1 and #2 options for Rodriguez this season at the QB position. While Threet will surely be contending for the role, both of the these two newcomers offer a bit more in terms of ability to run the style of offense that Rodriguez wants. Rodriguez noted their ability to manage a game as a main reason why he liked both of these guys so much. Clearly, that was an issue with the Threet/Sheridan duo from 2008.

Running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, considered to be the #1 recruit in the state of Ohio will be a great addition to the backfield. Michigan has some good depth at RB this year with Minor, Brown, Grady and Shaw all returning (although McGuffie is gone), so the three backs from this class will probably not see much playing time until next year, with maybe the exeption of maybe Toussaint.

Wide receivers are always a huge key for any offense. And for Michigan, moving forward with the spread-option, WR is vital. Michigan got a huge late commit with Je'Ron Stokes, from Pennsylvania. He was thought to be off to Tennessee, but a coaching change made him think twice. He's a very capable wideout as is Gordon. But Michigan also really targetted slot-type WRs, and got a good one in Jeremy Gallon.

Another area of key interest for Michigan was OL. Michigan netted a bunch of linemen last year which they red-shirted all of them, including Dan O'neill. So the 3 incoming OL will have their work cut out for them. But on the flipside, linemen at Michigan tend to get playingtime anyway, due to injury or whatever...so being deep at this position is never a bad thing. Michigan did very well here this year. Michael Schofield commited early, Quinton Washington is a great get for Michigan just a couple days before signing day, and Taylor Lewan was a very nice surprise a couple months ago. All 3 should be starting within 3 years.

On the defensive line, Michigan's 09 class looked very different just a couple weeks ago. DeQuinta Jones and Pearlie Graves were both barely verbally committed right up until signing day, but made the leap to other schools just as expected. But the commitment/de-commitment and then re-commitment of Detroit Cass-Tech super-stud William Campbell will probably pay off immediately. We need interior DTs as we need to replace Terrance Taylor, so expect Campbell, who enrolled in January, to play right away.

Linebacker has to be an area where Rodriguez feels he needed to get maybe one more guy. Bell and Hawthorne will be solid if they can get bigger/stronger/faster...and soon, but until then, we're notably small and lacking in the LB dept.

The secondary gets a little help from the likes of 4-star prospects Justin Turner (CB) and Vladimir Emilien (S). Word was that former Michigan QB coach and current Florida assistant Scott Loeffler tried to woo Turner away from Michigan very late in the game. But Turner remained committed.

All-in-all, a very good class for the Wolverines. Rivals has them ranked #7 overall. And, like we've always said, the best guage for a rebuilding program is how well the new coaching staff can recruit. Clearly, Rodriguez is doing something right. Getting this caliber of talent on a team that went 3-9 last year shows that this staff is serious and good things are on the way for the Wolverines.