Each week leading up
to the Spring Game, I’ll take a look at each position Michigan will be
recruiting and which recruits could possibly fill the needed
spots. This week, I’ll be taking a look at the most important position on the field;
Quarterback.
Who will be Michigan's 2016 Quarterback?
Heading into the 2015 season, Michigan will have five quarterbacks listed on their depth chart under scholarship;
Shane Morris, Wilton Speight, Alex Malzone, Zach Gentry, and recent transfer John O’Korn. We
all know by now that Jim Harbaugh loves two things- Quarterbacks and competition. The coaching staff has already sent out a bevy of scholarship offers to 2016 quarterbacks, and have identified early on what they like in each recruit. So, who could possibly be the next quarterback to commit to the University of Michigan?
1) K.J Costello
K.J. is a name Michigan fans should be familiar with. During the Brady Hoke era, K.J. was offered
by the coaching staff and took part in an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor during
the summer. The visit went over extremely
well, and it looked as if Michigan would be one of the front runners to land
his services going forward. During
Michigan’s horrendous 2014 season, the interest seemed to have faded and it looked as if Costello would be looking elsewhere for his college home. Fast forward to the Jim Harbaugh hiring, and
Costello has been identified as one of the top quarterbacks in 2016 and is
being heavily pursed by the new coaching staff.
K.J. is your prototypical pocket passer. He’s very comfortable in the pocket and likes
to drop back and sling the ball. He’s got ideal size standing at 6’4 and 215
lbs. Very strong arm, and can fire the ball down-field with relative ease. Has an excellent touch to the ball, and
throws it only where the receiver can catch it. Throws the ball with good “zip”, but tends to
get a little too much air underneath the ball at times. Goes through his reads very well, and always
knows were his receivers will be on the field. Good awareness in the pocket, and can feel
pressure on his blindside. One aspect of his game I really like is that he throws
the ball over top of the coverage, instead of through it.
K.J. hold a very impressive scholarship offer list including
schools such as; Stanford, USC, Alabama, Arizona, Texas A&M, Tennessee,
Florida State, Florida, and Arizona. He is currently ranked as the #2 Pro-Style
Quarterback and #25 overall recruit in 2016 according to Rivals. He will also visit Ann Arbor with his father
within the next few weeks. At this point, I think Michigan is in the driver’s seat regarding his
recruitment, and a commitment might be plausible on his visit within the next
few weeks.
1a) Brandon Peters
Brandon is a quarterback who’s recruitment has been somewhat very quiet. Ranked as the #5 pro-style quarterback in 2016 according to Rivals,
Brandon has a short offer sheet including schools such as; Boston College,
Iowa, Indiana, and Virginia Tech.
Brandon has excellent size (6’5, 205) to become a pocket
passer at the next level. He has good
arm strength, and really steps into his throws. Has the ability to stand back
and fire the ball to his receiver, or can roll-out of the pocket and throw a
strike to his receiver. Good throwing motions, and throws a tight spiral. Very
underrated mobility, and can extend the play with his legs. Won't blow you away with his speed, but can easily pick up first downs with his legs. Reads the
field extremely well, and plays with a high football IQ. Won’t force throws
into dangerous areas. Good accuracy, and
leads his receiver’s to the ball in open areas of the field. Does an excellent job of planting both feet
before throwing, and rarely throws off his back-foot.
Brandon has already announced he will be visiting Ann Arbor
for the Spring Game, and I think a commitment could be imminent.
2) Jacob Eason
Jacob is an extremely talented high school quarterback, who
committed to Georgia last July. Jacob was offered by Doug Nussmeier last year,
and recently the new coaching staff has made sure Jacob knows that the offer still
stands.
Jacob has all the tools to become one heck of a college
quarterback. He has excellent size
standing at 6’5 and 205 lbs. He also possesses one of the strongest arms I've
ever watched on film. He can make all
the throws on the field with relative ease, and has pinpoint accuracy. Has very
good mechanics and throws the ball with a nice, crisp spiral. Under-rated mobility, and has the ability to
get outside of the pocket and fire the ball down-field while scrambling.
Excellent touch on his passes, as the ball is thrown only to where the receiver
can catch it. Stays calm in the pocket,
and sets both feet before throwing. Rarely ever throws off his back-foot. Goes through his reads extremely well, and
will wait for the play to develop before leaving the pocket.
Jacob is currently ranked as the #1 pro-style quarterback by
both 24/7 and Rivals. He holds an impressive scholarship offer sheet from
schools such as; Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma
State, and Tennessee. As a junior, Jacob threw for 2,829 yards with 32
touchdowns.
3) Dwayne Haskins
Out of all the 2016 quarterbacks, Dwayne could be the most
entertaining to watch on film. He has
very fluid motions in the pocket, and an excellent delivery of the ball. He has a very strong arm and can make almost
any throw on the field. Above average
footwork, that lets him set his feet and deliver a strike to the receiver. Excellent field vision and waits for the play
to develop. Very accurate when throwing the football and leads his receiver to
the ball. When throwing the football, Dwayne doesn't put much air underneath
the ball, making it extremely difficult for the ball to be intercepted. adequate mobility and can scramble for a first
down. There is no real weakness in Dwayne’s
game except for the fact that he weighs 185 lbs. This issue will not be a factor once he enters
a college weight program.
Dwayne is currently ranked as the #4 pro-style quarterback,
and #67 overall according to Rivals. He holds an extremely impressive offer
sheet for schools such as; Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi,
Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Texas.
4) Shea Patterson
Shea is another recruit that was offered by the Brady Hoke coaching
staff, and behind Eason, I would put him as the second best quarterback of the
2016 recruiting cycle. He has all the
tools to become a very effective quarterback at the FBS level, and will likely
vie for playing time early on in his career.
Shea can beat you with both his legs and his arms. He’s got
a strong arm and can deliver the ball in a hurry. If his coach wants him to take a 5 step drop
and throw the ball down field; Shea can do it. If his coach wants him to extend
the play on 3rd down with his legs; Shea can do it. He has the rare combination of speed and arm strength
that will make him very dangerous at the college level. Reads the play with
good vision, and will wait for his receiver to get open. Throwing motion is a
little strange, as it doesn't look like he steps into the ball on some plays,
but the ball always seems to end up in the receiver’s hands. Shea will need to work on planting his feet
before throwing the ball, as he tends to throw off his back-foot a little too
much. A little undersized for a pocket quarterback
(6’2, 195 lbs.), but will have time to add
on additional weight to his frame.
Shea is listed as the #1 dual-threat quarterback, and #6
overall in 2016 according to Rivals. He holds scholarship offers from; Arizona,
LSU, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame.
Shea took to twitter on Thursday to announce that he will be
announcing his college choice on February 17th. At this point it doesn't
look good for the Wolverines to land the talented 5* recruit, and I think he
ends up playing for the Ole Miss Rebels.
5) Messiah deWeaver
Messiah is another name Michigan fans are familiar with, as
he was committed to the program for a few months. Messiah decommitted from
Michigan just before National Signing Day and it looks as if in-state rival
Michigan State could be the team to beat for his services.
Messiah doesn't have the strongest arm I've ever watched on
film but, he can get the ball into the receiver’s hands with relative ease. He
can lineup under center or in the shot-gun formation. Has adequate footwork and
steps up into the pocket to throw the ball. He keeps his eyes down field locked
on his receivers, looking for an opening. Possesses great pocket awareness.
Messiah can feel pressure coming from all angles and knows when to properly get
rid of the ball. Has idle size for a pro-style quarterback; being a shade over
200 pounds, he will have to add minimal weight once college
arrives. Throws a good spiral. He will however, need to
work a bit on his mechanics. Messiah has a tendency to drop his elbow leading
to less accurate passes. Can throw the ball with decent accuracy while scrambling. I
would like to see deWeaver use his legs a bit more and, run for a few more first
downs. Has plenty of experience at the high school level being a varsity
starter since his freshman year. Should have the mental aspect of the game down
pat as he has reached the Ohio state finals three years in a row. Huge
potential for growth.
Messiah is currently ranked as the #7 pro-style quarterback,
and #219 overall in 2016 according to Rivals. He holds scholarship offers from;
Cincinnati, Duke, Indian, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan St., and Penn St.
At this point, I don’t think Messiah will end up
re-committing to Michigan, and at this moment, I think he ends up playing his
collegiate career in East Lansing.
*Note- List is in order of likeliness to commit to Michigan, not based upon rankings.
Newly Offered
With NSD 2015 officially in the books, the Michigan coaching
staff has wasted no time in getting a head start to 2016. Over the past week
and a half, the coaching staff has spread out across the country handing out
multiple offers towards 2016 recruits. Recruits that received an offer from the
coaching staff include;
2016 OL Austin Myers
2017 ATH Devon Hunter
2016 TE Jacob Mathis
2016 LB Jaquan Yulee
2016 DB Jaylon Jones
2016 TE Cary Angeline
2016 DE Levi Onwuzurike
2016 WR Eli Stove
2016 QB Brandon Peters
2016 LB Rahssan Thornton
2016 LB Jonathon Jones
2016 DE Terrell Hall
2016 CB Eric Cuffee
2016 DB CJ Pollard
2016 DB Marquel Dismuke
2016 DB Calvin Bundage
2016 DB Craig Watts
2016 DB Chris Brown
2016 DB Cameron Lewis
2016 ATH Demetric Felton
2016 ATH Jordan Fuller
2016 DE Justin Madubuike
Other Notes:
2016 WR target Theo Howard received scholarship offers from
Utah, Boston College, Arizona, and Kansas this week.
2016 OL target Ben Bredeson received a scholarship offer
from Alabama.
Last week, I exchanged a few messages with 2016 CB target
Wayne Davis. Davis told me that Coach
Durkin and Recruiting Coordinator Chris Partridge offered him a scholarship.
Davis also mentioned that he was extremely excited about the new coaching staff
that Michigan has put together.
2015 LB Roquan Smith finally ended his recruitment on Friday
morning, selecting the Georgia Bulldogs.
2016 LB target Ali'i Niumatalolo recievedsome an abundance of mail this week from the coaching staff.
2016 LB target Ali'i Niumatalolo recieved
My #GoBlue stack💙💛 pic.twitter.com/OKQGbIWZo2
— FilthyFive55 (@AliiNiumatalolo) February 11, 2015
For up to the
minute recruitment news, you can follow Travis Cooper on Twitter @MaizenBlueCoop. You can also follow Maize & Blue Nation
on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.
No comments
Post a Comment