Matt Wile

Name: Matt Wile

Location: San Diego, CA

Position: K

Ratings: ESPN – 2* (74), Scout – NR*, Rivals 2*

Recruitment: Wile’s family has a long history at Michigan; Matt will be a 5^th generation Michigan student. He originally planned not to commit whilst on his official, but that soon changed once he got on campus. Nebraska was the main competition late on, as the Huskers were meant to get a visit the weekend after. Was an Army All American.

Offers: Michigan, Air Force, San Diego State, Washington and he likely would have received one from Nebraska if he visited.

Stats: Hit nine of twelve FG’s as a junior, including a long of 48 yards. Around 90% of his kick offs go for touchbacks and he’s also a pretty good punter. Rumored to have kicked a 63 yard FG at a camp in Northwestern, and apparently made a 58 yarder at the Army Bowl practices.

ESPN Analysis: Matt is an athletic kicker/punter who is also solid in coverage. Matt has made multiple tackles in coverage. He has a field goal approach that is repeatable. The ball jumps off his foot and he has a smooth rhythm. He does need to finish down field more on his FG at times. There are times where he pivots and comes across his body slightly. His kick offs are solid for a high school kicker. He generally drives the ball into the endzone and gives his team good hang-time to run underneath his kicks. Matt's punting is not at the same level as his kicking but he does have the tools to become a good punter with more experience. Matt should be able compete early in college.

Improvements: Well he’s probably already an improvement on what Michigan has right now on campus. His power seems good, so just accuracy/consistency really.

Film Highlights: Link here.

Final Thoughts: Clearly the coaching staff didn’t have much faith in the kickers already on campus to turn around their kicking woes, and who can blame them. Wile has a chance to come in and steal the starting role straight away; heck if he can make FG’s consistently from 35 yards and under, that’ll still be a huge upgrade.

Hoke recruited him whilst he was at San Diego State, so clearly he’s quite high on him. Wile’s ratings aren’t great, but he was an Army All American, so that’s encouraging.