Monday 27 June 2011

Commitment Profile: Blake Bars

Name: Blake Bars

Location: Nashville, TN

Position: OT (could play guard?)

Ratings: ESPN – 3* (79), Scout – 3*, 247 Sports - 3*

Recruitment: Bars was rumored to be a bit of a Penn State lean earlier in the process, but after visiting Michigan in the spring, the Wolverines shot up his list dramatically. He followed that up with another unofficial in June that cemented Michigan as his leader. Committed at the end of June; becoming the 17th commitment in the class, and the 4th OL.

Offers: Michigan, Florida, LSU, Penn State, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Clemson and others.

Stats: Currently stands at 6’5 and 275lbs, with no reported 40 yard dash time. Being an OT, he has no stats.

ESPN Analysis: Bars demonstrates good tough run blocking skills, showing the ability to dominate at his present level of competition. Has the height and athleticism for the offensive tackle position at the BCS level of play; will need to add bulk to his frame over time.
Has good flexibility and balance, and has good explosion on his first step. Doesn’t possess elite strength for the position, but his balance and leg drive allow him to move his opponents. Displays good athleticism and as a result should be able to handle speed rushers at the next level, as well as get into the second level. He’ll need to make some tweaks in his general pass protection, but his long arms and quick feet should be an asset in the college game. He’s not an early starter, but should develop into a good tackle once he’s added mass.

Scout Analysis: None available.

Improvements: Needs to add muscle; get near 300lbs at least. Technique issues. Pretty standard stuff for high school OT’s.

Film Highlights: Link here.

Final Thoughts: As mentioned above, Bars is not an early impact player, but his athleticism and long arms mean that he could be competing for a starting role after 2 years. In other words, a redshirt is almost a guarantee.
It also depends on what type of lineman Michigan take in the rest of the class. Do they see Bars as a guard if they end up taking tackles such as Kalis, Diamond and Magnuson?
I know there will be a few of you thinking, why didn’t Michigan hold out for guys like Andrus Peat, Zach Banner etc instead of taking this three star guy. Well the truth is that those guys are still longshots even if they visit Michigan. Bars has a lot of potential, and thus we should be happy about his commitment. Trust the coaches!

27 comments:

  1. What's this I'm seeing on scout about devins big arm?? Is he gonna give DR a run for his $$?? That last game, or only game, he played in he went 7for7. I think he can make all the throws Borges is looking for him to make! Now don't get me wrong I'm a DR fan, I think he's going to have a better season than last with a much improved D, more experience, him and roundtree will conect often, might acualy have a RB run the ball. lol All said and done we will win more games this year than we did last year!! DG is definatly more of a pocket passer. 6'4 2?? Lbs, as soon as he gets his feet wet, could be very good. No Tom Brady, but good!! Go Blue!!

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  2. I read on ESPN at least I think it was ESPN. They said that DRod was picked up the offence over the last couple of month and that he had a good grasp of it in the spring but was held back show he did not show to much. I just hope the O line has beefed up so the RBs can move the ball and not put everything on DRods shoulders.

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  3. This according to chatsports.com, and I don't know how much you can put int this, but this is what they said about the QB situation at Michigan:

    "Rumor: Denard Robinson is picking up Al Borges offense very quickly in the off-season and is pulling away from Devin Gardner. Robinson was given a very detailed training regimen and set of plays to work on with his receivers. Shoelace has been the ultimate gym rat since spring ball and is set to explode this season in the passing game, our insiders say."

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  4. @Smokey
    Dg and morris played catch and Dg's arm was stronger than morris. Sounds like gardner wanted to prove a point to the kid. This job isn't going to be given to ya.

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  5. I was just checking up on Bucknuts and they are taking about how michigan is oversigning on the defensive side of the ball and how once ohio state is aware of their penalties that kids will start crawling back to o state.God I just hate how ignorant ohio state fans can get..

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  6. @Davon
    It's funny, but it'd be funnier if they weren't serious. Theoretically 2 of our DE's aren't really DE's. Godin and Wormley will pick up 5tech and 3tech assignments, but will likely line up next to the NT. When the 4-3 over/under switches from one to the other they all just shift over 1 gap so Godin who was just a 3 is now a 5 and Wormley who was a 5 is now a 3, but the man lined up at the 3 gap always has someone lined up outside him so they don't have to be true DT's, we can have 1 NT and 2 DT/DEs like VanBergen and then 2 DE/OLB tweeners taking turns with their hand in the dirt on the outside. We can start 4 2012 DE's at once in this defense (plus Pipkins) and take 2 or 3 backups and not oversign.

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  7. Benji, Do you think the coaches will rethink the positions they will take depending on what all these O Linemen will do. In other words will they hold on lets say a RB or WR if they can land Garnett,Banner,Diamond(I still think he may miss out) and Kalis.

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  8. @Michael
    Good summary, you just need to tell that to Bucknuts and their retarded fanbase.I know we aren't going to oversign, I didn't know that much about who would play the 3 tech or the 5 tech so thanks for theinfo.

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  9. Jer, I don't think RB is a huge need. In fact, it's probably Dunn or nothing. Same with QB, they'll take Mauk or Kiel, but won't reach for another.

    This is just based on how well they are recruiting in the trenches.

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  10. Diamond won't miss out either...

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  11. Hey guys! Just read an article about Kalis, Diamond, and Wilson all committing by this weekend.. Any idea how true this could be??

    It's reported by Ace Williams on chatsports? Heres the article:
    http://www.chatsports.com/michigan-wolverines/a/Kalis-Wormley-and-Wilson-set-to-commit-to-Michigan-10-2-167

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  12. Benji, Thanks for the info.So that may open up 2 or 3 spots for O and D linemen?I just have this feeling if you land top of the line O linemen good things will happen behind them.Meaning RBs and Qbs(Morris is on the way)will want to play with them. And do you know why they have not offered Seumalo? Sounds like a good player that may want to go to UM?

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  13. Benji,

    Because I am new to the recruiting blogs is Ace Williams a good source?

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  14. Benji,

    Nevermind about Seumalo he just commited to Oregon State to bad.

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  15. Ace wrote that story a couple days ago when kalis was visiting. Obviously nothing came of it.

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  16. This kid looks like a pancake machine.

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  17. Welcome Blake.

    I believe I read where his highlight video was sent out latter then most. I would expect that affected his 3* rating. From his offer list, it did not affect the interest teams had for him!

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  18. http://twitter.com/TrueBlue2004 ....If you guys and gals have twitter check this guy out he claims to be a Michigan fan but he is steady talkin trash to T-Rich many people assume he is a fan of an opposing team trying to get him to decommit by acting like an extremely rude Michigan fan...Just want you guys to send T-Rich some support

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  19. The spam Twitter account no longer comes up, thank God.

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  20. I think that trueblue guy is a bama fan because he told him to go to bama and made a dee hart reference.

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  21. @ Benji, Glad you're back and hope you had a great time in Germany! My foggy memory of Germany is getting carried out of the Hofbrauhaus after winning a bet by drinking 3 liters of beer within 2 hours! LOL!!

    Anyways, to shed some light on this Ace Williams guy, here's a link to his latest response/update regarding Kalis/Wormley/Wilson and why the first 2 have not made an announcement yet as he originally projected and where he's supposedly getting his info:

    http://www.chatsports.com/michigan-wolverines/a/Michigan-football-recruiting-rumors-10-2-192

    I'm not too sure what to make of this guy either but we'll know soon enough if his "inside sources" are legit or not. Just glad to have you back and keeping us all informed!

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  22. QB transfer wilson to wisconsin

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  23. How can Oklahoma St sign so many recruit's?
    2006- 29
    2007-24
    08-27
    09-26
    10-27
    11-28

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  24. @Monique, I checked out the Ace Williams link as far as I know Dunn hasn't decommitted from tsiO and this guy and all of his rumors seem a little fishy to me. If Dunn did decommit it would be all over scout, rivals, and other "legitimate" sites. I think who ever is running that sight is just pulling stuff out of his a$$.

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  25. @Jameel, I hear ya. This A.W. guy apparently was off the grid for a while and now is coming out making some pretty bold statements. I'm not too sure what too make of it either, but with the shaky status of TSIO, they're bound to lose more commitments if they receive stiff sanctions, bowl bans, etc. With Dunn, he has not come out and officially de-committed but it didn't stop him from visiting Michigan recently and there are rumors on TSIO message boards that he has:

    http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Board/120/Source-OSU-has-no-chance-at-Dunn-or-Kalis-2789820/1

    David Biddle wrote, "Wow. This coming from the family member of an OSU player. These guys aren't just decommitting, they have written off going to OSU. Remember, there are current and former OSU players who went to the same high school as Kalis and Dunn respectively. Word going around at both St. Eds and GlenOak are that the Buckeyes have "no chance" at landing either of them.

    What a complete 180 for Kalis. I'm not surprised in the least about Dunn. When I interviewed him two months ago and he said he was "opening things back up" that told me he was basically decommitting. But Kalis was Mr. Buckeye talking about how much he loved OSU and that he was going to recruit like crazy to get other top prospects to join him in Columbus. He reminded me of Brewster and Justin Zwick in that respect.

    I will update if I hear anything else."

    Also, to confirm their shaky status of Dunn from a news site:

    http://www.foxsportsohio.com/06/11/11/Buckeye-recruits-not-abandoning-program/landing_ohiostate.html?blockID=531979&feedID=3725

    • RB Brionte Dunn, 6-1, 215, Canton (Ohio) GlenOak: Another five-star prospect, Dunn is the No. 29-ranked player in the country. His recruitment is also a bit up in the air, though, as he has visited Michigan since giving his Ohio State commitment in September and admitted publicly that he is concerned about potential NCAA sanctions facing OSU.

    However, he told BuckeyeSports.com's Adam Jardy that he is sticking with Ohio State for the time being.

    "It's hard," he said. "I really liked (Tressel). It's hard to see him leave. … I'm just waiting for more information. I'm going to wait until August and see where they will be at as far as coaching-wise and see if they're going to miss any bowl games."

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  26. Jar-

    So much for my Auburn friend..

    Talked to him today. Some of the Tiger faithful are glad he is not coming because of the team chemistry issue. Bottom line is they lost out, and most hoped he would come.

    I'm glad we are not playing WI in the regular season. Sparty's season just got more difficult. Wilson is a difference maker, and will win the starting spot.

    You were quite correct in being vigilant as to his decision. He may end up being THE story in the Big 11 this year....

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  27. that is what I call a commitment profile as well and it is like the relation I have with host pay per head, they offer one of the best PPH services and that is why I will stay with them for a while

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