Monday 8 August 2011

Commitment Profile: Ondre Pipkins

Name: Ondre Pipkins

Location: Kansas City, MO

Position: DT

Ratings: ESPN – 3* (78), Scout – 4*, 247 Sports - 4*

Recruitment: Pipkins actually grew up in Michigan, and his Dad still coaches football here, so he has plenty of connections to the state and the state's premier football program! Michigan has really always lead for Pipkins since they offered, but there was fairly strong competition from the SEC schools, particularly Tennessee and Alabama. Michigan State will try to claim they were in the race, but to be honest, they weren't. Pipkins visited Michigan for the first time at the BHBBQ and claimed it to be his best visit, but he still insisted that he would take officials. A few days later he committed, funny how things work.

Offers: Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan State, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and many more.

Stats: Currently stands at 6’3 and around 320lbs, with a 40 yard dash time of 5.15 seconds. The best stats I could find on his junior year were 50 tackles and 3 sacks.

ESPN Analysis: Pipkins is a big boy and he shows flashes of being a real handful at the nose. He has good overall size, but may need to spend some time in a college weight program not only improving strength but reworking his build some to allow his size to better work for him. He can show flashes of very good first-step quickness which can grab your attention.

Has the ability to knock blockers back, but could use his hands better as well as improving his upper body strength. Has good burst off the snap of the ball and can collapse the pocket, but needs to show this more consistently.

It's a harsh evaluation compared to others!

Improvements: Needs to work on his consistency and footwork when driving through blockers. Also needs to work on his pad level and use of hands.

Film Highlights: Link here. There is actually no highlight film of him available on the likes of youtube etc, so there's a video of him just after he blew up the nike camp.

Final Thoughts: I like ESPN's evaluations, they are by far the most thorough and generally quite accurate when we look back at past players. However, I've got to be skeptical about this evaluation. Pipkins is one of the top players in the country this year based on his combine performances, and his offer list is much better than a three star rating.

As a freshman with great size, he'll definitely have a chance to compete for a rotation spot, and by his second year he could well be starting if UM is still in a 4-3. In other words, a redshirt is unlikely, unless his technique really needs as much work as ESPN says it does.

There are only four spots left in this class, and I don't think any will be going to another DT, unless his name is Aziz Shittu. The remaining spots should go to a WR, RB, CB and and OL. However you could definitely see UM missing out on that RB...

DT was a big need coming into this class and Michigan has finally filled it, to the relief of many fans I think!

28 comments:

  1. I'd like to see another OL. The rate of OL recruits panning out is about 50/50 and in 2013 there is a serious need, especially on the interior of the line. Would be good to get that 6th guy.

    I think it's going to be first-come-first-serve for additional offers, regardless of position.

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  2. I think we are going to be very picky. We can afford it at this point. And, with so many commits under out belt, the coaches can start going after some 2013 studs (with the help of Shane Morris)!

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  3. So no one wants to say it, but ace was right. He committed when said he would. Ondre just kept it quite.

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  4. @Richard

    A lot of people said he would commit at the BBQ. Ace just takes common knowledge guesses and acts as if he knows they are facts.

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  5. I agree with both of you depending on position.

    First come first served for the OL (Diamond, Banner, Bisnowaty, Garnett) and for CB (Reeves or Wright)

    We already have some quality recruits here and can afford to wait for one of these highly touted prospects.

    As for the WR spot(s), this is a position of need and we need somebody decent to commit but we can't afford to be quite as selective here........first come first served but from a broader list (Madaris, Powe, Chesson, Payton (Apparently no interest in Michigan), Stanford, Dever (no offer) and Darboh).

    As for RB, I know that many think that we can afford to pass on this if need be but I disagree. Attrition is a bitch and I think you look for a solid back every year. First solid prospect that jumps on board gets the job. The only exception to this that I suspect is the case right now is if the coaches are holding out and hoping for Dunn. We don't have many promising offers out there and haven't offered but could probably land Lewis.

    Then there's always.....Do we take another DT if it's a stud.

    So apparently I agree with both of you but feel like I don't know S%@t about the last few spots.

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  6. We all get on here and take guesses as to what may or may not happen. Sometimes we're right and sometimes we're wrong. Many of our guesses are educated guesses based on what we know about our needs and what we're reading on any number of sites etc. We don't call what we do reporting....neither should Ace. Several bloggers on here could probably say they made the same call as Ace without the "insider" information.

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  7. Where'd you get that Payton has no interest in michigan?

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  8. Sorry Davon......have no idea why I put that there. The only site to report his lack of interest is 247 which is notoriously outdated. We all know that he decommitted so the that he could come here. I hope, I hope, I hope

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  9. According to his coach (info from maxpreps.com) Payton has narrowed his list to 2 schools, Cal and Michigan. Cal has already landed the #10 receiver in Bryce Treggs.

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  10. Hey Ben, I'm curious why you included 24/7 instead of rivals's rankings. Rivals seems to be very well respected nationally while 24/7 just started up and it'll take years before we can assess how accurate their rankings are compared to the other sources.

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  11. Hoke and Co. will not close the door on elite talent regardless of position needs (see Y.Wright). IMO, at least one WR is very important, a second is a luxury. Guaranteed we will get an "elite" WR (one that can attain the #1 jersey). Now that all needs (minus that WR)are filled Hoke will be patient, selective and increase their pursuit of Banner, Diamond, Dunn, Stanford, Payton, Reeves and Wright. All of these guys are in or very close to ESPN's 150. Recruiting news may be quite slow till Sept. 10th when a few of these guys come off the board after a delicious Michigan win over ND! My guess for the last four is: Diamond, Dunn, Payton, and Wright to go Blue. If not Payton will get the Darboh kid out of Iowa.

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  12. Across the board:

    Here are the class rankings on all of the 4 major sites.

    5 star 4 star 3 star 2/NR
    Scout 1 12 9 0
    Rivals 0 11 10 1
    ESPN 0 10 11 1
    247 0 13 8 1

    These rankings do not include Grey Shirt Jeremy Clark.

    The three NRs belong to Houma who will likely get rated now that he has been recuited by UofM.

    7 of our recruits are 4 star or better on all 4 sites.

    sites seem to be ranking consistently but there are some rankings that leave you shaking your head like Pipkins and Strobel being 3 stars on ESPN.

    I know.......it's not all about stars but....it kind of is a little bit!!!!

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  13. I apologize in advance that the above mentioned star ranking do not line up in columns.

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  14. I think that Aug. 12th will tell us where we stand for Dunn. Does anybody think he leaves OSU if there are no bowl bans.

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  15. OTL just reported that the NCAA is still investigating osu, so Aug 12 might not be the end of the investigation. I love this for two reasons: 1)osu is still going to have uncertainty as long as they are being investigated which will be unappealing to coaches and recruits. 2)osu has a better chance of having more dirt uncovered or getting in trouble for not cooperating with the NCAA, both of which should lead to a harsher punishment.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. GBN,
    With Dunn it may come down to a bowl ban and I think who they hire as a coach.

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  18. If you get the chance go to ESPN and check out Scott Van Pelt interview with coach Hoke.

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  19. If there is only 4 spots remaining things get tuff. UM may get 2 commits after the ND game maybe Dunn and Reeves. That means 2 or 3 spots that remain til next year.In the end UM will have a top 5 class. Higher if they get Dunn,Garnett or Banner,Payton and Wright.

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  20. What is it with Hagerup? Second suspension in 2 years?

    If Wile can punt, they should punt Hagerup right off the team and use his scholarship for a 2012 prospect.

    Glad to finally get a DT! And a potential great one, at that.

    Unless we hear from a last OL commit, I think things are about to get quiet on the recruiting front for a long time.

    Thank God it's almost game time! A strong start could convince a guy like Dunn that he's better off at Michigan, than rebuilding at ou under a coach to be named later.

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  21. In an interview, Jordan Payton confirmed what is coach said earlier--that Michigan is in his top two.

    Interviewer: I know you're really heavily recruited. You had committed to USC, then all of a sudden you weren't going to USC. ... What is the very latest update, Jordan, with your recruiting situation? And you are also perfectly welcome to make your commitment with the Daily News right now if you so choose.

    Payton: (laughs) Right now I'm going through the process ... my top two schools are Cal and Michigan, those are the two schools I'm really interested in right now.

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  22. Man, this is a great pickup but I wish we coulda got Laron Taylor....................lol

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  23. Either of you guys wanna join a fantasy football league?

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  24. So assuming the number of open spots doesn't increase or decrease, who does everyone have for a Final Five to go Blue??

    Wright (DB), Garrett (OL), Dunn (RB), Payton (WR), and Chesseu (WR) to round up the class for me!

    Hoping for Diggs rather than Chesseu tho! haha

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  25. davon, I would love to join a fantasy league.

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  26. Ok..I need your email address to send you an invitation to join.

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  27. osu responds to the allegations on Aug 12. The NCAA will then decide on what the punishment should be, and knowing how they operate, that will take a couple of months. And if there is more, then who knows.

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  28. @northernmi
    Thanks, I wasn't sure about what was going to happen on that day and now I get it more.

    Last 4 spots:
    Garnett-He, like Kalis and Bars can play OT or OG. With the addition of him our future OLine could be:LT-Magnuson, LG-Garnett, C- I don't know who exactly, but we are in good shape, RG-Kalis, RT-Braden. And it could get even stronger with the addition of some 2013 studs.
    Wright-He could be a shut down corner right away, our secondary would be unstoppable. Wright would shut down one side and the other CB and Safteys would all be ballhawks.
    Payton- It will be hard to beat Cal, but a great visit can win him over. He could be a solid contributor as a freshman and possibly a starter as a sophomore.
    Dunn-The uncertainty of osu sanctions and coaches will finally wear on him and he will finally join all his friends at Michigan.
    This finish would be remarkable, here are the rankings for each individual (using Espn, 247, rivals, and scout)

    Garnett average national rank: 36
    Wright average national rank: 36.25
    Payton average national rank: 128.3 (not on espnu 150 so Espn rank not included)
    Dunn average national rank: 102 (not on espnu 150 so Espn rank not included)

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