There's been a lot of talk about WR Stefon Diggs and Michigan recently, so I thought it might be useful to go over his recruitment, which has been a real roller coaster for Michigan.
Diggs first came on the radar of Michigan fans during the recruitment of his former teammate, Blake Countess. At the time, everyone was reasonably confident about Michigan's chances of luring the five star talent to Ann Arbor, and there were already early talks of spring/summer visits.
However over the off season it surfaced that Diggs had some academic issues and Michigan backed off. Of course most other schools didn't back off, and Michigan lost significant ground; but they still made his top 11 schools at the start of the season.
Diggs has since really improved in the classroom and is now by all accounts, set to qualify academically. Once Michigan got word of this, they were back on him. Fortunately, one Michigan man who never stopped recruiting Diggs was Blake Countess. The two remain very good friends and Diggs was encouraged to see that Michigan lets the true freshman Countess play over a senior (Woolfolk) at CB.
A random Twitter conversation between the two in which Countess says they should wear the #2 and #1 jersey's between them (representing the team's #1 WR and #1 DB) really caught the eye of Michigan fans and the buzz started to rebuild.
Now last week we have Sam Webb's article in the DetNews which suggests that Michigan has a pretty good chance with Diggs and that he's looking to set up a visit for after the season. He'll be narrowing things down to a top 7 shortly, which means two teams in that list won't get an official visit - Michigan badly needs one.
Right now I'd say Michigan definitely trails some schools like Cal, Virginia, maybe Miami too, plus there are the national powers that are still after him, Florida, Oklahoma, USC etc. So all in all, despite the recent optimism, things still aren't looking that great from Michigan's perspective. It's great to be back in the hunt, but Michigan have a long way to go if they want to win him over before signing day.
We not to stop talking about who's better between DR or DG. OBVIOUSLY we know the best player will play, as we have seen with Countess (freshman) over Wolfolk (senior). Yes, he turns the ball over, but most of his fumbles are trying to make plays, like the one he lost on the ground. He was trying to make a play, and almost did, too. Other players have stepped up, obviously, for us to be 8-2, thankfully. Receivers against ND, Fitz in a few games, and the D in almost EVERY game. Made me laugh the other week, commentator made a remark about their Defense. "Is there defense really this good or is it still wait and see?" When they're 7-2? Top 10 in the country for points allowed after 9 games? Wait and see? I think all the down playing UM has done in public has started to reflect on some of the commentators and press, which is fine by me, too. Finish strong, end 10-2 and listen to everyone talk about our "weak schedule."
ReplyDeleteAnother point, even IF we lose the last two games to finish 8-4, 11 of the teams on our schedule COULD be bowl eligible, out of 12. Not to mention obviously a bowl game, so 12 out of 13 teams we play could be bowl eligible. Any other team in the country able to say that? MSU fans say our schedule compares to theirs, they only have 7 teams that could be bowl eligible. two teams they play have 1 win, one team has 0 wins one team has 2 wins(who they ALMOST lost to BTW) and one team is 1AA. The ONLY team on UM's schedule with NO chance at a .500 season and bowl eligibility is Minn, yet they still almost beat MSU. 10-2 record and 11 of those teams finish bowl eligible, I'd say is a GREAT season, beyond just the 10-2 record
good post JCreager! Our schedule isn't as easy as everyone likes to say. Backloaded, yes, but not easy. Certainly not as easy as MSU's last year OR this year. They had a brutal October, haha, well thats our November. They finish against Minn, Iowa, Indiana, NW? Yea, real tough.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest recruiter for Diggs is going to be countess. Just another reason why he's my favorite player on the team. Everything Diggs says about him, friend, mentor, etc. If Michigan puts the full court press on, with Countess in our corner, Diggs will go blue, how could he not?
With the pressure they put on DRob you'd think they'd go to a more play action oriented offense knowing he was lined in front of the NCAA leader in sacks. He was pressured all day long, embrace the pressure! Run a screen pass! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteGet Diggs on campus. Mattison and Hoke are 2 of the best recruiters in America and our Recruiting Coordinator also happens to be the WR coach. We can get him on campus. Top Coaches+ Top School+ Top Facilities+ Top Recruiters+ Top QB Prospect+ Close Friend+ Immediate Playtime= a pretty decent chance. The planets have aligned to make this a very likely year for us to land a top WR like Diggs. If he ends up at a crap program like Virginia or Cal I'd be surprised, but then again, losing left and right has worked miracles for ND this year.
Any chance UM reaches out to Aaron Burbridge?
ReplyDeleteI would hope they never stopped recruiting him Jer...you know people are still actively trying to recruit our guys...
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely optimistic with our chances with Diggs, if we can get that high up on his list in just over 2 weeks of real recruiting... imagine what we can do as time goes on. And Blake Countess is going to be a more important recruiter than any coach, players these days are more concerned with who they're going to be playing with than whose coaching them. Sam Webb said that us and Cal are the surest places to secure a visit from Diggs.
ReplyDeleteAssuming we have 3 scholarship places left, how would everybody rank the prospects you would most want to see pick a Michigan hat? Rank your top 5, with your first 3 being first choices and the last 2 being back ups.
I think the main prospects to consider would be Diggs, Wright, Washington, Stanford, Kozan, Garnett, Diamond, Banner, Dunn, Thompson, Payton, Darboh, and Powe.
My list would be this:
1. Diggs
2. Wright
3. Dunn
4. Banner
5. Garnett
What about the rest of you?
1. Diggs
ReplyDelete2. Wright
3. Banner
4. Payton
5. Garnett
Are you asking for a wish list or the player UM will most likely to land?
ReplyDelete1. Diggs
ReplyDelete2. Wright
3. Darboh/Madaris/Payton
4. Banner/Garnett
5. Dunn
Scout updated their rankings.... heres the skinny of it.
ReplyDeleteOH TE A.J. Williams went from being the #15 TE- 3 star to #32 OT- 4 star. Many more are seeing Williams project at becoming an offensive tackle at the next level.
OH LB Kaleb Ringer went from being the #9 MLB- 4 star to #32 MLB- 3 star.
OH DE Tom Strobel went from being the #23 DE- 4 star to #11 DE- 4 star.
OH LB Joe Bolden went from being the #26 OLB- 4 star to #6 OLB- 4 star.
MI RB Drake Johnson went from being the #133 RB- 2 star to #77 RB- 3 star.
So by the looks of it we have another OL in this class and with Pharaoh Brown moving to TE that means we have one less DL. Does anyone think this changes how the coaches target our final few? I still believe we go after Wright, Diggs, Payton, Madris, Chesson, Darboh. But now with Marvin Robinson gettting arrested i believe we go harder after Thompson and another DL. What top DL are we still pursing?
My top 5 would be:
Diggs
Wright
Madris
Thompson
DL
I think Dunn would just be too much for Rbs. I understand he is really good. But i believe we get at least 2 backs next year in Issac, and Thomas, and with the emergence of Fitz and our plethora of other good Rbs i just don't believe we need him, like we need other spots filled.
I have not read anywhere that we have more than 28 spots in this class, which means there are only 4 spots left. Looks like 2 of those spots will go to WRs. Hopefully Diggs and Payton, who I think will pick UM over ND. Darboh is possible too - Iowa picked up their 2nd WR today which indicates to me they have given up on Darboh, so Darboh is down to UM and ND. Yuri Wright is a UM lean. The final spot should go to either Dunn or an OL. AJ I think will stay as a blocking TE from what I have read on Rivals. This class is going to be top 3 imo.
ReplyDelete1. Dunn
ReplyDelete2. Diggs
3. Wright
4. Thompson/Payton/Garnett/Schutt
My analysis - I know Fitz has solidified the top postion and I'm a huge fan of him, but RB is still a big need. Dunn would be the perfect complement. Plus, do you really want to see him playing in Columbus?
Diggs is just flat out electric and seems like an extremely humble kid on a mission. He would be able to contribute almost immediately, whether its at WR, S, or being a return man.
Yuri Wright is a physical corner with size, something that we're currently lacking. Not to mention, he plays on the top ranked HS team in America.
Fourth spot is my wildcard and I would be happy with anybody I listed. Thompson is my first choice, because he's Ernest Shazor 2.0. This guy has perfect size and can lay the lumber.
I feel like Payton has cooled on us a bit and I think he'll stay out west. I'd much rather have him over Darboh and Madaris.
Schutt and Garnett are toss ups. Honestly think Schutt will end up decommitting from PSU. Having Pipkins and Schutt patrolling the interior line would be flat out scary for opposing offenses.
1. Diggs
ReplyDelete2. Banner
3. Thompson
4. Wright
5. Garnett
Now realistically?
I think you have a good shot at both Diggs, and Wright. Banner and Thompson are a reach at this point. Jordan Payton? Who knows. Darboh is more likely.
I'm with Bendy, I really don't think we need a RB in this class. The depth is there, and the talent is there, we'll see how the coaches develop these players. I'm a huge fan of Kamani Thomas (2013), and if Michigan offers, he'll commit on the spot just like Drake Johnson did.
ReplyDeleteI heard some bookmakers online that talked about the story of Stefon Diggs, but I did not know what it was about until now
ReplyDelete