Gameday Prediction

With Virginia Tech, the two things I'm worried about is David Wilson running the football, and the deep ball throwing of Logan Thomas against a recently exposed UM secondary. But in actual fact, things don't always work out the way they should in bowl games because both teams have so long to prepare and improve ofn areas of weakness. Therefore it is hard to predict what areas Michigan will struggle/succeed in; instead I will simply say I believe they will win the game somewhere around the scoreline of 38-34.

Go Blue

All Americans!

A happy new year to all! It's that time of the year when the top recruits from around the nation gather in Florida and San Antonio to take part in the two premier All American games. At the Under Armor game, Michigan has two commits in attendance; Terry Richardson and Joe Bolden. The latter has already drawn great praise from ESPN's Tom Luginbill on twitter, and seen as Bolden only narrowly missed out on the ESPN150 in the original rankings, there's a strong possibility of him shooting up in the final rankings. In the Army All American game, Michigan has a much larger group of commits including Ondre Pipkins, Chris Wormley, Kyle Kalis, Royce Jenkins-Stone and James Ross. Yuri Wright should also be there, so hopefully the commits will recruit him during the week of practices, like Devin Gardner did with Demar Dorsey in the 2010 UA game. In other commit news, Kaleb Ringer, Jarrod Wilson are down as early enrollees.

DeAnthony Arnett Update

The news has broke, and it looks like there is major problem with any potential Arnett to Michigan talks; Derek Dooley and Tennessee won't let him join a BCS team in the state of Michigan, which is beyond a joke really.

His father is seriously ill, so he should be close to him. Why not let him be close to his father as well as allowing him to live out his potential at a decent football school? Its completely unfair because Arnett cannot afford to pay his own way at UM or MSU, so unless Tennessee changes their tune, he'll have to play for Western/Eastern/Central Michigan, I think?

We're not even playing Tennessee in the future, and seen as we're good and they're...not good, we're unlikely to meet them in a bowl in the next 3-4 years. In these circumstances, he should be allowed to transfer to any school.

McNamara to Oklahoma

Tight End Taylor McNamara committed to Oklahoma today, which is actually very good news for Michigan. McNamara dropped UM when he decided to visit California instead about a month ago, so we had no chance with him anyway.

His commitment to Oklahoma is good though, because it may discourage Sam Grant from visiting the Sooners, who recently offered the Ohio prospect. Who knows, maybe even Oklahoma is full at TE now (I don't know much about their class/depth chart), in which case Michigan has one less competitor.

Arnett to transfer

2011 ESPN 150 wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett is apparently transferring from Tennessee, due to the illness of his father and the firing of the Vols' WR coach, according to this article.

The illness of his father is a very tough thing for Arnett to go through, so its understandable why he probably wants to play college football in his home state. If he does transfer, he'll probably seek a waiver from the NCAA so that he doesn't have to sit out a year.

Michigan won't take another receiver from the 2012 class, the whole Monty Madaris thing is a dead end. But a player as talented as Arnett might just interest Brady Hoke if the Wolverines have one spot left in the class towards the end. This is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you, and a happy new year too! Thank you for reading this blog, and commenting on posts etc, I really do appreciate it.

I won't have internet access for my laptop over the next few days, so I won't be able to post anything. I doubt any big recruiting news will happen, but just in case you can follow me on Twitter here, where I'll be able to tweet from my phone!

Happy Holidays!

The MGoRecruit Team

Commitment Profile: Jehu Chesson

Name: Jehu Chesson

Location: Ladue, MO

Position: WR

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

Recruitment: Chesson was a Michigan visitor in summer and came away impressed, but we didn’t hear too much about him until his official visit to UM for the Ohio State game. He was rumoured to be very high on Michigan after that game, but kept his word to visit Iowa a couple weeks later. The Hawkeyes visit was good, but not good enough to leapfrog UM, so he committed to the Wolverines a few days later. Northwestern was also in the final three.

Offers: Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Missouri, UCLA, plus non BCS offers.

Stats: Currently stands at 6’2.5 and around 180lbs, with no reported 40 yard dash time (he’s probably a 4.4 – 4.5 guy). As a junior he racked up 605 yard receiving with 11 TDs. (Snr year stats to follow)

ESPN Analysis: Chesson has good size to go along with some surprising strength and decent speed. Can play either slot or wideout, and gets off the LOS and into his routes quickly and smoothly. He can be a vertical threat with his speed and height, but we’re not convinced he has elite speed to burn the better corners at the college level.

One of his best assets is his ability to adjust to the ball and make spectacular grabs. He can really bail out a QB if the throw is off target, often making acrobatic catches in traffic. He needs to improve his intermediate routes, but does well on option routes against zone coverage.

Overall is a good BCS caliber prospect who could develop into a top receiver given his upside (height, decent speed, good hands).

Improvements: Route running is something to be worked on, as he apparently drifts on hitches and curls.

Film Highlights: Link here.

Final Thoughts: With Chesson’s commitment, Michigan now has their two wide receivers for this class; and both are guys that might not have elite ratings, but both posses good upside. For those who are moaning about why we don’t get elite WR prospects, just remember that Justin Blackmon came to OKST a similar size to both our current commit, AND he was rated lower! Just something to keep in mind!

At Michigan, Chesson will certainly get his chance to play early because Michigan lacks WR depth, and it’s a relatively easy position to play as a freshman, as long as you know how to block! 

As for the rest of the class, this won’t have a great effect, because we’ve forecasted this for a while now, and so to have the Michigan coaches (I’m guessing?). It does mean that Monty Madaris won’t visit though. UM shouldn’t take another WR unless Dorial Green Beckham comes calling, and the odds of that happening are 0.000000000000000000001%