Commitment Profile: Jarrod Wilson

Name: Jarrod Wilson

Location: Akron, OH

Position: FS

Ratings: ESPN – 4* (80), Scout – 4*, 247 Sports 4*

Recruitment: We all know of the troubles OSU have had in recruiting this year, but in actual fact they were always going to lose a lot of top in state players due to a lack of scholarship spaces. Jarrod Wilson is a consensus four star recruit, but the Buckeyes did not offer. This left the door open for Michigan, who happened to have a great connection to Wilson through his high school coach, former UM RB Ricky Powers. Things didn't look great though when Wilson classed himself as a package deal with WR Corey Smith, who did not get a Michigan offer. But as with most package deals, it fell apart and Wilson choose the school that fitted him best. Had a final three of Notre Dame, UM and Penn State.

Offers: Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Tennessee, UConn, Stanford, UCLA, West Virginia, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Illinois and others.

Stats: Currently stands at 6'2 and 190lbs. Runs the forty yard dash in 4.58 seconds. 52 tackles as a junior. Had 10 interceptions and returned 5 for touchdowns. Had one fumble recovery which was returned 98 yards for a touchdown.

ESPN Analysis: Wilson should emerge as an upper-tier free safety prospect in 2012. Has a lot of traits you look for at the position both physically and mentally. Possesses great size. Tall, well-built with good length and room to fill out.

Displays great range and has good enough speed to play the position, but his best attribute might be his reads. He's very rarely caught out of position and his deep coverage is advanced for the high school level. Takes good angles to the ball and attacks it at the highest point with sound ball skills. Has the ability to cover slot receivers, but is probably more suited to deep zone coverage.

Also takes good angles to the ball in run defense, and although he needs to be more physical to play in the box, overall he's a solid tackler. In summary, doesn't have outstanding athleticism, but his knowledge and reading of the game is exceptional.

Improvements: Might want to get a little bigger, maybe just over the 200lb mark so he'll be more effective in the run game. Will also have to work on man coverage to deal with the quicker slot receivers in college.

Film Highlights: Link here.

Final Thoughts: Wilson is a consensus four star, and one at a position of need; so this is a great pickup for the Wolverines. He's a true ballhawking safety, something that Michigan has lacked, and will probably still lack this season unless Carvin Johnson excels.

Wilson will be the last DB taken in this class, which means grayshit commitment Jeremy Clark will not get a scholarship offer for 2012. He'll either be a part of the 2013 class, or perhaps more likely look elsewhere if he brings in some good offers for 2012.

As for playing time, well despite the recent struggles of the UM secondary, it could take Wilson a while to get into a starting position. Michigan has a few young and talented safeties like Marvin Robinson, Carvin Johnson, Josh Furman etc, and whilst some of these might end up at SS, it's likely that one of them could lock down the FS role for at least a couple of years.

Jarrod is commitment #18 in this class, so space is getting pretty tight, but the talent level on the defensive side of the ball is just ridiculous. A good DT plus a top DE and this could be the #1 defensive class overall.