2014 Recruiting: Juwann Bushell-Beatty

Previously: Last year's profiles, CB Brandon Watson, CB Jabrill Peppers, LB Jared Wangler, LB Chase Winovich, LB Noah Furbush, LB Michael Ferns, DL Brady Pallante, DL Bryan Mone, DL Lawrence Marshall, OL Mason Cole.

Bushell-Beatty is always going to be The Other Paladin, what with being the high school teammate of one Jabrill Peppers. It's not out of the question that a couple of teams recruiting him did so with an eye on Woodson 2.0. But Bushell-Beatty is a quality prospect in his own right, a four star on two sites and the top tackle who isn't one on Rivals. And he did have offers from two of Florida's big three.

That's because he's an enormous gentleman. Most evaluations start with that fact. Clint Brewster:

First off, Bushell-Beatty has outstanding size at about 6-foot-7 and 310-pounds. He has long arms and doesn’t carry a whole lot of extra weight on his frame. Bushell-Beatty has good flexibility and can bend for a 6-foot-7 player.

Scout's Brian Dohn:

Bushell-Beatty is big and long, and just getting around him is a challenge for some defenders. The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder does a good job blocking down the line of scrimmage and also spinning the defender to open holes in the running game, but he is most impressive in pass protection. …

His arm length made it even more difficult to try and get around him, and once he was able to engage the defender, he didn't get allow him to get loose again.

Elsewhere, his coach calls him plain "humongous," an Under Armor game evaluation praises his "outstanding size with a good frame," and Brewster pops up again to say he's an "NFL sized offensive tackle with great range and physicality in the run game." This is his main appeal: if it works out you've got a guy the NFL will be lusting after.

His assets other than size are a little fuzzy. Some guys praise his pass protection; some say he needs to work on it. He does seem to be quite good at plowing furrows into the ground in the run game:

Had a physical punch in the running game and is able to get his long arms on defenders and lock into them. … Bushell-Beatty’s strength is the running game, where he can use his size to overpower people but he has the foundation to develop into a better pass-protector.

Tim Sullivan took in a Paramus game in person:

He can move exceptionally well, and has the agility you'd expect out of a play with a much slimmer physique. He runs, does a good job blocking down, and keeps his feet moving in run blocking and against the pass rush.
Bushell-Beatty also has plenty of strength. Though his upper body is disproportionately small compared to the rest of him, he shows off a good punch, and drives well with his lower body to open cavernous holes for his running back.

That offhanded mention of a disproportionately small upper body is a large part of JBB's appeal. Line coaches of all varieties are the Sir Mix A Lot's of the college football world. Their ideal prospect is a weeble, but they'll take humans who have exceptionally low centers of gravity for 6'6" behemoths. JBB is a wide, wide human.

via GBW.

True tackle types look ineffably weird; JBB looks weird. Long arms, an enormous waist, and a bottom-heavy build: like Logan Tuley-Tillman before him, Bushell-Beatty is straight off the NFL tackle assembly line. Er… midway through the NFL tackle assembly line. Actually rather close to the start of it. But they've got the frame together, and it looks great.

Like a number of Michigan's recent tackle recruits, he comes with a series of question marks. His body isn't where you'd want it to be, and while this is often the case for high school OL he's a lot further away than, say, Mason Cole. This was true as late as the UA game:

Bushel-Beatty carries a little too much weight and could benefit by getting in better shape, as his foot-quickness started to lag in the passing game as the game went on.

Tim Sullivan noted something similar:

Physically, he possesses the size and attributes (arm length, athleticism in his feet) to develop into a bigtime college player down the road, but he also showed up as an unfinished product. He needs to work on re-shaping his body to trim fat and add muscle. That will help him in a variety of ways: he will be more flexible, more able to capitalize on his quickness, and much better in pass-blocking.

And his coach says he's got to drop around 20 pounds:

Sam Webb:  What is the ideal playing weight?

Chris Partridge:  “Those college coaches know a lot more than I do, but I would guess that he should be around 305 – between 300 and 310.  He is probably heavy right now.  He is around 325 and I think he has to cut down a little bit, but those guys will handle it.  They’ll get him ready.  That’s their livelihood.”

Given recent precedent that should only take a year with Wellman. Getting to the right weight is only part of the process though; once your there they continue adding strength and subtracting body fat until you're out the door.

Bushell-Beatty is also raw. He's only played football for four years, with his first two spent on JV, so you get a lot of items about consistency and pad level:

Bushell-Beatty can improve by being more consistently aggressive on every play. He can benefit by having better posture and a flat back in his stance. He can also improve by keeping a lower pad level, particularly against many of the shorter defenders he will face.

When Bushell-Beatty gets it right he tends to hilariously bury players as you see in the video above; off the highlight film he's much more variable. Think of him as Willie Henry, high school OL. I mean:

While run blocking, Bushell-Beatty has a tendency to stand up right and that will cost him in a big way in college. He needs to have better knee bend, and not reach for the defender, which compromises his balance and ability to finish off blocks.

Strength is also something that needs to develop, and that will make him more explosive and punishing as a run blocker.

That evaluation finishes with a statement that he's going to need a number of years before he approaches a finished product.

The good news is that JBB is coming along as quickly as you'd hope a relative newbie would. When Sam Webb caught up with his coach midseason, Bushell-Beatty was on the verge of being held out because of injury but still performing above his coaches' expectations:

" We elected to let him go and he is playing awesome ball.  I can’t wait until he gets healthy over this bye week to see him play.  We counted two games ago that he had 12 pancake blocks.  That’s insane!”

 Brian Dohn:

It can't be stressed enough how much improvement Bushell-Beatty made in the last year, and if he continues to make those strides he will play a big role at Michigan. Bushell-Beatty is a work in progress, and his length, his work ethic and his size make him an intriguing prospect.

His coach at the UA game thought he picked things up quickly but also threw in a bit of a worrying not related to what's currently his other major drawback:

“I can tell where he’s gotten better from yesterday to today,” Hegamin said. “So what that does say, at least is he learns quicker, he learns very fast.” …

“Honestly its just effort,” Hegamin said. “I just want to see him constantly be better at how he goes about his business on a daily basis.”

That "at least" in there gives you an indication of his preparation level relative to the other guys at the game.

At Michigan he's slated to be a tackle. Michigan needs him there what with his predecessors also in the boom-or-bust mold and his frame is one of his major assets. He gets considerably less attractive as a prospect if he's not using those long arms to fend guys off on the edge.

With Cole immediately sliding into a backup left tackle spot, it looks like JBB will live and die with his ability to play right tackle. (As always, we're ignoring the Shane-is-a-lefty thing for simplicity.) Fortunately for him it seems like he's got the skills for that spot. His UA coach:

“Definitely, in my opinion, he’s a right tackle,” Hegamin said. “He’s got that big, thick right tackle build, I wouldn’t even be surprised to see him at guard some because he’s a pretty big, stout guy.”

Another UA evaluator noted that while he played left tackle in that week of practice, long term he seems like a better fit on the right. In general that means he's more of a road grader than a nimble pass protector. FWIW.

The last word from Sullivan:

In the end, Bushell-Beatty was about what we expected: a very high-ceiling player who has his work cut out for him to reach that potential.

Put him in a meat locker for three years and see what you've got.

Etc.: BC fans were excited to make his top three. A kid from Paramus signed up with Slippery Rock! Not so basic training.

Why Logan Tuley-Tillman? Not ideal to grab a guy who hasn't seen the field, I know, but Tuley-Tillman was another bottom-heavy monster tackle with technique and weight issues who a lot of folks rated highly because his upside is top-notch. Other folks looked at how far away from his upside he was and gave him the three-star-meh ranking.

Tuley-Tillman had a much more dramatic weight swing that saw him adding weight upon arrival whereas Bushell-Beatty is going to have to cut some; either way both guys are high-quality clay to mold. And they've got hyphenated names. Is that like comparing Nik Stauskas to a white guy? 

Guru Reliability: High. Everyone's basically saying the same things, uber-scouted high school, all star appearance. The spread in the rankings is an eye of the beholder thing for a guy who is very much a boom-or-bust guy.

Variance: High. Two plus years away from any reasonable chance of seeing the field.

Ceiling: High. NFL first round pick upside.

General Excitement Level: Moderate. Add another lottery ticket to the tackle spots. JBB is a good bet for Michigan's situation, as he should not have to play until he is an upperclassman and if he does not make it they're likely to have someone else who does.

Projection: Obvious redshirt.

After, he's likely to have a long wait. Michigan has Magnuson, Braden, Tuley-Tillman, and Fox for two years after his redshirt, plus Cole. Whoever breaks through at tackle this year should keep JBB in the on-deck circle for another two years.

His first real shot should be as a redshirt junior, when one or two tackle slots are likely to open up when Mags and Braden graduate. No one can tell you if he's going to be the obvious choice or obviously not yet. Ask again later.