2016 Recruiting: Eddie McDoom

Previously: Last year's profiles. S Josh Metellus, S Khaleke Hudson, CB David Long, CBLavert Hill, LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse, LB Devin Bush Jr., LB Devin Gil, LB Josh Uche, DE Ron Johnson, DT Michael Dwumfour, DT Rashan Gary, DE Carlo Kemp, OL Ben Bredeson, OL Michael Onwenu, OL Stephen Spanellis, TE Nick Eubanks, TE Sean McKeon, TE Devin Asiasi.

Let me state first off that this is a gentleman with the last name "McDoom". Therefore as a writer and person who looks at names I have a strong desire for this guy to succeed.

That said, hot damn I love this guy's skills. McDoom looks like a nightmare to cover. He's not that big; he is very fast and very quick. On top of that his route running is lethal. This Vine from the UA game is evidence of such; the video above has about ten minutes more of it:

That guy lookin' like Indiana's secondary is composite top 50 corner Chauncey Gardner.

McDoom's film has a ton of that stuff on it. His movements are abrupt; he times those movements excellently, breaking to his true destination after the defensive back commits his hips elsewhere. In the above clip he sells his route by looking back to the quarterback long enough for the CB to bite. He gets on top of defensive backs in a hurry and then one false step, or even a moment of hesitation, and McDoom is gone. He's not an insane burner, but he's plenty fast enough…

...clocked with an official time of 10.85 seconds in the 100-meter dash as a junior. Jabrill Peppers ran a 10.52 as a senior. Jehu Chesson was a 10.7-second 100-meter sprinter. McDoom's 21.72 time in the 200-meter last spring is faster than the 21.98 Peppers ran in his final state title race as a senior.

…to make his route chops count. (Jedd Fisch asserts on MGoBlue that McDoom ran "a 10.5 hundred meter dash, a sub-21 two hundred, a sub-47 four hundred," which I can find zero evidence for anywhere; some of that seems pretty dang implausible.)

Unlike some receiving prospects his highlight film has just about the entire route tree on it. He looks good whether he's hand-fighting through contact and high-pointing a fade, decelerating for a curl, or selling a deeper route before coming back for a tunnel screen. You can't get much of a read on hands from a highlight reel with drops excised; everything else looks pretty good.

ESPN, which named him a late replacement in the UA game, is unsurprisingly the most enthused about McDoom's potential:

…both quick and elusive at the same time with quality acceleration traits. … Displays quality to shake and wiggle and change-of-direction when attacking a defenders alignment. …very decisive route runner both as an inside slot and on the outside one-on-one. Wins with quickness and avoiding getting held up at the line. Can win deep due to technical prowess. … will elevate, extend away from his frame and compete in contested match-ups… sneaky good in his ability to create separation …  polished and versatile target. …already a fairly precise route runner.

You may remember this scouting reports from Mario Manningham, who ruined people with his precision and quickness despite not being huge and not having elite top end speed. (Manningham ran a 4.59 at the NFL combine.) Several end-arounds in McDoom's highlight reel are reminiscent of Manningham at the Citrus Bowl. So too is the shield-and-extend technique McDoom uses to separate on a couple fade routes.

Tim Sullivan had a similar report upon his commitment:

…slippery, quick-twitch inside receiver… not a juke-inside-a-phonebooth slot, but has adequate moves to get past one tackler … solid understanding of how to get open against zone and man coverage, and uses his feel for the game to set himself up for that yardage after the catch. …doesn't have elite long speed, but he's plenty fast to stretch the field … At times, he has difficulty making natural catches with his hands, letting the ball get into his body, or double-catching it after initially bobbling.

As did Scout's Greg Biggins after taking him in at the UA game:

…definitely belonged with the best of the best in nearby Orlando. He's a quick-twitch athlete that consistently created separation off the line of scrimmage and kept defenders on their toes. McDoom has battled drops at times in the past, but he was consistent and made the most out of his opportunities. Really did a good job of sticking his foot in the grass and running crisp routes.

And Touch The Banner concurs:

…very agile, speedy, and dangerous in open space. The 4.65 forty does not sound very impressive, but he plays faster than that. The reason he looks faster is because of his acceleration and quick feet, even though his long speed is not out of this world. …very disciplined, crisp route-runner who shows some nuance in running fades, deep curls, dig routes, square outs, posts, etc.

Scout's Corey Bender:

“…McDoom's nimble feet and burst of quickness allows him to create good separation when breaking off the line of scrimmage. He has the speed to get behind defenses.”

247's Clint Brewster:

…really comfortable running all the patterns in the route tree… savvy player with a nice feel for coverage and he knows how to stem his routes and set up opposing cornerbacks to think he’s running a different pattern. There's some nice subtleties to his game that stand out on film. … the route running and innate feel for the position to be productive in college.

247's national analysts weren't rapturous but came around on McDoom after a first day at UA where he "looked good at times and average at others"; day two he "continued to impress with his top-end speed" and day three was "another solid day" thanks to his speed and route-running.

So these evaluations don't seem to match the rankings save ESPN's—must be opposite day. There is one that does, a skeptical take from Rivals analyst Rob Cassidy, who emphasizes McDoom's need to add weight and then says some stuff diametrically opposed to everything above:

“He’ll need to be a better route runner. He’s got some good speed and some good length but I don’t think he’s ever going to lead Michigan in receptions or yards. I think he can definitely contribute in the Big Ten sometime down the road. … good football speed and he looks plenty fast on tape. I don’t know if he’s going to be a guy who stands out as the fastest guy in the Big Ten conference but he’s got enough speed to make things happen in space once he catches the ball.”

That is a three-star evaluation and Rivals offers up a middling three stars. I don't know where Cassidy's bit about McDoom's route running comes from since everyone else is like "A+++++ would watch this man make toast again," but it's a coherent opinion, albeit one that's low on discussion of his skills and high on hand-waving generalities.

McDoom's recruitment was a weird one. He is the third player in this class that UF thought was headed for their class until an abrupt change in his recruitment, although in this case this was Florida apparently backing off. He fielded a bunch of Kentucky crystal balls during the fall, and then Oregon stepped in. Like Nick Eubanks, McDoom has a ton of offers that are difficult to evaluate for sincerity. He got a Bama offer and said they led after a visit; Clemson was his first offer; Ohio State apparently threw their hat in the ring. After his decommit the other three schools he was nominally considering were Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Georgia. Visits are telling, though, and Oregon was his only other official. Oregon is a pretty pretty good WR offer. The rest is unknown.

Michigan's coaches don't care. Both Steve Lorenz and Sam Webb have mentioned that McDoom was at or near the top of Michigan's board at WR; Lorenz has repeatedly stated a belief that it's McDoom who will break through earliest amongst Michigan's six-man recruiting class at WR. This was still the case as of May, after the coaches got a look at Ahmir Mitchell through spring practice:

We’re told that he excels in some of the areas that you can’t really coach or teach and that it may give him a head start compared to the others.

I assume that stuff is his general feel for the game.

At 6' or just a hair under, McDoom could play inside or out; with a number of other slot types in the class he appears destined for the outside. He told MLive he would be starting out at Amara Darboh's "Z" spot. Like a couple other guys in the class I assume that they'll get acclimated to one position early and branch out from there.

Etc.:  Whoops!

"I can't have a place that is too cold too 24/7 because I am a Florida boy."

Meanwhile this is so very Harbaugh:

During one of Harbaugh's visits to McDoom at his high school, Michigan's coach arrived just as the receiver was supposed to head to his team's banquet. Harbaugh being Harbaugh, he told McDoom he'd just come with him as a guest. But -- Harbaugh being Harbaugh -- he didn't stop there.

"He spoke to the whole team (afterward), that was pretty awesome," McDoom recalled. "He was telling stories from when he played, telling us about himself a bit. It was just really cool."

ESPN had two entirely differentcommit posts describing McDoom's game separated by just a few weeks; entertainingly these posts come up with different player comparisons. (Bryce Treggs of Cal and Steven Mitchell of USC, if you're interested and those names mean anything to you.)

Why Mario Manningham? Six foot quicks merchant with B+ long speed and the ability to wreck you with his routes. Manningham was much more hyped as a recruit, a universal top-100 player. McDoom was lost in the shuffle in Florida.

Freddy Canteen is another recent comparable, and one rated more in McDoom's range. Canteen was barely scouted by the time he committed to Michigan because his high school spent his junior year in prep-school limbo. His career has been hampered by both position switches and injury.

Guru Reliability: Moderate. A lot of consensus when it comes to the scouting reports, with Rivals the main outlier. Only ESPN follows through on the positive evaluations with a high ranking.

Variance: Moderate. McDoom's probably going to be a contributor but has a wide range of possible outcomes. Manningham 2.0, or useful but not amazing slot type. Take your pick.

Ceiling:  High. Love his potential as an inside/outside guy who can be that cover-four-wrecking slot you need these days, and then do some Chesson-vs-Hargreaves things on the outside.

General Excitement Level: Very high. Surprise: McDoom is co-Sleeper of the Year with Josh Uche. I thought the second SotY was going to be Nate Johnson, but after going over both of them I'm more enthused about McDoom's ability.

Projection: McDoom is ready to go, give or take 15 pounds, and was really high on the coaches' board as a recruit; he will play. He'll be in apprentice mode as a freshman. In 2017 he'll battle Ways, Harris, Perry and his classmates for the two and a half starting jobs. I think he gets one. I won't be shocked if he doesn't, but the bet is on McDoom.

I expect McDoom to stick as an outside WR. Michigan has a couple other guys who are potential slot receivers in the class and three more years of Grant Perry; McDoom will get every shot to be a deep threat. As he gets more experience under his belt Michigan, he'll play more and more as a slot, especially against the MSUs of the world. The number of safeties who can get drafted into man coverage against him without being left in the dirt is small indeed, but to make that work at maximum efficiency McDoom will have to be an outside WR who occasionally shows up in the slot, possibly with a guy like Bunting or Gentry flanked outside of him.