Ed-Ace: Recruitnik extraordinaire, regular podcast guest, and noted darts enthusiast Steve Lorenz of Wolverine247, aka The Artist Formerly Known As Aquaman, is back with his weekly recruiting mailbag. If you aren't subscribed to 247 and want to read more from Steve and the gang, they're running a buy one month, get two months free promotion.
Cranky Dave asks: Who do you think is the most important recruit for Michigan to get?
Somebody asked this in a previous mailbag and I had planned to answer it before—and the answer hasn't changed for me.
I've argued for a while that Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy Top100 center Cesar Ruiz was Michigan's most important recruit on their board not named Donovan Peoples-Jones. A lot of the importance regarding Michigan getting Peoples-Jones is the fact that he's one of the best prospects to come out of the state in a while. He's a huge, huge talent, but this staff has done an excellent job in identifying and recruiting strong talent at the wide receiver position so far.
With Ruiz, I've always believed it was a little bit different. There's a strong correlation between team success and strong play at the center position. Ruiz is the best center prospect in the class by far (in my opinion), and it's a position Michigan has had very high on their board for the entire cycle. He held his own against Rashan Gary when IMG Academy met Paramus Catholic in 2015, and he's another New Jersey prospect that linebackers coach Chris Partridge has known for a long time.
In short, the drop-off from Ruiz to whoever Michigan would recruit to play center is further than the drop-off they would have at wide receiver or some other positions if they missed on their top targets. Given it's a huge position of need, I think Ruiz is up top alongside Peoples-Jones.
[Hit THE JUMP for Steve on LSU post-Miles, managing a class with so many late decisions planned, and much more.]
pmark asks: What kind of fallout do you expect from Les Miles getting canned?
This is a complicated question less than 24 hours after Miles getting fired, mostly because of the timing of LSU's decision to let him go.
From a recruiting standpoint, it's not an optimal move on LSU's part in my opinion. Even though Miles' seat was obviously on fire, bringing in an interim guy at this point will pretty much bring their recruiting efforts to a complete standstill, as kids aren't going to commit to even a program of LSU's stature without knowing who the next head coach will be.
What does that mean for Michigan and other programs? I assume they'll strike hard and fast on the players they've extended offers to. LSU has done well within Texas, so you're going to see A&M, Texas and Oklahoma make pushes on various guys. Michigan, like those schools, have been recruiting a lot of these players throughout their verbal commitments either way and will become even more aggressive knowing there's uncertainty to the future of the program.
The biggest question as far as how Michigan and others can capitalize on it is pretty clear: Who does LSU hire and when do they hire them? I think the hoopla around Tom Herman would make him a more desired hire for recruits than Jimbo Fisher would, even though Fisher won a national championship at Florida State. That being said, there's virtually no chance either of those guys (who most believe would be the top two targets) would have a chance of being hired before December at the earliest. That gives Michigan and other schools a few months to chip away and possibly flip some guys. There's always the chance that the new hire will be able to calm the waters or reel some guys back in who open it up, but three months is an eternity in the recruiting world. Expect a few of their players to explore some other options.
Five-star offensive lineman Austin Deculus is probably the player Michigan will push hardest for, but they'll be keeping tabs on a bunch of others as well, including Top100 wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon and Top100 safety Grant Delpit.
trueblueintexas asks: How do the coaches manage a class when they are going after so many high profile, late decision players?
It's not easy, necessarily, but it's easier for Michigan now than before. A lot of it revolves around constant communication with the guys who they consider their top targets. This means the staff almost always has at least a good idea of where they currently stand with everyone on their board and can go forward with that in mind when deciding whether or not to pursue others or hold off.
This has been made a lot easier with Harbaugh increasing Michigan's recruiting staff. They have so much more manpower to both continue to evaluate and communicate with prospects that they both feel good about and want to stay in touch with in case they have to move down their board.
It's September, and there's a ways to go, but I'd look at it like this: the less you hear about new names developing, the better they're sitting with the big names that you're reading about weekly.
Under Hoke (example), Michigan didn't do as good a job of working their entire recruiting board throughout the process and it cost them a couple times. The best example was in 2014, when they lost out on Malik McDowell late, and didn't really have a second option as a back-up plan when they needed DL in the cycle. Instead, they held and banked that scholarship for later, when they likely could have unearthed someone worth a scholarship if they had developed a more thorough board earlier in the process. This shouldn't ever become a problem under Harbaugh.
Lightning Round
bluebreeze asks: Is Oliver Martin a Notre Dame lock?
No. He's a quiet, enigmatic kid. Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Iowa all appear to have a chance still.
Mr. Yost asks: With MSU and OSU on the road, what's setting up to be the biggest recruiting weekend of the year?
It's definitely this week for the Wisconsin game. A lot of big-time official visitors, including five-star Alabama commitment Alex Leatherwood.
Mr. Yost asks: Will Michigan take a punter this year?
At this point, there's been no indication that they will take a scholarship punter. The door is always open for a preferred walk-on though.
Mr. Yost asks: Who is Michigan recruiting for the Peppers/hybrid spot?
Tough to answer because of Peppers' ability. One possible player is NJ ATH Markquese Bell, who projects to a SAM spot for them. USC commit Juliano Falaniko is another possibility there. There isn't really a Peppers type player in this class; most of the hybrid types in 2017 are lengthier guys (both Bell/Falaniko are 6'3").