*BREAKING* 6'6", 230-Pound QuarterbackHas Strong Arm After All
Michigan quarterback commit Wilton Speight flew across the country to compete in the Elite 11 San Francisco regional camp last weekend. Despite a field featuring several of the top prospects in the country,—including #1 pro-style QB Keller Chryst and Oregon commit Morgan Mahalak—nobody at the camp earned an invite to the Elite 11 finals; Speight showed off a strong arm and high ceiling but struggled a bit with his mechanics, as you can see in the above video (he's the one with the Michigan shorts, natch). The Elite 11's resident coach, former NFL QB Trent Dilfer, gave his thoughts on Speight to 247's Barton Simmons:
One of the longest commutes to compete at the event came from Richmond, Va. native Wilton Speight. The Michigan commit was also one of the biggest prospects in attendance with regard to his physical stature and Dilfer noted that his size is both his strength and his weakness at this point.
Dilfer on Speight:“He had a nice day. He’s obviously a very physical kid, tall, strong. I think he’s got to get more organized. Everything’s just got to get more organized for him to be consistent. That’s typical for a lot of linear guys. There’s a lot of moving parts.”
Scout's crew of experts all had Speight outside the top five performers, but national analyst Greg Biggins—as well as Speight himself—still had a largely positive review of his play ($) [emphasis mine]:
The biggest quarterback in the camp was easily Richmond (Va.) Collegiate School’s Wilton Speight. The Michigan commit looks all of 6-6, 230 pounds and he had a solid camp. He was able to make all the throws showing off a strong arm and actually looked better than expected when he had to throw on the run.
Speight is a pure drop back quarterback who throws a tight ball and can get the ball down the field. He threw some of the best deep balls in the camp and makes it look easy and effortless.
“I was happy with my performance, I wasn’t overly thrilled with all my throws but overall, I thought I had a good day,” Speight said. “There’s always a couple of throws you want back but the beauty of this is there’s still 13 spots left for the final Elite 11. No one got the invite today so you just have to stay patient and let the process play itself out.”
As Speight said above, he'll still have a chance to earn his way into the finals later this spring; he won't be the only one from the SF regional with something to prove, as five-star Chryst reportedly (and by his own admission) struggled mightily.
[Hit THE JUMP for the latest visit plans of five-star DT Andrew Brown, Michigan commits in the updated Rivals100 and Top247, and more.]
Come On Down, Andrew Brown
Da'Shawn Hand isn't the only elite Virginian defensive lineman hotly pursued by Michigan in the 2014 class; five-star DT Andrew Brown has mentioned the Wolverines as a program he wants to look into, and according to Rivals' Brad Franklin he'll do just that this summer ($):
After saying last month at the Rivals Camp Series stop in Richmond that he was started to grow somewhat tired by the process, Brown explained that rather than make a decision within the next month or so, he'll instead take two trips north and three south. After that point, he says he feels he'll have all the information he needs to settle on his five official visit sites.
So which five schools will be hosting the nation's top defensive tackle?
"This is what I want to do right here," Brown explained. "Over the summer, I'm going to go up north and then I'm going to go down south to see Ohio State and Michigan and then Florida, Florida State, and Alabama. Then I can pretty much determine my top five. The top five is going to pretty much determine the official visits that I want to take."
Along with the five schools listed above, Brown has serious interest in several ACC schools: Virginia (his presumed favorite), Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Clemson. Brown also talked about pushing his decision back to late September or early October—giving him a chance to take those official visits—and a couple schools that tried to get in on his recruitment a little too late:
He also added that while he hasn't seen FSU lately, coaches from Wisconsin and Michigan State stopped by. He doesn't take any of that too seriously, though. As much as he appreciates those visits, it's clear they won't have a dramatic impact on him.
I couldn't resist.
Defensive Back Recruiting, Non-Peppers Edition
Four-star IL CB Parrker Westphal is expected to end up at Michigan sooner or later; as well all know, though, the recruiting process features more than its fair share of twists and turns. The entry of Stanford into Wesphal's recruitment is of some concern considering his desire to go to a strong academic school (Northwestern and Vanderbilt are both under serious consideration, as well), though their strict visit/offer policy could be a non-starter, as could Westphal's previously-stated desire to enroll early:
Stanford has visited several times, per Westphal’s account, but a catch-22 looms.
“I honestly have no clue,” he said of the latest on Stanford’s recruitment. “They visited three times within two weeks, but then a few questions popped up. They don’t accept early grads, but it wasn’t set in stone [that I graduate early]. Then they want me to come out to camp and get an offer. So far, I have no clue. So they say they’re interested, but then ask the tough questions.”
Thus, we’ve reached the paradox. Per Westphal, Stanford doesn’t want to offer until they see him on campus, in part to confirm his interest and in part to ensure he is a good fit on the gridiron. Yet Westphal doesn’t want to visit a school that has yet to offer, and further, is upset by Stanford’s extra scrutiny given that 20 other schools have proffered.
It sounds like there's a lot to work out before Stanford becomes a serious contender; if they offered, however, there could be real mutual interest—Michigan and Stanford are the two schools that best fit Westphal's desired combination of strong academics and competitive football.
Four-star DC CB Jalen Tabor released his final eight schools on Twitter over the weekend:
Final 8 UMD, Vandy , Florida , Alabama , UT , FSU , Michigan , Ohio State ! #Blessed to have this opportunity ! I Thank God For everything
— #⃣1⃣ (@HesSuchATEEZ) May 18, 2013
247's experts are split between predicting Florida and Florida State for Tabor, who's also unofficially visited Alabama, Maryland, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Michigan is fighting an uphill battle, especially with Tabor's eyes looking South, per Scout's Brian Dohn ($):
His list has four SEC schools, one ACC school and three Big Ten schools (Maryland moves to the Big Ten in 2014).
“Conference does matter a little bit,” he told Klein. “I want to play in the SEC. If you look at the NFL draft the last five first-round cornerbacks were all SEC players. It makes a difference, but it isn’t going to make the decision.”
If the Wolverines can land Jabrill Peppers and Westphal, it's doubtful they'd have the need (or space) for another cornerback; I'd be pretty surprised to see Tabor end up in the class.
Rankings Updates
Both 247 and Rivals revised their top lists in the last 24 hours, and of course those lists contain several Michigan commits and targets. In Rivals' case, they've only released the new Rivals100, which contains one Wolverine pledge: Drake Harris, who moved down one spot from #56 to #57. Da'Shawn Hand and Jabrill Peppers maintained their 1-2 standing on Rivals, while Malik McDowell held firm at #23.
Here's the full breakdown on commit movement in the new Top247:
- Drake Harris stayed at #37
- Bryan Mone moved up two spots to #49
- Mason Cole moved down one spot to #106
- Michael Ferns moved down four spots to #179
- Lawrence Marshall moved down ten spots to #217
- Juwann Bushell-Beatty moved down seven spots to #222
We're still at the stage when elite recruits are getting discovered at camps and recruiting services are reconciling a prospect's offer sheet with their rankings (see: Joe Mixon moving up 40 spots), so it's no surprise to see the commits towards the lower end of the list move down a few spots. 247 likes Mone more than any other service right now, but I think that might change as we move forward; his film is really impressive for a guy his size.
Happy Trails
...to four-star TN OL Alex Bars, younger brother of Wolverine OL Blake Bars, who chose Notre Dame over Michigan and Tennessee (among others) last weekend. Bars was Michigan's top target to fill the third (and likely final) offensive line spot in the 2014 class, or at least the one considered most likely to commit. The top remaining targets with offers are IL OL Jamarco Jones and MO OL Roderick Johnson, though Jones is considered an Ohio State lean and Johnson appears to be headed South. We'll see if Michigan starts putting out more O-line offers or if they're comfortable waiting on elite prospects and potentially standing pat at two linemen.
Etc.
Jabrill Peppers' new music video is legit:
Keys to rap video legitimacy: lyrical talent, not filming in a shed.
2015 grayshirt offer and Danish exchange student Hjalte Froholdt was Michigan's lone campus visitor last weekend; per 247's Clint Brewster($), Froholdt "really like[s]" the Michigan staff and wants to visit all the schools that have offered him, which now includes Ohio State and Michigan State, among others.
Per Sam Webb($), 2015 TX RB Sotonye "So So" Jamabo is learning plenty about Michigan from his personal trainer, former Wolverine running back David Underwood.
The Champaign Room asks the important question about Northwestern's recruiting tear. "The Devils Den" would keep tabs on such things.