Commit #20

A couple of hours ago, Michigan received it's 20th commit for the class of 2012 in the form of Salt Lake City fullback Sione Houma.  This was a mild surprise, at least to me, simply because Houma had been pretty silent about favorites and recruiting in general.  In comparison, Spring, TX fullback E.J. Fatu had been public about stating that Michigan was his leader on more than one occasion.  Perhaps that had something to do with Houma pulling the trigger, as he will now be filling the FB spot the coaches wanted in this class and Fatu will have to look elsewhere.  Let's have a look at the newest Wolverine:

Rivals profile

Sione rushed for over 1200 yards and was first team All State in Utah as a junior as the dive back in a wishbone offense.  I have no idea what the caliber of football in the state of Utah is so that doesn't mean too much to me.  Utah and BYU are fairly good programs though, and you have to think that they get a lot of their kids from their own backyard, so here's hoping it's pretty decent.

There is a lot to like about his film.  When he is in traffic, he has good pad level most of the time and he protects the football well.  He shows the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and shows pretty decent speed and burst on a few occasions.  He's even versatile enough to return kicks.  Unfortunately, his film shows exactly zero plays of him blocking.  If you've watched a pro-style or even a West Coast style offense you know that the fullback will be called on to block 98% of the time.  Yes he will get a pass in the flat off of playaction from time to time and maybe even a short yardage or goal line handoff occasionally, but his job is to lead block and I'd like to see some of it.  Oh well, I'd like the winning lottery numbers too but whatever.

Commitment quote:

I will be playing fullback most of the time.  I don't mind playing fullback or running back, just as long as I get a chance to play.

Sound like a fullback to me.  Welcome, Sione.

Looking Forward

As you have probably heard at this point, the U-M football office has confirmed that incoming freshman Kellen Jones is no longer enrolled in school and RB Teric Jones and C Christian Pace are medical casualties and will no longer be able to play football.  DT Terry Talbott may end up on the medical casualty list eventually as well.  I knew Pace and Talbott had been struggling with serious injuries (Pace with his knees and Talbott with his back) but I didn't know Teric Jones' knee injury last year was that bad.  As for Kellen Jones, there are enough nasty rumors going around about what happened with him and I don't care to fan the flames of speculation, especially since I don't  know anything about it just like everyone else.  Whatever the situation, it is unfortunate and I wish him and all these guys the best.

With these 3 (maybe 4) guys gone from the team, we are starting to get a clearer picture where all the scholarships are going to come from to get this class to 26.  There still aren't that many available yet, but it is getting closer.  As for those that may think that Michigan 'wasted' a scholarship by using it on a FB like Houma when they are in on a boatload of highly ranked talent at other positions, you don't know your football.  FB is a huge piece of this offense and Michigan has none.  Okay, Joey Kerridge is freshman walk-on and there has been some speculation that someone like a Desmond Morgan could move over and be a FB, but essentially John McColgan is your FB next year and then he's gone leaving no one.  Maybe Kerridge turns out to be a great FB or maybe someone that gets transplanted in turns out to be useful but this position is too valuable for maybe.  That's not to say that Houma is a sure thing, because none of these kids are, but I agree with the coaches that it's important enough that there must be more depth and it can't be left to a "hopefully we can get some kid that can play to walk on" situation.

In other recruiting news, Dwayne Stanford recently named a top five and Michigan is not in it.  I don't think he has completely eliminated them, but it doesn't look good.  No word on if that affects teammate Adolphus Washington.  This could be the reasoning behind the recent offers out to Monty Madaris and Darius Powe, both of which look like solid targets.

It is also starting to look like the coaching staff is going to pass on a QB in this class.  I'm not a fan of this, as I've stated before.  I think you need to take a QB in every class.  I understand the coaches thinking that they don't want to take a kid just to take him though.  Tough call.  I hope it works out.

With six(ish) spots left, here's what I'm thinking right this minute:  OT Jordan Diamond (I know, I'm going back and forth on him), WR Aaron Burbridge, WR Amara Darboh, DE Chris Wormley, DT Ondre Pipkins, and DT Danny O'Brien.  I would be ecstatic with that finish.

Oh, and Michigan is #2 in the initial Rivals Team Rankings.  Nice to see that again.  As always, stay tuned and Go Blue.