The Fort's own Jim_S joins senior editor John Borton for an extended look at recruiting and Michigan's 2017 season.
Here is the podcast, beginning with talk about the Class of 2018.
Here are some highlights from the podcast, including Jim_S's take on…
• 2018 commit Luke Schoonmaker, a tight end: "He primarily played quarterback as a junior and that was after transferring and reclassifying. He would have been a 2017 grad, but he transferred from Middleton Xavier High School to Hamden Hall.
When he was a junior, he was actually the backup quarterback behind a kid who is going to be a senior this year, one of the top quarterbacks in the state of Connecticut. He actually put up pretty good numbers passing the ball, and also he ran the ball pretty well. He had eight carries for about 52 yards and a touchdown that year, but he didn't really see a lot of playing time.
"He transferred into prep school, reclassified, and started at quarterback this past year at Hamden Hall Country Day. Basically, he's a kid who at one of the satellite summer camps, Michigan tested him and he ran something like a sub-4.6 40. Great length [6-6-220], very athletic, and I've got him at a 4.58 40.
"He's a kid who was absolutely off the radar, because until this past year he didn't really see a lot of football playing time, and when he did see playing time this year, it was out of position … when you move him to tight end, it's putting a round peg into a round hole."
• 2018 commit Sammy Faustin, a defensive back: "He's very long, and his best football is in front of him. He can run, he's got long legs, long arms, good speed and he sort of fits into the mold that Jim Harbaugh and his staff have been following in terms of recruiting secondary personnel who are long and fast.
"If you look at the other kids in this class, you've got German Green and Gemon Green, who are both about 6-2, and you've also got Myles Sims, who is 6-2 or 6-3. You've basically got a secondary of kids who are 6-2-plus.
"All of these kids have the sort of coverage skills where they all project as a cornerback, but they also have range, where they could play safety. There is a lot of flexibility with some of these players."
• 2018 commit Cameron McGrone, a linebacker: "He's a bright kid, strong mathematically, and not only the math in the classroom but his measureables on the field. Back in May, 2016, he had a great 107.52 Nike Combine rating, which is pretty remarkable for a sophomore linebacker.
"He runs a sub-4.5 40, a sub-4.2 shuttle, he's strong, he ran an 11.5 600 meters as a sophomore. According to some reports coming out of Eugene, Oregon, during The Opening, earlier this summer, he was sort of a human projectile from his linebacker position, and guy you didn't want to mean head-to-head in space.
"He's rapidly moving up the charts. He was on hold a bit, because he suffered an injury last season, but by the time the combines and summer camps rolled around, he was back to 100 percent."
• Five-star 2019 commit Christopher Hinton, listed as a defensive end: "He's an outstanding young prospect. He's pretty much a consensus national top-10 recruit. He could go both ways, on the offensive line or defensive line. I think he very strongly prefers to play on the defensive line.
"Of course, his father [Christopher Hinton Sr.] was a perennial All-Pro, a former Northwestern player and then a lineman with the [Indianapolis] Colts on the offensive line. I actually think Chris' upside is actually higher on that side of the ball, although it's very, very high on the defensive side as well.
"One of the advantages of getting an early commitment from him is that Michigan is in very, very good position to land his brother as well, who is probably just as highly rated when it comes to the Class of 2020. Although he is his younger brother, he is certainly not his little brother, because Myles, his younger brother, is probably one or two inches taller and about 30 pounds heavier than Chris. He's 6-6, 323, and I have Chris at 6-4, 274, at a combine in March.
"I rate Myles as the second-best offensive lineman in the Class of 2020, behind a guy by the name of Kevin Pine from Massachusetts, whom Michigan is in a very strong position for as well."
• What he expects in Michigan's opener against Florida: "Although our roster is skewered toward first- and second-year players, it's a very talented roster. I think there's a lot of raw athleticism, the sort of athleticism we haven't seen on this team, really, in a decade.
"A lot of things can happen against Florida, but I would not be surprised if we come out and pull a Colorado, 1997 [a 27-3 beat-down], if you recall that opening game. We were coming off of back-to-back-to-back-to-back four-loss seasons … and people were a bit down.
"People were starting to question the program. We were playing a Colorado team which just a few years before beat us on that Hail Mary to Michael Westbrook on the last play, Westbrook being a Detroit PSL native. So that hurt. That was extra sting.
"They came out in that opener and made a statement — wow. They made a statement from the very beginning of that season, and they continued to roll through the season and play at a very, very high level."
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