Recapping U-M's Offensive Decommits Who Didn't Make Our 'All-Decommit Team'
We took a look back at the Michigan Wolverines football's offensive 'All-Decommit Team' of the last decade on Friday, and the case could be made that only two of those 11 players went on to become bonafide studs at the collegiate level (Boston College running back A.J. Dillon and Alabama running back Damien Harris), while only two others developed into multi-year starters at Power Five conference schools (former Stanford and now Duke offensive lineman Devery Hamilton, and Oklahoma offensive lineman Erik Swenson).
Granted, some of the players on that list are still in college and could go on to become outstanding contributors, but the fact of the matter is that more of Michigan's past high school decommits have gone on to be busts than not.
Below is a breakdown of each of U-M's offensive decommitments since 2011 who did not make our 'All-Decommit Team,' and a brief recap of their collegiate careers.
Quarterback
Recap: Kevin Sousa signed with Wake Forest after decommitting from Michigan, but barely saw the field with the Demon Deacons. He attempted just one pass during his three years in Winston-Salem, before being suspended indefinitely for off-the-field issues on Sept. 8, 2014, and never saw the field there again.
Messiah deWeaver, meanwhile. signed with Michigan State out of high school and redshirted as a freshman, before seeing the field briefly in 2017 in blowout duties (never attempted a pass, but was sacked three times).
He then transferred to Old Dominion and started two of the five games he appeared in in 2019 for the Monarchs, throwing for 316 yards, one touchdown, two picks and a 43.3 completion percentage.
As for Kevin Doyle, his time in Tucson has gotten off to a slow start — he redshirted as a freshman in 2018 and did not appear in any games this past year.
Running Back
Recap: Mike Weber is the most accomplished player on this entire list, having enjoyed a successful three-year run with Ohio State that saw him rack up 2,538 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns.
His best season in Columbus actually came as a redshirt freshman in 2016, when he ran for 1,096 yards, nine scores and averaged six yards per carry. Weber left OSU after his redshirt junior campaign and became a seventh-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, but is currently an NFL free agent.
Neither Matt Falcon nor Kiante Enis made impacts at Western Michigan and Indiana, respectively; the former ran for just 37 yards during his WMU career before being medically disqualified in June of 2018, while the latter got into significant off-the-field trouble and was kicked off the team before ever appearing in a game at IU.
Chase Lasater was recruited as a fullback but was switched to linebacker at Florida Atlantic, and has only appeared in five games and compiled two tackles during his three years in Boca Raton.
Eric Gray, meanwhile, put together a very promising campaign as a freshman at Tennessee in 2019, registering 539 yards and four touchdowns on 5.3 yards per carry.
Tim Baldwin, finally, will be a freshman at Indiana this fall.
Wide Receiver
Recap: Kalil Branham was committed to Michigan from June of 2018 through April of 2019, but wound up signing with Kentucky and will be a freshman for the Wildcats this fall.
Tight end
Recap: Chris Clark began his collegiate career at UCLA before transferring to Pittsburgh, where he hauled in 16 catches for 122 yards and a score in 2017. He then moved on to Towson, where he reeled in 17 grabs for 199 yards and four scores in 2018 and then 18 receptions for 216 yards and two touchdowns in 2019.
Carter Dunaway signed with Princeton out of high school, but never recorded any statistics with the club and is no longer listed on their roster.
Oddly enough, Nick Patterson — the younger brother of former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson — signed with Princeton as well in 2020, and will be a freshman for the Tigers this fall.
Offensive Line
Recap: Caleb Stacey signed with the hometown Cincinnati Bearcats out of high school but seemingly never made it to campus, as he was never listed on the team's roster in 2012, or any of its ensuing rosters.
Denzel Ward began his collegiate career at Syracuse but never played in a game with the Orange, getting medically disqualified from football in 2015 as a redshirt freshman.
Micah Mazzccua, finally, didn't sign with Michigan when he was still technically a commit this past December, signifying an inevitable decommitment was coming. Academics were one of the primary reasons Mazzccua wasn't a part of the Wolverines' 2020 haul, and he eventually signed with Baylor as a result.
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