The 2009 board, including extraneous prospects, can be seen here: 2009 Recruting Board.
As for the information on still-realistic prospects:
There has been a massive downturn in confidence among the Michigan internet fanbase for two important prospects. FL QB Denard Robinson has been downgraded significantly (with Florida now being considered the favorite, although he won’t be able to play QB there). Florida Gator Country is still not confident on Denard, but they’ve certainly changed their tone from the last few days, citing “murmurs”:
IS THERE STILL A CHANCE? I don’t think this one is likely for Denard Robinson, but I have definitely been hearing some murmurs to suggest that Denard is a possibility in this class. Do I think it’s likely? …
…and the Miami Herald has some fluff on Robinson’s final decision. The Toledo Blade says he’ll anounce his decision at the same time as Witty, but that isn’t accurate from what I’ve heard, so take it for what it’s worth.
The other prospect of dwindling confidence is PA WR Je’Ron Stokes. Michigan had been considered a pretty strong front-runner for Stokes ever since his visit, and so the other schools Stokes was considering (Tennessee and Illinois) spent all their effort talking down Michigan. Stokes is evidently worried about not getting the ball enough, not getting enough playing time, and even Rich Rodriguez being fired after this year, all of which are vary from moderately stupid to hilariously ridiculous. Regardless, Michigan is no longer a prohibitive favorite, and they likely trail one of the other schools at this point.
SC DE Sam Montgomery has trimmed his final list to three schools, and Michigan ain’t one of ’em. Conventional wisdom has him signing with either UNC or LSU.
SC OL Quinton Washington was widely regarded to be down to just South Carolina and Michigan coming into the week, and Phil Kornblut confirms that is the case, and that Washington hadn’t announced his decision as of last night, because he hasn’t decided:
“He’s a confused young man right now,” [Timberland coach Art] Craig said. “He’s torn completely in half,” between USC and Michigan.
If you take out Kornblut’s little addendum, it can be deduced that his heart and his head may be telling him different things. Washington is still expecrted to make a final decision sometime today.
LA DT Commit DeQuinta Jones is expected to announce at 12:30 tomorrow between Michigan, Arkansas, or Tennessee.
No updated information on FL CB Adrian Witty or OK DT Commit Pearlie Graves, so everything can be considered status quo on those two for the time being.
Is it possible that Michigan hops on a fewer sleeper prospects if they dont land the majority of these guys? It’s certainly possible, but I’d be surprised if it was more than one or two guys. The more likely scenario is they bank a couple scholarhips for ’09 (give them to preferred walkons during the season) and hopefully gear up for a big 2010 class.
Posted under Football
Tags: 2009, adrian witty, denard robinson, dequinta jones, jeron stokes, pearlie graves, quinton washington, sam montgomery
I bet we get only Witty, that would be funny.
Okay Tim. Let’s hear your spin on this. I know it is still too early, but it is looking like a major swing and miss here. If we lose both Graves and Jones, and add Witty, only, I would give this a solid D for a grade. And for those that want to take shots at me, go ahead. But first you may want to look at the current roster, and make some recommendations on players that we can move to the DT position. I believe, with Big Will, we have THREE. Maybe we should switch to a 1-5-5 D. If we keep both of them, I give it a B. Throw Robinson in, and I give it a B+. But it is still disheartening to know that we still have major holes, depth issues, and 5-7 unused ships’. I guess I didn’t spin it very well. How are you at doing that?
Okay, to add to my above quote, if you throw in a really big, OL from the Carolina’s, I could move it up to a B++, with all the other things happening.
A top 10 class is not a B+, it is actually an A.
If you sign 20 4 star and above recruits, and everyone of them is a RB, you will always have top 10, A rated classes. And within 2 years you will lose all your games. I couldn’t care less what scout, rivals, or espn ‘rates’ the class. It is about needs. Agreed?
To a certain extent. It is proven that the higher rated your classes are the better your probability of success. I am sure you aren’t contending that we have taken 20 RB’s. I see your point, but you are way off base if you think we haven’t attacked any needs with this class. Even if we don’t land another recruit from those already in the fold now, our class is great.
There was obvious hyperbole, but getting one or two DTs is really important. This class sure is coming together well, though.