GBMWolverine: Michigan Football Recruiting — James Ross (LB) — 2012 Verbal Commit — Profile
Posted at 6:00am — 5/3/2011
GBMWolverine: Michigan Football Recruiting — James Ross (LB) — 2012 Verbal Commit — Profile
GBMWolverine readers: Here is a brief overview of recent verbal commitment James Ross from St. Mary’s High School — Orchard Lake, Michigan.
Height: 6’0
Weight: 209
Number: 6
Current Position: Linebacker
Future Position: Linebacker (Middle)
City/State: Orchard Lake, Michigan
High School: St. Mary’s
Head Coach: George Porritt
Recruiter: Coach Fred Jackson
Committed: 5/2/2011
Top 5 other Offers: Michigan State, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, and USC.
Rankings: 24/7: 4-star … ESPN: 4-star … Rivals: 4-star … Scout: 4-star.
40-Time: 4.6
GPA: 3.0
Class: 2012 Michigan Wolverine Recruiting Class (Verbal Commit).
Overview:
James Ross is a pure middle linebacker.
He is certainly not the biggest of the linebacker litter, or maybe not the fastest player on the field, but make no mistake, Biggs is a pure footballer, pure and simple.
James plays for one of the best programs in Michigan.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s regularly goes deep into the state playoffs.
Ross is a good student with a 3.0 GPA at very highly regarded prep school.
Strengths:
James is one tough son of a gun.
He absolutely loves contact and is as physical as any linebacker the entire staff has seen on film this year.
He reads plays well and shows excellent instincts, almost instant instincts.
At times he seems shot out of a gun and can cause real havoc at or behind the line of scrimmage.
As such it can be said that James fills the hole with authority and does a nice job of taking on blockers. He moves well laterally and makes plays from sideline to sideline.
James has added a good 10 pounds of weight and this demonstrates he has the work ethic and advanced planning needed to succeed at the college level.
Needs work:
We all have been told over and over that James is not the biggest player on the field.
Accepting this reality James will need to continue to add weight and strength.
He will also need to improve his straight-line speed.
He does an acceptable job of dropping into zone coverage, but needs to read routes better.
Final Thoughts:
This commitment has landed Michigan a bona fide flat out football player, and a warrior.
One staff member likens Ross to Mr. T on a football field.
If football was speed-reading this guy could read a page a second.
Coach Hoke wants physical; he now has physical in the future, and not just with one of the four linebackers. It will provide fun fodder to argue who at this stage is better. Any such argument is academic because there is a senior season and four years of football to be played out. It will be fodder to argue where each will play because there is enough versatility to provide options, and things do change in the course of a couple of years.
Bottom line this is a big get, not just a good get for Michigan’s defense. Ross’ commitment closes some past hurts and may provide further future opportunities.
We welcome James Ross to Michigan and hope he has a successful career on and off the football field as a student-athlete at the University of Michigan. Go Blue!
Red-shirt or play his Freshman Year?
GBMWolverine believes he will likely red-shirt his first year. Yes, GBMWolverine hopes that James can red-shirt the first year, but keep in mind Michigan may (or may not) want to play one or two of the four linebackers just to get them on a different time schedule.
James Ross reminds the GBMWolverine Staff of — Former Michigan Football Player — David Harris — who played Linebacker.
Highlight Videos:
James Ross Orchard Lake St. Marys #6 LB 2010 Junior Highlights
James Ross Biggs 2009 #6 PART 1 Football Highlights Orchard Lake St.Marys 2009
James Ross Biggs #6 PART 2 Orchard Lake St.Marys 2009 Football Highlights
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff
Go Blue — Wear Maize!