Michigan Recruiting: Karan Higdon (RB) Profile

GBMWolverine Michigan Football RecruitingPosted at 7:00pm — 2/5/2015

Michigan Wolverine Recruiting: Karan Higdon (RB) Profile

GBMWolverine Readers: Here is an overview of recently signed commit Karan Higdon.

Karan Higdon continued the fish market flipping recruiting trend for Coach Jim Harbaugh and staff. The well built running back was a USF and then Iowa commit. Obviously a late offer and trip to Ann Arbor made a deciding difference. Karan is from Sarasota, Florida.

Who out there wants a running back that is good at most things, perhaps not great at any one thing? If so, Higdon is your type of back. Iowa likes tough, versatile backs, hence the probable interest from Iowa.

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Karan is not a burner, but certainly not slow. He has pretty good vision and timing to the hole. Karan seems to enjoy running between the tackles. He has clearly above average balance, a trait not seen with all that many backs. Higdon is a five and ten type of runner; most of his gains in college would be at the five to ten yard range, like many of Michigan’s current backs. He is neither the big fullback hammer or the roadrunner, still, there is a place for guys like this (or as stable full on teams like New England).

The bet here is that any 5’9 running back that has a reported bench press of over 330 pounds and a squat of well over 400 pounds is strong. Karan just looks like the type of guy who loves to play and wants to be turned loose. He is not a complex player. Read on in the overview to see more good news.

Karan Higdon
Height: 5’10
Weight: 190
Number: 22
Current Position: Running Back
Future Position: Running Back
City/State: Sarasota, Florida
High School: Riverview
Head Coach: Todd Johnson
Recruiter: D.J. Durkin
Committed: 2/4/2015
Visited: 1/30/2015
Top 5 other Offers: Arkansas, Iowa, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Tennessee.
40: 4.45 secs
Bench Max: 365
Squat Max: 445
GPA: 4.0
Class: 2015 Michigan Wolverine Recruiting Class (Signed).

Follow Karan Higdon: on Twitter

Rankings:
24/7: 3-star.
ESPN: 3-star.
Rivals: 3-star.
Scout: 3-star.

Note: Stars do matter, but are not absolute in predicting success within a football program. So, with that in mind the GBMWolverine Staff has cleverly come up with a new system of ranking. We are using footballs instead of stars, how can one argue against a system that clever? Below are the interpretations of football power predicted way too boldly long before it matters. In other words, we will give informed opinion with the crystal ball and let the players determine what will happen through years of hard work.

Criteria: Raw talent, athleticism, position of need, intangibles.

GBMWolverine Rankings:

10 footballs: Instant impact player.
9 footballs: Three or four-year starter at a high level.
8 footballs: A starter with all league potential.
7 footballs: A meaningful starter at some time during a career.
6 footballs: A spot starter or special teams player.
5 footballs: Not in the two deep after a two years.
4 footballs: Never made it.
1-3 footballs: See the above.

We have him at 7 1/2 footballs right now.

Remember just as we did during the season with grading positions or groups we are very tough graders and expect a lot out of those positions or players so this is no different here.

Overview:

Karan Higdon is a well built running back, one who is comfortable running between the tackles. He has played for three different programs during his high school career. Karan rushed for 1471 yards and scored 16 touchdowns this past season. has also caught 18 passes for another 6 touchdowns. Karan is an excellent student with a reported 4.0 GPA.

Strengths:

Karan runs low and hard. He makes tacklers miss, or, he can break tackles. Karan also does a good job of seeing and hitting the cutback. As an extra bonus, he catches the ball well out of the back field. Due to a nice combination of strength and balance, he is tough to knock off his feet. In addition, Karan is quick to the hole and has good quick feet, and uses his feet to make a nice shallow cut.

Michigan Wolverines /

Michigan Wolverines

Concerns/Needs Work:

Karan has a habit of turning his shoulders instead of staying parallel, he will need to pass block in college. His acceleration and burst can use an upgrade, nothing special in this realm.

Red-shirt or play his Freshman Year?

GBMWolverine believes he will likely red-shirt his first year. Karan is physically ready, so playing immediately is possible, but he will start out no better than four or five on the depth chart.

Karan Higdon reminds the GBMWolverine Staff of — Former Michigan Football Player — Chris Howard — who played running back.

Video Highlights:

Michigan received fourteen players on signing day with Brian Cole (WR), Alex Malzone (QB), Andrew David (K), Tyree Kinnel (DB), Grant Newsome (OL), and Jon Runyan Jr. (OL), Zach Gentry (QB), Reuben Jones (DE), Nolan Ulizio (OL), Karan Higdon (RB), Keith Washington (DB), Tyrone Wheatley Jr. (TE), Shelton Johnson (DE), and Grant Perry (WR).

Final Thoughts:

We welcome Karan Higdon 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!

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