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Michigan Wolverine Recruiting: A Final Look At The 2015 Signing Class — Part I

By Eroc Wolverine

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GBMWolverine Michigan Football RecruitingPosted at 7:30am — 2/6/2015

Michigan Wolverine Recruiting: A Final Look At The 2015 Signing Class — Part I

On To Spring Football 2015

Day is done and gone the shark frenzy that has increasingly evolved with the coverage of football recruiting. Now, granted, the in-trend social media environment has blunted the “Do you want to know?” hunger trigger that sites have held over those who do truly want to know. The prospects now give out the information post haste.

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It matters not what anyone, including our site, thinks about the rise and fall of the 2015 recruiting class, “catch,” the old expression “it is what its” and turn the focus to something else. Coach Jim Harbaugh knows this and the staff’s guns are already blazing for 2016.

Great talent left the fold, some left very early on, and some as a result of the downtrend and firing of the previous staff. That happens, and blame or over analysis are merely academic. As Bill Belichick would say- we’re on to Spring Football.

Grading this class on talent and depth yields preliminary low marks; everyone accepts that, a letter grade is moot, we will see the results on the field. The talent level is about a B grade and the depth is a D grade. So, those across the country throwing out an overall C grade are well within the fence of correctness.

The suspicion is that Coach Jim Harbaugh has discussed individually, and soon collectively, with the incomers the reality that as a small group they all must persevere, hang together, stay with the program and end their journey with pride in their accomplishments and become the trailblazers of the Harbaugh era.

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Quarterback at Michigan the last several years was limited to the choice of two very skilled athletes, Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner. One now plays running back in the NFL and the other (Devin) may get a shot somewhere, albeit maybe briefly, and most likely at wide receiver. Both remain wonderful stories and excel at personal traits. Both were touchdown and turnover machines. Blame flew everywhere, but the easily accessible truth was that both athletes were limited in quarterback skills and possessed instinctive traits that never were coached out of existence. Why so, becomes the obvious question? The simple answer that matched the simple observation was that no one else with the skills to play at the top tier was available. Denard Robinson will be a Michigan legend someday, but the recognition will be for his running skills and electric personality. Devin Gardner, frankly, was clearly not the runner Denard was and turned up the turnover machine even another notch. Both guys hung in, took the criticism, remained positive, and moved on into the vault of history.

Starting in the spring, quarterback will be a different scenario in Ann Arbor. There will be more talent, albeit young and inexperienced. Russell Bellomy has transferred and issued an appropriate short and classy farewell. Now, a former highly sought recruit, Shane Morris, and a big gunslinger, Wilton Speight, remain the only two true prospects with any college practice experience. Getting three quarterbacks in the past week will eventually help Michigan’s quarterback situation, but the short-term prognosis is still rough water. Someone must emerge that can move the ball and manage the game without the massive giveaways provided by previous Michigan teams.

Shane Morris must recover from some tough times. He possesses loyalty and character. He was recruited because of a strong arm, his locality, and perhaps somewhat because of his highly followed media exposure at camps and 7 on 7 events. His accuracy is in question and the pocket skills of reading, proper foot placement in the pocket, and final decision-making are really yet to be determined. He is now a junior, having given up a redshirt year, but he is the logical choice to take the job in the fall. But the quarterback job will not be won by logic, instead accuracy and execution of the system will yield the prize.

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    • Wilton Speight was a near unknown until recruited by Michigan. Do not discount Wilton Speight’s leadership ability; he graduated from a very exclusive high school that specialized in leadership. He has size and good touch. Speight and Morris should be able to endure whatever Harbaugh throws at them. But in the end compliance and performance will not be negotiable, in words or deeds. Harbaugh will not settle for mediocre quarterback play; hopefully the scene does not dissolve into the old barber shop phrase where the barber says “Next!” But sooner of later, Harbaugh will find the correct machine part to run the engine.

    Two new players now pull up their chairs to the game, Alex Malzone and Zach Gentry. Malzone, once laughed at as a prospect for a higher-level football power, goes full speed ahead and had a great senior season. As mentioned for several months, Malzone is a leader, he is intense; he is the type who thirsts to win and undertake what is necessary to win. Malzone may only be 6’ 0” or a shade above, but his arm and football intelligence cannot be discounted.

    Zach Gentry is the type of quarterback prospect that old school guys love. However, he can clearly hurt a defense with the read option and scramble. Gentry is huge and has an excellent arm with touch. His late season success shows he is a gamer. There are only a few guys around with his size and potential. Gentry smartly concluded he will get strong coaching at Michigan.

    Puzzling some was the announcement of the transfer of John O’Korn from Houston to Michigan. O’Korn is originally from Florida and had an outstanding freshman year at offensively geared Houston. Turnovers found him the bench, but O’Korn has physical tools and size; Harbaugh knows this, he has extra spots to fill, and taking on a guy that at the least can play Division 1quarterback at an average level is not a bad decision.

    Part II later today!

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    Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu

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