Michigan Football: Recent 3-star commitments pass the eye test

Michigan football has gotten commitments from a slew of 3-star recruits in the past two days and while they aren’t ranked super high, they pass the eye test.

Scouting has never been an exact science and it never will be. Some five-star prospects end up as home runs and go to the NFL. Others never pan out. Michigan football has received a flurry of commitments in the last two days and while none are five-stars prospects, they are key additions.

Jordan Morant and Reece Atteberry are bonafide four-star prospects, then the other four commits, William Mohan, Eamonn Dennis, Aaron Lewis and Gaige Garcia are all three-stars according to the composite rankings of 247 sports.

Of course, that always leads some fans to say their addition isn’t a big deal or that it doesn’t matter compared to the four or five-star guy so and so just landed. But as we all know or should know, recruiting and scouting, 17 and 18-year old kids is not an exact science.

That’s why you need to judge these recruits on more than just their rankings. You have to look at how they fit in each program and with each coaching staff. Every player has unique skills and the important thing is finding a way to get the most out of them.

On paper, a recruit like Mohan may not seem like a game-changer, but when you watch his film and imagine him playing the viper in Don Brown’s defense, he’s an absolutely perfect fit. He plays outside linebacker a lot in his highlights and shows a natural ability for attacking the QB on the edge. Yet, he also shows skills in coverage and that’s why it’s easy to be excited about him.

Dennis, who committed Monday, is another player that should play beyond his ranking. The 5-foot-10 athlete who will play wide receiver at Michigan is going to be an ideal fit for the offensive system of Josh Gattis. He could also get some carries and get touches in other imaginative ways, but most importantly he will add another dynamic athlete to the slot. He’s also a return specialist.

In the past, a guy like Dennis may have been misused with Michigan football, sort of like Eddie McDoom, who never really lived up to the hype and lost his impact after what seemed like a million jet sweeps.

Fit matters and that’s another reason to be excited about Lewis, who flipped his commitment from West Virginia to Michigan football. Lewis is a 6-foot-5 end that 247 sports projects as a future draft pick. He also ranks inside the top 250 of the 247 sports rankings, even though he is lower in the composite.

He’s a great fit at defensive end because he is big enough and versatile enough to play inside or outside. That could allow him to play a five or six-technique at Michigan, which is sort of how guys like Rashan Gary and Kwity Paye have been used.

He should be stout against the run but he also shows enough burst to have potential as a pass rusher too. And in Brown’s front, versatility is a key attribute which makes Lewis even more valuable.

The bottom line is that you don’t build football teams based off recruiting rankings. Those things matter for sure, but they aren’t the end all, be all. Devin Bush wasn’t a five-star recruit, he was a lower-ranked four-star and he ended up being the best prospect of UM’s vaunted 2016 class.

Sometimes, that’s just the way it works out and we all need to remember that.