<p>Wowzers...</p>
<p>We hope…</p>
<p>We’ll know in a little over three hours. Here’s hoping. Where Peppers goes, so will Hand, the #1 player in the nation according to Rival and the consensus #1 DE in the nation.</p>
<p>^Well that’s quite the assumption. All we know is they’ve talked, but nothing’s for sure with Hand. It’s probably down to VT, UM, and Bama for him and VT is generally considered the slight leader at this point. He’s playing it close to the vest. Peppers’ seemingly imminent commitment will probably help a bit with Hand but by no means secures him as well. There’s a lot of other factors at play with him.</p>
<p>As far as Peppers goes, it would be completely shocking if he doesn’t commit to Michigan this afternoon, and Hoke has not seen this kind of playmaker in his tenure. The future is looking very bright.</p>
<p>He’ll announce at 5:15 on ESPN U</p>
<p>If we can snag Peppers, and then Hand, holy **** look out. I heard there is a 5 star DT visiting as well and I think we already have a 4 star DE committed. Our D will be nasty</p>
<p>^We already have 4 star DT Brian Mone out of Utah committed and a grayshirt commit (won’t get a scholarship until 2015) from Brady Pallante out of FL. The top in-state priority at this point is DE/DT Malik McDowell. His position will depend on how he fills out when he gets to college. There’s a bit of interest from 5 star DT Andrew Brown and then obviously Hand is the big prize. This is shaping up to be a d line class for the ages for sure. Adding Peppers along with Dymonte and Countess in a couple years in the secondary will make this a scary defense. Hopefully Shane pans out after DG leaves.</p>
<p>You forgot about Fern (four star, top 10 LB according to Rivals, Scout and ESPN) and Lawrence Marshall (four star, top 15 DE according to Scout and ESPN). If we can land Hand and McDowell (both list us among the top 5), along with Mone and Peppers (assuming he commits), we could be looking at the best collection of defensive players since our 1997 national championship team.</p>
<p>Less likely top talent that are also considering Michigan include Andrew Brown (top 3 DT) and Adoree Jackson (top 3 CB).</p>
<p>Also, on offense, in addition to top 5 pro-style QB Morris that committed last year, we also recruited a whopping 10 five and four star OL in the past two seasons, plus Derrick Green, arguably the best RB in the nation last year. If Drake Harris can back his top 5 WR standing, Michigan will be very strong on both sides of the ball as early as 2014 and definitely in 2015 and 2016.</p>
<p>Should have mentioned Marshall on the line as well yes. Ferns is a LB, hopefully we can get Chase Winovich or Noah Furbush to compliment him as well.</p>
<p>Apparently we got Peppers</p>
<p>It is official, Peppers has given Michigan his verbal commitment.</p>
<p>[Jabrill</a> Peppers becomes Michigan’s best football commitment in Rivals era | MLive.com](<a href=“Jabrill Peppers becomes Michigan's best football commitment in Rivals era - mlive.com”>Jabrill Peppers becomes Michigan's best football commitment in Rivals era - mlive.com)</p>
<p>Now that Jabril has verballed (our 10th for the class of 2014), we have 7 scholarships available. How will the rest of the class shape up. Here’s my wish list:</p>
<p>1 RB (Leonard Fournette would be awesome, but after landing the #1 RB last year, I doubt we will get the #1 RB this year. Job Mixon or Nathan Starks are more likely. Any of those three would be great.</p>
<p>1 OL (We recruited 6 very good OL last year, and 4 the year before, so this was not a critical position. Still, we received verbals from Peppers’s teammate Bushell-Beatty and Mason Cole, both of which are highly rated. We also have the attention of several high profile OLmen, such as Cameron Robinson and Braden Smith, both of which are excellent. Again, either one of those would be awesome)</p>
<p>2 DLmen. Yes, we have commitments from 1 excellent DT (Mone) and 1 very good DE (Marshall), but we could use some more depth in this position, and we seem to have garnered interest from several super stars, such as DEs Da’shawn Hand, Malik McDowell and DTs Andrew Brown and Clak Khairi. Any two of those would make our DL haul the best one ever at Michigan.</p>
<p>2 LB. Ferns was a very good get. But we are thin at this position, and we could use two more. In addition to Furbush and Winovich, both of which are excellent, we also are listed as contenders with another strong prospects; Nyles Morgan.</p>
<p>1 DB. Obviously, Peppers is a huge win, but another strong DB would be great. Adoree Jackson comes to mind. He is reportedly almost as good as Peppers and also interested in Michigan.</p>
<p>Obviously, we are not USC or Alabama, so we do not have the “persuasive” tools that they have at their disposal to attract as many high profile players, but if we can land 3 or 4 of those athletes, this class will truly be exceptional.</p>
<p>Kalen Ballage is really the only RB prospect we’re in on right now and it looks like Jamarco Jones is the top priority on the OL at this point.</p>
<p>Given the number of very talented athletes considering Michigan seriously, I hope we do not waste any of our very few remaining spots on guys Kalen Ballage. Jamarco Jones is actually very good and would be a great addition though.</p>
<p>Hehe! Go Blue!</p>
<p>Maizeandblue21, tell me that this character is not going to convince Da’shawn Hand to go blue.</p>
<p>[No</a>. 1-ranked cornerback Jabrill Peppers chooses Michigan Wolverines - ESPN](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9313928/no-1-ranked-cornerback-jabrill-peppers-chooses-michigan-wolverines]No”>No. 1-ranked cornerback Jabrill Peppers chooses Michigan Wolverines - ESPN)</p>
<p>Ballage would be a great, great addition. He’s quite the athlete and is the type of bruiser that Hoke wants in his offense. He’s got a very unique combination of size and speed, plus we are continuously looking to make inroads in Utah and Colorado. We’ve accomplished this in Utah with Mone so far this cycle and Sione Houma in 2012, but Ballage would help us expand in the region. We took Green in the last cycle along with Smith, and presumably Borges would like those two to be strongly featured in the offense over the next 3-4 years. Ballage would be a different kind of athlete to bring in and would bring a different dimension than those two. If we don’t take him I think there’s a strong chance we don’t take a RB this cycle.</p>
<p>KJ Williams is the guy I hope we slow play the most, and I think Hoke is doing so. It looks like he’s really considering a Michigan commitment but I do believe Hoke wants to wait and see with Corey Holmes and especially Artavis Scott, who would be the ideal slot playmaker to complement our recent lot of tall outside receivers. Williams seems a lot like a Moe Ways or Damario Jones to me.</p>
<p>Ballage certainly has a special mix of size and speed. 220 LBS with sub 4.4 speed. And he is also a good student, which is always nice. But he does not have a proven track record as a RB. Can he take the hit and hold on to the ball? I guess at the high school level, even players who were exclusively RBs are a risk. You are definitely closer to the recruiting action, so if you say he is legit, here’s hoping he joins the team. RBs is always the hardest position to predict. There are so many excellent options, and with many listing Michigan among their favorites, it is hard to know who will commit.</p>
<p>Jabrill Peppers is now going to recruit Hand and McDowell. I think the odds of landing both are pretty good. Here’s hoping.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/05/what_theyre_saying_michigan_im.html[/url]”>What they're saying: Michigan improves chances for No. 1 recruit Da'Shawn Hand after Jabrill Peppers commitment - mlive.com;
<p>The future looks bright for the football team. Peppers looks ridiculously fast in his high school videos. </p>
<p>I still get we get to 20 recruits this year with attrition and, even with only 20, this could be the best Michigan class ever.</p>
<p>20 recruits is unlikely for the 2014 cohort, unless we lose many to attrition. 16-18 is more likely. Still, they will likely be mostly impact players. Jabrill Pepper, Bryan Mone and Drake Harris are the high points so far, but that’s to be expected considering that they are each among the top 5 or 6 in their respective positions in the country. Actually, Peppers could well be the best in his position. If we can land Da’Shawn Hand, Malik McDowell, a top OL and a top RB (I like Joe Mixon, but I hear Ballage would be very good too), this will be a very potent group of players. There are other high profile players interested in Michigan, like Andrew Brown and Adoree Jackson, but those are not likely to choose Michigan. Defensively, this group could be the best ever (at Michigan), especially along the DL and at CB.</p>
<p>Regardless, when you combine the offensive talent we recruited last year (Shane Morris is a top 5 QB, Derrick Green is a top 3 RB, Jake Butt is a top 5 TE and 6 OLmen who combined are supposed to be the best class of OL in the nation) with the class we are reeling in this year (Drake Harris is a top 5 WR and some of the most talented defensive players in the nation), we should be formidable in 2014, 2015 and 2016.</p>
<p>Adoree Jackson tweeted, “Michigan Team 135 ? #GoBlue” today… which is a good sign. But you never know nowadays with Twitter how strongly recruits really feel about schools.</p>