The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1040273
NOVEMBER 2018 THE WOLVERINE 61 MICHIGAN RECRUITING who stuffs the stat sheet for his De- Sales squad week in and week out. The 6-0, 205-pounder has compiled 56 tackles, 15 stops for loss, one sack and six forced fumbles on the season. He's also carried the ball 88 times for 607 yards (7.4 yards per attempt) and nine scores, and has 14 recep- tions for 103 yards. Helmholdt sees Velazquez as being able to do several things at the next level as well. "His biggest strength is his competi- tiveness and the way he approaches the game from a mental standpoint," Helmholdt explained. "He also has good straight-line speed, and is a physical kid who looks like he spends plenty of time in the weight room. "Velazquez is a multi-sport star, and those guys usually know how to compete and how to be good team- mates. He's applicable to a lot of roles — viper, linebacker and safety — but isn't necessarily ideal for any of them." MICHIGAN OFFERS FIRST 2019 PROSPECT SINCE JUNE The Michigan coaching staff has of- fered Cleveland St. Ignatius four-star inside linebacker Tommy Eichen- berg. The 6-3, 225-pounder has been committed to Boston College since June, but the U-M staff clearly liked what he's done so far as a senior and extended an offer to him. Unfortunately, Ohio State offered the Ohio native just a day before Michigan did. Rivals Midwest re- cruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt has always been high on the No. 13 in- side linebacker and No. 248 overall prospect nationally and thinks re- cruiting could get interesting for the Ohioan in the coming months. "The Boston College commitment made a lot of sense," Helmholdt said. "When you look at guys like Luke Kuechly and Steven Daniels, those guys have had success leaving the state of Ohio and going to Boston College. It looked like a really strong fit for Eichenberg as well. "Ohio State, which also recently offered, is one he grew up following. He's not really speaking on recruit- ing during his season so I just don't know if Michigan has much of a shot. I haven't heard anything to indicate that they do or don't — nothing in either direction. "Overall though, I think it's defi- nitely a concern for Boston College about whether they'll be able to keep his commitment." MICHIGAN STILL KEEPING AN EYE ON 2020 PROSPECTS Michigan has only offered 13 pros- pects since June, and the bulk of them have been members of the 2020 class. The last five juniors to pick up an offer from Michigan did so over just about a month's span from the end of August to the very beginning of October, and a couple of them could end up being very real targets for the Wolverines. Rivals analysts from around the country have seen these prospects in person and certainly seem to endorse U-M's decision to offer them. Sammamish (Wash.) Eastside Catholic three-star running back Sam Adams "Adams is emerging as one of the best 2020 running backs in the West. He has great size, he's athletic and he's a tough runner between the tackles and to the outside. "I saw him earlier this season against a very talented Oaks Chris- tian defense, and he was clearly one of the best players on the field." — Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney Fairfield (Ohio) High three-star all- purpose back JuTahn McClain "McClain is different than the backs Michigan normally recruits be- cause he's all-purpose, a third-down back, a change-of-pace guy. I'm in- terested to see if they might envision more of a slot role for him where they can utilize his speed in the open space." — Rivals Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt Helotes (Texas) O'Connor four-star offensive tackle Logan Parr "Parr is an athletic kid with great feet. He also has a good frame to fill out and could play tackle or guard." — Rivals national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell Carrollton (Texas) Hebron four-star safety Darius Snow "Snow is a big kid who can move and could easily grow into a line- backer if needed. He really has great size at safety." — Farrell ❏ 2019 Michigan Commitment List Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Erick All TE 6-4 223 Fairfield, Ohio (Fairfield) Karsen Barnhart OT 6-5 280 Paw Paw, Mich. (Paw Paw) Zach Carpenter OG 6-5 305 Cincinnati (Moeller) Zach Charbonnet RB 6-1 190 Westlake Village, Calif. (Oaks Christian) Eric Gray RB 5-10 185 Memphis, Tenn. (Lausanne Collegiate School) Daxton Hill S 6-1 190 Tulsa, Okla. (Booker T. Washington) Christopher Hinton DE 6-5 265 Norcross, Ga. (Greater Atlanta Christian) Giles Jackson RB 5-9 183 Oakley, Calif. (Freedom) George Johnson III ATH 5-11 175 Stuart, Fla. (Martin County) Quinten Johnson S 5-11 190 Washington, D.C. (St. John's College High) Trente Jones OL 6-5 293 Loganville, Ga. (Grayson) Quintel Kent WR 6-0 170 Lakewood, Ohio (St. Edward) Cade McNamara QB 6-1 170 Reno, Nev. (Damonte Ranch) Michael Morris DE 6-6 260 Boca Raton, Fla. (American Heritage) Gabe Newburg DE 6-5 230 Clayton, Ohio (Northmont) David Ojabo DE 6-5 240 Blairstown, N.J. (Blair Academy) Nolan Rumler OL 6-4 300 Akron, Ohio (Hoban) Mazi Smith DT 6-3 302 Kentwood, Mich. (East Kentwood) Jack Stewart OL 6-5 285 New Canaan, Conn. (New Canaan) Charles Thomas LB 6-0 216 Fairburn, Ga. (St. Thomas More [Conn.]) DJ Turner II CB 5-11 160 Suwanee, Ga. (IMG Academy [Fla.]) Tyrece Woods LB 6-2 240 Belleville, Mich. (Belleville) Joey Velazquez S 6-0 205 Columbus, Ohio (St. Frances DeSales) 2020 Michigan Commitment List Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Kalil Branham WR 6-1 190 Columbus, Ohio (Northland) Nick Patterson TE 6-3 215 San Antonio (San Antonio Christian) Andre Seldon CB 5-9 154 Belleville, Mich. (Belleville) Denver Warren DT 6-3 300 Aurora, Ill. (West Aurora) Cornell Wheeler LB 6-0 229 West Bloomfield, Mich. (West Bloomfield)