Dawson's Potential Replacements and This Weekend's Visitors

Just want this #TEAM134 to stay together, #signingday2013 hurry up!!! #GoBlue

— David Dawson (@D3_FutureLegend) October 6, 2012

It would be weird if he was referring to himself. If we lose another commitment, my money is on DB Gareon Conley. The only reason this is frustrating is because Conley had one offer before Michigan offered him (Toledo). He then received an offer from Northwestern and coaches start noticing him. He received a 4-star ranking from 247 Sports and is now hearing from Oregon. He wants to visit, but we know how Coach Hoke feels about that situation. Will Michigan lose him? I would say it's there's a 30% chance they do. Oregon visited Conley at his high school recently but they didn't offer him. If they do offer him, I would imagine he takes this seriously and would want to visit. If that's the case, his scholarship is gone.

Other than that, I feel that the rest of the 2013 class is in great shape. As of now, Michigan now has three open spots. Assuming the top targets are still 4* WR Laquon Treadwell and 5* RB Derrick Green (who are both visiting Michigan for the Michigan State game this weekend), that leaves one wild card. If it was up to me, I would go back and try talking to someone like 4* DB Leon McQuay III, who was very interested in Michigan until they told him they probably wouldn't have room for him. The coaches may decide to go after another offensive lineman due to Dawson's decommitment, at which point there a few options. Let's see who the options are...

4* OT Ethan Pocic

Pocic is a 6'7" and 285-pound offensive tackle from Lemon, Illinois. Rivals ranks him 3rd at his position, 3rd in the state, and 41st in the nation for the 2013 class. Pocic has over 25 offers from just about ever school you could think of. He was a guy that a lot of Michigan fans really hoped the coaching staff would make room for. Pocic was very interested in Michigan at one point, and a lot of analysts thought he may commit. However, at the time, Michigan had just gotten it's 5th offensive lineman commitment, and even though the staff was very high on Pocic, they had to tell him they were full at the position. To the dismay of many fans, the situation everyone was worried about has panned out, and Michigan lost one of its o-line commits. Now what? Pocic is committed to LSU and he would be very hard to flip. But...anything can happen.

4* OT Steve Elmer / 4* OT Hunter Bivin / 4* OG John Montelus

All Notre Dame commits, all three are great options for replacements. I doubt any of them flip, to be honest, but I would not be surprised if the coaching staff goes after one of them hard.

#Michigan reaching out to Na'Ty Rodgers, Dorian Johnson and Brendan Mahon I hear @1goblue1: @rivalsmike with Dawson decommitting who

— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) October 16, 2012

4* OT Na'Ty Rodgers (uncommitted)

Rodgers is 6'5" and 278-pound offensive tackle out of Pomfret, Maryland. I'm not sure why I haven't heard much before about this guy, but he's big time. Rivals ranks him 21st at his position, 6th in the state, and the 228th in the nation for the 2013 class. He has 25 offers including ones from Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Clemson, Florida, Nebraska, Tennessee, USC, and West Virginia. No Michigan offer yet, but Mike Farrell from Rivals has said that Michigan has been in touch with him. Interestingly enough, Rodgers is one of the few possible Dawson replacements that's still uncommitted.

4* OT Dorian Johnson (uncommitted)

Johnson is a 6'6" and 280-pound offensive tackle out of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. Rivals ranks him 19th at his position, 6th in the state, and 187th in the nation for the 2013 class. He has 19 offers including ones more Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Rivals claims his top-3 are Ohio State, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech. If Michigan were to offer, I'm not sure how interested he would be, but we'll see soon enough because Rivals's Mike Farrell claims Michigan has been in touch since Dawson decommitted. Side note: 247 gives Johnson 5 stars and names him the 2nd best OT in the nation.

4* OG Brendan Mahon

Mahon is a 6'5" and 315-pound offensive guard from Randolph, New Jersey. Rivals ranks him 5th at his position, 5th in the state, and 130th in the nation for the 2013 class. He has 15 offers but has been committed to Penn State since March of this year. His other offers include Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Miami (FL), South Carolina, and West Virginia. Mahon already chose Penn State over Michigan once, but who knows where his head's at regarding Penn State nowadays. Rivals's Mike Farrell claims Michigan has been in touch since Dawson decommitted so we'll see where things stand soon enough.

4* S Leon McQuay III (uncommitted)

McQuay is my idea of a perfect replacement. Here's a guy who is an elite DB, who has high interest in Michigan, and who also happens to like USC, Vanderbilt, and FSU. The problems with USC and Vandy is that USC's class is full and also includes 4 (possibly 5) defensive backs and Vandy just got a commitment from a SEVENTH (!) defensive back. Granted Michigan already has 4 (maybe 5) defensive back commits, but McQuay would be, by far, the most elite, along with fellow safety Dymonte Thomas. I hear that FSU is his leader, and that they are also recruiting him the hardest. McQuay plans on visiting Michigan November 9th weekend for an official visit and also to watch Michigan play Northwestern. I also think Oregon is creeping in to the picture -- McQuay is slated to visit Oregon next weekend. We'll see what happens, but personally, I hope McQuay is the guy Michigan goes after to finish the 2013 class. Don't forget that McQuay is interested in music school and he loves Michigan's music program. JDK & Rey's emergence doesn't hurt either.

Speaking of visits, there are supposed to be over 30 visitors this weekend for the Michigan State game. Although there were a lot of visitors last weekend who witnessed Michigan's 45-0 shellacking of Illinois, this weekend, there's a lot of big-name guys who will be in attendance. Once again, this list is subject to change, and once again, this list was obtained from Tremendous.

2013 Commits:

• QB Shane Morris
• RB DeVeon Smith
• RB Wyatt Shallman
• WR Csont'e York
• WR Jaron Dukes
• TE Jake Butt
• TE Khalid Hill
• OL Chris Fox
• OL Patrick Kugler
• OL Kyle Bosch
• OL Logan Tuley-Tillman
• LB Mike McCray
• DE Taco Charlton
• DB Jourdan Lewis
• DB Dymonte Thomas
• DB Ross Douglas
• LS Scott Sypniewski

2013 Recruits:

RB Derrick Green (Richmond, VA/Hermitage)

• Info: 6'0" and 220 pounds; runs a 4.4-second 40-time
• Ranking: 5-star, #1 RB in the nation and #13 player nationally (Rivals)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Everyone (30+)
• Michigan's chances? Green is by far the biggest commit visiting this weekend. Michigan's chances are great. Top competition with Michigan seems to be Auburn and Tennessee, and both schools' coaches could be argued to be in the hot seat so we'll see. This weekend's official visit should only help Michigan (assuming they take care of business).

WR Laquon Treadwell (Crete, IL/Crete-Monee)

• Info: 6'3" and 198 pounds
• Ranking: 4-star, #1 WR in the nation and #23 player nationally (Rivals)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Everyone (20+)
• Michigan's chances? Michigan was once the frontrunner, but now things are kind of unknown. Treadwell's top-5 includes Michigan, MSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. I would really only worry about OU and OSU, even though he hasn't visited either school. He has planned official visits to both of those schools (plus Ole Miss), but hopefully this weekend's Michigan visit can solidify Michigan as the team to beat for Treadwell.

DB Dewan Olive-Abinojar (Ann Arbor, MI/Ann Arbor Pioneer)

• Info: 5'8" and 150 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: None
• Michigan's chances? I assume Olive-Abinojar wants to check things out in case he becomes a preferred walk-on or is given a late scholarship offer, given his close proximity to Michigan. According to mgoblog, he would likely commit on the spot if offered.

2014 Recruits:

DE Da'Shawn Hand (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge Senior)

• Info: 6'4" and 245 pounds
• Ranking: 5-star, #1 DE in the nation and #1 player nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Everyone (30+)
• Michigan's chances? Virginia Tech is supposedly the team to beat here but Michigan is in Hand's top-5 along with Alabama, Clemson, and UNC. Tremendous was one of the few blogs to land an interview with Hand. This weekend's visit will be his first to Michigan so it should go a long way.

WR/DB Artavis Scott (East Lake, FL/East Lake)

• Info: 5'11" and 180 pounds; has already visited Michigan for the Big House BBQ
• Ranking: 4-star, #6 WR in the nation and #68 player nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina, West Virginia (+7 more)
• Michigan's chances? After the Big House BBQ, 2014 LB commit Michael Ferns informed me that Scott had a great time and that we should keep an eye on him. Hopefully he continues to be impressed with Michigan after this weekend. I presume he receives an offer soon.

OL Mason Cole (East Lake, FL/East Lake)

• Info: 6'5" and 275 pounds; has already visited Michigan for the Big House BBQ
• Ranking: 4-star, #6 OT in the nation and #44 player nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina, Stanford, USC (+3 more)
• Michigan's chances? This visit will go a long way with Cole. According to 247, Michigan is already in Cole's "top 3 or 5" and he really likes Ann Arbor. It will probably be a tough battle with schools like USC, Florida, and Florida State in the mix, but Michigan is off to a great start.

TE Chance Sorrell (Middletown, OH/Middletown)

• Info: 6'6" and 225 pounds; just visited Michigan last weekend vs. Illinois
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: None
• Michigan's chances? Sleeper alert. Sorrell's top choices are said to be Michigan and Tennessee. It's also been said that he's an early commit candidate, so if Michigan were to offer, they would be very high on his list. He admitted he grew up an OSU fan, being from Ohio, but OSU has not offered yet either. He told Tremendous that "an offer from Michigan would be next to impossible not to take."

OL/DL Nathaniel Devers (Massillon, OH/Massillon)

• Info: 6'5" and 265 pounds; teammate of 2013 commit, 4* DB Gareon Conley; just visited Michigan last weekend for the Illinois game
• Ranking: 4-star, #17 OT in the nation and #156 player nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Toledo
• Michigan's chances? Great. Michigan hasn't even offered yet and they're #1 on Devers's list according to Tremendous.

WR Dominique Booth (Indianapolis, IN/Pike)

• Info: 6'1" and 195 pounds
• Ranking: 4-star, #24 WR in the nation and #199 player nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin (+7 more)
• Michigan's chances? Booth is a great athlete, but it's thought that Michigan isn't really high on his list (yet) because they haven't offered. Michigan State was also the first to offer Booth. This weekend's visit coupled with an offer could go a long way to change Booth's mind.

DB Montae Nicholson (Monroeville, PA/Gateway)

• Info: 6'2" and 200 pounds; has already visited Michigan for the Big House BBQ
• Ranking: 4-star, #18 safety in the nation and #212 player nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, West Virginia (+6 more)
• Michigan's chances? Nicholson is one of Michigan's top targets for the 2014 class. He told Tremendous that Michigan had a "slight lead" after his great visit for the Big House BBQ so hopefully this weekend only extends that. He plans on taking his time with his recruitment.

DE/DT Kenny Finley (Muskegon, MI/Muskegon)

• Info: 6'3" and 265 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: None
• Michigan's chances? Good if they offer. Michigan, along with Florida, are Finley's top teams according to Tremendous.

OL Malik King (Muskegon, MI/Muskegon)

• Info: 6'4" and 275 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: None
• Michigan's chances? Good if they offer, given that King is an in-state product.

LB Dorian Hendrix (Huber Heights, OH)

• Info: 6'1" and 215 pounds
• Ranking: 3-star, #15 ILB in the nation and unranked nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Bowling Green, Buffalo, Illinois, Ohio, and Toledo
• Michigan's chances? Last season was actually Hendrix's first playing linebacker. He used to play quarterback and attends the same high school OSU QB Braxton Miller attended. He was supposed to be Miller's successor. He likes Greg Mattison and Michigan so we'll see if he gets offered and if he enjoys his Michigan visit soon enough.

CB/WR Damon Webb (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical)

• Info: 5'11" and 170 pounds
• Ranking: 4-star, #16 CB in the nation and #192 nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: LSU, Michigan State, Ohio State, Toledo, West Virginia, and Wisconsin
• Michigan's chances? Good since Webb is an in-state product and there's a great pipeline between Cass Tech athletes and Michigan. Biggest competition is LSU. He claims Michigan is not his outright leader and that Michigan State's coaching staff is currently his favorite. Humph.

RB Gary Hosey (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical)

• Info: 6'0" and 230 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Wayne State
• Michigan's chances? Great if they offer.

LB William White (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical)

• Info: 6'1" and 220 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Toledo
• Michigan's chances? Great if they offer.

ATH Micky Crum (Columbus, OH/Hamilton Twp.)

• Info: 6'4" and 212 pounds; being looked at as a tight end
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Bowling Green
• Michigan's chances? Crum has a top-3 of Michigan, Pitt, and Wisconsin. He's projected to eventually be a 4-star player, so hopefully Michigan offers him soon.

WR Ricky Rogers (Monroeville, PA/Gateway)

• Info: 6'2" and 192 pounds; teammate of DB Montae Nicholson (offer)
• Ranking: 3-star, #48 WR in the nation and unranked nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Pittsburgh, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Toledo, and West Virginia
• Michigan's chances? Nicholson's feelings about Michigan could affect Rogers, but I would guess that if Rogers were to be offered, Michigan would be high on his list. Rogers has already visited Michigan and really enjoyed his visit.

TE Brenon Thrift (Monroeville, PA/Gateway)

• Info: 6'3" and 230 pounds; teammate of DB Montae Nicholson (offer)
• Ranking: 3-star, #19 ILB in the nation and unranked nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Pittsburgh and West Virginia
• Michigan's chances? West Virginia is definitely the team to beat for Thrift.

S Erick Smith (Glenville, OH/Glenville)

• Info: 6'1" and 185 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Georgia Tech
• Michigan's chances? Not much is known at this time.

ATH Marshon Lattimore (Glenville, OH/Glenville)

• Info: 6'0" and 185 pounds
• Ranking: 5-star, #4 CB in the nation and #19 nationally (247 Composite)
• Michigan offer? Yes
• Other offers: Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Toledo, and USC
• Michigan's chances? Tough. Not only is Lattimore an Ohio product, but he's already got offers from both Ohio State and USC early in the process. This weekend's visit will be important.

OL Marcelys Jones (Glenville, OH/Glenville)

• Info: 6'4" and 325 pounds
• Ranking: 4-star, #5 OG in the nation and #154 nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Indiana and Ohio State
• Michigan's chances? 247 already lists Jones as "warm" towards Ohio State and OSU was also his first offer. Unless he's blown away this weekend (and unless he leaves with an offer), OSU will be hard to beat.

RB LJ Scott (Marion, OH/Marion Harding)

• Info: 6'0" and 215 pounds
• Ranking: 3-star, #2 FB in the nation and unranked nationally (247)
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Kent State and Michigan
• Michigan's chances? Clearly Michigan sees something in Scott as they were his first offer. In an interview with Tremendous, Scott admitted he grew up an OSU fan, but also quickly noted that whatever school a person is a fan of isn't necessarily the best fit. Michigan should be in this battle till the end for Scott.

TE Kyle Rachwal (Lapeer, MI/Lapeer East)

• Info: 6'3" and 230 pounds; this is Rachwal's second visit in as many weeks and third visit overall
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: None
• Michigan's chances? Michigan is looking at a lot of tight ends, but if Rachwal is offered, I would imagine Michigan would be an immediate favorite.

OL Denzel Ward (Chicago, IL)

• Info: 6'9" and 285 pounds; Ward just visited last weekend for the Illinois game
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? Yes (received last weekend at the Illinois game)
• Other offers: Purdue
• Michigan's chances? Great. Ward loved his visit last weekend and loved hanging out with 2013 OL commit Logan Tuley-Tillman. I would not be surprised if Ward committed to Michigan sometime soon. He called his Michigan offer a "dream offer." Check out his visit reaction with Tremendous.

DT/DE Ryan Stout (Sylvania, OH/Sylvania Southview)

• Info: 6'5" and 245 pounds; Stout just visited last weekend for the Illinois game
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: Akron, Bowling Green, Toledo
• Michigan's chances? Stout was told to come back by the coaches so he's visiting again this weekend for the MSU game. He says the coaches are very interested and I believe him. We'll see if he leaves with an offer.

ATH Ronnie Larue (Red Oak, TX/Red Oak)

• Info: 6'0" and 185 pounds
• Ranking: UR
• Michigan offer? No
• Other offers: None
• Michigan's chances? Not much is known at this time, but Michigan is looking at Larue on the defensive side of the ball.