Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: New industry rankings cause major changes

We’re just a few days before the BBQ at the Big House event, where there looks to be more fireworks on the way for Michigan’s 2020 class.

In the meantime, there has been some shuffling by both ESPN and 247Sports in their rankings that have caused some major swings for Michigan commits. For today’s Recruiting Roundup, we’re going to run down the list to see who the biggest movers were, for better or worse. Commits start first:

Braiden McGregor - #104 (dropped 23 spots)

After an iffy performance at a Rivals camp this summer, McGregor plummeted from 5-star status to outside the top 100 for 247Sports. Director of Scouting Steve Wiltfong had this to say about the drop (FREE):

“McGregor unfortunately didn’t test where we wanted him so the film kind of lied to us if that makes sense. His film is awesome and we still have him ranked high, his multi-sport stuff is awesome, and we still like him a lot, but his camp showings and testings didn’t match.”

Jordan Morant - #175 (dropped 16 spots)

Morant was the lone commit slated to represent Michigan at The Opening Finals earlier this month, but had to drop out because of injury. His lack of testing may have hurt him here.

Kalel Mullings - #169 (dropped 22 spots)

Wiltfong added in the same comment about McGregor above that when they sat down to restructure their top 247, they saw that “others have developed we like better” after being high on Mullings earlier. He’s still hanging around in their Top 247, but down 54 spot to No. 240.

Matthew Hibner - #718 (rose 412 spots)

Finally some good news. Hibner may have received the biggest bump out of anyone, vaulting over 800 spots in 247’s personal rankings to slide in at No. 249 and earn his 4th star. This move has been coming for a while after the evaluators confirmed Hibner’s 40-yard dash time was in the 4.7 range. We’ll see if the other sites catch up or not.

Nick Patterson - #854 (dropped 308 spots)

After a bit of a roller coaster ride where Patterson was even considered a composite 4-star at one point, 247 plunged him back down to around where he was when he first committed to Michigan.

Those are the only commits who saw any major movement. Some others dropped one or two spots due to guys passing them, but their rating didn’t change. This year’s action in the rankings has been disappointing, especially when compared with last cycle, when the staff was landing commits who continually were moving up. However, there is more hope in the targets section:

Theo Johnson - #105 (rose 137 spots)

There’s still good news on the tight end front, with Johnson vaulting up to just outside the top 100 after a stellar showing at The Opening. He’s now the No. 2 tight end in the country (including Canada), but fourth if you consider Darnell Washington and Arik Gilbert, who are projected to the position but are listed as athletes.

Unfortunately, The Michigan Insider’s Steve Lorenz reported Johnson will be on Penn State’s campus for their Lasch Bash this weekend, after previously saying he wouldn’t be visiting anywhere ($). Lorenz did add Johnson’s mother would not be attending, though, and if she continues to play a major role in her son’s recruitment, then Michigan cannot be counted out.

Darion Green-Warren - #225 (dropped 28 spots)

One player who will be on campus this weekend is Green-Warren, who saw a small drop in the rankings. Once a top 100 player, Green-Warren has slowly slid to just outside 200th where he settles now. Interestingly, his 247 and composite rankings match exactly at No. 225, which you don’t see often outside of the top 10.

RJ Moten - #290 (rose 40 spots)

As promised last week, Moten got the bump we were told was going to happen. He’s now in the top 100 on 247’s rankings, which means Michigan could still end up with a top 100 safety to them this weekend even after Morant dropped out. Be on the lookout for Moten’s announcement this Saturday.

That wraps up a slightly depressing version of the Michigan Recruiting Roundup. However, it’s important to remember that there is still plenty of time in the cycle for Michigan commits to prove themselves on the field and reclaim their rankings. We’ll be back with more news and updates following the BBQ.