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Michigan Football Recruiting: A Rebuttal to Adam Jacobi

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Michigan Football Recruiting: A Rebuttal to Adam Jacobi
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I recently watched a video on B/R by featured columnist Adam Jacobi titled "Why Brady Hoke's Recruiting Buzz Isn't as Impressive as It Seems." In his video, he highlights reasons why Michigan's recruiting class this year isn't impressive.

He states that Michigan has zero recruits in the top 60 of the ESPN 150 as a main argument, when they in fact have one, QB Shane Morris.

He responded in a tweet, "Yeah, that was my error. So Michigan has one. My point still stands." On the face of it, yes. Jacobi made the assertion that because Michigan has zero recruits in the top 60 of the ESPN 150, they don't really have an impressive recruiting haul.

That, in itself, is wrong. And a second, CB Gareon Conley at 63, is not far from being in the coveted top 60.

It's easy to try to minimize what the Wolverines are doing on the recruiting trail. The critics will use the Jacobi defense, "you don't have enough top 60 players to be elite." That's a weak criticism. Other teams may have more top-end talent by ESPN standards, but overall, the depth of talent that Michigan has recruited is beyond compare.

Jacobi's argument only relates to the ESPN 150 figures. But it's important to consider some of the other coveted recruiting services,

According to Rivals 100, Michigan has five recruits in the top 60, while Florida has two, Alabama has three and Ohio State has four.  

247 Sports, another recruiting service, has four Michigan recruits in their top 60. Ohio State has four, Alabama has four and Florida has two. 

Scout has Michigan with three five-star recruits. Ohio State has two five-star recruits, Alabama has one five-star recruit and Florida has zero five-star recruits. 

So what can we take from all of this research? That one can make a case against any of the teams based on the recruiting service they choose to make their point. 

The Jacobi assertion that Michigan's class isn't as impressive as you think is a misrepresentation of the facts. He clearly uses the "zero" recruits in the top 60 of the ESPN 150 as his reason behind why this isn't an impressive class compared to other programs at this time. 

You can make the argument that they may not be the best class in 2013, but don't underestimate it with false information and one recruiting service. That's not a fair critique of the Wolverines. 

I assert that Michigan has an impressive recruiting class, in terms set by Jacobi, based on the number of recruits in the top 60 according to Rivals 100 and 247 Sports.

What does all this mean? Nothing. It's talk and garble and that's why we like it.

Setting the record straight was the main reason to highlight the differences between all of the coveted recruiting services. Look at it as a whole, not on the basis of only one set of rankings. It's an unfair assertion when you do that.

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