8A — Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan lands three
recruits in two days
In the matter of just two days,
the Michigan football team added
two more commitments to next
year’s already-solid recruiting class,
as well as a commitment for the
2020 class.
It started Sunday, when 4-star
defensive
end
Mike
Morris,
who was previously committed
to Florida State, announced via
Twitter that he had flipped his
commitment to the Wolverines.
“… I feel like GOD is guiding me
in a different direction,” Morris said
in his tweet. “So I would like to say
that I’m decommitting from Florida
State University and recommitting
to the University of Michigan.”
Morris
is
the
22nd-ranked
strongside defensive end in the
2019 class, and he adds depth to the
class at that position, which already
includes David Ojabo and Chris
Hinton, the 19th- and 2nd-best
strongside defensive ends in the
class, respectively.
In addition to Morris, Michigan
landed the commitment of 3-star,
2020 tight end Nick Patterson, the
brother of junior quarterback Shea
Patterson.
Nick was visiting this weekend
for the Wolverines’ game against
Western Michigan, and according
to Sam Webb of 247sports, he had
a meeting Sunday afternoon with
coach Jim Harbaugh in which Nick
made his intentions known.
The next day, the reports were
confirmed, as Nick also took to
Twitter to make his commitment
public.
“Thank you (Michigan football),
(Shea Patterson) and (Harbaugh)
for an amazing weekend in the
Big House. I’m thrilled to make it
official that I’ll be joining the Big
Blue!!” Nick said.
The strong recruiting weekend
was polished off on Monday by yet
another 4-star commitment, as
Giles Jackson, the No. 5 all-purpose
back in the 2019 class, announced
he would be coming to Ann Arbor
as well.
Jackson joins Eric Gray, the
No. 3 all-purpose back in the class,
and Zach Charbonnet, the No. 9
running back in the class, who
committed to Michigan earlier this
summer.
The Wolverines’ 2019 class
was already strong, and with the
additions of Morris and Jackson,
it ranks 10th nationally and first in
the Big Ten.
With that and Michigan’s win
over the Broncos, it’s safe to say it
was a good weekend for Harbaugh
and company.
Peoples-Jones seeks consistency after touchdown
Donovan
Peoples-Jones
finally thought he had it.
Spotted
at
the
Western
Michigan 14-yard line with
9:59 remaining in the second
quarter, the sophomore wide
receiver caught a pass from
junior
quarterback
Shea
Patterson on an underneath
crossing route, rounded the
corner and lunged towards the
pylon.
“I feel like I was in the
endzone,” Peoples-Jones said,
“but they called it and said I
stepped out on the three or the
four. I didn’t even feel myself
step out.”
The
elusive
receiving
touchdown
had
escaped
Peoples-Jones
through
the
first 14 games of his career. It’s
escaped the entire receiving
corps for the past 12 contests.
So it’s easy to understand
Peoples-Jones’ frustration on
the play — hitting paydirt has
been hard to come by.
Just over three minutes later
in the quarter, sophomore wide
receiver Nico Collins hauled
in a 44-yard score to snap the
drought, lifting the weight off
the wide receivers’ shoulders.
But Peoples-Jones — the No. 2
receiver in the 2017 recruiting
class, according to 247Sports.
com — had yet to find any luck.
At the 6:21 mark of the
third quarter, though, that
would change. Positioned at
the Broncos’ five-yard line
and Collins blanketed on the
short slant, Patterson read his
progressions and lofted the ball
to Peoples-Jones at the back
of the endzone just over the
defensive back’s outstretched
arm.
“That throw to Donovan
was really good,” said coach
Jim Harbaugh. “That wasn’t
his first read. That was a long
throw, from one sideline to the
back corner endzone. And that
one required some touch on it.
But it had to get up and down
quick before Donovan got out
of bounds.
“That’s
pretty
high-level
stuff.”
It was six points, but it also
ushered in a new chapter for
Peoples-Jones’s playing career,
one that opens speculation for
what he could
become in his
sophomore
campaign — a
capable
route-
runner
that
can
create
separation
and
high-point balls
thrown his way.
“He’s
way
more
physical
now,”
said
sophomore
defensive
back
Ambry Thomas. “And he knows
that he’s not scared to use his
strength and his speed.”
In the season opener against
Notre Dame, his ceiling looked
limited. Wide receivers’ coach
Jim McElwain even thought
his No. 1 receiver played too
many
snaps.
Peoples-Jones
gathered six receptions for
just 38 yards, a byproduct of
capping his routes to primarily
comebacks and screens.
Peoples-
Jones’
2017
yardage
came
off
similar
plays,
but
he
occasionally
showed
separation
on
deeper
routes
with
few
results to show.
Saturday’s
touchdown
against
Western
Michigan
could be just as much of an
anomaly as it could be a routine,
but high-level performaces are
exactly what the Wolverines
had expected Peoples-Jones to
do consistently.
“Donovan ran a heck of
a route to stem that inside
and get to the back pylon,”
Patterson said after the game.
“… It’s kind of a routine throw.”
If it’s routine for Patterson
and Peoples-Jones is the go-to
guy, it could be a connection
that
happens
more
often
on Saturdays. But the soft-
spoken Peoples-Jones wouldn’t
divulge what he thought his
potential was or what kind of
player he expects to be. He just
knows he’s on track to answer
the pressure that comes with
the ballyhoo.
“More
confidence,
more
focused,
more
experienced,
more comfortable,” he said of
his play.
As the No. 1 receiver with the
toughest obstacles yet to come
this season, it’s everything
Michigan can hope for as it
refines its offense.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXIS RANKIN/DAILY
DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN
RECRUITING UPDATE
Michigan Football
NAME
POSITION
CLASS
POSITION RANKING
(247SPORTS)
RATING
(247SPORTS)
Mike
Morris
Giles
Jackson
COMMITMENT
DATE
Nick
Patterson
SDE
APB
TE
2019
2019
2020
22
5
20
9/9/18
9/10/18
9/9/18
FOOTBALL
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones scored his first career touchdown against Western Michigan.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh signed three recruits on Monday and Tuesday.
“And he knows
that he’s not
scared to use
his strength...”