Pledge Week: Wide Receivers

The week draws to a sweet, merciful close with our star position group in this class, the Wide Receivers. This was Mark Dantonio's most impressive recruiting haul. DeAnthony Arnett write up will be very brief.

DeAnthony Arnett

Arnett transferred to MSU a few weeks ago from Tennessee. He is currently seeking a hardship waiver from the NCAA which would allow him to skip the customary transfer year. Arnett is very talented and provided the aforementioned waiver works out, will see the field in 2012. He'll play out of the slot quite a bit as his "shake and bake" is his main claim to fame.


Aaron Burbridge

Burbridge committed to MSU on 7/28/2011 over offers from OSU, ND, UM and pretty much any other school you can think of. He was ranked a four star recruit by all three recruiting services. At 6'1" and 175 lbs, he is basically the spitting image of former Farmington Hills Harrison standout Mark Dell. Burbridge appears to have all of the physical tools to dominate the college game at catching and running with the football. Doesn't look to be an elite blocker yet.


To the YouTubes!

Well, he's faster than every one else on the field. There's a disgusting one handed catch about two minutes in, not to mention a pretty nice grab on an endzone corner route. There's a reason he was nationally recruited and it's because his milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.

2012 Prognostication: Barring injury will be a four year contributor, perhaps even a four year starter.

Kyle Kerrick

Kerrick committed to MSU on 6/23/2011 over offers from Illinois, Pitt, WVa and the MAC. He's ranked a three-star prospect by all three recruiting services. Kerrick figures to be auditioning for the BJ Cunningham role vs his main competition Monty Madaris. An advantage that Kerrick possesses is that he is MSU's only early enrollee for 2012 so he will participate in Spring Ball which means that when Madaris comes to town Kerrick will already have an extra 15 practices under his belt.



To The YouTubes!

He's more shifty than I imagined. When I hear a "big-bodied" wide receiver, I always imagine Derrick Nix with in pillow armor catching passes. This kid looks quick and shifty for a few steps but in a foot race his speed is pretty pedestrian. Perfect for a BJ Cunningham replacement.

2012 Prognostication: If you're a WR, you're in the mix to play this year. He'll be on the field no later than next year at least situationally.

MacGarrett Kings Jr.

Kings committed to MSU on 7/13/2011 over offers from Auburn, Georgia and Wisconsin. All three services have him ranked as a three-star WR recruit. So, in short, are you worried you might miss Keshawn Martin? You should be. Kings, can be a reasonable facsimile therein(I'm not going to say replacement). Unlike Martin, Kings has played WR and RB in HS and will not have to "learn to catch the ball". He could fit into the Keshawn position immediately.


To The YouTubes!

Just my suspicion, but Mr. Hill is going to have to work to keep the #1 KR job at a minimum. Kings shows nice hands on a catch around 1:35. Good adjustment to the ball and good hands to make the catch. It won't take him 2 seasons to learn to be a good wide receiver like the recently departed Keshawn. Excellent pick-up. What's not to love? His top end speed is not elite but his first few steps are as quick as anyone that I remember having seen. That's a nitpicking criticism though.

2012 Prognostication: Will return punts, kicks or both this year. Will see the field as a WR if Arnett's waiver is not granted.

Monty Madaris

Madaris committed to MSU on well today when he sent in his NLI. He committed earlier this week, but then there was much drama. All water under the bridge now. Madaris had functional offers at this point probably from just MSU and Cincy, although at one time had offers from Florida State, Nebraska and a disputable offer with Michigan. At some point, he could serve as a cautionary tale of holding out for an offer you're not going to get(I still think he wanted to play at OSU). He's ranked a four star recruit by Scout and 247. Rivals was stingier and only gave him very high three.

To The YouTubes!

Madaris senior year highlights are outstanding. He doesn't slow down to catch the ball, his routes look really fluid, he gets up to speed quickly and doesn't get caught from behind, and best of all, he comes from Archbishop Moeller High School who has brought us such players as Greg Jones and Marcus Rush. Monty Madaris looks like he could be worth the wait and a nice compliment to Burbridge.


2012 Prognostication: Will compete with Kerrick to be the next BJ Cunningham. Kerrick has a head start, Madaris has more physical tools. One will redshirt this year unless the other is injured.

Wednesday Weekly Wrecruiting Wrap

There are a few people who read this blog who aren't real familiar with the recruiting cycle, so I'm going to briefly walkthrough this. If you already know how the actual process of recruiting works, skip ahead a bit, if not I'll keep it brief.

Our example class is the class of 2012 and their timeline goes like this.

• Unofficial interest by a school can begin at anytime. Barry Sanders Jr. was receiving recruiting attention as early as the eighth grade.
• Throughout high school beginning at any time, students can attend summer camps put on by college football staffs.
• Unofficial offers can be made at anytime, typically no earlier than after sophmore year, even for the most talented prospects.
• Official written offers can go out September 1st of the prospects junior year. For the class of 2012, this was 9/1/2010.
• A prospect can "commit" anytime after receiving one of these written offers.The commitment must be accepted by the staff after being offered by the prospect. However the commitment is not binding by either party until National Signing Day. 
• An official visit is the one time a school is allowed to fly the prospect and the prospect's family into town to visit the campus. The number of official visits is limited for a school to I believe 56. Typically, regional prospects commit to a school and then take an official visit later. National recruits or VERY highly rated recruits use the Official Visits to make their decision. For the MSU staff, official visits almost always occur after the season prior to National Signing Day. For the 2012 class, this is the period between the Big Ten Title Game and February 1, 2012.
• National Signing Day is the first Wednesday in February. Commits receive a National Letter of Intent which they then sign and fax(LOL) back to the football offices.
• A commit can enroll early. This means they begin classes the Winter prior to the year their class. For example in the 2012 class, Ezra Robinson and DeAnthony Arnett(transfer) have begun classes, but will not see the field until 2012.

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Early Defections & Scholarship Count

With Edwin Baker and Jerel Worthy announcing their departure and Johnny Adams announcing he'll be back for his senior year, I think MSU is done with dealing with early defections for this year's recruiting cycle. Anyone looking to transfer probably would have done so by now.

Currently, MSU has 14 commitments for the 2012 class, I won't be counting Arnett because he is technically a transfer. I think they're looking to take 17 in this class. A team can have 85 scholarship players, unless they're Ohio State for the next couple of years. ZING! 17 is actually the ideal number of players to take in a class because if they all redshirt then you have 17 kids coming in all five years to total your 85 scholarships. Blame JLS for lots of things failure-oriented, this was a trend he started at MSU we should be grateful for.

Official Visits Lined Up For This Weekend

JP Holtz - Holtz was on my wish list I made a few weeks ago because he is another one of those 6'6", 240 lbs DE/TE types that schools like MSU, Iowa and Wisconsin love to stockpile. These kinds of athletes can play TE/DE/DT/OT/OG at the next level. They get brought in and find a position over the first couple years. Previously committed to Pitt, but with offers from Michigan, Arkansas and Penn State, Holtz is a guy you should be excited about if he comes to play at MSU.

Addressing the Other Positions of Need

WR - Seems deep in this class, but it is not deep overall in 2012. Monty Madaris is a player who seems close to making a decision and would fit the MSU offense very nicely. Coupled with our WR commit from over the summer, Kyle Kerrick both excel at WR and Safety. If Madaris commits to MSU expect him to go to WR and Kerrick to Safety.

DT- With the departure of Worthy, MSU is looking to find a big-bodied DT for 2012. I'm frankly skeptical that there is anyone on the radar that fits the bill of a 6'3", 300 Worthy Replacement. Maybe if there's a late decommitment?

OL - We could always use more OL, but again, I'm not seeing anyone who jumps out at me as a likely-to-have player at MSU.

Best Guess On Finishing Out The Class

TE - JP Holtz, WR - Monty Madaris, OL/DL to be named later.