Michigan Football Recruiting Targets-November 10, 2002

1-Lamarr Woodley and Anthony Rogers, Prescott Burgess, Jeff Jansen or H.B. Blades-We need an inside linebacker who can play immediately, and at the worst he redshirts while Diggs plays his senior year and then starts for the next four at a school that is always in a game, a favorite for the Big Ten title each year, and in the hunt for a national title. If we get Woodley, we may also get Roger, too. Burgess, Jansen and Blades are not true Mike Linebackers, but may be too good to pass up. Our starters next year at linebacker should be Diggs, Kaufman and Manning with backups likely to be McClintock, John Spytek and whoever does the best in the Spring (Oluigbo, Sarantos (Joe and Paul), Van Alstyne (unless he moves to DE), Brian Thompson, Kolby Wells and David Harris. Lawrence Reid's future depending on his treatment for blood clots. We've already recruited Jim Presley.

2-Donte Whitmer and Dareus Hiley, Leon Hall, Jeramie Johnson, Tarell Brown and/or Ashton Youbuty-We need a corner who can play immediately and start opposite Marlin Jackson. He will compete against LeSueur, Combs, Curry, McCoy, Barringer and others for that corner position. He could also move to free safety and compete with Shaw, Shazor and Cooper for a starting position. Either way, he competes for playing time his freshman year to be part of our top 6 or 7 backs playing in passing situations. The bonus is that his teammate Dareus Hiley will probably go to the same school, and he could also play as a freshman although Whitmer is rated slightly higher in terms of his overall playing ability. Hiley, Hall, Johnson, Brown and Youbuty are definitely players who can play immediately. (Paul Oliver is too much of a longshot to list here)

3-LenDale White, Lynell Hamilton, Maurice Drew, Reggie Bush or Justin Valentine-We need premier running backs who can play immediately and have an impact at the tailback position. We'll have Perry back for his senior year and Bracken plus redshirts Hood and Rembert. I'm guessing that Underwood will move to fullback a la B.J. Askew, and if so, he could start. We need speed, quickness and explosiveness to turn the corner; yet, the toughness to score in red zone situations. We've already got Anton Campbell ready to compete for playing time here.

4-Jayson Swain and/or Steve Smith, Charles Smith, Dorien Bryant or Jesse Holley-We need wide receivers who can play immediately and compete for playing time in our rotation of Edwards, Avant, Bell, Butler, Gonzalez, Breaston and Tabb. These guys will be targets for Navarre and/or Gutierrez in 2003, 2004 and 2005. We need more "big play" guys like Terrell, Walker, Streets, Woodson, Alexander, Calloway, Carter, Howard, Hayes, Smith, etc.

5-Kevin Brown, David Patterson, Lawrence Dampeer, Carnell Stewart, Sian Cotton and/or Conrad Bolston-We need defensive linemen who can stop the run and put on a pass rush. Next year, Heuer and Watson will probably be the starters at defensive tackle backed up by Bowman, Massey, Ofili and Harrison.

6-Shawn Crable, Turk McBride, Victor Abiarmiri, Jermaine Dias, Kirston Pittman and/or Tim Washington-We need defensive ends and linebackers who are a threat in the blitz and pass rush packages, but also who can cover running backs and tight ends in zone coverage. We have Orr and Stevens back, and they'll be backed up by Kashama and Woods. Many teams are bringing in more speed and quickness in obvious passing situations, and we need a stronger pass rush and sacks to deflate our opponents ability to keep time of possession and 3rd down conversions.

7-Ryan Mundy, Bernard Pollard, Travis Tolbert and/or Jerome Jackson-We definitely need some players who can solidify our safety position. Shaw, Shazor, Cooper, Stewart and possibly LeSueur will be our tentative starters and backups for next year. Hopefully, Mundy will join former teammate Steve Breaston here.

8-Doug Van Dyke and/or Greg Olsen-We have ten tight ends back, but we can always utilize a premier player at this position to replace Joppru. Tyler Ecker will be back along with Massaquoi, Fisher, Mingery, Murphy, Brackins, David Spytek and new recruit Will Paul. Some players here may move to defensive end if needed.

9-Lennox Whitworth, Barrington Edwards or Ervin Battle-Baldwin-We need true fullbacks to can block the defensive ends so our backs can turn the corner, and take on defensive linemen and linebackers in the pass blocking. They also can be a threat in running especially short yardage, red zone situations and have the ability to catch the short, screen passes. Next year, Sanderson, Dudley and possibly Underwood will be our fullbacks. Of course, these players are welcome at tailback if they have the speed.

10-Mike Jones, Ryan Harris, John Sullivan, Fred McConnell, Donnie Woods, Joe Thomas and/or Pat Sharrow-We have 18 offensive linemen on our roster on scholarship and only graduate Petruziello, but we can always use a few more "hosses" to pave the way for our running game to improve. I'm guessing our starters next year will be Pape, Stenavich, Lentz, Baas and Pearson backed up by Morgan, Solomon, Christopfel, Henige and either Riley or Kolodziej. Pape, Pearson, Morgan and Solomon will all graduate in 2004 so we'll be building more depth. Ealey, Simelis, Bihl, Berishaj and others could factor depending upon how they do in the weight room bulking up. We've already recruited Jake Long and Adam Kraus here unless he goes to tight end.

11-Clayton Richard-He is too good to pass up at quarterback even though he may go pro in baseball. My suggestion is to put him on scholarship in baseball and let him walk-on in football.

Preferred Walk-on Prospects:

Placekicker-Brent Holicki

Tight End-Josh Powell (brother punted for Michigan)

Defensive/Offensive Linemen-Joe Graham