The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2019 THE WOLVERINE 71 COMMITMENT PROFILE O radell (N.J.) Bergen Catho- lic four-star safety Jordan Morant had been telling people that he was going to commit in January at the All-American Bowl, but after his official visit to Ann Arbor from June 21-23 he decided he couldn't wait any longer. "I just felt like it was home to me," Morant said. "I just loved the atmosphere and how com- fortable I was around the play- ers and coaches. "Once I got here, I knew this was the place to be." Part of that comfort was the New Jersey connection. Michi- gan linebackers coach Anthony Campanile is the brother of Morant's head coach at Ber- gen Catholic, Vito Campanile. Throw in Morant's potential future position coach Chris Partridge and of course Don Brown, who isn't from Jersey but is a legend in the North- east, and Morant just knew that he would feel at home in Ann Arbor. "I know I'll definitely be taken care of at Michigan since there's a lot of Jersey guys out there," he said. "Coach Partridge and I have a great relationship with each other. We always talk, and it's great to have him as my position coach when I get there. "I've been coached by all of them and now being coached by another one in college is just unbelievable. I already know how it was being coached by them, so it's just a great opportunity to have going to the next level." Rivals Mid-Atlantic recruiting ana- lyst Adam Friedman has covered a ton of guys from New Jersey and al- ways notes how important that type of connection seems to be for guys from the Garden State. "The fact that Morant plays for Vito Campanile is a huge boost for Michigan. That relationship is going to continue to develop the Campa- nile-North Jersey relationship." It sounds like Morant is going to play safety at Michigan, but there has been some talk about him poten- tially playing the Jabrill Peppers role, which obviously sounds more like viper. Wherever he ends up, Fried- man sees success. "Morant is an excellent player," Friedman said. "He's a very smart player and somebody who I think could make a difference. He's just one of those really, really smart players. "He's a physical guy who is used to tough competition, used to play- ing against really good wide receiv- ers. He's just someone who excels against top competition." Morant finished his junior season with 36 tackles (3.5 for loss), but didn't record an interception and was credited with defending just three passes. Most teams didn't chal- lenge the star safety, which resulted in lower numbers against the pass. He allowed just two completions of more than 10 yards all season. The New Jersey standout also con- tributed in the return game, averag- ing 36.6 yards per kickoff return, in- cluding a 93-yarder for a touchdown. Rivals rates him as a four-star pros- pect, the No. 8 player in New Jersey and the No. 20 safety in the country. He was named to the NJ.com All- State second team for the second year in a row. He was also recognized as member of the USA Today All-New Jersey second team. — Brandon Brown Jordan Morant Pushes Up His Timeline To Commit To U-M FILM EVALUATION Strengths: Jordan Morant does a good job at covering in space be- cause of his fluidity and twitchiness. At 6-0, 190 pounds, he's not impos- ing physically, but he really doesn't have a major weakness. He plays fast and smooth from his safety spot when he's covering deep throws, and he's good at jamming at the line of scrimmage and reacts extremely well because of his high football IQ. Areas Of Improvement: The one knock on Morant is that he's not a burner. He's a very talented safety and can really do everything you want a football player to do, but he's not going to win a race against other elite defensive backs, such as Daxton Hill who he'll be playing next to at Michigan. He is definitely not slow, but no one describes him as a blazer in the back of a defense. Michigan Player Comparison: Morant is a more athletic, more complete version of Tyree Kinnel. That's saying something because Kinnel started 26 games and made 163 tackles and two interceptions in the winged helmet. The two have a very similar build and have received pretty similar scouting reports from multiple ana- lysts. Morant is more coveted accord- ing to his 30-plus offers, but Kinnel was actually ranked higher as the No. 225 overall player in the country coming out of high school. — Analysis from TheWolverine.com Morant is rated as a four-star talent, the No. 8 player in New Jersey and the No. 20 safety nationally by Rivals. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Morant on his official visit to U-M June 21-23 "Once I got here, I knew this was the place to be."