The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1340560
2021 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE would sign a contract extension. He arrived on campus in January to be- gin work with the strength coaches with a bounce in his step after so- lidifying his pledge and signing in December following Zoom meetings with the coaches. "Coach Harbaugh is great," he said. "It's always good to chop it up with him as well as Coach [Josh] Gat- tis … it further confirmed my deci- sion. I made the right choice. "I'm happy to put my future in their hands. … [Harbaugh] has done an amazing job at Michigan and has also done an amazing job at building great young men and putting people in a position to be successful in life, whether that's football or otherwise. That's really important to the uni- versity." Harbaugh called Bounds the "prototypical tackle — a long, ath- letic basketball player that likes the weight room a lot and trains." Friedman sees him as a more fi- nesse-type left tackle with the op- portunity to grow into a mauler if he continues to add weight. "He has sky-high potential, but he's pretty far from that ceiling. He's going to need some time," Friedman said. "He doesn't look like a super strong, run-blocking right tackle, bulldozer type; he's more an athletic, finesse type blocker at the moment when you're talking about going against college-level defensive ends and the high-level guys he'll face in the Big Ten. "As he fills out that frame with strong, lean muscle, I would imag- ine he rounds out and throws guys around and is really able to assert himself." But those who don't believe he played a high level of competition are mistaken, the analyst added. The prep schools in the Northeast boast physically mature players, and Bounds more than held his own. "In terms of getting ready for the level of competition or acclimating to the experience level of the college- level player, he might even be a little ahead, even if physically he has a lit- tle ways to go," Friedman said. "He's grown by leaps and bounds. "I like when players are able to progress year to year, evaluation point to evaluation point. He earned his rankings upgrade [from three- star last year to four-star now]. If we had more points of evaluation this year, he potentially could have seen his stock raised even more." ❏ Rivals rates Bounds as the No. 2 recruit in Connecticut, behind only fellow U-M signee Kechaun Bennett, and the No. 25 offensive tackle in the country. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM MARCH 2021 THE WOLVERINE 41 2021 Projection Bounds has been seen as a project with extremely high upside, consider- ing his length and frame are rare, even for an offensive tackle. He is likely one or two years away from competing heavily for a starting role, but if he continues to develop in the weight room and on the field like he has since pledging to the Maize and Blue in June, he should be a dynamic tackle down the road. THEY SAID IT • Choate Rosemary Hall head coach LJ Spin- nato: "His length is the biggest factor, obviously. But his length with his athleticism is rare. The only piece to his game that he's really working on is his strength and size. Filling out his frame is what's going to get him to compete at that level. "Right now, he understands that he's a project, but he's working to fill out that frame, so he can be ready to compete for reps after his redshirt year." • Brunswick School head coach Michael Hannigan, who coached against Bounds in 2019: "Bounds not only looks the part, but also played the part from snap number one against us. He's every inch of the 6-8 he's listed at, and our of- fensive coordinator asked him afterward if he fits in elevators — he was like, 'No, not really.' "He's a great in-line run blocker, but because of his length, he is also very hard to get around in the passing game. Choate Rosemary Hall didn't pass that much, but he impressed me with how much he could flex out to a wide set and use his long arms to wall guys off when they did throw the ball." Rivals.com East Coast recruiting analyst Adam Friedman on Bounds "He's grown by leaps and bounds. I like when players are able to progress year to year, evaluation point to evaluation point. He earned his rankings upgrade [from three-star last year to four-star now]. If we had more points of evaluation this year, he potentially could have seen his stock raised even more."