The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY TIM SULLIVAN M ichigan's coaching staff is off to a strong start in the 2015 recruiting class, with 10 pledges — eight of them four-star prospects — among the rising seniors and a four-star duo to kick off the rising junior class. The Wolverines' recruiting fortunes might look even stronger before the Maize and Blue add another commitment. If current pledges have a good year on the field in 2014, their rankings can continue to improve. 2015 Pledges QB ALEX MALZONE 6-2, 205 • Bloomfield Hills (Mich.) Brother Rice Four-star prospect, No. 3 player in Michigan and No. 11 pro- style quarterback in the country Malzone has trended upward over the course of the past year, going from a player with a nice offer list of Mid-Amer- ican Conference schools to one with Pitt, Virginia Tech and Michigan. With that, his rankings have risen as well. Malzone was ruthlessly efficient last year, completing 190 of 281 attempts (67.6 percent) for 2,795 yards (9.9 yards per attempt) with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions en route to an undefeated season and state title in Michigan's Division 2. His 174.1 passer efficiency rating shows what he can do in terms of production, and he's backed that up this summer with solid performances in seven-on-seven play and at the Elite 11 Finals in Beaverton, Ore. What Malzone doesn't have is something he can't control: size. At 6-2, he's not quite the height that college coaches like to see, and unless he has a surprising late growth spurt, it won't change. Because of that, even an outstanding senior year can only see him crawl up the rankings slowly. RB MIKE WEBER 5-10, 205 • Detroit Cass Tech Four-star recruit, No. 1 player in Michigan, and No. 10 run- ning back and No. 103 overall prospect nationally Weber started his high school career slowly, easing into FOOTBALL RECRUITING Michigan Commits Have The Opportunity To Rise In The Rankings