The Wolverine

just six games due to a knee injury, he nonetheless averaged 15.7 yards on 70 touches between offense and special teams. With a healthy season in 2015, he could be a breakout performer na- tionally. "I've said this for months, I think Matt Falcon has five-star ability," Lemming noted. "If he carries the ball 195 times, you'll see a five-star back because he's already built like an NFL running back. He has great vision, tremendous power, and terrific speed — he is under 11.0 [seconds] flat for 100 meters." Over the past two seasons, Brad Hawkins Jr. has compiled 1,553 yards receiving on 96 receptions (16.2-yard average) with 25 touchdowns. He has also rushed for five scores and averaged 5.9 yards per carry on 46 at- tempts. The 6-2, 195-pound Hawkins is ranked among the Rivals250, at No. 206 nationally, but the recruit- ing website posits 41 wide receivers ahead of the Camden, N.J., native — including Michigan target Ahmir Mitchell, who is ranked as the No. 8 wide receiver and No. 51 overall player in the class of 2016. Lemming, though, thinks U-M fans should be ecstatic with the future Wolverine that Jim Harbaugh's staff has already landed. "Ahmir is a very athletic, big guy, but he drops as many as he catches," Lemming said. "Brad catches ev- erything, and then he can run with the ball — after the catch, he is very talented. I think he can be an elite re- ceiver for the Wolverines." Committing April 3, four-star Bran- don Peters was supposed to be that quarterback of the future that would one day complete passes to Hawkins. He still may be, but Lemming likes the second signal caller Michigan se- cured: Victor Viramontes. The Norco, Calif., native completed 53.9 percent of his 228 attempts last season for 1,784 yards with 18 touch- downs and a miniscule two intercep- tions. He also rushed for 1,757 yards and 18 scores on 214 carries (8.2-yard average). The 6-0, 214-pound three-star pros- pect doesn't have the arm strength to match Peters, but he's a gamer, lead- ing the Cougars to an incredible 71-70 playoff win last season in which he accounted for eight total touchdowns and 571 yards of total offense. "I gave Victor four stars because he had a great year, and he was their area's player of the year," Lemming said. "Other coaches out there had recommended that I go see Victor. This is before he had committed to Michigan and didn't have a lot of of- fers, and everyone in that area was talking about him." With impressive senior seasons, Bredeson and Falcon should com- pete for a Rivals.com fifth star while Hawkins and Viramontes could be among others that boost their re- cruiting profiles significantly, rising through the Rivals.com rankings for all to take notice. ❏ Associate Editor Michael Spath has been with The Wolverine since 2002. Contact him at mspath@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @Spath_Wolverine.

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