Recruiting Board Updated

Update 3/26: Removed FL OL Michael Brewster (dropped us). Downgraded PA TE Mark Weddeburn to red after ugly Scout article. Upgraded CO OL Bryce Givens to green: we lead w/ Nebraska. Linked to articles on OH S Dan McCarthy, PA OL Luke Nix (upgraded Nix to yellow since this supposed heavy Pitt lean does not appear to be materializing), PA OL RJ Dill, OH LB Brandon Beachum, TX OL JB Shugarts, KY DE Dexter Heyman. Upgraded Zebrie Sanders to yellow; top-five omission in earlier article appears to be momentary oversight. Added MD OL Lane Clelland, SC OL Kenneth Page.

Removed OH TE Jake Stoneburner (OSU). Downgraded CA CB Robert Golden to red -- not in top six. Ditto for PA LB Andrew Sweat -- running fourth. Ditto for Brandon Leslie -- no offer, not in top five.

Editorial Opinion: Much to get through, most of it red. : (

Basically expected bad stuff: OH TE Jake Stoneburner committed to OSU; FL OL Michael Brewster isn't listing us anymore; PA TE Mark Wedderburn is probably heading towards PSU.

Unexpected bad stuff: Pre-signing day rumors of a commit from OMG shirtless Edison five-star Brandon Leslie could not have been more wrong. Leslie has the offer list of a mediocre four-star (Nebraska and Washington at the moment), hasn't been offered, and doesn't list us. A couple more articles without a mention and he's gone. His teammate Robert Golden is fairly shirtless but says things like "I really want to stay in the Pac-10". Like Leslie, only tenuously on the list. Andrew Sweat, who seemed very interested in Michigan according to a couple February articles, now lists us fourth on a highly ordered list. We aren't getting him without a Christmas miracle.

Most unhappily, JB Shugarts named two leaders who were not us: OSU and LSU. Frowns.

Basically neutral stuff: Added OG Kenneth Page, who we offered, linked to a few articles that are noncommittal.

Guru re-evaluation stuff. Every year there are a number of kids who show up on the guru sites' top 100 and All-American lists based on reputation alone, never get the sort of attention you'd think they warrant after getting everyone all hyped up, and then fade away to the land of three stars. A classic example from last year was Penn State tight end John Ditto. This year you've got Leslie, OH LB Brandon Beachum -- though Beachum does have an Ok offer he doesn't have offers from M or OSU, both of whom have issued a ton -- and KY DE Dexter Heyman. Heyman's only offers to this point are from Cinci, Northwestern, and Louisville despite being on the preliminary Rivals 100 list. Sometimes this is a matter of film getting out late and sometimes it's just plain misevaluation. Only time will tell. This is most unfortunate in Heyman's case, as he claimed Michigan as a (very tenuous) leader early in the recruiting year.

Positive stuff: The earlier Zebrie Sanders article that omitted us from his top five seems erroneous. CO OL Bryce Givens named M and Nebraska as leaders; MD OL Lane Clelland visited the midwest and returned with M and ND as leaders. I don't think PA OL Luke Nix is the Pitt lock everyone assumes him to be based on his quotes in recent articles. He's got a brother there, yes, and is very familiar with the campus, but he's been circumspect when asked. I think he's in play.