Tag: Jo’Ziah Edmond

What Jyaire Hill has seen from transfers and a freshman Michigan cornerback

Besides Will Johnson, the cornerback room is going to look a bit different in 2024. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It might not have been huge news across the college football landscape, but Michigan football managed to fill out its cornerback room nicely via the transfer portal after spring ball.

Albany transfer Aamir Hall played over 1,000 snaps in 2023 and was an absolute ball hawk a year ago, managing five interceptions and a forced fumble. It’s thought that Hall is battling with Wolverines sophomore corner Jyaire Hill for the starting role opposite Will Johnson, and Hill admits that his competition with Hall in fall camp is a battle.

“He’s an aggressive cornerback, smooth,” Hill said. “We call him ‘silent reaper.’ We’ve been battling, everybody needs a role on the team. We’ve been going back and forth — everybody’s trying to find something.”

Hall gets all of the headlines but former UNLV cornerback Ricky Johnson was a starter last year for the Rebels. Michigan didn’t see him in person as he missed the Week 2 game at The Big House with an injury. But Hill says that Johnson brings a lot of physicality to the role and that he has a lot of positive attributes the defensive backfield is looking for.

“Ricky — he’s real physical,” Hill said. “He tackles good, comes in strong. We call him ‘Crash Out Ricky.’ He’s smooth. Eyes (are good). He real, he know a lot about the game.”

There’s a decent chance we’ll see Hill, Hall, and Johnson all take the field for meaningful minutes in rotation this upcoming season. But it’s not clear if any of the freshmen will get those same opportunities with the depth ahead of them.

Of the two first-year cornerbacks who Michigan brought in this year, Jo’Ziah Edmond is the one fans are excited to see. At the time of his commitment, he was a three-star who flipped from Purdue. But by the time he signed in December, he was a four-star and one of Michigan’s highest-rated pledges in the entire class.

Hill says that he’s taking on a mentorship role with Edmond, which is made all the easier because Edmond has a zeal for learning the system and getting better.

“Jo’Ziah — I like Jo’Ziah,” “I’m trying to help him get into his playbook early, it’s a bit behind him. He’s real smooth. He real, really wants to practice — real excited. Feet good, physical, too. He just wants to get out there and play, run around.”

Fans will likely get an opportunity to see all three early in the season, starting with the first game against Fresno State. The Bulldogs come to Ann Arbor on Aug. 31 for a season-opening night game at The Big House.

Two Michigan football signees make huge jumps in final On3 2024 rankings

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. #GoBlue

It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. And in recruiting, though stars do matter to some extent, we’ve seen a lot of players outperform their ranking throughout the years.

In Ann Arbor, Kwity Paye, Ronnie Bell, Rod Moore, Zak Zinter, Mike Barrett and plenty others were three-star recruits, yet they ended up playing like five-stars for the Wolverines. Thus, when people look at the recruiting rankings, it may sometimes seem underwhelming for Michigan football, but identification and development and key.

The maize and blue apparently did a good job of identifying talent in the not-so-heralded 2024 class as two players have made meteoric rises in the final On3 rankings indicating that the Wolverines did an excellent job of scouting.

The now-highest-rated player in 2024 for Michigan is an edge rusher who committed on early signing day in December. Lugard Edokpayi from Bowie (Md.) Bishop McNamara was rated a four-star, but moved up 142 spots from 182 to No. 40 overall — just eight spots below five-star range, in the final On3 rankings. He’s considered the biggest riser in the latest release.

Lugard Edokpayi has an argument for having one of the highest upsides among the pass-rushers and EDGE prospects. He’s a guy who was one of the biggest late-bloomers in the cycle, didn’t receive his first Power Five offer until early in his senior season. He looks to be a big-time talent at the position. He’s over 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, has elite length and a big frame, I think he’s going to have no problem adding a bunch of weight once he gets in Michigan’s strength program and has time to fill out. He has a basketball background and it’s easy to see, he’s a twitchy athlete, a guy who can fly off the edge. Has surprising play-strength as well, I think he’s going to be a player who looks quite different after a year or two at Michigan. He fits the mold of the type of EDGE prospect Michigan has signed in the past — high upside, developmental types who might take a couple of years to add size, strength and experience, but his upside is a high draft pick if he develops like he has the potential to. — On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power

He’s not alone there.

When cornerback Jo’Ziah Edmond flipped from Purdue to Michigan in July, there was little fanfare given that the Wolverines were accepting a three-star over the ballyhooed duo Aaron Scott and Bryce West — both of whom spurned the Wolverines for rival Ohio State. However, Edmond is now at No. 101 overall after being No. 252 with the last rankings update (which made him a four-star). While he’s still below the OSU duo, he’s not too far behind West, ranked just 13 spots beneath him.

Jo’Ziah Edmond is such a physical player at the line of scrimmage. His length and hand usage in press man coverage is extremely advanced for a senior coming out of high school. Combine that with his instincts and ability to play the football in the air and you have a player who has a chance to develop long term and still make an instant impact early on in his college career.” — On3 Rankings and Scouting Assistant Cody Bellaire

If new head coach Sherrone Moore can continue the trajectory of the program, it will be in large part due to the heavy lifting that came with the classes he inherited. But Moore is also a part of that as one of the Wolverines’ most avid recruiters in recent years. And some hits earlier in the cycle that turn out to be blue-chip players could pay later dividends, to be sure.

Michigan football 2024 signee makes meteoric rise in final 247Sports rankings

This is why you don’t look down on three-stars when they commit. #GoBlue

When Michigan football secured a commitment from 2024 Nappanee (Indiana) Northwood cornerback Jo’Ziah Edmond, it came with little fanfare.

The Wolverines were working hard to persuade eventual Ohio State signees Bryce West and Aaron Scott to defect from the Buckeye State to that team up north, but to no avail. Enter Edmond, who at the time was a three-star Purdue commit rated No. 723 overall in the country.

Fast forward to today. As Edmond continued to get more eyes on him, he has risen in the rankings.

On Monday, 247Sports updated its proprietary rankings, and Edmond is the No. 108 player in the country, the 10th-best cornerback, and the second-rated player in the state of Indiana.

Ironically, Michigan football fans lamented losing Scott and West, but Edmond is only 57 spots behind the former and 43 spots ahead of the latter.

It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, and Michigan has also done a terrific job when it’s come to development. If Edmond takes to the coaching, and lives up to his potential, he could end up being really good.

247Sports’ Allen Trieu:

Has verified height, size and length. Has also timed well in the forty and shuttle. Multi-purpose high school player who has played running back, caught the ball well on offense and also playing cornerback and safety. Will likely get a shot first at cornerback in college. Has played man to man in camp settings and shown the physicality, ball skills and competitive nature for the position. Has adequate recovery speed. Will need to continue to work on his hips and change of direction at his size to stick there at a high Power Five level. If he outgrows it, he can easily transition to safety. He runs plays down and has explosive qualities. Solid tackler but not a violent hitter. Versatility and physical upside make him a likely Power Five starter and potential middle round type draft choice.

The good news for Edmond is he’ll have at least a year to develop. While he has some lofty shoes to fill with Will Johnson on the roster, he’ll at least have an opportunity to learn from and shadow him, while likely seeing some time in the 2024 season.

Early Signing Day: Jo’Ziah Edmond signs with Michigan football

He’s a late riser, but gonna be a baller! #GoBlue

Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 4 165 #14 CB #3
On3 3 252 #26 CB #5
Rivals 4 – #49 CB #7
ESPN 3 – #69 CB #6
247Sports Composite 4 345 #22 CB #6
On3 Consensus 4 235 #23 CB #6

Vitals

Hometown Nappanee (Ind.) Northwood
Projected Position Cornerback
Height 6-foot-1
Weight 180-pounds

Notable offers

Readiness Level

A late addition to the class and a late riser, Edmond is unlikely to see the field in year one with regularity but could work his way into the rotation.

Notes

  • Committed Aug. 1, 2023
  • Selected to the All-American Bowl
  • Previously committed to Purdue

Scouting report

Via 247Sports’ Allen Trieu:

Has verified height, size and length. Has also timed well in the forty and shuttle. Multi-purpose high school player who has played running back, caught the ball well on offense and also playing cornerback and safety. Will likely get a shot first at cornerback in college. Has played man to man in camp settings and shown the physicality, ball skills and competitive nature for the position. Has adequate recovery speed. Will need to continue to work on his hips and change of direction at his size to stick there at a high Power Five level. If he outgrows it, he can easily transition to safety. He runs plays down and has explosive qualities. Solid tackler but not a violent hitter. Versatility and physical upside make him a likely Power Five starter and potential middle round type draft choice.

Film

Original commitment story

Michigan football finally reels in 2024 cornerback with newest commitment

Michigan football finally reels in 2024 cornerback with newest commitment

Merry FLIPmas! #GoBlue

Michigan football went all in on three Ohio-based cornerbacks in the 2024 recruiting cycle and went 0-for-3, losing out on Aaron Scott and Bryce West to Ohio State and Terhyon Nichols to Kentucky.

As a consequence, the Wolverines’ board quickly expanded and they capitalized.

The maize and blue took a look at the options and offered Purdue commitment Jo’Ziah Edmond, a three-star prospect from Nappanee (Indiana) Northwood on Tuesday, and he promptly decommitted from the Boilermakers. It didn’t take much longer for the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder to announce on Tuesday evening that he had flipped from Purdue to Michigan football.

Edmond is a three-star prospect rated by 247Sports as the No. 723 player in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He’s the 65th-best cornerback and No. 8 player in the state of Indiana.

Some key stats from 247Sports:

Played at Indianapolis Warren Central prior to his senior season.
—–
2022: Played all three phases as a junior with extensive snaps in the secondary and multiple skill-position spots.
2021: As a sophomore, logged snaps on both sides of the ball and contributed limited return game reps.
— Gabe Brooks

With Edmond in the fold, the Wolverines have 27 commitments in the 2024 class. He is the second commitment of the day joining 2025 in-state defensive tackle Bobby Kanka.

Edmond has offers from Kentucky, Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Iowa State and Baylor among others.

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