Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

Early signing day is today, and some NLIs are already rolling in. Those committed so far:

Owen Bainbridge - QB, Stow, OH (he'll be an early enrollee)
Jalen Holly - WR - River Rouge, MI (cousin of Deaudre Perry)
Joseph Sipp Jr. - LB - Tampa, FL
Braxton Todd - RB - Martinsburg, WV

Davonte Miles, a 3-star DL from River Rouge, MI, has signed today. He wasn’t previously listed in our class.

Miles had offers from Michigan, Indiana, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kentucky, Miami (OH), Michigan State, Pitt, Minnesota, Syracuse, Toledo, West Virginia, Western Michigan, and Akron.

His .8519 rating would make him the 6th best commit in school history, and the best in this class.

GREAT add.

Canaan Williams, a CB from Maryland (announced as an outside LB) has signed with BG. He’s another that was not listed on 247 as a commit.

mbenecke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:24 am Canaan Williams, a CB from Maryland (announced as an outside LB) has signed with BG. He’s another that was not listed on 247 as a commit.

Canaan wasn’t listed but has been committed for a while. Davonte is definitely a surprise. Looks like he was a Michigan commit who planned to enroll early last year but things didn’t line up academically and his recruiting had to reset, which resulted in mostly MAC offers along with Indiana.

mbenecke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:24 am Canaan Williams, a CB from Maryland (announced as an outside LB) has signed with BG. He’s another that was not listed on 247 as a commit.

Williams will be an early-enrollee as well.

Darius Lorfils, 6'2" CB from Germantown, MD is in. 2-star recruit who committed in June.

Repeating a little of what Benecke said over on the recruiting thread, but Joseph Sipp Jr. was another pleasant surprise for today. He was committed to Colorado State up until this weekend and had offers from most of the MAC, Liberty, and USF. He's a 3-star LB who had 122 tackles, 14 TFLs, 3 sacks, and two interceptions as a junior.

Punter, Sami Sir, out of Melbourne, Australia is signed. Looks to be a 26 year old freshman who previously worked as an airport security officer for several years. Could see him being the punter right out of the gate. Physically mature, and the Australian kicking style is usually pretty effective.

Australia...I wonder if Sami knows Alissa Brett from the women's hoops team

We need to get some OL in today...I would think.

Sipp and Miles are nice surprises....I tend to be a little leery of late adds from guys with prior commitments. Saw that a lot with Brandon here and Amstutz at UT. Make a big splash with guys who never actually make it here in the fall

BillyLP wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:05 am Punter, Sami Sir, out of Melbourne, Australia is signed. Looks to be a 26 year old freshman who previously worked as an airport security officer for several years. Could see him being the punter right out of the gate. Physically mature, and the Australian kicking style is usually pretty effective.

G'day mate.

Flipper wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:11 am Australia...I wonder if Sami knows Alissa Brett from the women's hoops team

We need to get some OL in today...I would think.

Sipp and Miles are nice surprises....I tend to be a little leery of late adds from guys with prior commitments. Saw that a lot with Brandon here and Amstutz at UT. Make a big splash with guys who never actually make it here in the fall

You would hope they would grab at least one HS O Lineman. There have to be some good prospects left hanging out there with no take offers, due to the portal. Maybe between now and Feb?

Quick thoughts on some of the signees after watching highlights. It is very likely I'm wrong on all of these, but it's still fun to speculate.

Jalen Holly - Great speed, solid route running and shiftiness. I can't see him breaking through as a WR as a true freshman. I imagine he will either be redshirted or I could also see him returning kicks.

Owen Bainbridge - Ideal size and above average arm strength. He moves well in the pocket for his age, but throws into traffic a lot. He also needs to put on about 20-30 pounds of muscle for durability. I think he's probably a solid two years away from seeing the field, but the tools are there to be a great QB.

Joseph Sipp - This guy could be a steal. Great nose for the ball, very sound tackler, really good hands and speedy. I'm surprised that he's listed as a LB at his size. I see him fitting in more as a strong safety. I think he will make it onto the field next fall. Clear natural talent.

Braxton Todd - He reminds me of a taller, slower Terion Stewart. Kind of runs like a bowling ball and is very hard to bring down, but doesn't have breakaway speed. I think he could be a very effective short down back, but I don't see him playing significant time for at least a year.

Davonte Miles - This kid is very big and very strong. I think he still needs to add a bit more muscle and quickness to be a force, but he has some really good pass-rushing skills and seems to be a good tackler. He won't be a starter as a true freshman, but I could see him getting some good playing time.

Jaylen Jennings - Breakaway speed, great vision, good hands. I think he will be a great receiving back right away, and really has the tools to make an impact from the jump. I could also see him being a kick returner. I like his upside a bit more as an RB than Todd, but hard to tell without a couple of years of college conditioning under their belts. Also a 4.0 student, which is never a bad thing.

Canaan Williams - Big, strong, and fast. I'm not sure if he was playing smaller high schools but he seemed to be a man among boys in most of his highlights. Hard hitter, good nose for the ball. I think he will probably need to work on tackling, as he relies a lot on the big hit, which won't work as often in college. Listed as an OLB but seems to have the skillset to be an MLB so I could see that move taking place. Excited to see him play.

Darius Lorfils - good hands and speed, great tackler and gives a ton of effort on the field. Also at 6'2", that's pretty coveted size for a DB. Looks like he tends to go for the big play pretty often, which could result in him getting burned a few times. With the current DB room, I could see him redshirting this season.

John Griffith and Jameel Gardner are a couple names to look for. Griffith officially committed last week, Gardner has been a commit since the summer. Both 3-stars.

None of the recruiting sites show BG having any OLs as high school commits. Might change if things in the portal don't work out.

Also waiting on Markim McKinnie, ATH, who committed last week.

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:57 am John Griffith and Jameel Gardner are a couple names to look for. Griffith officially committed last week, Gardner has been a commit since the summer. Both 3-stars.

None of the recruiting sites show BG having any OLs as high school commits. Might change if things in the portal don't work out.

Yeah, Gardner and Griffith were two of our top guys (on paper) from this class, along with McKinnie, and all remained unsigned at this point. Hopefully that changes for us soon.