Hello, My Name Is: Michael Dennis

Michigan State picked up its second offensive line commitment in a 7-hour period yesterday with the addition of Carey, Ohio native Michael Dennis.

ANALYST RANKINGS
What to write…what to write…Rivals and Scout are yet to evaluate Dennis. His offer list and camp performances would indicate a 3 star ranking is likely.

ScoutingOhio ranks him the #52 prospect in the state of Ohio, which initially sounds rather underwhelming, until you look at the talented players ranked below him. ESPN mostly babbles on about how good of a defensive lineman he could be, despite the fact that he will most certainly never play a down on that side of the ball. But there are a couple of points…

His size and athleticism are what we like to see for the tackle position at the major level of competition. Has the blend of great size and footwork needed to develop into an effective pass blocker with polish.

COMPETITION
Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, NC State, Iowa State, and others. There is speculation that Dennis was very close to receiving an Ohio State offer.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
Most recently been listed at 6-7/270. That’s a nice frame, right? To turn into a mauling run blocker? Maybe so, but a reported 32 inch vertical separates him from the big, slow, clumsy offensive linemen stereotype.

Dennis is a track runner and a career 1,000-point scorer on the basketball court, further proof of his athleticism.

MEDIA & LINKAGE
It looks like old reliable ScoutingOhio is the one site with film of Dennis…

Ohio State analyst Duane Long faults Jim Tressel for not recruiting Dennis harder…

Michael Dennis was brought back for another outing at camp. Still no offer. I think those 2 have separated themselves from the rest of the Ohio crop but it is not doing them any good right now.

His hometown paper confirmed the commitment…

“In college, he’s going to be asked to pass block a little more but he certainly knows all about run blocking by now,” said Carey head football coach Todd Worst. “He’s just a great kid. He doesn’t thrive on the attention he receives, he gets his enjoyment out of seeing the team win. He’s really quiet and he’s not the type of kid who’s going to scream or complain.”

WWHMASI:
(When will he make a significant impact?) “Offensive linemen need to redshirt”, lather, rinse, and repeat.

WACRFWTK:
(What a common recruiting follower wants to know) Michigan State needs offensive linemen, and this is another solid building block. I’m not going to keep repeating the same sentiment from the Travis Jackson post every time Michigan State gets another offensive line commitment.

A good addition. The last three offensive line classes contain just one player under 6-4, and that player is no longer with the team. When you think about depth at this spot in a few years, it’s pretty impressive.

LT: David Barrent (6-8/305), John Deyo (6-6/295), Michael Dennis (6-7/270)
LG: Ethan Ruhland (6-6/287), Travis Jackson (6-4/270)
OC: Nate Klatt (6-4/290)
RG: Chris McDonald (6-5/285), Micajah Reynolds (6-5/310)
RT: Zach Hueter (6-7/328), Henry Conway (6-7/310)

Keep in mind the time every single one of them has to develop physically.