Wolverine247 Board

Yes.

Harris....by far. Michigan has recruited much better at DL than WR the last few years. Additionally, Michigan has elite DL coaches who have a proven track record of being able to develop talent. Hecklinski may also be a great coach, but he has not yet proven that.

I also think Harris is a better prospect than McDowell. Both are very good, of course, but Harris seems more like a can't-miss type to me.

100% this ^^^^^ I think Harris is most important recruit in this class. Our defense is good without having Hoke caliber players. Now we will start seeing the talent he has recruited on the field. We also have recruited Dline really well in the last two classes. WR recruiting has been suspect besides Darboh.

I'd definitely say McDowell.

I think people look at the WR recruiting recently and still look too hard at the rankings. This team is being built to run the ball successfully, which will open up a lot of things down the field for receivers. I still think Harris is very important though. Very important.

Teams that win national championships have not only skilled, but deep defensive lines. Michigan has struggled to get to the quarterback for years and need game-changers on the ends. McDowell is capable of being one of those guys.

Too close to call. But if I had to pick, I always pick DL over WR.

I disagree with the majority of you, I think McDowell is more important. We have recruited well on the defensive line but as people have already pointed out elsewhere, we lack an elite edge rusher. Ojemudia is great but he is small. With McDowell we get this and turn a good defensive line situation into an elite one. I know that the competition can be called into question as well but McDowell has the physical tools alone to become elite regardless of competition.

Harris is an elite wr like we have lacked over recent years but it is my opinion that we can get by on the "sleepers", that I personally think will work out. On top of this we have tight ends that are set to become great pass catchers.

As much as rankings should be ignored, they matter in terms of the control over the state of Michigan. It is ideal to lock up the 1 and the 2/3 but it is important to get number 1.

If they were equal talents then I would say McDowell. Defense and especially defensive lineman are so important. However that being said it is Drake Harris all the way for me. Drake is a special talent, and I personally think McDowell is overrated. McDowell needs to learn how to take over games for a kid with his size/speed combo. He should be absolutely dominating playing D6 football, but he doesn't.

McDowell, not even close.

It's not nearly as hard to find 6-2 to 6-4 guys that can run and jump (see: a basketball court) as it is to find 6-6/6-7 guys built to carry 300 pounds that can run and cut like a 240 pound human (see: Jason Pierre Paul).

I think one of our 4 or 5 recent 6-2 to 6-4 WR recruits has a much better chance at developing into a top WR than one of our dlineman turning into freak of nature.

That said, both are hugely important. And obviously McDowell is a less important if we get someone like Hand onboard.

300 lb, very athletic high school DL are rare and most of them seem to grow up in SEC country. This one is in our own backyard. Must have.

McDowell, and I agree it is not even close. If you look at what the main difference is between the BIG and SEC, the vast majority of talent disparity is with the defense. There is a reason why the last several years the top player in the country is a Defensive End. I think Mone is going to be the one who is truly special IMO, but picking up McDowell and potentially Hand and Lawrence is where you build a team.

To be truly elite, Michigan needs to get the top Dlineman as well, it can cover many sins to include pass coverage issues if you can rush 3 or 4 lineman and still get to the QB. It makes the use of blitzing so much more an opportunity vs. a go-to and can really impact the games against top competition.

Though it was a camp setting, McDowell ran havoc on top OL last yr at Nike camps and the big men camp, particularly Elmer.

I don't know how you can say someone is dominating and then use 56 seconds of highlights from one game as a point of reference. Did you watch the state championship game? You can tell the kid has special size and speed for a dlinemen. He also has great hands for a high school kid already. However he tries standing up on every play and rushing the passer even in obvious run downs. Tries pulling way too many spin and rip moves rather then getting his hands on the olinemen and driving them into the point of the play. He also doesn't play with any leverage. For his size and speed he should be able to dominate kids. Don't get me wrong I would be very happy to land Malik, I just don't think he is a better prospect then Harris. Imo i also think Mone is a better prospect, and I thought that long before Mone committed to Mich. I would be very happy to land Malik, just my two cents on why I think he is an overrated prospect if you are looking at national rankings.