*** I woke up at 4 a.m, today and made the drive out to Detroit in large part to get an updated look at four-star Michigan wide receiver commit Tay'Shawn Trent as well as hang out with Will Johnson and Dillon Tatum. I'll have more recruiting scoop tomorrow. Right now, let's hone in on Trent. This was my fourth time seeing Trent live. I saw him at a camp and at practice last summer and in a game back in October. Obviously, it's been a while since the fall, so I wanted to make sure to reassess my initial evaluations, especially since Trent is being recruited as a wide receiver, and I like him more on the defensive side of the ball as an edge rusher or linebacker. After seeing him today in club 7v7, I still feel like Trent is a big, intriguing, athletic prospect that offers position flexibility. A lot of what happens with Trent will depend on development at Michigan.
*** As a pure wide receiver, Trent is at his best in the red zone. He scored on several occasions today, whether it was running standard fades that saw him win 50/50 jump balls or quick outs to the front pylon. Trent is a plus basketball player and can out-leap opposing defensive backs with ease. He also has excellent body control. Trent is still raw from a technical standpoint, but he is slowly improving as a route runner. Still, Trent can add more to his short-intermediate game. A lot of his routes were go's and deeper posts. Trent used a variety of different releases, which I had not seen from him in the past. At the very least, you can tell that Trent is putting in the work to stay on the offensive side of the ball at the next level.
*** Of course, there is the question of speed. Track times aren't everything, but they are an important piece to the evaluation process, especially when the school you cover is recruiting for a 'speed in space' offense. While Trent would serve as more of a big body wide out, his 100m times are very concerning. As investigative Fort members have pointed out, Trent ran in the 12s this track season, which is, well, not great. Trent knows he has to get faster and even admitted that speed is the biggest thing he's working on this offseason. Trent does have deceptive speed on the field, but those numbers really worry me — even as a potential flex end.
*** Again, I still feel like Trent's biggest upside is on the defensive side of the ball. He's lost some weight while playing basketball and running track, but he normally plays around 215 pounds. At about 6-foot-3, Trent has the frame to easily carry another 25-30 pounds and be a monster edge rusher or linebacker. This isn't just some farfetched idea based on his athletic profile. Keep in mind that Trent actually starts at linebacker for his high school team. It was actually Eastpointe head coach Al Demps that planted the linebacker seed in my mind, and it's only grown the more I've seen Trent over the last year. Again, he can stick on offense, but the ceiling on defense would be tough for me to pass on if I were Michigan.
*** As a pure wide receiver, Trent is at his best in the red zone. He scored on several occasions today, whether it was running standard fades that saw him win 50/50 jump balls or quick outs to the front pylon. Trent is a plus basketball player and can out-leap opposing defensive backs with ease. He also has excellent body control. Trent is still raw from a technical standpoint, but he is slowly improving as a route runner. Still, Trent can add more to his short-intermediate game. A lot of his routes were go's and deeper posts. Trent used a variety of different releases, which I had not seen from him in the past. At the very least, you can tell that Trent is putting in the work to stay on the offensive side of the ball at the next level.
*** Of course, there is the question of speed. Track times aren't everything, but they are an important piece to the evaluation process, especially when the school you cover is recruiting for a 'speed in space' offense. While Trent would serve as more of a big body wide out, his 100m times are very concerning. As investigative Fort members have pointed out, Trent ran in the 12s this track season, which is, well, not great. Trent knows he has to get faster and even admitted that speed is the biggest thing he's working on this offseason. Trent does have deceptive speed on the field, but those numbers really worry me — even as a potential flex end.
*** Again, I still feel like Trent's biggest upside is on the defensive side of the ball. He's lost some weight while playing basketball and running track, but he normally plays around 215 pounds. At about 6-foot-3, Trent has the frame to easily carry another 25-30 pounds and be a monster edge rusher or linebacker. This isn't just some farfetched idea based on his athletic profile. Keep in mind that Trent actually starts at linebacker for his high school team. It was actually Eastpointe head coach Al Demps that planted the linebacker seed in my mind, and it's only grown the more I've seen Trent over the last year. Again, he can stick on offense, but the ceiling on defense would be tough for me to pass on if I were Michigan.
