Now With Information!
After the Spring Game yesterday, running back Stephen Hopkins of Flower Mound, Texas and Marcus High School, committed to Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan football program. Hopkins is the team’s 8th commit in the class of 2010, and measures in at 6-0, 220lbs with a 40-yard dash time of 4.6.
Recruiting Notes
Hopkins came to the attention of Michigan fans in early March, when the Michigan coaches seemingly went around offering every talented big back they could get their hands on, including such prospects as Dietrich Riley, Mack Brown, and of course Hopkins. He said all the right things to the Michigan recruiting sites over the course of his recruitment, indicating that the Wolverines were squarely in the thick of his recruitment, if not leading for his services at all times. He made plans to visit for the Michigan Spring Game, and when he reached Ann Arbor, he was blown away by the atmosphere (I reckon it was the MGoFiasco that sent him over the edge), and committed to Coach Rod after the game. It is unclear if the staff is in the market for another big back in the class, though they’d likely take a super like Marcus Lattimore if the opportunity arose.
Player Notes
As mentioned above, Hopkins is a big back, who runs with power between the tackles, but also has goods speed to run past defenders. He is cut from a similar mold as Brandon Minor, and with his high school’s Scarlet-and-Gray uniforms, his video even looks a bit like Beanie Wells. He runs through defenders, and is rarely brought down by the first guy. On top of his physical attributes, he also shows good vision in his highlight video (imagine that!), not hesitating to use a cutback lane if his first read isn’t available. He shows good balance, though not elite. His high school team seems to run primarily from the I-set, so he may need a year of learning to play in the spread. His junior year, he ran 275 times for 1689 yards (6.14 ypc) and 22 touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 81s yards (7.36 ypc). The leading receiver on his team is a TE named “Rhett Butler,” which is very humorous.
Video
Posted under Football, Recruiting
Tags: 2010, commitments, stephen hopkins
Flower Mound, TX is also where 2009 hockey recruit Chris Brown hails from.
this guy looks solid (yay, highlights, yay!), any idea how many stars he’s expected to get from major recruiting sites? it seems he’s nr at the moment.
NR merely means he’s not in the top 200 (at least, not now) – not an indication of how many stars he’ll get (well, it’s an indicator he’s not a five-star).
Tim – what’s the level of competition like where he ocmes from? Is this super-big-time TX football, or a smaller school?
He’ll probably end up a mid-four star or very high three. He plays in 5A, which is the biggest (or second biggest?) distinction in Texas. His team played in Texas Stadium, which makes it seem like the State Finals, but it appears they actually got bumped out in the first round of the playoffs.
Regardless, 6.1 YPC against the best competition in Texas is serious business.
FM Marcus is BIG TIME Texas football (5A Division 1)
Hopkins is our 8th recruit, not our 7th.
I don’t know why, but I love me some big backs. This kind of thing makes me feel better about all the little quarkbacks we’ve been recruiting lately. Not that I dislike the quarkbacks (hell, I like anything that will help Michigan win consistently), but I want to see someone get trucked once in a while.
I saw way more than 2 td’s there. I know, stating the obvious, but that stat scared me when I read it.
Hopkins offer list isn’t all that despite his good measureables, good 40 time, strong level of competition, and solid junior year stats. Any reason why alot of big time schools (LSU, TX, etc…) weren’t high on him?
I hope this doesn’t (and it shouldn’t) deter a player like Lattimore from deciding to come here…
West Texas, this is a pretty good year for big backs, so I assume he was just a bit down the list for some of the top schools. Texas already has a bigger back, LSU isn’t really in the market for one this year, etc.
re: Touchdowns. It says 22…?
this kid’s offensive line is awesome. Half those TDs are running straight through some nice holes. That being said when there’s contact he laid a few kids out.
Looks like Coach Rod is picking up the scraps that LSU, UT and OU don’t want (ie Drake, Hopkins). Hopefully it’ll pan out. Both their highlights are mildly impressive, but certainly not garnering of top honors. I think RR is gambling that since these kids play elite competition, they must be good. I’m still bewildered by how early they offered Drake, a backup running back to a low 3-star Iowa State commit.
RR and staff obviously know something I don’t. I just try and keep in mind that this is the staff that unearthed low 3-star Steve Slaton out of Bumblefuck, PA, who is now playing on Sundays.
Drake is a slot guy, and plays one in an offense that is nearly identical to ours. Hopkins is more of just a straight-up RB, whereas Drake is more of a slot guy.
We still might land a Mack Borwn-type back. Let’s see how this all plays out.
He seems to be more of a standup RB than a low behind the pads guy. Maybe one of the resident experts can comment on his style?
His high school has terrible uniforms.
I wouldn’t exactly say Mack Brown is a big back. He’s listed at 5’11” and 185 lbs., which is the same size as McGuffie was listed.
Hopkins is actually going into his senior year this year, he has not had a senior year, as it states in the article…
i’ve been to every game he’s played at the varsity level, and he is the real deal, averages over a hundred yards a game against big time texas football i.e. southlake carroll (best team in the nation for a while) is in the same district as marcus. he comes up with big plays in clutch situations, and i’m definitely looking forward to seeing him in the beautiful maize and blue