re: Alabama Class of 2014 Recruiting MEGATHREAD (Goodnight sweet Prince)

quote:

---

After a long, hard-fought recruiting war, the University of Michigan has received its verbal pledge from arguably the best recruit in the history of the program; the only other recruit who compares to Da'Shawn in terms of ratings happens to be Jabrill Peppers, who will be putting receivers on an island while Hand makes life a living hell for passers. As many know, Michigan desperately needs an infusion of rare talent, making this commitment even more important than many thought it could be.
Da'Shawn is elite in every facet of the game. He checks in at 6'4", possessing the length needed to keep offensive tackles at bay. He weighs in around 260 pounds yet keeps his body fat to a minimum, looking much more like a linebacker than a defensive lineman in street clothes.
It's obvious why Hand is a unanimous five-star selection when you combine his impressive physique with his abilities on the field. Explosion is crucial at the defensive end position, and Da'Shawn flashes it on every rep he takes. He gets around four-star 2013 OT Alex Redmond with relative ease here:
No, that isn't even close to being Hand's best jump off of the ball, but it also displays the skill that sets him apart from similar defensive ends: strength on the edge. Redmond actually does a decent job of staying in front of Da'Shawn, who turns out to be much too strong for the high school senior (Hand was one of the few juniors selected to attend the camp). Even if Hand doesn't get the edge, he's strong enough to hold a tackle on a line and walk him into the passer, or bully a run blocker into his own ball carrier. He does this on tape again and again.
Violent hands are also crucial when battling blockers, and Hand has some of the strongest paws I've seen in quite some time. His ability to fight blockers off with his hands is something that stems from his brute strength. JC Shurburtt of 247 Sports compares him to a current Ohio State Buckeye:


The 6-foot-5, 254-pounder reminds us a bit of current Ohio State defensive end Noah Spence with the various things that he can do. No pun intended, but it's Hand's hands that set him apart.


Spence is a fantastic player; Hand is a rare player. You would be hard-pressed to find another defensive end prospect who stacks up as well as Hand does from top to bottom. Da'Shawn will dominate tackles in the pass game with his explosiveness and can move further inside to plug the run with his legs and violent hands; young defensive ends capable of dominating both the run and pass are few and far between.
Off of the football field, Hand is a leader in the classroom and aspires to build his own stadium. He'll study sport management at Michigan, which could one day lead to him owning a team and the money needed to put a stadium up for it.


The academics at Michigan that could lead to Hand owning his own team are the reason why he chose Michigan. Virginia Tech looked like the heavy favorite when recruiting picked up for the young phenom, but the Hokies' lead slipped away as time went on, eventually leading to him naming an unordered top three of Alabama, Florida and Michigan.


It was clear that Da'Shawn favored Michigan not long after he named his top three. An initial visit to Michigan's campus went extremely well, allowing him to bond with Greg Mattison and Brady Hoke – the two were part of Hand's favorite coaching staff, as stated by himself a multitude of times. That lead grew as weeks and months passed, leaving many analysts to believe that Hand was a lock to end up in Ann Arbor.
And then Nick Saban happened. The Alabama Crimson Tide football staff went to work on Hand leading up to his recent official visit, softening the lead before he reached campus. The visit went well:
Michigan's lead looked to be melting away, much like the apparent lead Virginia Tech held earlier on in the recruiting war. A visit to Florida went well but seemed to be too little and too late, as Hand hadn't seen the Florida campus before the visit and was deciding only days after it. This would come down to Michigan and Alabama.
After a few nervous days that saw Michigan's fan base break down in nervous tears, Hand chose the Wolverines. Nick Saban's offer of coaching and a near guaranteed spot in the National Football League was trumped by Brady Hoke's offer of coaching from Greg Mattison, paired with one of the best sport management degrees in world.
Michigan fans can breathe a bit easier now that Hand is on board. Outside of horrific interior offensive line play, the team's biggest weakness is its lacks of consistent pass rush on defense. Da'Shawn will help turn that weakness into a strength as his career at Michigan moves forward, which should lead to more victories.

---