Photo Credit: Dale Zanine/GwinnettPrepSports

New Michigan Man: CB Jalen Perry Commits to Michigan

Posted onAuthorGarrett Fishaw

Michigan and Georgia have grown a connection since Jim Harbaugh came back in Ann Arbor. Plenty of recruiting battles between the two programs and plenty of signings for the Wolverines out of Georgia. And the staff just landed another Peach State standout and former Bulldogs commit as 2019 Dacula (GA) CB Jalen Perry has committed to Michigan during his second visit of the season.

Commitment 

Scouting Report 

Perry is a stud defensive back. He has the height, size, and athleticism to play all over the secondary but cornerback looks to be his bread and butter. He shows the ability to cover, flip his hips and run, ball hawk and come up to support the run. He’s long and rangy which will allow him to match up with larger receivers and even tight ends in the slot. Though he doesn’t play a ton of press coverage for his high school, he shouldn’t have much of an issue getting physical at the line for the maize and blue.

There should be a chance for him to play early in Ann Arbor. If he takes to the coaching and learns the scheme, he could be in the two-deep quickly and should have a nice career for the Wolverines. Not like there hasn’t been a star at Michigan named Jalen in the past.

Recruitment 

As a four-star recruit out of Georgia, playing for the Bulldogs looked like a foregone conclusion. And that looked set to happen after Perry committed to Georgia in October of 2017, even after receiving offers and visiting some of the biggest and best programs in the country. That was the type of momentum UGA had on the recruiting trail.

Michigan first threw its hat into the ring here with an offer four months after he pledged to the Bulldogs. But that has cooled a bit after some decommitments, including Perry’s almost exactly a year after his original commitment. That’s when Mike Zordich and the staff really pounced.

South Carolina was the team most believed Perry would end up at following the decommitment but a strong push from the Michigan staff got him on campus for an official visit for the mid-October game against Penn State. It was just two weeks after his decommitment and clearly wowed him as he made a return visit for the home finale vs Indiana on his own dime. That, along with a hint from Giles Jackson, started to put the writing on the wall that something more was coming.

Perry committed to Michigan just a day after his unofficial visit, becoming the 2nd stud cornerback commitment out of Georgia for Michigan in the 2019 class (DJ Turner; those two will also join Myles Sims, 2018 signee out of GA, in the cornerback room) and the five stud gets in total out of the Peach State in this class (Chris Hinton, Trente Jones, Charles Thomas), and still has another in LB Kalen DeLoach left on the board.

  • Height: 6’1”
  • Weight: 190lbs
  • Hometown (School): Dacula, GA (Dacula)
  • Notable Offers: Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Stanford
  • Rankings: Rivals (4*, #115 overall) – 247Sports (4*, #254 overall) – ESPN (4*, #240 overall)
  • Composite Ranking: Four-star, #171 Overall, #19 CB, #22 in Georgia

Highlights

As for the Rest of the Class 

Perry is the 26th overall commitment, the second pure cornerback commit, and the fifth commit out of Georgia. There’s plenty more expected though as the coaching staff is pushing to finish this class off in style with DE Zach Harrison, DE George Karlaftis, ATH Quavaris Crouch, LB Kalen DeLoach, and OT Trevor Keegan. It’ll be a finish to watch closely. While I believe Michigan could win each of those recruitments, odds are 1-2 of them end up elsewhere.

Photo Credit: Dale Zanine/GwinnettPrepSports

Garrett Fishaw
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