College Football: Top 50 players for 2017

When asked about sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary, Michigan Defensive Coordinator Don Brown could not have given a more glowing review. “Best I’ve ever seen”, said Brown, “Best I’ve ever seen combining speed, strength, change of direction, and the mental curve. He’s unbelievable. The sky is the limit. The good thing is I think he understands that there’s a lot on his shoulders.”

That’s a ton of praise for someone with less than one career collegiate sack to his name. But it’s not his fault he was slotted into the depth chart behind first round pick Taco Charlton.

Gary was the No.1 overall recruit in the 2016 recruiting class. He had his choice of every school in the country and picked the maize and blue. He stands an impressive 6-foot-5, 287 pounds and can move so quickly for a big man that it’s down right freaky. His stature and his reputation have landed him on almost every preseason Big Ten team.

It’s hard to be anything but optimistic about a blue chip recruit sliding into a starting spot on a defense that ranked second in the nation in 2016. Head coach Jim Harbaugh has transferred the suffocating defenses of his early 2000’s Florida teams to the North. Gary is just the latest installment in a long line of Harbaugh goons that is going to crush the opposing quarterback.