Michigan Nets Consummate Prospect In Linebacker Tyler McLaurin

Over the weekend, Michigan snagged its second 2021 recruit from the Chicago area when Bolingbrook (Ill.) High three-star Tyler McLaurin committed to U-M.

“He’s got all the tools,” Bolingbrook head coach John Ivlow said.

Coming from a school like Bolingbrook that has a track record of producing high level athletes, Ivlow’s assessment goes a long way.

At 6-3 and 215 pounds, McLaurin offers quite a bit of versatility, more so than an average prospect. This season, McLaurin will line up as a middle linebacker, but 247Sports.com has the highly touted prospect listed as an outside linebacker.

And if push comes to shove, McLaurin could even develop into a defensive end when he arrives at Michigan due to his physical makeup. This positional flexibility plays right into U-M defensive coordinator Don Brown’s wheelhouse.

“First of all, you’re going to see as a prospect that he has a high ceiling because he is tall,” Ivlow said. “He’s long. Some people have looked at him as a [defensive] end even. He’s 6-3, and when he’s on the basketball court with those fancy shoes he looks 6-4. These coaches come and watch him play basketball or practice, and they think he looks taller than 6-3.”

For a player that size, McLaurin moves well in space and breaks quickly on the ball in pass coverage. When asked to provide run support, McLaurin stuffs the hole quickly as well, so he provides a great deal of versatility.

“He understands the defense,” Ivlow said. “He understands offenses. He knows where the hole is going to be, and usually he does an excellent job of anticipating too. He usually guesses right when he guesses, so he’s got a good nose for the ball and he understands football period. He understands exactly what people are trying to do with film study and stuff like that. He’s special.”

At Bolingbrook, McLaurin’s father is the defensive coordinator for the school’s sophomore football team, so he has grown up in a football family. This upbringing has helped mold McLaurin into a football-savvy player that breaks down tape and translates that knowledge directly onto the football field.

“The first thing you’re going to see is if you know football, he’s a very smart and instinctual player. He knows exactly what people are trying to do, how they’re trying to exploit the defense. He makes them pay by hitting those windows.”

As a student of the game, McLaurin studies playbooks just as much as he studies textbooks, and he is a true student athlete according to Coach Ivlow.

“He’s all about his academics,” Ivlow said. “That is just as important as football when he is looking for a school, the academic portion of it too. He’s got over a 3.7 GPA. He’s just a joy. Very humble, quiet, but on the field he’s different.”

Ivlow recalled several occasions where McLaurin, usually a quiet individual, bursts out in a pre-game battle cry to help raise the intensity level and pump up his teammates. In a sense, McLaurin provides whatever the moment calls for on or off the field.

If an offense is set up to run the ball inside, he will look to blow the play up in the backfield. If a team is spread out in a passing set, his coverage skills also come in handy. And if his team needs a dose of energy before a game, he can fill that role as well.

As for this fall, Ivlow knows what role McLaurin will play.

“We’ll stick him right in the middle,” McLaurin said. “We’ll keep him covered and let him do what he does best— make tackles.”

Click here for a link to McLaurin’s junior highlight tape.

Michigan now has the No. 8 class in the country with McLaurin in the fold. Where would you line up the talented prospect in college— at linebacker or defensive end? If linebacker, would you use him on the inside or outside? Let us know!