Don't Let The Three-Star Rating Fool You, Deyvid Palepale Is A Baller

Michigan's most recent pledge, Deyvid Palepale, appears to be much better on paper and on film than his three-star rating suggests.

Yesterday evening, Lancaster (Pa.) Manheim Township defensive tackle Deyvid Palepale flipped his commitment from USC to Michigan after being a Trojan for more than five months.

Originally from Alaska, Palepale, who happens to be Penei Sewell's cousin, has been really opening eyes over the last year. At 6-3, 305 pounds, he moves and bends like someone much smaller, reminiscent of his Detroit Lion cousin. 

Palepale is a consensus three-star prospect, but that seems far too low when you watch him on tape and consider who wanted him. 

First off, he's north of 300 pounds, yet still plays on the edge at times for his high school team. He has an uncanny ability to get extremely low and use elite flexibility in order to bend the corner and put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. He runs well in space and springs up like a cat whenever he's on the ground. All of those traits are special when it comes to defensive tackles. 

As for his offer list, it's more than 25 schools long and has a lot of college football's big boys on it. Obviously he was committed to USC for a long time before flipping to Michigan, but Palepale also had offers from Penn State, Auburn, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin in hand, among others. Flipping him away from the Trojans is a big deal for Michigan and will give Jim Harbaugh and Mike Elston a very athletic, versatile piece to work with.