College Football Recruiting: Texas 4* WR J.Michael Sturdivant announces commitment to Bears
Half Keenan Allen, half Marvin Jones
For months, J.Michael Sturdivant has been considered one of the Bears’ top priorities of the 2021 class. Today, the 6-2, 183 lb wide receiver from Flower Mound, Texas, has committed to California. Receivers coach Burl Toler III deserves a spa day for this one.
The Bears fought off recruiters from Stanfurd, LSU, Oklahoma, UCLA, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida State, Notre Dame, and many others to snag Sturdivant for the 2021 class.
Sturdivant is a consensus 4* recruit and rated as the 149th national prospect by 247Sports’ Composite rating. Recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks believes Sturdivant has all-conference potential and projects him as a 4th-7th round NFL Draft pick.
Last year at Marcus High, Sturdivant caught 87 passes for 1,125 yards and 10 touchdowns. In his sophomore year, he attended Blue Valley Northwest High in Kansas. There, he ran the 100M (11.27) and 200M (22.30) for track and field.
On most plays in his recent highlight reel, he either catches screens or runs a deep vertical route.
Sturdivant is the Bears’ ninth recruit of the 2021 class and the second wide receiver. Mavin Anderson, from Mission Viejo, committed in February.
You can watch his highlight reel on Hudl here.
Welcome to Berkeley, J.Michael! GO BEARS!
J. Michael Sturdivant
Marcus HS – Flower Mound TX
4 star WR
6-2/185 lbs
J-Mike had a whopping 32 Power-5 offers, including LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, ‘furd, and Michigan. Depending on the source, he’s a top 100 US recruit and top 20 state of Texas recruit.
He had an official 4.67 40-yd dash (meh speed) at The Opening in April 2019 and self-reported 4.31 shuttle (okay quickness) and 34” vertical (good). When you watch his tape, you can tell he’s not a burner. Why is everyone so gaga over him?
First, he’s getting great stats in his division, which is one of the better divisions in Texas. First team as a junior, which can tell you that he is a top achiever against good competition already.
Check out his highlight tape:
(https://www.hudl.com/video/3/9493450/5d740988bd6bc605887f2e06
On it, you’ll see J-Mike’s relatively slow footwork. Slow enough where you’re wondering if he’s running full speed or not. And then he blows past his man and weaves past everyone. Woah. Let’s watch that tape again. Hold up. What did I just watch? He’s got fantastic change of pace.. He lulls you to sleep with his slow pace but is able to accelerate through adding power rather than faster footfall, resulting in a butter-smooth stride. I am in love with his stride.
And lots of balls thrown on fades. Oh… that ball is overthrown. You see J-Mike track, accelerate, and he grabs it. In a world where cut + acceleration + height + reach = the size of a receiver window, J-Mike is blessed on the last three elements. He makes impossible window for mere mortals into doable receptions for 30 yards. And he also tracks a ball well with good body control to twist for passes behind him. Ungh… when was the last time we had a 6’3” outside WR who could do those sorts of things. I long for the day that we can beat ‘furd with their own style of weapon and he is it.
He got some wiggle in him after in the open field. Good balance and demonstrates he can break a tackle, so he’s a threat for some YAC. His bread and butter routes are top-of-the-tree routes.
Some upside includes his footwork and route running. I mean, he showed one very good out route in the reel, but I want to see more where he can show the complete toolkit of footwork to get open in the Pac-12. Unlike other recruits where I am thinking that he’ll be good **if** he learns required skills, I am thinking he’ll be good regardless, but may be unstoppable if his underneath routes are developed. His other stuff is that good.
He reminds me of Maurice Harris – tall, skinny, acrobatic rather than fast, and the guy who becomes WR1 when you get within the red zone. How long has it been since we’ve had a WR when you leaned forward in your seat in the red zone rather than sat back and negotiated with the gods for a miracle?
You know what I predict? [**Tightwad Hill Cannon fires**]
Future Power Rankings just got a bit more fun to write.