We've got a couple Hellos to plow through after this past weekend saw Michigan land a couple commitments. The first of which is Illinois WR I'Marion Stewart, who shut his commitment down after many months of having the Wolverines as his clear favorite. Stewart is now the second WR in Michigan's 2024 recruiting class, as the program continues to round out the offensive side of the ball in this class. 

GURU RATINGS

Stewart is a 3* to three of the four major scouting outfits, Rivals being the outlier on the high side. There is some thought that Stewart may be a riser over his senior season now that he has transferred to Kenwood Academy, but we shall see about that. Regardless, he's a classic recruit caught between being a 3.5* and true 4* status, outside the top 300, but not too far out. The measurements are pretty consistent, 6'1" the most generous listing though based on the scouting reports, I'd think 6'0" is closer to the truth. 180 is a decent consensus for where Stewart's weight is at this time. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Roman Wilson? Or Ronnie Bell?]

SCOUTING 

Scouting on Stewart comes from a few different sources, though I was a bit surprised that there wasn't a ton of insight given how long Michigan has been after him. As usual, we'll go to On3's EJ Holland for a short overarching blurb about I'Marion Stewart ($): 

While he doesn’t have verified times, Stewart has looked plenty fast and explosive on the club 7v7 circuit this offseason. He is a polished route runner that can do damage out of the slot and has enough juice to line up outside and get vertical/make plays after the catch. 

Alright. Speed and YAC ability, largely out of the slot but perhaps outside. Got a comp. for us?

I’ve likened him to Emmanuel Sanders, who I covered at SMU. Sanders has a similar skillset and has had his moments in the NFL after an amazing collegiate career.

Emmanuel Sanders was listed at 5'11", 180 in the NFL, which is definitely the same size ballpark we're looking at here with Stewart. EJ also reports that Stewart has bulked up: 

Stewart is listed at 6-foot, 177 pounds but has bulked up to 185 pounds. He was very skinny as an underclassmen but has filled out so well in both his upper and lower halves. Stewart looks like a man heading into his senior season

Mike Farrell gave some scouting on Stewart in a piece looking at then-uncommitted prospects in the 2024 class back in November 2022. On Stewart, Farrell also talked about the athletic profile with Stewart:

Solid height and adequate weight in a sturdy frame with good strength, foot speed and agility. Good initial quickness off the snap and very good acceleration on release against off coverage. Eats the ground in a hurry and stresses the set with good knowledge of when to stem routes thanks to his solid processing. Good release against the press, shows good agility and balance to evade contact at the line

Don't worry, there's a blurb about YAC too: 

Very good open field ability after catch, uses good fakes and explosiveness to evade and shows good competitive toughness with a willingness to lower his shoulder against tacklers.

And how about areas for improvement?

Release is lacking at high COD routes (45 degree cuts or more) taking to many wind-up steps and allows DBs to hang around after the breaking point of the route. Relies heavily on his physical strength and concentration at the catching point, which might not always be an option with his size and shorter arms vs bigger defenders on the Power 5 level. 

Touch The Banner took a look at Stewart over the weekend after he committed on Friday and largely saw the same positives in the kid's profile: 

Stewart has some juice as a big-play receiver. His acceleration stands out, as he gets to top speed rather quickly out of his stance. He changes direction well, and he can be tough to keep up with the way he bends. ... That acceleration also makes him dangerous after the catch, because he has the ability to catch short passes and find seams in the defense to burst upfield and split defenders

Magnus offered some critiques of his own: 

On the negative side, Stewart has a slight build and he may struggle a little more in college with making contested catches. He can be a bit of a body catcher and does not always extend his hands to snag the ball. His routes lack some refinement;

He wrapped it up by offering his own comp. of Golden Tate, formerly of Notre Dame (and the Lions, among other teams, in the NFL). 

Stewart was interviewed by Allen Trieu of 247, where he discussed how Michigan plans to use him, throwing out the current player that the coaching staff of the Maize & Blue sees the most when they look at I'Marion: 

"So they compare me to Roman Wilson, so they show me lot of plays where they give him ball off the run, short pass game, deep pass game, show me how they get the ball in his hands," Stewart said. "They have a lot of different ways to get the ball to him and let him make something happen and they match my skill set with his."

That article also notes that Stewart has played on special teams and Bolingbrook's coach John Ivlow gave us some quotes about that: 

"He’s a phenomenal punt returner, probably the best I’ve had. Even on kickoffs, he’ll break that first tackle. A lot of guys try to take him down and he’ll truck ‘em, or bounce off his thighs. If he can put on another 15 pounds this year going into next season, look out"

Well if EJ Holland is to be believed, Stewart is already bulking up, so we have reason to be on notice. 

OFFERS

Michigan won the services of Stewart over a realistic runner-up of "???". It was one of those commitments where Stewart had been a hard Michigan lean for so long it wasn't clear if there were any other suitors involved, though I suppose that Wisconsin would be the closest to being the other "finalist" for I'Marion Stewart. He held offers from the usual bevy of B1G and national suitors but there wasn't much action behind those names, schools like Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, PSU, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, TAMU, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Colorado, Miami, Purdue, Cincy, ISU, ASU, USF, Syracuse, Washington, BC, and several MAC squads. 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Stewart played his first three seasons at Bolingbrook HS in Bolingbrook, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Bolingbrook is a massive (3,200+ student) public high school, serving a multiracial community of wide financial background and has produced a handful of successful athletes and football players in particular. Tuf Borland, former OSU LB from a few years back, was a Bolingbrook alum, as was Antonio Morrison, who was an All-SEC LB at Florida in the mid-2010s. The football team competes in Division 8A (top division), having won the state championship back in 2011, but they were defeated in the first round of the playoffs back in 2021 and were not in the main bracket in 2022. 

For his senior season, I'Marion Stewart is transferring to Kenwood Academy, a school located in Chicago proper, right along Lake Shore Drive and not far from UChicago and Washington Park. Kenwood is a bit smaller (more like 2,300 students) and thus plays in Division 6A for football. They were elite in the 2021 season, the 3rd seed in the 6A playoffs, but suffered an early upset at the hands of Centennial in the playoffs. Last season was not as strong for Kenwood, but they still finished 8-4 overall. Kenwood's 2023 roster included CB Kiuwan Davis (committed to Wazzu), WR Logan Lester (committed to WMU), and Marquise Lightfoot, a 4* 2024 EDGE who Michigan had strong interest in early in the cycle (the pursuit seems to have faded as Lightfoot looks more likely to go to OSU or ND). 

STATS 

Bolingbrook's MaxPreps page does not have any stats listed for the team. I scoured other articles of Stewart looking for someone to post stats, as you sometimes see, but could not find any. The best I could do is the opening slide of Stewart's junior highlight reel (embedded a couple sections down) which claims 1400 all-purpose yards and 13 TDs. Bolingbrook's coach in the 247 article cited Stewart as having 900 receiving yards, which would definitely square given the work as a punt/kick returner too. 

FAKE 40 TIME

As mentioned in EJ's blurb on Stewart in the scouting section, there are no verified times for this WR. Stewart's twitter profile claims that he runs a 4.4 and while that time is within the range of plausibility for a receiver who all the scouts believe is plenty athletic, there is no way to verify that whatsoever and Stewart only has an incentive to inflate his time so we're giving it a 4 FAKEs out of 5. 

VIDEO 

As always, here are Stewart's junior highlights via the Hudl page: 

ETC

The sidebar description on Stewart's Hudl page definitely makes him sound like a Jim Harbaugh Guy: 

I AM the future of the student athlete! The field is where I can truly be ME! No one will outwork ME, I am football and football is ME!

After his commitment on Friday, which happened on YouTube while the OT7 competition was on break, a man later revealed to be I'Marion Stewart's father jumped into the live stream decked out in a Michigan basketball jersey and a low-budget X-Men Wolverine costume: 

This is not out of the norm, as Stewart's father seems to be quite the character. At previous recruiting trips to Michigan and Wisconsin, Ira Stewart suited up in football uniform to mirror his child. 

Also of note: I'Marion has an older brother named I'Shawn, who spent a few years at Oregon State as a receiver after being a firm 3* coming out of Bolilngbrook. I'Shawn then later played at EMU and Illinois State, so there is some pedigree here. 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Stewart, like Channing Goodwin, is perhaps not an exceptional prospect, but is a very solid take and will keep your WR position deep and well-stocked. Both prospects have lots of slot and YAC potential, but Stewart seems to be more of a north-south burner, hence the Roman Wilson comparisons. Goodwin was viewed as shifty and agile, which there seems to be a decent amount of in Stewart, but the home-run play potential and thus ability to line up outside and blow the top off the defense appears greater for Stewart.

The build for Stewart, even though he's filling out, is still not terribly ideal for an outside WR. It doesn't seem like he's as leapy as a Ronnie Bell, but if you have that big play speed, outside WR is certainly an option. If you made me guess between Stewart and Goodwin, I'd say Goodwin's elusiveness makes him more likely to be a punt returner, whereas the speed of Stewart makes him more likely to be the kick returner, if either guy ends up with a significant role on special teams. 

Stewart will get to campus in the fall of 2024 and as I wrote in the Goodwin Hello, the WR depth chart will be an interesting one. Cornelius Johnson will be in the NFL and while Roman Wilson has the option for a 5th year with the COVID-shirt, he may well be out the door too. Darius Clemons, Fred Moore, Karmello English, and Peyton O'Leary will be the leading names on the outside (not counting any transfers), while Tyler Morris, Semaj Morgan, and Stewart's classmate Goodwin will be the leading names in the slot. As always, you shouldn't have major expectations for true freshman WRs but there is certainly a path for Stewart to get significant playing time by 2025 or 2026 if he hits it big. Presume a RS or a small role in Year #1, then all bets are off after that. 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Stewart is now the second WR in the 2024 class for Michigan, following the commitment of Channing Goodwin last month. The next target up is Goodwin's teammate, Jordan Shipp of Providence Day School in NC. Michigan is battling North Carolina State for Shipp but presently holds the edge ahead of a commitment date likely to come sometime this summer, before Shipp begins his senior season. It seems as if the Wolverines would like to take one more WR in this class beyond Shipp... Idaho speedster Gatlin Bair (4*) is technically a 2026 due to his Mormon mission and is a take regardless (still a long way to go in that battle). 3* Elijah Moore appears to be trending towards Ohio State, making tall Virginian Mekhai White (3*) the most likely target as the 4th WR in the class if/when Shipp is nailed down, though so I should toss out the name James Madison II (4*) too. 

THE CLASS AS IT STANDS