Recruiting 2014: Byron Bullough

In August, the Spartans received their second commitment in the 2014 class from Michigan linebacker Byron Bullough. As pretty much everyone knows, he is the brother of current Spartan linebackers Max and Riley.

Ratings: Bullough is not rated yet, by any of the recruiting services. He doesn't have many offers, thanks to his very early commitment.

Size: He is a little short (6' 1") for middle linebacker, but his height is adequate for outside linebacker. Of course, he is only a junior, so he may still end up about as tall as Max (6' 3").

Athleticism: Only rivals has a 40 time for him (4.7), which would be a pretty good time for a linebacker.  There is no other info on his athleticism, so let's turn to his video.

OK, so like with Drake Harris, we have to remember that he is a sophomore in this video. This helps explain why Bullough doesn't look all that explosive. But he is able to excel, against kids that are likely 1 to 2 years older. And we can see that, on the few defensive plays in which he appears, he has a good instinct for which way the action is heading.

Upshot: Bullough will likely be a pretty solid linebacker by the time he gets to MSU. According to Max, Byron is a better athlete than he was at the same age. The big thing for me is that the Bulloughs come from a football family, a factor that generally produces football intelligence. So there is a high probability that Byron will be a smart and solid player for MSU. It's hard to tell what his ratings will be, but he probably won't be any lower than Riley (who was considered a 3-star recruit) and he may end up as high as Max (4 stars).

Consequences for rest of class: I suspect the Spartans will only take 2 linebackers in 2014, so Bullough's commitment leaves one spot open at that position. They may take 3 linebackers if they can get a 5 star guy to commit late in the process, or if a couple guys leave early for the NFL (like Denicos Allen and Max Bullough).