(#81-90) The D Zone's Michigan High School Football Pre-Season Player Rankings

Published
08/24/2017

The D Zone will be releasing our Top 151 football players in Michigan from the Classes of 2018 to 2020 over the next several days.

The list is based off of our evaluations throughout the off-season and various recruiting events like Mega camps (bigger college camps, Camp Pride, etc. where the top recruits attend and perform vs. equal or better competition played a major role in a lot of our decisions).

Stay tuned also for a major announcement and more rankings to be unveiled exclusively on The D Zone and our social media platforms prior to and during the season.

- List of complete #1-151 Player Rankings and more

90. Brother Rice 2019 QB Mariano Valenti

- Valenti made history as a Freshman at Brother Rice when he became the first Freshman to score a touchdown on Varsity. Valenti was slowed by a shoulder injury in 2016 and will look to bounce back and finish his next 2 years strong at Brother Rice.

College interest: Valenti holds 2 MAC offers and has been active visiting colleges during his first 2 seasons.

89. Saint Mary's 2018 LB/ATH Ky'ren Cunningham

- Cunningham will be known for his game winning catch in the Division 3 finals last year. Cunningham however is the perfect storm at LB as he has the right size plus moves in a way someone his size should not run.

College interest: Cunningham holds 3 FBS offers and 2 FCS offers. We figured it would be a huge off-season & spring evaluation period for Cunningham, we'll instead wait and see what unfolds his senior season.

88. Dowagiac 2018 ATH Caleb Murphy

- The Southwestern Michigan town doesn't attract many people coming into the city, but it should this Fall to see the first Division 1 recruit in the city since 2013. Murphy is a tremendous multi-sport athlete and literally has played all of the positions besides on the OL. At 6'4" 210 lbs Murphy is at a crossroads of which position to be recruited at.

College interest: With a few D1-FBS and D2 offers, Murphy is in the spot he wants to be in as sometimes in his area, someone like him could go completely unnoticed.

87. Big Rapids 2018 ATH Braeden Childress

- Braeden is the brother of CMU WR Brandon Childress. The Big Rapids product can play QB, TE, WR, DE. or LB and probably a few more positions at a high level.

College interest: Childress is nearing a final decision between; Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Toledo.

86. Southfield A&T OLB/DE Javante VanBuren

- Explosive, long, rangy, fast, etc. are all right words to describe the transfer from Livonia Churchill. VanBuren can line up in a variety of positions and uses his intangibles to constantly make plays.

College interest: VanBuren holds 3 MAC offers and an NAIA offer which was his first offer. VanBuren is hoping a big senior season will provide more options.

85. Walled Lake Western 2018 WR Justin Thomas

- Extremely overlooked receiver who is without question in line for an all-state selection senior season. Throughout the off-season very few, if any DB's were able to stop the fluid routes and ball skills of Thomas. Anything within reasonable range was hauled in.

College interest: With an FCS and NAIA offer plus 2 Division 1 - FBS walk-on offers, some colleges know they are taking the cheap route with him. More times than not, a dominant player with the necessary tools will find the one school that wants him and make the others regret it.

84. Bloomfield Hills 2018 DE Jack Sape - Ball State (no photo)

- Bloomfield Hills made their first playoff appearance last year and it has carried over to a successful off-season in terms of recruiting. Sape is your prototype TE who can catch and block at a high level.

College interest: With 5 FBS and 5 FCS offers in hand, Sape made his decision to commit to Ball State.

83. Detroit Central 2018 WR Jerrod Vines

- The former South Lake product will light up scoreboards this Fall with his good friend El Julian Jordan. Vines is an athletic freak receiver who can be a lethal downfield threat and make tough catches. Vines had an incredible 3,000 all-purpose yards as a sophomore and 50 touchdowns in his sophomore and junior seasons.

College interest: The 6' receiver held an early offer from Toledo. Since then he has received D2 and NAIA offers.

82. Madison 2019 QB Austin Brown

- After a storied 2 years at Detroit Catholic Central, Austin Brown came home to play at Madison High School. Brown is an extremely dangerous dual-threat QB who can not only run and throw well, but he has a cannon arm.

College interest: Brown was one of three 8th graders at the time to be offered by Akron. He has picked up two other MAC offers since and has heard from a lot of other schools. Colleges will be evaluating him even tougher now that he went to a smaller enrolled high school.

81. East Lansing 2018 S Blake Underwood - Miami, Ohio (no photo)

- Underwood is a long, tall, and lengthy Safety prospect who is a ball-hawk and also is not afraid to lay a huge hit on an opponent. Underwood has an older brother who played at Western Michigan.

College interest: Miami, Ohio was one of the seven MAC offers that Underwood had when he committed.

- List of complete #1-151 Player Rankings and more