| Brady Pallante |
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 255 lbs.
High school: Naples (FL) Barron Collier
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Pallante was a senior in high school.
Final TTB Rating: 70
Pallante is going to be an interesting and perhaps controversial story for Michigan fans. He originally committed to the Wolverines as a greyshirt player, meaning that he would attend Michigan on his own dime until 2015 before getting his scholarship. Of course, he didn't have many other options - the one other team that courted him was Michigan's first opponent in 2014, the Appalachian State Mountaineers. As the class wore on, Pallante was offered a full and immediate scholarship to Michigan.
Pallante is a short, wrestler style of a nose tackle. He's well over 255 lbs. now, but he will still have some weight to add this fall. I do not believe it will take Pallante long to learn the technique Michigan's coaches want him to learn because he's a state championship wrestler who understands hand position, leverage, and the like. However, he will need to bulk up and get as strong as possible so he can contend with Big Ten linemen. Michigan has several nose tackles who are north of 300 lbs. already, so Pallante should be able to redshirt this season while waiting his turn behind players like Ondre Pipkins, Maurice Hurst Jr., and Willie Henry.
Prediction: Redshirt
I have a (good) feeling that this guy is going to exceed expectations and wind up in an NFL camp as a free agent (ultimately falling short of a roster) in a few years.
ReplyDeleteRenes?
ReplyDeleteI think it's a stretch to say that Pallante will reach a Rob Renes level of play. I think there are some similarities in body type and such, but Renes was really, really good.
DeleteI like Pallante. He makes a lot of plays and shows a good motor on his HS film. And the fact that he is a successful wrestler is good news too. Despite the sleeper status, he is a relatively low risk recruit IMO who will at least contribute. The main risk is whether his frame can carry ~290 lbs of good weight.
ReplyDeleteWhen you color in a (former) gray-shirts uniform red, you can use permanent marker. Pallante, like Jeremy Clark before him, is a lock to sit his first year in AA.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Renes comparison is entirely inappropriate. Making the NFL can't be expected of a kid with this profile, but Michigan had a number of short/stout grunts like him that were very successful. Renes is a good guy for Pallante to aspire to be. It's at least more realistic than expecting Peppers to be Woodson.