Previously: QUARTERBACK, RUNNING BACK
On Saturday I covered the quarterback position, followed by the running backs on Tuesday. Now for a look at the tight ends.
2023 DEPARTURES: 4 (Erick All, Louis Hansen, Joel Honigford, Luke Schoonmaker)
2023 NEEDS: 2
2023 COMMITMENTS: Carlsbad (CA) Carlsbad TE Zack Marshall, Oswego (IL) Oswego TE Deakon Tonielli
2023 OFFERS
- Kade Eldridge - Lynden (WA) Christian: USC
- Cooper Flanagan - Concord (CA) De La Salle: Notre Dame
- Jaden Hamm - Eudora (KS) Eudora: Kansas
- Nyckoles Harbor - Washington (DC) Archbishop Carroll: South Carolina
- Luke Hasz - Bixby (OK) Bixby: Arkansas
- Chico Holt - Houston (TX) Strake Jesuit: Northwestern
- Jaxon Howard - Minneapolis (MN) Robbinsdale Cooper: LSU
- Matthew Klopfenstein - Scottsdale (AZ) Horizon: Baylor
- Ty Lockwood - Thompson's Station (MO) Independence: Alabama
- Walker Lyons - Folsom (CA) Folsom: USC
- Mac Markway - St. Louis (MO) DeSmet: LSU
- Brett Norfleet - St. Charles (MO) Francis Howell: Missouri
- Andrew Rappleyea - Milton (MA) Milton: Penn State
- Jelani Thurman - Fairburn (GA) Langston Hughes: Ohio State
- Riley Williams - Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy: Miami
- Preston Zinter - Cambridge (MA) Buckingham Browne & Nichols: Notre Dame
GRADE: C+
REASON FOR THE GRADE: Michigan needed to restock the tight end position in the class of 2023 after suffering heavy losses from the group following the 2022 season. Not only did Erick All (Iowa) and Louis Hansen (UConn) transfer, but second string tight end Luke Schoonmaker departed for the NFL, blocking tight end Joel Honigford ran out of eligibility, and a decent walk-on in Carter Selzer also graduated. All, Schoonmaker, and Honigford all played a ton. Tight end is a position where players typically need at least one season of strength and conditioning development before being relevant, so it's important to keep a steady string of players coming.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines whiffed on most of their top targets, which is surprising considering how often tight ends are used in Michigan's offense. Tonielli (4-star, #20 TE, #411 overall) was the tenth highest ranked guy at the position that Michigan offered, and Marshall would be the thirteenth highest ranked offeree if he were listed as a tight end (he's an "athlete" according to the 247 Composite). Tonielli is really a big receiver being converted to tight end, and Marshall does not look like much of a difference maker when it comes to his athleticism.
Overall, Michigan supplemented its numbers decently at the position, but the talent level drops off. All and Schoonmaker are both NFL-caliber tight ends and Hansen was a well regarded 4-star recruit, though he hadn't made an impact on the field during his first two seasons; Marshall is not on their level as an athlete, and Tonielli has good upside even if he doesn't have the body and skills to play immediately. Michigan did take a strong swing at 5-star Nyckoles Harbor, but ultimately, NIL drove Harbor to South Carolina. Massachusetts product Andrew Rappleyea was committed to the Wolverines at one point, but he flipped to Penn State.
TEs should be lining up to play for MICHIGAN, but we seem to do well with whomever we plug in there. Newsom has a chance to earn a pay raise in the next couple seasons
ReplyDeleteWhich makes me wonder: why the relatively poor recruiting showing?
DeleteEither (a) it's residual from all the "is Harbaugh going to the NFL?" stuff, or (b) whoever heads TE recruiting didn't do that well, or (c) Michigan thinks TEs will simply come without too much recruiting effort, so that effort was spent elsewhere, or (d) something else.
I don't have a clue why. But I agree with your assessment: Michigan, second only to maybe Iowa, is "TE U."
Addendum: I wonder further if Michigan has a reputation of expecting too much from their TEs in terms of blocking; that is, some of the higher-rated TEs want to be the next Travis Kelce -- being more receiver than blocking TE -- and they know at Michigan they might find themselves doing all the blocking grunt work without the glory of the TDs.
DeleteMichigan hasn't produced a quality NFL starter. Same issue works against them at QB, RB, WR. It's a lot easier when you can point to guys like Steve Hutchinson, Jeff Backus, Jake Long, Tyler Lewan and say look here's some NFL all pros or 1st round picks that played for us then when you are saying "hey look we got a couple guys drafted on day 2" and they're hanging around the NFL for a bit.
DeleteWith Tom Brady retired, Michigan's best offensive skill position guy in the NFL right now might be DPJ who was widely considered to be underutilized in AA.
DeleteIn my eyes, C+ is about right for the HS guys who sound relatively unexceptional. Bump up to B with AJ Barner though. The need for 2023 was met with him but I would have liked to have seen a stronger and more experienced blocker brought in as well. Barner seems fine for co-starter but it would have been nice to see a guy who provides a little more variety relative to Loveland. Then again he was a captain so that probably means something too.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to my disagreement on the QB grade. I see a lot of the same thing - whiff on top high school targets, get backup options instead, address the immediate needs via the portal. Count on the current roster to grow, provide depth and future options. Very similar situations in my eyes. Almost identical.
So I would grade this position similar to QB but a little worse (maybe both are B grades with some +/- adjustments). The biggest difference is the need at TE was much bigger with all the attrition. I would have liked to have seen one more guy brought in via the portal but if the options that turned up weren't better than the guys on the current roster it's the right call.
Of course I would have liked to have seen better HS recruiting too - given how well Michigan uses the TE spot and the NFL production, it's a bit surprising they aren't getting more top 10 recruits at the position. Then again I'm not sure how much the star rankings really matter at TE which, similar to RB, is generally a position where there's enough people with the physical tools to do the job and if one guy goes down another pops right in and do a similar job. I'm still thinking about Wheatley and Asiasi and how excited we as a fanbase got and then neither was really an exceptional player. Asiasi is kicking around the NFL but is doing less than a lot of Michigan guys we kind of dismissed collectively.
I wonder if Michigan spent more recruiting time and money on Dante Moore or Nykloas Harbor
ReplyDelete