Name: Nathan Efobi
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 285 lbs.
High school: Cumming (GA) South Forsyth
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #55
Last year: I ranked Efobi #109 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 68
Efobi joined the program as a part of the class of 2023, a raw offensive lineman who needed some time to refine his technique and work on his body. He went from being listed at 6'4" and 295 pounds last year to losing an inch (now 6'3") and 10 pounds (now 285) for the 2024 season. Even though Michigan lost six offensive linemen from the national championship-winning team last season, Efobi does not appear to be in line to be much of a factor for 2024. With Josh Priebe and Giovanni El-Hadi slated to start at offensive guard, Efobi will have to battle with players like Connor Jones, Dominick Giudice, and Raheem Anderson II for a backup role.
On a side note, in the transfer portal era, it seems like position switches might not be such a big emphasis: why switch a guy from offensive guard to defensive tackle and hope he can play when you can just recruit a proven defensive tackle as a transfer? But Efobi seems like a player who, in some universes, might benefit from a switch to defensive tackle.
Prediction: Backup offensive guard
Backup OG spot is interesting. The starters are locked in and I haven't seen a lot of talk about the backups. It almost seems more likely that one of the OCs (Crippen/Anderson) or OTs (Persi) would slide over if Priebe or El Hadi go down. It would seem Efobi has an opportunity to position himself for a spot on the 2-deep though.
ReplyDeleteMove to DT doesn't make sense to me but you see a lot of guys flip between OL and DL by junior or senior year if they are struggling to ascend the depth chart.
I like the point Thunder makes about transfers impacting position changes though. I hadn't thought about it like that, but it makes sense. Amarion Walker being a notable example - Michigan liked him more as a transfer WR than a position changing CB LOL.
Ike Iwunnah got a call out for his conditioning yesterday.
ReplyDeleteA positive call out
DeleteEfobi is up to 307 lbs on the latest roster
DeleteBoth of those things are good news. I was surprised to see Efobi at 285 on the spring roster, but I guess I'm also surprised he's put on 22 pounds since the spring.
DeleteNot sure weights were updated in Spring so that maybe a year's worth of weight.
DeleteOn that subject, Deacon Tonielli dropped below 240 from 250+. Not sure about that for a supposed inline TE at Michigan.
ReplyDeleteTristan Bounds (305) and Jeff Persi (310) are both looking pretty svelte to be that blocking tight end option...
DeleteThe 6th OLmen last year was usually Hinton. I don't think either Bounds or Persi are moving over to TE like Honiford did.
DeleteThe sixth offensive lineman last year was usually Trente Jones. He got way more snaps than Hinton and then stepped in to start when Zinter got hurt.
DeleteYeah I don't know who played more snaps as the 6th OL over the season exactly but Jones started 5 games and was also the tackle against OSU after Zinter got hurt, so I'm biasing my views based on that. Both Hinton and Jones did that job and they also both started for part of the year. Jones was ahead of Hinton, obviously. Notable though that against PSU, before Zinter was injured and with all 5 OL starters playing every snap, Jones played 17 snaps and Hinton played 13. So they both got used a good bit as extra linemen which is a different role than blocking TE.
DeleteJoel Honigford lost nearly 50 pounds to go from being an extra lineman to a blocking tight end.