Name: Deakon Tonielli
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 238 lbs.
High school: Oswego (IL) Oswego
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #43
Last year: I ranked Tonielli #90 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 76
Tonielli was a 230 pound freshman last year, and at that size, you're probably not going to play at Michigan as a true freshman. It was a pretty easy guess that he would redshirt, and he did. Of course, it helped that Michigan had Colston Loveland and Indiana transfer A.J. Barner, so the Wolverines had their one-two punch at tight end. They played other guys like Matt Hibner, Josh Beetham, and Zack Marshall, but those weren't vital cogs in the offense.
Aside from Max Bredeson, who's essentially a fullback, Michigan seems to have its one-two punch again (Loveland and Marlin Klein), but the guy who plays the role of Hibner could very well be Tonielli. He's not generating the practice buzz that Klein is, but he is on that next tier - perhaps on the level that Hibner and Klein were generating at one point. The excitement about Hibner (one of the best overall athletes) and Klein (one of the fastest overall players) was about their physical skill sets, while Tonielli seems appreciated for his route running and soft hands. I don't expect Klein to suddenly jump to the same amount of playing time as, say, Barner, who was #8 on the team with 620 snaps last year, so I think the #3 tight end will get a little more run than last year's #3 guy (Beetham). I also think the #3 tight end will probably play more snaps in 2024 because I expect some closer games, so Michigan will have to play its top few guys a little more rather than giving garbage time snaps to a bunch of players.
Prediction: Backup tight end; 3 catches for 40 yards
I forgot this name ... and Beetham. Didn't Beetham get significant snaps last September?
ReplyDeleteBeetham and Hibner were legitimate depth chart contributors who would have been next man up. Hibner ended up asking for red-shirt so his usage was constrained but saw the field in the post season (which didn't count against his eligibility). Marshall was a freshman getting to dip his toe in the water early in the year but had no chance of seeing the field in a meaningful context and was a red-shirt lock. I wouldn't lump them together in the same group personally, even though I agree that none were critical pieces. We had excellent health at the TE position in 2023, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteThe role of Hibner (TE3) was a tiny role last year but in 2022 you saw a whole lot more TEs play meaningful roles. All, Schoonmaker, Loveland, Honigford, and Hibner all played important snaps. Against TCU 4 of those 5 (because All was out) saw the field and that's not including Bredeson and Mullings playing FB or any formations with extra OL (which Thunder sometimes calls TE).
So I think how important the TE3 through TE6 are depends on 3 different things:
1. Health of TE1 and 2 (Loveland and Klein)
2. Scheme change with Harbaugh out and Campbell elevated to OC
3. If you think personnel will be used more like 2022 or more like 2023.
Personally, my opinion is that the 6th OL deployment is suboptimal because they aren't presenting any kind of pass threat. It's a viable strategy but Michigan leaned on it more last year because they had so few options they liked after their top 3 (Loveland, Barner, Bredeson). That's worrisome for 2024, IMO because even if Klein can adequately replace Barner, we may not be able to replicate the lean depth chart usage of 2023 with a much tougher schedule, less experience on the OL, and less talent at QB-RB-WR.
Two possible options for TE deployment in critical situations are reflected in snap counts in these 2 close down-to-the-finish playoff games:
DeleteTCU 2022: Loveland 70, Honigford 20, Schoonmacher 11, Hibner 11, Bredeson 8, Jones 2 (as extra OL), Mullings 9 (mostly at RB)
Alabama 2023: Barner 46, Loveland 42, Bredeson 10, Mulling 10 (mostly at RB but some 2-back sets), Hibner 1
Similar number of TE/FB snaps (something like 110-120) but in one case you have 3 guys seeing more than a couple of snaps (against Bama) and in the other you have 5 (due in part to Schoonmacher getting hurt after All was already lost for the year).
So looking ahead to 2024 maybe you can get by with a trio or maybe you have to dip down and use your 6th guy - we don't know yet. In 2022 that was Hibner (TE6) getting drawn into action against TCU because he was needed, while in 2023 Hibner (TE4) was barely relevant.
Tonielli seems to be finally garnering some positive mention, which is a good thing but a)he is still young and pretty light to be a contributor and b) the limited hype maybe more out of duty (naming everyone on the depth chart) than merit.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we see positive developments at the TE position during the season!