Review of 2007 Recruiting: Tight Ends

I sure am glad Aaron Hernandez didn't accept his scholarship offer to play for Michigan.

THE ROSTER
Mike Massey, RS Sr.
Andre Criswell, RS Jr.
Chris McLaurin, RS Jr.
Carson Butler, So.

THE RECRUITS
Steve Watson
High school: Denver (CO) Mullen
Ratings: Rivals 3-star, #19 TE
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Cal, Colorado, Nebraska, UCLA
Scoop: Watson redshirted as a freshman in 2007, then played some on special teams in 2008. As a redshirt sophomore in 2009, Watson moved to linebacker and made 5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 pass breakup in limited action. He became a defensive end and even saw some action at defensive tackle in 2010, notching 3 total tackles. With a dearth of tight ends on the team, Watson moved back to offense in 2011 and started four games; he made just 1 catch in his career, but he made it count because it was a 9-yard touchdown against Northwestern. He was not drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft and his football career appears to be finished.

Martell Webb
High school: Pontiac (MI) Northern
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #29 WR
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin
Scoop: Webb played sparingly as a freshman in 2007, mostly as a special teamer but also as a backup tight end. As a sophomore in 2008, Webb mostly sat on the bench behind Carson Butler and Kevin Koger and played in just three games. Still behind Koger in 2009, Webb started just one game but saw more time at tight end and caught 4 passes for 44 yards and 1 touchdown. He started two more games as a senior in 2010 and caught 5 passes for 67 yards and 1 touchdown. Webb went undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft and has never played in the league, but he has bounced around between the Eagles, Jets, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Colts, Titans, Lions, and now the Indianapolis Colts.

THE TARGETS
Christian Ballard
High school: Lawrence (KS) Free State
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #10 TE
College: Iowa
Other notable offers: Georgia, Oklahoma, UCLA
Scoop: Watson played defensive end to start at Iowa, making 15 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks as a freshman backup in 2007. He became a starter in 2008 and made 40 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks, 1 pass breakup, and 1 forced fumble. Ballard grew into a starting defensive tackle by his junior year and had a very good season with 54 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks; he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. As a senior in 2010, he played both defensive end and defensive tackle and made 43 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 3 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble, once again earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. He was drafted in the 4th round (#106 overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings after testing positive for marijuana, which caused his draft stock to fall a little bit. He made two total starts in 2011-2012 for the Vikings and totaled 29 tackles and 1 sack. However, he quit football prior to the 2013 season due to a lack of love for the game.

Aaron Hernandez
High school: Bristol (CT) Central
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #2 TE, #66 overall
College: Florida
Other notable offers: Connecticut, Iowa, Notre Dame
Scoop: Hernandez started three games as a freshman in 2007, including the Outback Bowl against Michigan; he caught 9 passes for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns that year. He became the starter at tight end as a sophomore and caught 34 passes for 381 yards and 5 touchdowns. As a junior in 2009, Hernandez won the John Mackey Award (given to the nation's best tight end) with 68 receptions for 850 yards and 5 touchdowns; naturally, he was First Team All-SEC and a First Team All-American. Hernandez left college after his junior year only to drop to the 4th round (#113 overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft, chosen by the New England Patriots. He made the Pro Bowl in 2011 and totaled 175 catches for 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns from 2010-2012. He also saw some action as a situational running back, running 9 times for 97 yards in his career. However, Hernandez was allegedly involved in a murder and was arrested during the summer of 2013, for which he is still matriculating through the legal process. It's safe to assume that his football career is over for the foreseeable future, if not permanently.

Blaine Irby
High school: Ventura (CA) St. Bonaventure
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #6 TE
College: Texas
Other notable offers: Cal, Florida State, Miami, UCLA, USC
Scoop: Irby made 2 catches for 29 yards as a freshman in 2007. As a sophomore in 2008, he caught 10 passes for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he suffered a gruesome knee injury in a game against Rice. He sat out the 2009 and 2010 seasons rehabbing from the injury, which tore his right ACL and MCL and caused nerve damage. Irby returned in 2011 to catch 11 passes for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rather than pursuing a sixth year of eligibility or attempting to make a career out of football, he chose to retire following the 2011 season.

CONCLUSIONS
Michigan actually seems to have done quite a good job of identifying talent at the tight end position in the 2007 class. Ballard made a big impact (at a different position), Hernandez turned into arguably the best tight end in college, and Irby seemed well on his way to a good career, if not for the knee injury. Webb has bounced around NFL practice squads and was somewhat hampered by his situation, where he spent his last three years under a coach who didn't use tight ends very much. Watson, the least accomplished of the bunch, still turned into a mediocre starter and was likely stunted in his development by the Rich Rodriguez offense and bouncing to defense. If he had played tight end his whole career for a coach who valued tight ends more (such as the guy who recruited him, Lloyd Carr, or the guy for whom he finished his career, Brady Hoke).

Biggest miss: Christian Ballard. I suppose the choice here based on talent would be Aaron Hernandez, but his repeated run-ins with the law, failed drug tests, etc. would be a huge black mark on the program. Even if Ballard never played a down at tight end and played defense instead, he turned into a quality player who was NFL-bound.

Biggest bust: Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez had all kinds of talent and could have been one of the most productive tight ends in NFL history, although he might have been limited by Rich Rodriguez's offense. He was probably better off at Florida than he would have been elsewhere, so he made the right choice. Unfortunately, that appears to have been one of the few good choices he has made in his life. I'm glad to say that Michigan has no real connection to him, but it's a sad story overall.

Best in class: Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski, who went to Arizona, caught 28 passes for 525 yards and 6 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2007 and followed that up with 47 receptions for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore. He missed the 2009 season after having back surgery, but his first two seasons were good enough to earn him a 2nd round selection (#42 overall) by the New England Patriots in the 2010 NFL Draft. Despite suffering from various injuries at the pro level, he has caught 226 passes for 3,255 yards and 42 touchdowns during his four-year career and made the Pro Bowl twice.

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Jason Avant

It was a strong week for our former Michigan athletes, but no one had a more eye-popping performance than Philadelphia Eagle Jason Avant. His team won 23-21 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he finished with seven receptions for 133 yards, including one of the most impressive one-handed grabs you'll ever see. Avant has 38 receptions for 495 yards through 13 games, and his play looks to be improving alongside that of QB Nick Foles.  Teammate Brandon Graham had two tackles in the win.

Honorable mention:  Stevie Brown picked off Drew Brees twice as his Giants routed the Saints; he returned the two interceptions a total of 91 yards.  Brown is now second in the NFL with seven interceptions and is also the Giants' new single-season record holder for most interception return yards with 259.  In addition to the picks, Brown had eight tackles, 2 pass breakups, and a forced fumble in the game.

Miscellaneous: 

• Tom Brady and the Patriots beat up on the one-loss Texas by a score of 42-14.  Brady threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns and torched the Texans on play action.  He is quietly having another MVP-caliber season.
• David Molk, banged up after nearly a full NFL season, was placed on the Injured Reserve for the Chargers.  The move cleared up a roster spot that was filled by a healthy lineman, fellow Wolverine and current teammate Stephen Schilling. 
• After being released by the Seahawks, Braylon Edwards re-signed with one of his former teams, the New York Jets.
• Martell Webb was released from the Colts' practice squad.
• Cam Cameron, who coached at Michigan from '83 to '93, was fired as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens.
• David Harris recorded 10 tackles and a sack in a win over the Jaguars.  He has a team-leading 101 tackles through 13 games.
• Steve Hutchinson was placed on the Injured Reserve for the Titans due to a knee injury.
• Jonas Mouton recorded his first career tackle against the Bengals earlier in the month.
• Chad Henne went a dismal 21/43 passing with zero touchdowns and two interceptions in his third start of the year.  Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville's starter to begin the season, was recently placed on the IR, so Henne should get a few more games to prove he's starter-quality.   

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Mario Manningham

It's been a rough year for Mario Manningham, especially when considering his lofty preseason expectations. Manningham appeared in only 12 games and battled through a concussion and a lingering knee injury while putting up his worst statistical performance since his 2008 rookie season. But that now seems like the distant past after the Giants' 24-2 NFC Wild Card game victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Manningham caught four passes for 68 yards in the contest, including a game-clinching touchdown grab midway through the fourth quarter. Super Mario looked impressive on the play (watch it here), beating two defensive backs for the 27 yard catch up the middle.

"The fact that Mario made plays was big," said coach Tom Coughlin. That was something that we needed to have happen and I am certainly glad it did. When you look at tape of some of these games and you look at previous games of the teams that we are playing, you see [number] 82 making catches and running behind guys, and that's a good thing"

Honorable Mention: Steelers' starting free safety Ryan Clark nearly died due to a blood condition the last time he played at Mile High Stadium, so being an upstanding guy, Ryan Mundy kindly stepped into his role. Mundy played 60 minutes of good football, recording five tackles and forcing two fumbles, one of which was recovered by LaMarr Woodley. But unfortunately for Mundy, the game lasted 60 minutes and 11 seconds, and he was caught out of position on the first play of overtime, resulting in an 80-yard touchdown and the quickest end to overtime in NFL history. To be fair, it seemed as if the defensive game plan called for Mundy to stay close to the line of scrimmage, essentially daring Tebow to throw the ball, and Tebow surprisingly rose to the challenge. But still . . .

Miscellaneous: Donovan Warren joins former teammate, Perry Dorrestein, and tight ends coach Mike DeBord in Chicago with the Bears. Travelin' man Martell Webb signed with the Arizona Cardinals. Adrian Arrington caught his third pass of the season in the Saints' victory over...well, you know.

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Jeff Backus

Jeff Backus [illegally] kicks some Jared Allen ass

Left tackle Jeff Backus has started every Detroit Lions' game since the team drafted him with the 18th overall pick in 2001. That's eleven straight years and 175 consecutive games without missing a start, good for the longest streak in franchise history. All has not been sunny for Backus, however, as the Lions have been the laughing stock of the NFL over that time, with fans repeatedly calling for him to be replaced. I'm uncertain as to why Backus developed into everyone's favorite scapegoat for the Lions' woes, but it's nice to see this former Michigan athlete finally get a reprieve from ugly losses and fan criticisms.

Against the Chargers on Christmas Eve, the Lions clinched their first playoff birth since 1999 and Backus played well: he didn't give up a single sack and paved the way for two third down conversions on third and short. "Detroit Lions offensive tackle Jeff Backus dominant against the San Diego Chargers," read an Mlive headline after the game while Pro Football Focus wrote,"Jeff Backus has really put together some nice performances as of late. In the last five games, he has graded out as an 8.7 while only allowing one quarterback sack and one quarterback hit." After a challenging eleven year start to his NFL career, hopefully this is the sign of better things to come for Backus and his Lions.

Honorable Mention: Brady again threw for 300 + yards last week as he lead the Patriots to their 12th victory of the season by overcoming a 17 point first half deficit to defeat the Dolphins, 27-24. Although on pace for much of the year, Tom Brady won't beak Dan Marino's 1984 single-season passing record of 5,084 yards because Drew Brees beat him to it, breaking the record on Monday Night Football. But with only 190 yards separating Brady and Brees, it's still possible for Brady to end this season with the record. Saints coach Sean Payton has a history of resting his starters in the second half of the final regular season game and may do so again with the Division already sewn up and nothing to gain if the 49ers take care of the lowly Rams as is expected.

Miscellaneous: Braylon Edwards caught a nine yard pass on Sunday but was cut by the 49ers after the game. Morgan Trent, now with Jacksonville, recorded his second career interception last week to go along with four tackles. Jake Long returned from his biceps injury against the Patriots but left the game after re-aggravating it. Martell Webb was cut from Tampa Bay's practice squad. Jake Long, Tom Brady and Charles Woodson were named starters for the 2012 Pro Bowl.

Martell Webb, #80



Martell Webb looks like a defensive tackle

 2010 Countdown: #37 Martell Webb

HIGH SCHOOL
Webb graduated from Pontiac (MI) Northern High School in 2007.  He was a 4-star recruit and the #20 receiver in the country to Scout.  Rivals ranked him as a 4-star and the #29 wide receiver.  During his senior season, he had 31 catches for 862 yards (27.8 yards per catch) and 12 touchdowns.  He also returned 11 punts for 301 yards (27.4 yards per return)

COLLEGE
Webb burned his redshirt in 2007, playing sparingly in 10 games.  Most of his playing time was on special teams, where he assisted on 3 tackles.  He played a bit of tight end, but did not catch a pass.  As a sophomore in 2008, he was deemed even less ready.  Webb played in 3 games and only on special teams.  People began to wonder if he would ever contribute, but in 2009 he played in all 12 games, earning 1 start and catching 4 passes for 44 yards and 1 touchdown; he had developed into the team's blocking tight end.  More of the same was to come in 2010, when Webb started 2 games and played in all 13.  On a team that didn't utilize the tight ends much in the passing game, he caught 5 passes for 67 yards and 1 touchdown while backing up Kevin Koger.

CAREER STATS
3 starts; 9 receptions, 111 yards, 2 touchdowns; 3 special teams tackles

SUMMARY
Even back in 2007, I was frustrated that Webb was burning his redshirt.  In the summer prior to the season, I saw Webb at a Blockbuster store in Ann Arbor, and he looked like the wide receiver/tight end tweener that he was coming out of high school.  Then a month later, I saw him on the field as a freshman.  It didn't make sense then, and it doesn't make sense now.  He barely played that season.  Had he redshirted that year, he might have had a good shot at being the starter going into 2011, although his battle with Koger would have continued.  Now Michigan has a dearth of tight ends (unless you like walk-ons, position switchers, or a guy who we've barely seen on the field in Brandon Moore) to back up or complement Koger, who would have been ideal for the H-back role this year.  Webb reportedly suffered from the dropsies in practice during his first couple seasons, which is why he rarely played early on.  And when he did play, he rarely saw the ball come his way through the air, although they ran behind him plenty.  How could you not run behind a 268 lb. tight end?  Perhaps the play I'll remember most is the one pictured above, which was a short throwback on which Webb was completely unencumbered by the diminutive defender climbing up his back.

PROJECTION
There was an outside chance that Webb would be drafted in the April NFL Draft, and that chance remained outside.  Whenever NFL teams are allowed to sign free agents, though, I expect Webb to latch on as an undrafted free agent.  He has decent athleticism, especially for a guy who's 6'4" and 268 lbs.  If nothing else, he could be a cheap blocking tight end for an NFL team, not unlike former Denver Bronco Dwayne Carswell.



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NFL Draft Review: Michigan-style

Why do I have a picture of Joe Cocozzo?

2ND ROUND
#61.  Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton was drafted by the San Diego Chargers.  Mouton was the first Michigan player chosen by the Chargers since offensive guard Joe Cocozzo in 1993, who was selected in the third round (#63 overall).

3RD ROUND
#74.  Arkansas quarterback (and former Wolverine) Ryan Mallett was drafted by the New England Patriots.  He has first round talent but an undrafted free agent level of maturity, so he probably couldn't have asked for a better situation.  Sure, I bet he would have loved first round money, but now he gets to sit behind and learn from Tom Brady for a few years.  If he learns well, he could become a franchise quarterback when Brady moves on or retires.

6TH ROUND
#201.  Michigan offensive lineman Steve Schilling was drafted by the San Diego Chargers.  This is the first time multiple Michigan players have been chosen by one team since . . . 2008, when the Miami Dolphins picked offensive tackle Jake Long in the first round and quarterback Chad Henne in the second.

UNDRAFTED
DT Greg Banks, OG Justin Boren (Ohio State), OT Perry Dorrestein, LB Obi Ezeh, OG John Ferrara, DE Eugene Germany (Central Washington), LB Kevin Leach, LB Cobrani Mixon (Kent State), FB/LB Mark Moundros, DE Adam Patterson, CB James Rogers, DT Renaldo Sagesse, TE Martell Webb

NFL Draft Preview: Michigan-style

Jonas Mouton (#8) should be one of just two Michigan players drafted this weekend

The NFL Draft has always been a fun time for me, because I would always sit around and wait for the next Michigan player's name to get called.  Between watching for a Michigan player to get drafted and waiting for the Lions to pick, one Saturday in April was perhaps the most exciting day of the football off-season.  But Michigan's production of NFL players has waned in recent years.

Ever since six players were taken in the 2008 draft - four in the first three rounds - the Wolverines have only been able to muster five total draft picks in 2009 (4th round: Terrance Taylor; 6th: Morgan Trent) and 2010 (1st: Brandon Graham; 5th: Zoltan Mesko; 7th: Steve Brown).  That's an average draft position of the 4.6th round.

By contrast, 60 players were taken from 1995-2007, an average of 4.62 per year.  On average, those players were drafted in the 3.68th round.  Not only has the number of Michigan draftees been lower in the past couple seasons, but they're getting picked lower, too.

That average draft position might rise slightly this year, but there will probably only be two Wolverines chosen this coming weekend:


Jonas Mouton - Linebacker
Mouton measured in at the NFL Combine at 6'1" and 239 lbs.  I think he could play a couple positions, either as a weak inside linebacker in a 3-4 or as a weakside outside linebacker in a 4-3.  He's pretty solid in coverage and changes direction well (video here, senior profile here).
Projection: 5th round to the Patriots


Steve Schilling - Offensive guard
Schilling measured in at the NFL Combine at 6'5", 304 lbs.  He had a pretty good Combine performance, but nothing stellar.  He played a lot of offensive tackle at Michigan, but I think he's strictly a guard at the next level.  Four years of starting experience should help him (senior profile here).
Projection: 4th round to the Browns


Undrafted: DT Greg Banks, OT Perry Dorrestein, LB Obi Ezeh, OG John Ferrara, LB Kevin Leach, FB/LB Mark Moundros, DE/DT Adam Patterson, CB James Rogers, DT Renaldo Sagesse, TE Martell Webb


I do think there is a remote chance that two other players get drafted late - Obi Ezeh and Martell Webb.  Ezeh was, for all intents and purposes, a four-year starter at middle linebacker.  That might be worth something to a team late in the draft.  And Webb turned into a very good blocker.  If a team is looking for a cheap blocking tight end in the 7th round, they could do worse than picking a 6'4", 268-pounder with decent athleticism.

2010 Countdown: #37 Martell Webb

Name: Martell Webb
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 257 lbs.
High school: Northern High School in Pontiac, MI
Position: Tight end
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #80
Last year: I ranked Webb #40 and said, "If Webb catches more than five passes all year, I'll be surprised." He caught 4 passes for 44 yards and 1 touchdown, including a 28-yard TD against Delaware State.

Webb is a solid blocker and a decent athlete. If the Lloyd Carr regime were still running things, I'd guess Webb would catch 15-20 balls this year. But the tight end position has been de-emphasized with Rich Rodriguez, and the combo of Webb and Kevin Koger only caught 20 passes total in 2009. This does not bode well for Webb's farewell season.

This year I would not be surprised to see a slight uptick in passes thrown to tight ends, partly because starter Koger is a junior and Webb is a senior. Another part is that Michigan's outside receiver depth is quite thin, and that might force slot guys like Martavious Odoms and Roy Roundtree to play out wide more often. With slot guys moving wider, we might see Koger and Webb playing in the slot more often. The final part of that equation is that the quarterback duo of Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier now have a year under their belts and should start looking to use the middle of the field more often. This will be Webb's best season at Michigan, but it probably won't be what he expected when he committed to Lloyd Carr.

Prediction for 2010: Backup tight end; 7 catches, 85 yards, 2 touchdowns

2010 Countdown: #63 Steve Watson

Name: Steve Watson
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 257 lbs.
High school: Mullen High School in Cherry Hills Village, CO
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #81
Last year: I ranked Watson #64 and said he'd contribute on special teams and see spot duty on defense. He was mainly a special teams player and made 5 tackles.

Having been buried on the depth chart behind Kevin Koger, Martell Webb, and Brandon Moore, Watson switched to defense during the spring of 2009. Greg Robinson was a new defensive coordinator then and needed a few players to play the defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid role that was eventually locked down by freshman Craig Roh. Brandon Herron was Roh's primary backup, and Watson settled for mop-up duty against teams like Delaware State and Illinois. He finished the season with 5 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 pass breakup as the third-string OLB. He was also a part-time contributor on special teams, but only against the B-list teams on Michigan's roster.

For spring of 2010, Watson switched roles again to 5-tech defensive end. Assuming no further position changes, he'll be playing exclusively with his hand on the ground. Despite the position change, Watson will probably still be no higher than third on the depth chart. The starter will likely be Ryan Van Bergen with Anthony Lalota as the primary backup. A freshman like Jibreel Black could also work himself into the mix. Buried on the depth chart at yet another position, I expect 2010 to be Watson's final campaign as a Wolverine. He probably won't be offered a fifth year of eligibility by the coaching staff.

Prediction for 2010: Special teams contributor, spot duty on defense

2010 Countdown: #66 Brandon Moore

Name: Brandon Moore
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 260 lbs.
High school: Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, OH
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #88
Last year: I ranked him #62 and said he'd see some special teams action. Moore caught 1 pass for 19 yards.

Moore was a pretty big deal coming out of high school. He was a big, very athletic tight end. He mostly split out wide as a high schooler, so in-line blocking has been an adjustment for him. But he's packed on 17 lbs. since last year and might have improved in that area. At 260 lbs., he's currently the biggest tight end on the roster. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Despite Moore's newfound weight and excellent athleticism, I still expect him to be the third tight end on a team that doesn't use the tight end very much. Both Kevin Koger and Martell Webb have played ahead of Moore for the past two seasons, and I don't know why that would change now. He's actually ranked lower this year, but that's largely because last year's team only had about 70 scholarship players (as opposed to the 80+ on the roster this year) and there are a handful of freshmen in line for playing time on defense.

Prediction for 2010: Limited action on special teams; tight end in non-critical moments

Spring Roster Tidbits

Ryan Van Bergen: Breakout year coming?

MGoBlog and The Wolverine have done a good job of breaking down the spring roster, so I won't waste your time or mine in parsing the roster much further.

There are a few noteworthy bits from today's press conference and the roster that I would like to highlight, however.

- Regarding the quarterback position, Rodriguez admitted that Denard Robinson is going to start seeing reps at wide receiver. While he stressed that Robinson is still going to compete at the quarterback position, this seems to be the beginning of the transition from the quarterback position to receiver that many of us have been expecting. I expect Robinson to be a full-time receiver by 2011.

- The popular number of pounds to gain this offseason was 17. Linebacker Isaiah Bell (237), offensive tackle Mark Huyge (305), tight end Brandon Moore (260), and offensive guard Patrick Omameh (293) all gained this amount.

- It seems apparent that the rumor we heard about the offensive and defensive lines is true: Rodriguez wants them to be bigger than they have been for the past two seasons. There's really no other way to explain the fact that there are now five (5!) offensive linemen over 300 lbs. when last year's only 300 pounder was freshman Quinton Washington. With almost six months left until the season, a couple other guys might get there before September, too.

- Tight ends Kevin Koger (251), Martell Webb (257), and Brandon Moore (260) are all getting in the "hefty" range for tight ends. There were a lot of people who thought Rodriguez was moving toward using tight ends heavily. This is significant evidence to the contrary. These guys seem to be blocking tight ends in the making.

- Ryan Van Bergen and Steve Watson are both listed as defensive ends. Van Bergen was a DT last year, and Watson was the third-string Quick end behind Craig Roh and Brandon Herron. Watson is likely to ride the bench once again, but as I expected, Van Bergen seems to be Brandon Graham's replacement at DE.

- Junior Hemingway is 227 lbs. That's too heavy for a receiver who wasn't that fast to begin with. If he continues to play at 220+ pounds, he won't be any kind of deep threat. This bodes unwell for Michigan's downfield passing game.

Recruiting Roundup: Tight Ends

Alex Smith wrinkles his nose as he watches Mike Barwis eat an opposing band member whole.

Michigan's coaches aren't particularly intent on getting a tight end in this class. Only three have been offered, and Michigan hasn't put up much of a fight with any of them except Alex Smith. Alex Smith is a bit wishy-washy. He committed to Cincinnati then sorta decommitted but not really and then really decommitted and, inexplicably, when it became clear that Cincinnati was turning into a powerhouse, he committed to North Carolina.

In 2009, many fans had a crazy notion that it would be the "Year of the Tight End" for Michigan. I had a spirited discussion with several Michigan fanatics that insisted Kevin Koger would approximate Missouri's Chase Coffman or Oklahoma's Jemaine Gresham. Instead, Koger ended the year with 16 catches for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those numbers aren't chump change, but they're certainly not indicative of Rich Rodriguez becoming enthralled with the tight end position.

Koger will be a junior in 2010 and his backup, Martell Webb, will be a senior. The only other tight end on the roster will be redshirt sophomore Brandon Moore, so I think the coaching staff will recruit tight ends more heavily in 2011.

2009 Countdown: #40 Martell Webb

Name: Martell Webb
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 245 lbs.
High School: Northern High School in Pontiac, MI
Position: Tight end
Class: Junior
Jersey Number: #80
2008 statistics: N/A
Prediction for 2009: Backup tight end

Webb burned his redshirt in 2007 by playing sparingly and now finds himself a true junior, although he's never caught a pass at Michigan. Practice viewers rave about his athleticism, but the word is that he's had trouble catching the ball. I haven't heard that criticism as much recently, so perhaps he has improved in that area.

A contingent of Michigan coaches has visited both Missouri and Oklahoma over the past two offseasons to do some research on how those two schools have used their tight ends (Chase Coffman and Jermaine Greshman, respectively) so effectively in recent years. Webb figures to be a beneficiary of some of those lessons, although he'll most likely be the second TE on the field. Expect to see Webb in the slot or even perhaps in the backfield on occasion, but don't expect a ton of production. Not only does Webb lack a track record of catching the football, but tight ends in Rodriguez's offense haven't fared well in recent years, either. I think you'll see a slight uptick in the production from the tight ends, but not much - if Webb catches more than five passes all year, I'll be surprised.