2011 Countdown: #82 Chris Barnett

Chris Barnett

Name: Chris Barnett
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 245 lbs.
High school: L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, TX
Position: Tight end
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #82
Last year: Barnett was a high school senior (commitment post here)

TTB Rating: 82

Barnett has all kinds of physical talent.  He can run, jump, catch, and block when he wants.  "When he wants" is the key term.  He seems like kind of a quirky kid and I'm not 100% sold on his work ethic.  Of course, it's possible that the issues I've seen (not running hard, bad body weight, etc.) are benign problems and symptomatic of an injury or something, but those are things I intend to watch with him.  And speaking of injuries, he tore his ACL last year.

There are various readers who will surely disagree with me, but I think Barnett should be headed for a season of sitting on the bench.  Coming off a knee injury that limited his off-season work, he might not be ready physically.  But to top all that off, Michigan has enough depth at the tight end positions to make it through the upcoming season, barring injury.  Senior starter Kevin Koger offers many of the same qualities as Barnett, and redshirt junior Brandon Moore was known as a receiving threat when he came out of high school.  I still think Moore is raw and might not ever "get it" but there's potential.  Redshirt freshman Ricardo Miller has been playing U-back (which is a hybrid TE/FB position) after playing receiver as a freshman.  And tight end defensive end tight end Steve Watson gives the team a fully developed, fifth year senior who's 270 lbs. and ought to be able to come in and at least block someone on short yardage situations.  Barnett has the skills to play as a freshman, but he wouldn't offer much as a freshman that the coaches can't get from somewhere else.

Prediction: Redshirt