All Michigan Tight Ends in the Harbaugh Era
Let's talk tight ends. RichRod had Kevin Koger, Hoke had Funchess, who technically was listed as a TE.
Harbaugh seems to have a never-ending rotation of some of the best tight ends in college football. I was reflecting on Colston Loveland in the wake of the OSU and Purdue games, and I think the excitement we feel about his seemingly-inevitable path to stardom should be pretty familiar by now. It seems like every single year there's either a breakout star at TE or someone on a serious upswing.
Let's take a look by year:
Looks like my spreadsheet trimmed some of the snark out of my notes. My 2019 row for Erick All got truncated to "dude." It was supposed to be" Training wheels are on, but the staff clearly sees stardom for this dude." I think "dude" is sufficient.
Also, I had a brainfart, and forgot that the links above obviously won't work because now they're in images. So, without further commentary, here's Luke Buckman's career:
The lard is in your head Buckman!
At least he got a moment with mid-90s Lauren Holly.
He's way too young to know about these references.
Anyways.
We've sent a LOT of guys to the NFL over the years (sometimes via other college programs).
December 5th, 2022 at 8:57 PM ^
Your Popeness, 2 things.
1. Nifty stuff. Thank you.
2. This site autocorrects "Popeness" to "Popeye's."
December 5th, 2022 at 9:17 PM ^
That's an impressive list. Didn't realize Newsome was coaching them now. Good for him!
December 6th, 2022 at 9:32 AM ^
$250k/year isn't what he could have been making in the NFL but it ain't bad.
December 13th, 2022 at 10:13 AM ^
Considering he almost didn't survive the initial injury, yeah, I think he's probably content being able to coach with a salary like that.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:23 PM ^
Pretty stout group over the Harbaugh era. Look forward to see who's next!
December 6th, 2022 at 11:21 AM ^
- Butt/Williams
- Butt/Bunting/Asiasi/Wheatly Jr.
- Bunting/McKeon/Gentry
- Gentry/McKeon/Eubanks
- Eubanks/McKeon/All
- Eubanks/All/Schoonmaker
- All/Schoonmaker
- All/Schoonmaker/Loveland
That's a really solid history/lineage of TEs. Most of which ending weirdly.
Butt blew an ACL in the Orange Bowl we should have won. Bunting transferred out. Asiasi transferred out. Wheatly Jr. was a mess whether he was here or not. McKeon had injury shortened junior and senior seasons. Eubanks graduated after the shortened COVID and worst season of the Harbaugh era. All's career ended with a bank injury and is transferring out. Schoonmaker had his senior year shortened by injuries and is seemingly turning down his Covid year for a shot at the NFL after being passed by the latest phenom.
Gentry had the rocky start but actually went out on a high note. And that's it. Hopefully that trend doesn't continue with Loveland.
I do think we'll see one of Hibner or Klein pop out next year. Maybe both do and push Bredeson to the fullback role full time. And if a WR from Idaho can pop as a freshman, Tonielli and Marshall have a chance as soon as next year too. Also, who knows if what this College Football Playoff run could do with other TE prospects. Maybe the Harbaughs drop in on Duce Robinson while they are in Arizona for the Fiesta. Maybe we can get in on Walker Lyons with Stanford's staff shake up.
December 13th, 2022 at 10:16 AM ^
The sheer amount of injuries at this position sucks. But I think that's just a side effect of guys with that kind of body/frame. Gronkowski was constantly injured, as are a lot of star TE's even in the NFL. I think the human body simply isn't meant to be that big, fast and strong at the same time.
December 6th, 2022 at 11:38 AM ^
Very frustrated about Wheatley in retrospect. I know it's easier to say "Why didn't you just make the position switch?" looking at it from the outside, but it's also true.
Obviously a totally different situation, but it reminds me of Tim Tebow. From all accounts it seems like Tebow was a decent guy, but he absolutely refused to switch from QB to TE in the NFL until it was too late.
I think Wheatley is probably on the field on Sundays if he switches under Frey.
December 7th, 2022 at 7:53 AM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if Wheatley was around enough football players as a kid to know the toll putting on that kind of weight to be an OL had on people.
With Jeff Saturday being back in the news, I was reminded of him explaining how he had to play 60-80 pounds over his ideal weight. Once he retired he dropped it all and said he hadn't felt that good in years. So if you're Wheatley and have the chance to NOT do that to yourself, I can see why you'd want to do everything you could to stick at TE.
December 12th, 2022 at 9:49 AM ^
I think doing "everything you could do" would include keeping his weight under control, which he did not.
December 7th, 2022 at 10:55 AM ^
A final thought:
Carr:QB :: Harbaugh:TE
Did you know that Lloyd Carr sent EVERY starting QB to the NFL during his time as Head Coach? Harbaugh is sending EVERY TE1, and a fair number of TE2, to the NFL.
December 7th, 2022 at 8:35 PM ^
scheisse! Gentry’s Wiki cites the mgoblog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Gentry
December 7th, 2022 at 11:21 PM ^
nice job bro... TE's are the secret weapon
December 11th, 2022 at 2:12 PM ^
Lots of talent, but not many straight lines - too many bumps and turns. Unfortunately, that looks like the future at lots of positions with the transfer portal and NIL. And stay off my lawn.
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