The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 79 TIGHT ENDS FYI Redshirt junior Zach Gentry won the team's Most Improved Offensive Player award at the postseason banquet in December. He wasn't sure about making the move from quarterback initially, but he knows tight end is his future. "I'm right where I need to be now at tight end," he said. "The award showed that everyone recognized the hard work I had put in, especially once I hit my stride late in the year." Incoming freshman Luke Schoonmaker is Zach Gentry 2.0. He stands 6-6, only an inch shorter than Gentry, and played quarterback as a junior at Hamden Hall (Conn.) Country Day School, completing 55 of 82 passes for 878 yards with five touchdowns. He played quarterback and tight end, among other positions, as a senior, and hauled in 22 receptions for 343 yards and a score. Junior Sean McKeon fell only seven receptions short of cracking the top 10 for single-season catches by a tight end last year. He finished with 31 — Eric Kattus (1985) and Tony McGee (1992) are tied for 10th with 38 apiece. He ended the season with receptions in each of the final 10 contests and was held catchless in just one game (Air Force). Head coach Jim Harbaugh isn't discounting the possibility that freshman Ryan Hayes could become an offensive lineman, but he's expected to at least start his U-M career at tight end. "I think he has a lot of upside to be a very athletic [offensive lineman]," Harbaugh said on one of his spring podcasts. "Like a [six-time Pro Bowler] Joe Staley-type that started out at tight end and moved into the offensive line. I think he will be fantastic." In three years with Harbaugh at the helm, his tight ends have averaged 61.7 catches, 763.3 receiving yards and 4.7 touchdowns per season. In the eight years prior from 2007-14, U-M tight ends averaged just 24.4 catches, 318.3 receiving yards and 3.4 touchdowns per campaign — and that's with Devin Funchess' 748-yard, six-touchdown cam- paign in 2013 boosting the averages, before he moved to wideout the following season. put down on the ground later in the season, but he also caught a lot of balls that were not very accurately thrown. "I thought he got better as a blocker, and he's going to continue to. He came in a little undersized, but this is his third season at Michigan now. This should absolutely be his breakout year. He's been in the system now, lifting and getting stronger." When it comes to blocking, redshirt junior Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is still the best of the bunch. Some figured he might even move to the offensive line to help bolster the depth at tackle, and he'd probably be capable. He's 6-6, 265 pounds with the frame to add much more weight — he's been up in the 290s at Michigan — and he's ferocious off the ball when he wants to be. Wheatley lost the spring to a foot injury, but Moore did his part to communicate with him. "I try to keep in touch with him every day, if not then every other," Moore said. "He's trying to do what he can with that foot injury, but he'll be back for the summer season and ready to go." Wheatley has only caught six career passes for 61 yards, but he has pass-catching ability. It's his physicality, though, that could make him a valuable commodity. "He's got all kinds of potential to have an even better performance than he's shown," Skene said. "He's the best base blocker of the down linemen they've got at tight end. He looks like an offensive tackle out of his stance when blocks a defensive end, and he has yet to reach his potential. I'd dare say he hasn't gotten even halfway. "He's got all kinds of room to grow, so much room to improve his game." U-M's fourth likely contributor at the po- sition, redshirt sophomore Eubanks, remains a relative unknown, but he showed off his big-play potential this spring — and in last year's season opener, when he gained 61 yards on two catches. He's more receiver than blocker, but he's up to a reported 6-5, 250 pounds and learning how to block some talented defenders with his newfound bulk. Redshirt junior Zach Gentry began his U-M career as a quarterback, but has rapidly tak- en to his new position and is still improving as a weapon in the passing game. His 17.8 yards per catch last year was the highest of any U-M player with more than two receptions. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 2017 — 54 catches, 697 yards, 5 TD 2016 — 59 catches, 667 yards, 6 TD 2015 — 72 catches, 926 yards, 3 TD 2014 — 8 catches, 70 yards, 0 TD 2013 — 70 catches, 985 yards, 9 TD 2012 — 19 catches, 271 yards, 5 TD 2011 — 24 catches, 253 yards, 4 TD 2010 — 19 catches, 266 yards, 3 TD 2009 — 20 catches, 264 yards, 3 TD 2008 — 8 catches, 110 yards, 1 TD TIGHT END PRODUCTION FOR THE LAST 10 SEASONS "Each kid presents a different issue for different defenses. All of them have their strengths, all have their weaknesses, but as a group they're going to be really dangerous." TIGHT ENDS COACH SHERRONE MOORE