Ryan Hayes
Name: Ryan Hayes
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 262 lbs.
High school: Traverse City (MI) West
Position: Tight end
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Hayes was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 24 catches for 515 yards and 5 touchdowns, along with 26 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
Hayes comes from a very athletic family. His mom and dad played basketball and football at Central Michigan, respectively, and his older brother Connor played football at Pitt. I guess those are the genes that produce 6’7″, 262 lb. kids who are athletic enough to maybe play tight end in college, when those kids are normally pegged for offensive tackle early on. Hayes was recruited to Michigan by offensive tackles/tight ends coach Greg Frey, even though Frey moved on to Florida State as their offensive line coach.
The outlook for Hayes this season could swing wildly. He could redshirt, or he could play a ton, particularly as a blocking tight end. I think Hayes is an excellent blocker coming out of high school, and that’s a skill that many of the current tight ends at Michigan have struggled to master. I believe he will eventually be molded into an offensive tackle, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to be Michigan’s best blocking tight end by season’s end. Even so, I don’t think his presence is necessary for Michigan to have a successful season, and there are a lot of options at tight end, so he’s relatively low in the countdown.
Prediction: Backup tight end
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This is a good spot for Hayes. I agree that he will get a few games as a 6th lineman / blocking TE – and if he can be a plus player, they might rip off the redshirt.
When you look at analyses of NFL lineman, most of them look something like Hayes as a HS Senior.
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Yeah, a lot of the huge guys who are 310 lbs. in high school don’t translate to the NFL unless they’re extremely athletic.
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I really want this kid red shirted. Given that Milton is a given, Hayes, Mayfield (despite his bravado) and McGrone above all others.
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Here is my thought on the red shirt concept – if the kid is good enough to contribute as a freshman at Michigan, there is maybe a 50% chance he is still around for his 5th year. Btw/ that number is like 15% at OSU.
In either case, the new rules are great for a kid like Hayes, they can use him in some specialty role for a couple of games before making the decision.
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My thoughts: It truly should be a “meritocracy” on the two- or three-deep. If you’re good enough to be #1 to #3 at your position, then you should be ready to play. If you’re the #4 guy or lower, you should redshirt. Because there are walk-ons or other guys who can fill that role just fine in garbage time, etc.
If Hayes is the #4 tight end (or lower), he should be redshirting (obviously, he can play in up to 4 games now without repercussions).
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I like looking at our roster pretty much within every position group and thinking, “Sorry kid, it’s gonna be real tough to break through here.” as opposed to, “Damn, we better have a freshman coming in here for this job”.
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