Where does Zach Gentry fit best? (image via MLive)
Going into the 2017 season, Michigan has some holes on the roster and some players who seem to be buried on the bench. Those buried players – and some established ones – can sometimes benefit the team at other spots. After all, Michigan took Chase Winovich – who started his career at linebacker before moving to tight end/fullback for a season – and made him a very effective defensive end (35 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 5 sacks) in 2016.
Which players on this 2017 squad might be best served by finding a new position?
RB Kingston Davis >>> FB
Davis entered college with some questions about his size and speed, and those questions persisted following his freshman campaign. Listed at 6’1″ and 245 lbs., Davis ran 2 times for 17 yards against Hawaii in his only touches of the year. To see playing time at tailback, he would have to leap over more experienced players in Chris Evans, Karan Higdon, Ty Isaac, and Drake Johnson. At fullback both returnees are fifth year seniors who will be gone for 2018. Playing time for this season is blocked at both positions, but Davis could get some seasoning at fullback and be the heir apparent for 2018 and beyond.
WR Zach Gentry >>> TE
Gentry was brought to Michigan as a quarterback but switched to tight end as a freshman. Even at 6’7″ and 244 lbs., Gentry looked thin and practiced most of the 2016 season at wide receiver. Now with another year of weightlifting, the departure of Devin Asiasi for UCLA, and no tight ends in the 2017 class, the position group is somewhat thinner. Michigan has a ton of talent at wide receiver, and Gentry is more of a mismatch athletically against linebackers and safeties. Rumors this winter were already starting that Gentry was moving back to tight end, and the spring combine results posted by Jim Harbaugh (LINK) pretty much confirmed that Gentry was working with the tight ends when they listed him as having run a 4.7 and leading that group. This isn’t really a projection, since signs seem to be pointing toward this change already.
OC Mason Cole >>> LT
Somewhat like Gentry, Cole has previously played left tackle. He started every game at the position during his freshman and sophomore seasons, only to move to center as a junior. Michigan needed him at center in 2016 after the graduation of Graham Glasgow and the uncertainty surrounding Patrick Kugler, who has suffered from shoulder problems throughout his career. Kugler stayed healthy while playing a backup role in 2016, and he could fill in at the position in 2017; Michigan also added another option in Cesar Ruiz, the country’s #1 center in the 2017 class. Meanwhile, the need at left tackle is uncertain, because starter Grant Newsome’s nasty knee injury against Wisconsin may prevent him from coming back at 100%. I did a study of #1 centers over the years (LINK), and even with that lofty ranking, very few of them contributed much at center as a freshman. It’s a difficult position to play in your first year of college. So Cole’s move depends entirely depends on if there’s somebody ready behind him.
DE Lawrence Marshall >>> DT
Marshall enters his fourth year of college with very little to show for his time in Ann Arbor. He played in just three games last season with 6 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in his career. With defensive tackle a little bit thin in 2017, it might make sense to fatten up Marshall a little bit and make him an interior lineman. He was 268 lbs. last season and should be able to play at 280+ if that’s where the staff sees him fitting best. He lacks the speed to be a consistently dangerous edge rusher, but he could be disruptive for offensive guards who aren’t used to facing more athletic tackles.
DE/LB Reuben Jones >>> FB
Jones, who arrived on campus in 2015, has played in five games and made 2 tackles. He has bounced back and forth between defensive end and linebacker, but most of his contributions have come on the scout team, where he was Scout Team Player of the Year in 2016. That shows that he must be a team-oriented guy with a hardworking attitude. At 6’4″ and 222 lbs., he’s probably too light for defensive end and linebacker, and it’s not clear if he has the athleticism to play middle linebacker at this level. However, Michigan has an upcoming opening at fullback (see above: Kingston Davis), and that position can be filled by guys who work their butts off.
Spring practice begins today, March 24.
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i like the idea of putting jones at fb but who knows if he can catch or handle the ball. davis should be a fb
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Kingston Davis has asserted on more than one occasion that he’s a running back. Of all the positions on a football team, fullback is the most desire dependent to my way of thinking. Davis is going to have to come a long way in his thinking to even apply for the position, then … there’s that blocking thing.
6’7, 244 lbs and a 4.7 40. If there has ever been a guy that should prove useful to Jim Harbaugh, it’s Zach Gentry.
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You’re right about Davis not wanting to play it, but the position needs somebody. And while I keep hearing talk about Evans, Higdon, Walker, etc. at running back, I keep hearing nothing about Davis.
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So much for Kingston Davis.
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Yup, looks like he gone
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Yep. Not a big loss, IMO.
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The position may need somebody, but we don’t need the position. Certainly not on a nearly-every-snap basis. Lots of teams run very effective offenses without anything like a fullback the way Michigan uses it.
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Davis can either produce his way into contention for playing time at RB, try and help the team at FB, or I suppose consider moving along to somewhere he can see the field. By now I would hope he realizes this.
Gentry at TE seems preordained without Butt/Asiasi on the roster and with a lot of talent recruited at WR.
I am concerned that we need at center an experienced anchor in Cole and that moving him out to LT is more a symptom of nobody getting the job done there as opposed to Kugler’s light finally coming on (along with his health), and/or Ruiz able to play as a freshman. Seems like another year we get to worry about the OL, gotta count on Drevno and Frey to figure this out.
DT may be the place for Marshall with the big body. On the other hand isn’t Jones a little light and tall for FB? I think Davis would be better at FB if he can block and is willing to make the move.
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Regarding Jones, a) Henry Poggi is 6’4″, b) weight can be added, and c) I don’t really believe Jones is a full 6’4″. He looks shorter than that to me. I think it could be pulled off if all parties were interested.
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The transition for Poggi to FB might have been a little easier for him. Wasn’t he a TE lining up as an H Back in high school? He was at least somewhat inclined to block and could catch the ball. I hope you are right about Jones BTW if it will help the team.
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I also think 6’4 is too big for TE. Poggi isn’t exactly a shining example in comparison to Kerridge and Houma. I may change my opinion if Hill has a big year as a pass catcher, but most run-blocking FBs aren’t that tall.
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Why would 6’4″ be too tall for a tight end?
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Meant to say FB. good catch.
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Jumbo backs are a waste of time.
FB can be handled by walk-ons, but I don’t hate the Jones idea if he’s buried on D. Khalid Hill can be a great advertisement for the position. Hopefully Hill has a big year in 2017.
I’d like to see: LT Bredeson LG Ruiz OC Cole. That seems like a nice way to balance Cole’s experience with Ruiz’s lack thereof. OC’s not the spot for inexperience IMO.
If Gentry’s 4.7 time is real, that’s excellent for a college TE.
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Ty Isaac to TE. He’s thre right size and he’s buried behind Evans, Higdon, and if spring hype has any substance to it perhaps Walker. With impressive freshman on the way it’s time for Isaac to look at his career after college and he’s a better fit at H-back or TE.
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I laugh whenever you suggest this, because you upbraided me for saying for several years that Shallman should be a fullback. Where did he play last year? Fullback and then linebacker. Now you’re insisting for about the third straight year that Isaac should be a fullback/tight end, despite the fact that he’s played a crap-ton more tailback than Shallman ever did. I also think it’s funny that you think Isaac doesn’t block well enough to play tailback…so you think he should move to a blockier position at FB/TE.
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I thought both Isaac and Shallman were better fits at H-back than RB. and still do.
You’re acting like I was calling Shallman the next great RB at UM – not so. He’s the type of jumbo back I’m always doubtful of. The FB/H-back potential was obvious to everyone, going back to his commitment. I was simply arguing that he was a RB – because he was, until his last year.
Me on Shallman in 2015: “I’m guessing Shallman sticks at RB this year and then next year shifts to the H-back role he always seemed destined for.”
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2015/06/2015-season-countdown-63-wyatt-shallman.html
I was right.
You want to make Shallman vs Isaac a thing? You win that one! The 5th string RB is better at RB than the 6th string RB turned FB/LB. Maybe injuries played a part in that, maybe they didn’t. Maybe there was a bit of hyperbole in my argument to illustrate a point about how badly people were overrating Ty Isaac. Maybe.
As for Isaac’s blocking – Most of that is probably about willingness. It’s probably too late, but maybe as a 5th year senior the light will come on motivationaly. A position change could help. Or, you know, he could end up buried on the depth chart like he has been every year going back to 2013.
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Or see my comments in the 2015 Davis commitment post:
[Issac outgaining Shallman 10:1] would surprise no one, including me. But the fact is that Shallman’s been projected to FB or H-back since before he committed to Michigan and he’s still at RB today, taking snaps, while Isaac is a guy who transferred from USC after he couldn’t get past 5th string, hasn’t been healthy, and is way bigger than prototypical RBs these days (just like Shallman).
I don’t think either guy is going to pass over Smith and Green this year, and Harbaugh has already recruited 3 more RBs in about that many months. Read into that what you will…
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I laugh too.
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