Tag: preferred walk-ons

Michigan’s 2022 Preferred Walk-ons

At any top-tier football program, walk-ons can seem meaningless. When teams recruit 5-star and 4-star players, what are the chances that some walk-on is going to do anything significant on the field? Except in almost any year, a walk-on plays a significant role, even if it’s “only” on special teams. This past season, safety Caden Kolesar (9 tackles), defensive tackle Jess Speight (7 tackles), tight end Carter Selzer, and long snapper William Wagner all played significant snaps for the Wolverines. There’s a good chance that at least one or two of these players will end up playing a lot of minutes in a Michigan uniform.

Nico Andrighetto – S – Mountain View (CA) St. Francis
Andrighetto is the 5’9″, 180 lb. brother of walk-on running back Lucas Andrighetto. He turned down offers from FCS Colgate and Columbia to walk on at Michigan. Nico had 75 tackles, 4 forced fumbles, 3 interceptions, and 1 touchdown as a senior in 2021. You can find his highlights HERE.

Chibi Anwunah – DE – Westland (MI) Lutheran
Anwuna is a 6’7″, 225 lb. Nigerian immigrant who played out of position – at least for college – as a linebacker in high school. He will almost certainly move down to the defensive line, probably defensive end, for Michigan. Anwunah has good size and decent athleticism, but he plays tentatively and needs to get a lot stronger. If he does he could be a diamond in the rough in a few years. You can find his highlights HERE.

Evan Boutorwick – LS – Sterling Heights (MI) Henry Ford II
Boutorwick has nice size at 6’4″ and 225 lbs. He was an Under Armour All-American and Korblue Kicking has him ranked as the #10 long snapper in the class of 2022.

Declan Byle – QB – Novi (MI) Catholic Central
Byle is a 6’2″, 175 lb. prospect who looks like a walk-on quarterback. He does not have a particularly good arm or noteworthy athleticism. I do not see him factoring into Michigan’s depth chart in the future. You can find some of his highlights HERE.

Hit the jump for more.

2019 Preferred Walk-on Commitments and Offers

Lakewood (OH) St. Edward safety Caden Kolesar

Since we’re all superfans of Michigan football, here’s this year’s look at the preferred walk-on offers and commitments that have come along throughout the recruiting cycle. Some of these players have earned scholarship offers from other, lower-level programs or committed elsewhere, but Michigan has landed a few pledges so far.

Hit the jump for the position-by-position list.

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Preferred Walk-ons for 2018

Utica (MI) Eisenhower QB Max Wittwer

It’s difficult to track preferred walk-on offers since recruiting sites, Twitter, etc. aren’t geared toward these types of things, but I’ve put together a list of walk-on offers and commitments that I have seen so far. If you have additions to the list, please let me know so I can add them. Thanks.

A preferred walk-on is different than a student body walk-on. Preferred walk-ons cannot get athletic scholarships within two years of enrolling in college, but they can get academic scholarships. They are guaranteed a spot on the fall camp roster. There are 85 scholarships and the maximum for a fall camp roster is 105, so an FBS team can have up to 20 preferred walk-ons start practice in August. Other walk-ons must wait until after the first contest to join the practice squad, meaning they miss the first month of practices and installs.

QUARTERBACK
Commitments: Kyle Grady (CA), Max Wittwer (MI)
Offers: N/A

Hit the jump for other offers and commitments.

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Preferred Walk-on Offers and Commitments for 2017

Richmond (VA) College offensive lineman Jess Speight (image via Twitter)

Michigan has upped the ante with walk-on recruiting over the past couple years, making a big deal about potential walk-on players. Michigan has a solid recent history with walk-ons and can point to Jordan Kovacs, Ryan Glasgow, Graham Glasgow, and others, all of whom are either in the NFL or headed to the NFL. Below is a list of commits and offers in the 2017 walk-on class.

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Preferred Walk-on Offers and Commitments for 2016

Warren (MI) De La Salle running back/safety Tru Wilson

Michigan has picked up a few preferred walk-on commitments over the past few days. I have had requests to comment on some of these players, but I’m going to hold off for obvious reasons (National Signing Day is giving us plenty of news on which to write) and maybe not-so-obvious reasons (walk-ons sometimes disappear when they get late offers). I don’t want to spend a ton of time commenting on Tru Wilson, for example, if he decides to take a scholarship to Eastern Michigan between now and Wednesday.

Here are the walk-on offers and 14 commitments that I have gathered so far. Highlights and brief biographical information can be found by clicking on each player’s name:

QUARTERBACK
Commits (1): Peter Bush – Newport Beach (CA) Corona del Mar
Other offers: Miller Mosley – Mobile (AL) St. Paul’s; Michael Shuster – Camp Hill (PA) Camp Hill; Holden Thomas – Los Angeles (CA) Brentwood

Hit the jump for more.

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