Brady Pallante
Name: Brady Pallante
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 280 lbs.
High school: Naples (FL) Barron Collier
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #45
Last year: I ranked Pallante #73 and said he would be a backup fullback (LINK). He played in seven games as a backup defensive tackle.
Pallante came to Michigan as an undersized nose tackle a few years ago, but when Michigan was lacking fullbacks, Jim Harbaugh gave him a shot to be a lead blocker. He split time between fullback and defensive tackle until he was needed full-time on defense due to some injuries. The coaching staff did not seem to have a ton of faith in him last year, because he lost nose tackle playing time to fellow position-oscillator Tom Strobel. Pallante played in seven games but did not register a tackle.
Michigan returns almost everyone on the defensive line this year, including a couple of the guys who were injured last year. Strobel transferred to Ohio, but the only significant departure was defensive tackle Willie Henry. Pallante won’t factor heavily into the nose tackle situation this year unless injuries rear their ugly heads again, and he was concentrating only on defense this spring. He’s game-experienced now and might see some mop-up time.
Prediction: Backup nose tackle
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Pallante-Poggi-Shallman are a trio of disappointing Hoke-recruits that seem to not have found an ideal position. They may belong on DL, or maybe H-back, but on any given day they are probably practicing at some other position.
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If you had told me 2 years ago that Pallante would be the backup NT, Poggi the backup DT, and Shallman a backup WDE I would have believed you. If you had told me that all 3 would be practicing at FB I would not.
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Don’t expect Pallante to see the light of day. I liked him as a recruit, but the upside at NT/DT is not there. He was pushed around pretty mercilessly in his limited snaps last year.
Shallman just does not have it. He passes the look test, but is a finesse player without the speed to contribute on offense.
Poggi is a bit of a mystery to me. He got a ton of playing time last year, but spent a lot of that time missing blocks. Guessing that the staff sees potential in him and they’re willing to live through the growing pains. With all of the TE’s in the fold plus a legit receiver in Hill moving to FB, Poggi will have to make a big jump to maintain his snaps this season.
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Supposedly injuries have held Shallman back (which makes sense if you thought he needed to be humbled and buried at RB before moving to his destiny elsewhere). The injuries may be an excuse for him to keep hope alive at RB.
I think Poggi could have been an OK DT but his role could be bigger at H-back. The problem is that he doesn’t have much skill as a runner or pass-catcher and is probably too big for a lot of FB duties. He has to be an damn excellent blocker to see the field on a down-to-down basis.
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Poggi got time even when M had 2 senior fullbacks, so I doubt his snaps go down. The question is if he has what it takes to be a starter or if he’s a package-limited role player.
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I agree there. I wasn’t impressed with Poggi’s blocking early in the year, but I think he was pretty dang good at it toward the end of the season. I think he’ll get a lot of snaps as a blocker. Unfortunately, he’s just not very useful in the passing game.
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