Name: Donovan Jeter
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 318 lbs.
High school: Beaver Falls (PA) Beaver Falls
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #95
Last year: I ranked Jeter #1B and said he would be a starting efensive tackle with 20 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 1 sack (LINK). He strted one game and made 3 tackles.
TTB Rating: 78
This is my mea culpa for the 2019 countdown. I ranked Jeter at #1B – just behind Shea Patterson – because I thought he was going to have a little bit of a breakout, but also mostly because he was a big guy at a position where Michigan really didn’t have many big guys.
In my defense, the defensive tackle position was probably the weakest position group, and that really hurt Michigan. But Jeter was not even close to being the guy who mattered most. That honor should have gone to Carlo Kemp, and the likes of Chris Hinton, Jess Speight, and Michael Dwumfour outperformed Jeter.
Kemp, Hinton, and Speight return, while Dwumfour transferred to Rutgers. Jeter will also be battling redshirt freshman Mazi Smith for playing time, along with any of the young whippersnappers who try to step up and play inside.
I don’t expect much from Jeter because he burned me last year. Not only that, but he’s up from a listed 290 to a listed 318 when quickness and conditioning seemed to be part of the issue even at a lighter weight. (For the record, I believe he was heavier than 290 in 2019, but that’s how the roster listed him.) But it’s a now-or-never situation with Jeter, who’s a redshirt junior without much to show for it at this point.
Prediction: Backup defensive tackle
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I liked your ranking of him at 1B last year for 2 reasons: I was hopeful he would be an integral piece of the team, and I was glad someone else thought he would be too.
I had an interesting run in with a MI football player from my hometown on a plane at the beginning of this year. We got to talking football and his sentiment was, “Jeet is an athletic freak and if he could put it all together he would be the best player on the team.”
I’m hoping he can put it together enough to be a viable DT this year.
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If he wasn’t taking advantage of quickness at a lower weight maybe he can take advantage of his strength at a higher weight.
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Fool me once and all that, but I’m encouraged to hear that Jeter might have a legit role this year. Even if it’s a bit by default, we can use a big NT to keep blockers busy.
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Speaking of fooling us once, word out of Texas message boards is that Tarik Black is not on the coaches’ good side…
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I haven’t heard that. Too bad. He was a starter to begin the season but seems to have fallen down the depth chart. He was playing yesterday but in clearly a backup role. Their WR crew looks pretty deep too – it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t have more opportunity now had he stuck it out at Michigan.
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FWIW I agree with you if it plays out that he ends up falling out of favor with two different coaching staffs — that’s on him.
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