Posts by: Thunder

2023 Season Countdown: #61 Joey Velazquez

Name: Joey Velazquez
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 225 lbs.
High school: Columbus (OH) St. Frances DeSales
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #29
Last year: I ranked Velazquez #49 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He made 6 tackles.
TTB Rating: 82

Velazquez has spent the last four years pulling double duty as a football player and baseball player. During the football season last fall, he played linebacker in five blowout games, but was mostly a special teams player. This happened despite the fact that Nikhai Hill-Green was injured and Kalel Mullings was spending time at running back. Former linebackers coach George Helow inserted freshman Jimmy Rolder over Velazquez, which shows where the baseballer fits in the pecking order.

Baseball has been a little more promising as far as playing time goes. Velazquez started 38 games this spring and hit .245 with 4 homeruns and 22 runs batted in.

I’m expecting more of the same on the gridiron this fall, though. Velazquez continues to lag behind others in the hunt for playing time, and things didn’t get much easier with the transfer in of Nebraska linebacker Ernest Hausmann. Velazquez will likely continue to be behind Junior Colson, Rolder, and Michael Barrett, along with newcomer Hausmann. So at best he’s the fifth inside linebacker on the roster. But he is a solid special teams player, so we should see him on the field pretty regularly from week to week.

Prediction: Backup linebacker and special teamer

2023 Season Countdown: #62 Adam Samaha

Name: Adam Samaha
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 170 lbs.
High school: Ann Arbor (MI) Huron
Position: Kicker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Samaha was a senior in high school. He made 11/14 field goals, was perfect on extra points, and kicked touchbacks on 50/56 kickoffs.
TTB Rating: N/A

I regularly shrug my shoulders when it comes to evaluating kickers on film. The kicks they put on film look good, and the kicks that aren’t good don’t end up on film. Unlike, say, wide receiver where a poor release can still end up in an acrobatic catch, or where a 315-pound offensive lineman with poor technique can still pancake a poor 220-pound high school defensive tackle . . . consistency is key in kicking, and I just find that hard to evaluate on film.

So how much will Samaha factor into the 2023 season? Your guess is as good as mine. He could end up being the kickoff guy or the field goal guy. He could totally miss out on playing a single play in 2023. Michigan brought in Louisville transfer James Turner as a place kicker and Mississippi State transfer Hudson Hollenbeck to help with kickoffs. Throw in punter/kicker Tommy Doman, and Michigan has at least four guys capable of kicking balls in some way, shape, or form. If Samaha doesn’t win one of the jobs, I think he will at least provide good competition to keep Turner and/or Hollenbeck on their toes.

Prediction: Backup kicker

2023 Season Countdown: #63 Reece Atteberry

Name: Reece Atteberry
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 315 lbs.
High school: Aurora (CO) Eaglecrest
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #74
Last year: I ranked Atteberry #47 and said he would be a backup offensive guard (LINK). He played in three games.
TTB Rating: 74

Atteberry came in with a plan to play center, and that shifted to guard over the past couple seasons. He seems like someone the coaches like, but who can’t quite make his way onto the field consistently. After playing in one game as a freshman and preserving his redshirt – though it was a COVID year so it didn’t really count – he played in eight games in 2021 and then just three in 2022.

The outlook doesn’t look much better for playing time in 2023. Michigan has numerous starting-caliber offensive linemen, but the names bandied about don’t include Atteberry. That’s because both starting guards – Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan – return, while players with guard experience also exist, such as Karsen Barnhart and Arizona State transfer La’Darius Henderson. It may be a big year for Atteberry to establish himself in practice as a front-runner to play in 2024, but for now, he probably won’t see a ton of playing time except for during blowouts.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2023 Season Countdown: #64 Evan Boutorwick

Name: Evan Boutorwick
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 231 lbs.
High school: Sterling Heights (MI) Henry Ford II
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #46
Last year: I ranked Boutorwick #111 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: N/A

What do you do when you’re doing a countdown and you recognize too late that you missed a person?

Well, in this case you put them at #64 in the countdown.

This is not a slight against Boutorwick, who is surely a fine young man and an excellent long snapper, but he’s the third-string snapper behind Greg Tarr and Will Wagner. Wagner has been the team’s starter for the past two seasons but was lost to injury, so Tarr stepped in for the final two-thirds of the 2022 season. I assume Wagner will be back to full strength after a torn ACL suffered on October 1, but you never know with ACLs.

Boutorwick was going to be in the 80s as the backup to the backup long snapper, but considering Wagner’s pre-existing injury, maybe #64 isn’t altogether too high, after all. Regardless, Michigan is unlikely to rely on its third-best long snapper too much in 2023.

Prediction: Backup long snapper

2023 Season Countdown: #65 Eamonn Dennis

Name: Eamonn Dennis
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 184 lbs.
High school: Worcester (MA) St. John’s
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #80
Last year: I ranked Dennis #76 and said he would be a backup cornerback (LINK). He played in twelve games on special teams.
TTB Rating: 79

Dennis made the switch from cornerback to wide receiver last summer, but it didn’t make much of a difference when it came time to see the field. He played in twelve games last season, but it was exclusively on special teams. So far in three seasons on campus, he has not played on offense or defense.

Darrius Clemons reported to Sam Webb that Dennis is the fastest player on the team, but whether that translates to actually playing receiver at all, we’ll have to see. For now I’m going to assume that Dennis’s main role will continue to be on special teams coverage. There’s been no buzz about his ability to contribute at receiver or on kickoff/punt returns. Special teams players have some value, of course, but his upside for the team overall is limited unless he can play offense or defense.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver and special teamer