Posts under: Blog

2025 Season Countdown: #115 Bobby Kanka

Name: Bobby Kanka
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 299 lbs.
High school: Howell (MI) Howell
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #99
Last year: Kanka was a senior in high school.
TTB Rating: 57

Kanka committed to Michigan all the way back on August 1, 2023, so at this point, it has been almost two years since he pledged to the Wolverines. He went through his junior and senior seasons committed to the program, though he did field other interest when there was some uncertainty surrounding Michigan’s coaching situation. Overall, he stayed pretty rock solid as a local kid.

Kanka played some tight end on offense, but he was most known for being a defensive lineman. As a senior, he was listed at 6’4″, 285 lbs. by Howell and is now listed at 289 pounds on Michigan’s roster after enrolling this winter. Viewers of the spring game probably saw Kanka getting pushed around fairly easily a few times. Aside from that, I think Kanka’s senior film showed a guy with a slow first step and a penchant for standing up too high at the snap. I think he’ll need a lot of work and some reshaping of his body before he gets on the field at Michigan, and in some ways, I think he looks more like an offensive lineman. This is most likely a developmental year for Kanka behind a rather deep group of defensive tackles.

Prediction: Redshirt

2025 Season Countdown: #116 Drew Hickmott

Name: Drew Hickmott
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Ortonville (MI) Brandon
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #35
Last year: I did not rank Hickmott. He did not play in any games.
TTB Rating: N/A

Okay, well, in my “research” for this post, I went on Drew Hickmott’s Twitter and found out he’s looking to transfer. On April 24, 2025, he had posted his highlights/info as a transfer receiver. He did the same thing back in December and was still on the spring roster, so to be honest, I have no idea if he’ll be with the program in the fall.

But. Here he is, anyway. Hickmott is a second-year player who did not play during his first year. He was a perfectly fine receiver at a small school and had over 1,600 receiving yards as a senior a couple years ago, but Big Ten football is a different deal. He’s probably not going to play a role at Michigan if he stays, at least not in 2025. Still, kudos to the walk-ons who want to be a part of a great football program!

Prediction: Backup wide receiver

2025 Season Countdown: #117 John Weidenbach

Name: John Weidenbach
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Naperville (IL) Benet Academy
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #59
Last year: I did not rank Weidenbach. He did not play in any games.
TTB Rating: N/A

Weidenbach was a preferred walk-on linebacker in the class of 2023 and is the grandson of former Michigan athletic director Jack Weidenbach. Jack, who passed away a little over a year ago, would be proud of his grandson, as John has pushed back against the NCAA’s attempt to limit roster sizes (LINK).

The NCAA wants rosters to be limited to 105 athletes for FBS teams, and to be honest, John would probably be on the chopping block if Michigan had to nail down its 105 most talented players. So this would be an important topic for him, along with numerous other players around the country. John has been on the team for two seasons and has not seen the field, and just based on his high school film, I would not expect that to change much during his time in Ann Arbor.

Prediction: Backup linebacker

2025 Season Countdown: #118 Tomas O’Meara

Name: Tomas O’Meara
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 183 lbs.
High school: Ann Arbor (MI) Gabriel Richard
Position: Running back
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #36
Last year: I did not rank O’Meara. He was not on the team.
TTB Rating: N/A

The first entry for 2025 is student body walk-on Tomas O’Meara. O’Meara is a 5’10”, 183-pounder who played at local school Gabriel Richard. He last played football during the fall of 2023 when he was a running back and safety, earning second team all-state honors.

Below are O’Meara’s senior highlights, and he makes some nice runs and defensive plays against the so-so competition. With the depth at running back and the inexperience at the college level, O’Meara is unlikely to play a meaningful role for Michigan this fall.

The 2025 Season Countdown is Coming!

Every year since 2009, I have counted down from the least important player on that year’s roster to the most important player, including starters, scholarship players, preferred walk-ons, special teams players, student body walk-ons, and everyone in between.

In case you want a look back at last year’s list, here it is (LINK). The top two players, Will Johnson and Colston Loveland, both got hurt, and it’s probably not a coincidence that the team struggled mightily at times, even though there were also other deficiencies.

YEARLY DISCLAIMER: The countdown is by the player’s importance to the team, not his overall talent. A talented player at a deep position won’t necessarily be missed a lot if he gets injured, but an injury to a moderately talented player at a thin position could be devastating. For example, I had cornerback Ambry Thomas ranked at #2 in 2020 because he was the team’s only proven cornerback. Naturally, he opted out of the season and the team as a whole was an unmitigated disaster. Meanwhile, first round pick Kwity Paye was #6 because more talent was returning on the defensive line.

I had to wait an extra week this year to watch the spring game on TV, and I was also waiting to see if the house settlement would reduce rosters to 105, but it doesn’t look like we’ll get any clarification on that anytime soon.

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