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2021 Season Countdown: #105 Mica Gelb

Name: Mica Gelb
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 295 lbs.
High school: Washington (DC) Woodrow Wilson
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #55
Last year: I did not rank Gelb. He did not play.
TTB Rating: N/A

Gelb is a walk-on offensive lineman with good size for an FBS player. So how does a guy who’s 6’4″ and 295 lbs. end up as a walk-on instead of a scholarship player elsewhere? Well, Gelb does not have great athleticism. At least based on his high school film, he would pretty much just stand in one place and try to push people around with his upper body. Of course it’s helpful to have these types of guys on the scout team and to rep against scholarship guys in practice, but I think that’s the ceiling for Gelb unless he has made some huge strides during his time at Michigan.

Prediction: Backup offensive lineman

2021 Season Countdown: #106 Danny Hughes

Name: Danny Hughes
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Naperville (IL) Central
Position: Running back
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #22
Last year: I did not rank Hughes. He did not play.
TTB Rating: N/A

Hughes was a walk-on participant in two games in 2020, both on special teams. He also won Offensive Scout Team Player of the Week in 2019 during Iowa week. So as walk-ons go, he’s in the upper echelon. Unfortunately for him, he plays running back, a position where walk-ons almost never get playing time. Hughes will likely continue in his role as a special teamer, but anything more than that is unlikely.

Prediction: Backup running back, special teamer

Review of 2009 Recruiting: Tight End

The 2009 recruiting class was Rich Rodriguez’s first full recruiting class in Ann Arbor. Rodriguez envisioned a team of 280-pound offensive linemen and then a group of 5’8″ speedsters manning all the skill positions, leaving very little recruiting effort to put into the tight end position.

THE ROSTER

• Martell Webb (Jr.)
• Kevin Koger (So.)
• Brandon Moore (RS Fr.)

THE RECRUITS

None. Michigan didn’t land a single tight end in the class of 2009.

Hit the jump for a look at the rest of Michigan’s quarterback recruiting efforts in 2009.

2021 Season Countdown: #107 Keshaun Harris

Name: Keshaun Harris
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 183 lbs.
High school: Lansing (MI) Waverly
Position: Defensive back
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #18
Last year: I did not rank Harris. He did not play.
TTB Rating: N/A

Defensive back – particularly cornerback – is a tough place to get on the field as a walk-on, largely because it’s predicated on innate speed and athleticism. And if players have that athleticism, they get a scholarship somewhere instead of walking on at one of the biggest programs in the country. Safety Hunter Reynolds was the most recent Michigan walk-on defensive back to play significant minutes, but the past decade has only really seen three: Reynolds, safety Jordan Kovacs, and safety/linebacker Jordan Glasgow.

All that is to say that Harris probably won’t see the field as a walk-on defensive back. There are a ton of safeties on the roster – though I suspect Harris is repping at corner – and the cornerbacks are all longer than Harris, faster than him, or both. I imagine Harris will spend another year on the scout team defense.

Prediction: Backup defensive back

2021 Season Countdown: #108 Leon Franklin

Name: Leon Franklin
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 193 lbs.
High school: Southfield (MI) A&T
Position: Running back
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #34
Last year: I did not rank Franklin. He did not play.
TTB Rating: N/A

Franklin was a solid running back for Southfield A&T, finishing his career during the 2018 season. At 5’8″ he and new running backs coach Mike Hart can look at each other eye-to-eye. Franklin is more of a downhill guy than a speed guy. He’s never going to be in the mix to play heavy minutes because of who’s ahead of him, but can he be a guy who represents a pinball-type runner on the scout team? Sure.