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2018 Season Countdown: #49 Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.

Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. (image via Pinterest)

Name: Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 276 lbs.
High school: Buffalo (NY) Canisius
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #17
Last year: I ranked Wheatley #18 and said he would be a backup tight end (LINK). He made three starts and caught 3 passes for 26 yards.
TTB Rating: 82

When Wheatley came out of high school a few years ago, many Michigan fans wanted to bulk him up and make him an offensive tackle. I kind of wanted him to play defensive end. Instead, he has stayed at tight end, redshirting his first year and playing sporadic minutes since. He made bookend starts last year against Florida and Ohio State, but there wasn’t a lot of production in the meantime; he had one catch each against Cincinnati, Indiana, and Rutgers. The thing most people expected him to be good – blocking – has not been a strength.

It’s hard to believe Wheatley is a redshirt junior now, but that’s the case. The son of a Michigan all-timer has 6 catches for 61 yards and 1 touchdown in three years on campus. Furthermore, he might not be taking a step forward this season, because Sean McKeon and Zach Gentry look to still be ahead of him, while the only departure (Ian Bunting as a grad transfer to Cal) only had 1 reception last season. There’s no reason to expect Wheatley’s impact to increase this year unless he can improve significantly as a blocker, and both McKeon and Gentry have two years left if they decide to stay. Unless something changes this might be a case where Wheatley gets his degree and finishes his career elsewhere.

Prediction: Backup tight end

2018 Season Countdown: #50 Donovan Jeter

Donovan Jeter (image via The Wolverine)

Name: Donovan Jeter
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 288 lbs.
High school: Beaver Falls (PA) Beaver Falls
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #95
Last year: I ranked Jeter #76 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 78

Jeter earned quite a bit of hype going into last season as a potential contributor. He was playing some weakside end at one point, which never made a lot of sense to me. Regardless, his diet and the S&C program kicked in, and it turned out he was too big for weakside end. They moved him to 3-tech defensive tackle, and then he hurt his knee, anyway. So 2017 was a wash.

Jeter was expected to be a rotation player last year, so I expect him to be in that discussion this year, too. Michael Dwumfour is the expected starter at 3-tech, and Jeter is in the mix with Lawrence Marshall to back him up. Marshall is a fifth year senior who has to make an impact, while Jeter has higher upside. If he can stay healthy, I think Jeter will start taking more and more snaps away from Marshall throughout the season.

Prediction: Backup defensive tackle

2018 Season Countdown: #51 Jordan Glasgow

Jordan Glasgow (#29, image via Zimbio)

Name: Jordan Glasgow
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Aurora (IL) Marmion Academy
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #29
Last year: I ranked Glasgow #25 and said he would be a backup safety/Viper (LINK). He made 11 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: N/A

Glasgow is part of a family that already sent two walk-ons (Graham, Ryan) through Michigan who ended up starting and then getting drafted into the NFL. In the spring of 2017, Glasgow looked like a front-runner to start and replace Delano Hill or Dymonte Thomas, both of whom graduated after the 2016 season. He played well in last year’s spring game and Michigan’s only other options were the unproven Josh Metellus (safety), the unproven Khaleke Hudson (Viper), and freshmen.

It turned out that I overrated Glasgow’s impact, though he was named the team’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Metellus and Hudson ended up starting at Glasgow’s potential positions, and he didn’t play much on defense.

This year I’m readjusting downward for Glasgow based on the 2017 season. Hudson has established himself, and while Metellus struggled, Glasgow has not been mentioned as one of the threats for his position. J’Marick Woods, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, and transfer Casey Hughes might take some Metellus’s snaps, but probably not Glasgow. At least not in crunch time. Glasgow will definitely play special teams, though, and he will probably be an important factor on the coverage units.

Prediction: Backup safety

2018 Season Countdown: #52 Andrew Stueber

Andrew Stueber (far left, image via USA Today)

Name: Andrew Stueber
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 314 lbs.
High school: Darien (CT) Darien
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #71
Last year: I ranked Stueber #67 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 82

Stueber entered last season as a physically ready offensive lineman. He didn’t need to grow or add any weight, and he might be the most impressive physical specimen Michigan has recruited since Ben Braden. He didn’t play great high school competition in Connecticut, and maybe that giant leap to the college level prevented him from helping. Michigan also stayed fairly healthy on the offensive line last season, at least until everything went down the drain in the bowl game.

This year Michigan has a hole at left tackle (Mason Cole) graduated and a question mark at right tackle. Fans say Stueber is in the running, but insider talk has him a couple spots back. Usually there’s an injury or two throughout a season, and somebody often underperforms. That puts Stueber within striking distance of seeing some times this season. I don’t think he’ll be a starter unless a few bad things happen, but he should start to see some playing time this season.

Prediction: Backup offensive tackle

2018 Season Countdown: #53 Nate Schoenle

Nate Schoenle (image via Fan Rag Sports)

Name: Nate Schoenle
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 185 lbs.
High school: Ann Arbor (MI) Gabriel Richard
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #35
Last year: I ranked Schoenle #48 and said he would be a backup slot receiver (LINK). He made 4 catches for 41 yards and 7 tackles.
TTB Rating: N/A

Schoenle was that rare walk-on who played as a true freshman back in 2016. Last year he stepped up his playing time, making 4 catches, including a couple spots that weren’t garbage time (Purdue, South Carolina). He was usually a sign that a running play was coming, and if you guess a toss crack sweep was coming when he was in the game, you’d probably be right 72% of the time.

Nothing against Schoenle, but somebody else could make those 4 catches and block on some toss sweeps. I’m bumping him down a few spots, even though I don’t expect his role to change a ton. If Michigan does become a bit more pass-happy with a (hopefully) improved offensive line and a new quarterback, then maybe the offense will put somebody else in who can be a little more explosive. There’s also been some buzz about fellow walk-on Jake McCurry. If McCurry takes snaps from anyone, I would imagine it would be Schoenle. After all, how many snaps for walk-ons are there when you have a bunch of highly touted receivers available like Tarik Black, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, and others? Schoenle is a good guy to have on the team, but probably not a necessary component for team success.

Prediction: Backup slot receiver