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2023 Recruiting Grades: Tight End

Previously: QUARTERBACK, RUNNING BACK

On Saturday I covered the quarterback position, followed by the running backs on Tuesday. Now for a look at the tight ends.

2023 DEPARTURES: 4 (Erick All, Louis Hansen, Joel Honigford, Luke Schoonmaker)

2023 NEEDS: 2

2023 COMMITMENTS: Carlsbad (CA) Carlsbad TE Zack Marshall, Oswego (IL) Oswego TE Deakon Tonielli

2023 OFFERS

• Kade Eldridge – Lynden (WA) Christian: USC
• Cooper Flanagan – Concord (CA) De La Salle: Notre Dame
• Jaden Hamm – Eudora (KS) Eudora: Kansas
• Nyckoles Harbor – Washington (DC) Archbishop Carroll: South Carolina
• Luke Hasz – Bixby (OK) Bixby: Arkansas
• Chico Holt – Houston (TX) Strake Jesuit: Northwestern
• Jaxon Howard – Minneapolis (MN) Robbinsdale Cooper: LSU
• Matthew Klopfenstein – Scottsdale (AZ) Horizon: Baylor
• Ty Lockwood – Thompson’s Station (MO) Independence: Alabama
• Walker Lyons – Folsom (CA) Folsom: USC
• Mac Markway – St. Louis (MO) DeSmet: LSU
• Brett Norfleet – St. Charles (MO) Francis Howell: Missouri
• Andrew Rappleyea – Milton (MA) Milton: Penn State
• Jelani Thurman – Fairburn (GA) Langston Hughes: Ohio State
• Riley Williams – Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy: Miami
• Preston Zinter – Cambridge (MA) Buckingham Browne & Nichols: Notre Dame

GRADE: C+

REASON FOR THE GRADE: Michigan needed to restock the tight end position in the class of 2023 after suffering heavy losses from the group following the 2022 season. Not only did Erick All (Iowa) and Louis Hansen (UConn) transfer, but second string tight end Luke Schoonmaker departed for the NFL, blocking tight end Joel Honigford ran out of eligibility, and a decent walk-on in Carter Selzer also graduated. All, Schoonmaker, and Honigford all played a ton. Tight end is a position where players typically need at least one season of strength and conditioning development before being relevant, so it’s important to keep a steady string of players coming.

Unfortunately, the Wolverines whiffed on most of their top targets, which is surprising considering how often tight ends are used in Michigan’s offense. Tonielli (4-star, #20 TE, #411 overall) was the tenth highest ranked guy at the position that Michigan offered, and Marshall would be the thirteenth highest ranked offeree if he were listed as a tight end (he’s an “athlete” according to the 247 Composite). Tonielli is really a big receiver being converted to tight end, and Marshall does not look like much of a difference maker when it comes to his athleticism.

Overall, Michigan supplemented its numbers decently at the position, but the talent level drops off. All and Schoonmaker are both NFL-caliber tight ends and Hansen was a well regarded 4-star recruit, though he hadn’t made an impact on the field during his first two seasons; Marshall is not on their level as an athlete, and Tonielli has good upside even if he doesn’t have the body and skills to play immediately. Michigan did take a strong swing at 5-star Nyckoles Harbor, but ultimately, NIL drove Harbor to South Carolina. Massachusetts product Andrew Rappleyea was committed to the Wolverines at one point, but he flipped to Penn State.

2023 Recruiting Grade: Running Back

Previously: QUARTERBACK

On Saturday I covered the quarterback position, so here’s a look at the running back spot.

2023 NEEDS: 2

2023 COMMITMENTS: Dexter (MI) Dexter RB Cole Cabana, Kennesaw (GA) North Cobb RB Benjamin Hall

2023 OFFERS

• Jaden Booker – Naples (FL) Palmetto Ridge: Undecided
• Dalton Brooks – Shiner (TX) Shiner: Texas A&M
• Jeremiah Cobb – Montgomery (AL) Catholic: Auburn
• Mark Fletcher – Fort Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage: Miami
• Justice Haynes – Buford (GA) Buford: Alabama
• Sedrick Irvin, Jr. – Miami (FL) Columbus: Stanford
• Kaleb Jackson – Baton Rouge (LA) Liberty: LSU
• Christopher Johnson – Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard: Miami
• Jaquez Keys – Ironton (OH) Ironton: Wake Forest
• Jayden Limar – Lake Stevens (WA) Lake Stevens: Oregon
• London Montgomery – Scranton (PA) Prep: Penn State
• Samuel Singleton, Jr. – Orange Park (FL) Fleming Island: Florida State
• Daylan Smothers – Charlotte (NC) West: Oklahoma
• Dijon Stanley – Granada Hills (CA) Granada Hills: Utah
• Darius Taylor – Walled Lake (MI) Western: Minnesota
• Treyaun Webb – Jacksonville (FL) Trinity: Florida
• Richard Young – Lehigh Acres (FL) Lehigh: Alabama

GRADE: B+

REASON FOR THE GRADE: Michigan needed at least one running back in the class of 2023 to bump up its scholarship backs from four to five. As we saw this past season, four scholarship running backs leaves Michigan precariously thin at the position. When Blake Corum hurt his knee and backup Donovan Edwards hurt his hand, Michigan was stuck with redshirt freshman Tavierre Dunlap, true freshman C.J. Stokes, position switchers, and walk-ons. That led to an array of plays in which more talented backs would have made Michigan’s season a little easier, such as walk-on Isaiah Gash’s dropped pass against Illinois and converted linebacker Kalel Mullings’s fumble against TCU. Michigan should have at least five scholarship backs on its roster at all times.

So Michigan needed at least one, and then a lot of people expected Blake Corum to leave for the NFL after a highly productive season, bumping up the need to two. Indeed, Michigan landed speedster Cole Cabana (4-star, #10 RB, #161 overall), who might be more of a scat back who can split out wide. And they also took a fairly early commitment from Benjamin Hall (3-star, #55 RB, #781 overall). Hall is the bigger question mark of the two, not only because of his lower ranking, but also because he didn’t start for most of his senior season. Hall is a bigger back (5’10”, 225 lbs.) and lacks great speed. One might expect to see him be a bruising downhill runner, but he bounces a lot of his runs outside and tries to reverse field, which he will not have the speed to do in college.

Michigan tried to get in late on in-state Minnesota commit Darius Taylor, but it was too late to get much movement there. So obviously the coaching staff wanted a third back – or perhaps to replace Hall in the class – but that didn’t happen. That not only solidifies my confidence that Michigan wanted at least two backs, but it makes me question how much confidence they have in the guys they brought in.

Right now the Wolverines are in a good position with Corum, Edwards, Dunlap, and Stokes all returning (for now), plus Cabana and Hall entering the program. Even if someone like Dunlap or Stokes transfers following the spring, Michigan would still have five scholarship guys on the roster.

2024 Recruiting Update: February 6, 2023

COMMITMENT

Harper Woods (MI) Harper Woods safety Jacob Oden committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2024

Josiah Brown – WR – Hicksville (NY) Holy Trinity Diocesan: Brown is a 5’11”, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Penn State, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #14 athlete, and #136 overall.

Daniel Cruz – OG – North Richland Hills (TX) Richland: Cruz is a 6’3″, 295-pounder who has been offered by Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, and Texas A&M, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #18 interior offensive lineman, and #333 overall.

Xavier Filsaime – S – McKinney (TX) McKinney: Filsaime is a 6’1″, 180 lb. safety with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M, among others. He’s a legitimate speedster with a 10.52 time in the 100 meters.

Hit the jump for more.

Way Too Early 2024 Depth Chart: February 2023

The following depth chart has removed these listed players from the depth chart due to various reasons, even though some could return with a fifth year or COVID year exception:

• QB Jack Tuttle (graduation)
• RB Blake Corum (graduation)
• WR A.J. Henning (graduation)
• WR Cornelius Johnson (graduation)
• WR Roman Wilson (graduation)
• OL Karsen Barnhart (graduation)
• OL LaDarius Henderson (graduation)
• OL Myles Hinton (graduation)
• OL Trente Jones (graduation)
• OL Trevor Keegan (graduation)
• OL Drake Nugent (graduation)
• DT Cam Goode (graduation)
• LB Michael Barrett (graduation)
• LB Kalel Mullings (graduation)
• LB Joey Velazquez (graduation)
• CB Jalen Perry (graduation)
• CB Mike Sainristil (graduation)
• S Quinten Johnson (graduation)

It also assumes that every currently rostered player and every currently committed prospect will be here in 2024, which is obviously not true.

Hit the jump for the depth chart.

2023 Recruiting Grade: Quarterback

I’m going to start something that I haven’t done in a few years, and that’s handing out recruiting grades. As Michigan’s recruiting has dropped off a little bit in 2023 to the low teens, I want to share how I feel about Michigan’s efforts overall.

I’ll start off with the most important position on the football fied: quarterback.

2023 NEEDS: 1

2023 COMMITMENTS: Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle

2023 OFFERS

• Arch Manning – New Orleans (LA) Isidore Newman: Texas
• Dante Moore – Detroit (MI) King: UCLA
• Malachi Nelson – Los Alamitos (CA) Los Alamitos: USC
• William Watson III – Springfield (MA) Central: Virginia Tech
• Creed Whittemore – Gainesville (FL) Buchholz: Florida

GRADE: F

REASON FOR THE GRADE: First and foremost, Michigan completely whiffed on the quarterback position in the class of 2023 unless you count sixth year senior Jack Tuttle, who is a one-year backup rental. Technically, Michigan offered superstar recruits Arch Manning and Malachi Nelson, but both were extreme longshots and the Wolverines never really had a chance. Meanwhile, Watson and Whittemore are both undersized QB/ATH recruits who are probably likely to play a different position in college.

So really, Michigan put all of its eggs in the Dante Moore basket. Unfortunately, Moore had a desire to play immediately, and the presence of J.J. McCarthy blocked Moore at Michigan for at least the 2023 season, if not 2024. Moore is a 5-star prospect and could perhaps be the best quarterback in the class when all is said and done, and it hurt to lose him. It stings a little bit less since he didn’t end up at Michigan State or Ohio State, two programs he was also considering. But Michigan had a lot of connections and still couldn’t close the deal. Moore committed to Oregon initially, and when his future QB coach left for Arizona State, Moore flipped to UCLA. Personally, I think UCLA is an odd fit because head coach Chip Kelly does not have a strong record of developing pro-style quarterbacks.

Regardless, Michigan tried to land a quarterback in 2023 and failed. They could have potentially earned a commitment from Warren (MI) De La Salle’s Brady Drogosh (4-star, #20 QB, #317 overall) if they moved on him earlier, but they waited too long and burned that bridge. That leaves the cupboard relatively bare, since beyond McCarthy for the future, the Wolverines have only walk-on Davis Warren and projects Jayden Denegal and Alex Orji. That puts a lot of pressure on the staff to land a very good 2024 quarterback and/or explore the transfer portal for a future starter.