2013 Season Countdown: #25 Amara Darboh

Tag: 2013 season countdown

6Aug 2013
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2013 Season Countdown: #25 Amara Darboh

Amara Darboh and Jeremy Gallon (image via MGoBlog.com)

Name: Amara Darboh
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 213 lbs.
High school: Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #82
Last year: I ranked Darboh #55 and said he would be a backup wide receiver. He was a backup wide receiver and special teamer who made 5 tackles.

Darboh entered last season as the more likely freshman receiver to play, due to his superior size over Jehu Chesson. He hit the field but never touched the ball. Michigan used him as a gunner on punt coverage, where he was probably a little bit bigger than most punt team gunners and made 5 tackles throughout the season. This spring a couple videos popped up on social media of Darboh making leaping catches, one-handed catches, etc. during workouts. The spring game wasn’t the showcase for him that some expected, but it was somewhat limited in its passing due to a shortage of quarterbacks.

Someone is going to need to take Roy Roundtree’s spot at flanker, and I expect that to be Jeremy Gallon moving over from split end. That means someone is going to need to take Gallon’s spot at split end, and I expect that to be Darboh. He has the size to be a good blocker, and the athleticism is obviously there to make some acrobatic catches. I don’t think Darboh will put up huge numbers because there are other receiving options (Devin Funchess, Jehu Chesson, Drew Dileo, etc.), but I think he will be the nominal starter at split end and attempt to make his case for the top wideout going into 2014.

Prediction: Starting split end; 20 receptions, 300 yards, 3 touchdowns

5Aug 2013
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2013 Season Countdown: #26 Keith Heitzman

Keith Heitzman (image via MGoBlog.com)

Name: Keith Heitzman
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 277 lbs.
High school: Hilliard (OH) Davidson
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #92
Last year: I ranked Heitzman #43 and said he would be the backup 5-tech defensive end. He was the backup 5-tech and finished with 7 tackles, .5 tackles for loss, and 1 fumble recovery.

Heitzman spent last season behind Craig Roh. Roh was one of those guys who didn’t make a lot of great plays but didn’t do much wrong, either. Heitzman seems like the same type of player, so he didn’t really stand out last year as a backup. He made a tackle here or there and grabbed a fumble against Nebraska, but otherwise, he wasn’t spotlighted much.

With Roh graduated and gone, there’s a void at strongside end. There are several players who could  fill the spot, but Heitzman seems like the front-runner. He was the top backup there last season, he started there in the spring game, and the other players are even less experienced. Redshirt freshmen Matt Godin and Chris Wormley could also get reps at the position, and Godin in particular looked pretty impressive in the spring. I would expect there to be more rotation at SDE this year, so the backup(s) should get plenty of playing time, but Heitzman should be the first man on the field.

Prediction: Starting strongside end; 25 tackles, 2 sacks

4Aug 2013
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2013 Season Countdown: #27 Jareth Glanda

Jareth Glanda

Name: Jareth Glanda
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 246 lbs.
High school: Rochester Hills (MI) Brother Rice
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #54
Last year: I ranked Glanda #33 and said he would be the starting long snapper and short snapper. He started at long snapper and short snapper and assisted on 2 tackles.

Glanda was Michigan’s short snapper last year for the second consecutive season, and he also took over long snapping duties for the first time. While his 2012 season didn’t include any glorious moments like catching a pass in the Sugar Bowl, he still did a good job snapping the ball, helping Michigan avoid any major snapping snafus.

This year I’m ranking Glanda slightly higher. Not only is he expected to be the starting short and long snapper again, but last year’s second-stringer, Curt Graman, decided not to return for a fifth year. That leaves true freshman Scott Sypniewski as the only backup. I expected Michigan to have its fair share of close games this year, so good snapping will be important if they want to win those games.

Prediction: Starting long snapper and short snapper

4Aug 2013
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2013 Season Countdown: #28 A.J. Williams

A.J. Williams

Name: A.J. Williams
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 265 lbs.
High school: Cincinnati (OH) Sycamore
Position: Tight end
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #84
Last year: I ranked Williams #58 and said he would be a backup tight end. He played in all 13 games as a backup tight end.

Williams was an interesting case study last year, because he was going to be evidence – one way or another – about how Michigan’s coaching staff thought about tight ends. Do they want big tight ends or guys who know what they’re doing? Obviously, it would be nice to have both . . . but the coaches will settle for just being big. Williams hit campus around 280 lbs. and had very poor technique, but the staff ran him out there in every game. He kept getting his feet crossed up and struggled to hold at the point of attack. On top of that, he wasn’t a receiving threat. He didn’t catch a single pass, and the only time I remember him being targeted, Devin Gardner tried to hit him on a drag route across the middle, on which the Minnesota defender undercut the route and made a pick.

That previous paragraph makes Williams sound really bad, and that’s kind of accurate. But in all honesty, he should have been redshirting; however, Rich Rodriguez’s failure to consistently recruit the tight end position left Brady Hoke and company in a bad way. Last year Michigan suffered because of it. Now that Mike Kwiatkowski and Brandon Moore have graduated, Williams will presumably become the starting Y tight end. An extra year of watching himself on film and technique preparation should be very helpful; additionally, he has shed 15-20 lbs. of unnecessary weight and should be in better shape this year. While I don’t expect him to be a blocking master (or much of a receiving threat), he should be improved this season. And even if he’s not, there’s not much competition.

Prediction: Starting Y tight end; 2 receptions, 20 yards

3Aug 2013
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2013 Season Countdown: #29 Kyle Kalis

Kyle Kalis (image via MGoBlog)

Name: Kyle Kalis
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 297 lbs.
High school: Lakewood (OH) St. Edward
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #67
Last year: I ranked Kalis #45 and said he would be a backup offensive lineman. He redshirted.

I misfired on Kalis last season, but that was perhaps a good thing for the team. I thought Kalis was the most college ready of the linemen in the class of 2012, and with very little depth on the offensive line, I thought he would be needed at some point. Amazingly, Ricky Barnum and the other hogs up front stayed injury-free, so Kalis got to ride out the season on the bench, presumably learning technique and the playbook. He earned some practice buzz and the coaches have praised his physical transformation since last year. Despite being a mauler already, he had some puffiness that seems to have disappeared if you’ve seen any recent photographs of him. In the spring he was in the thick of playing time for the three interior positions that need to be filled now that Barnum, Elliott Mealer, and Patrick Omameh have graduated.

Head coach Brady Hoke said recently that if the season were to start today, Kalis would be the starting right guard. His main competition appears to be redshirt junior Joey Burzynski, an undersized veteran who has seen some time as a backup over the past couple seasons. While I really like Kalis’s long-term potential, I think he’s the least valuable of the crew simply because he’s young and there’s some decent competition for the position. Aside from Burzynski, there’s redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant, walk-on Graham Glasgow (who’s also fighting for the center spot), redshirt freshman Blake Bars, and true freshman Kyle Bosch. I still have hopes for Bryant after he recovers from a broken leg, and I think Bosch will be a star someday, too. Kalis will surely struggle at times, but if he can adjust to the college game quickly, he could be very good very soon.

Prediction: Starting right guard