Tag: 2014 season countdown

2014 Season Countdown: #76 Blake Bars

Blake Bars (image via Go Blue Wolverine)

Name: Blake Bars
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 290 lbs.
High school: Nashville (TN) Montgomery Bell
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #62
Last year: I raned Bars #77 and said he would be a third-string offensive guard. He played in one game against Central Michigan.

As I mentioned during his first couple years on campus, the competition on the offensive line is tough and Bars is playing a little from behind. He did not play during the 2013 season except for a short stint against CMU in the season-opening blowout of the Chippewas. This spring he was running mostly with the third string and appears to be a backup option once again.

During the last couple years, Bars has shown some positional flexibility, playing some guard and some tackle. He also snapped the ball a little bit behind centers Graham Glasgow and Jack Miller, but Bars is just an emergency option there. He is a little bit heavier than last year (up six pounds on the roster), but 290 is still rather thin for a Big Ten offensive guard, especially one who stands 6’5″. Unfortunately for him, he has been passed by guys in his own class (Kyle Kalis, Erik Magnuson, Ben Braden), the class below him (Kyle Bosch, David Dawson), and even a true freshman tackle (Mason Cole), albeit not at Bars’s natural guard spot. It’s tough to see where Bars breaks through unless injuries or early departures occur, but having a veteran offensive lineman to back up several spots is a bit of a luxury.

Prediction: Third string offensive guard

2014 Season Countdown: #77 Dan Samuelson

Dan Samuelson (image via Scout)

Name: Dan Samuelson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 282 lbs.
High school: Plymouth (IN) Plymouth
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #74
Last year: I ranked Samuelson #92 and said he would redshirt. He redshirted.

It’s not very often that freshman linemen play, so Samuelson’s redshirt last year should not have surprised anyone. After his freshman year, however, he is still listed at just 282 lbs. Aside from the fact that Michigan has a fair number of players with experience, offensive guards in the Big Ten have to weigh more than 282 lbs. Samuelson looked thin in the spring game, and he also needs to continue working on pass protection. He was a third-stringer in April, and I see no reason why he would rise any higher by fall. Two of his classmates have inched ahead of him (Kyle Bosch and David Dawson), so it may be a few years before Samuelson gets a real shot.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2014 Season Countdown: #78 Russell Bellomy

Russell Bellomy

Name: Russell Bellomy
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Arlington (TX) Martin
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked Bellomy #70 and said he would be the third string quarterback. He missed the entire regular season recovering from an ACL tear and was Shane Morris’s backup in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl but did not play.

Bellomy has had a tough couple years. Two years ago he played very poorly in limited time as Denard Robinson’s backup before being supplanted by Devin Gardner. After that major blow to his confidence, he tore his ACL in the spring of 2013 and spent the whole year rehabbing and on the bench. He was again limited this spring, but more for precauationary reasons. Meanwhile, freshman Shane Morris took to the job quicker than Bellomy had, and Michigan recruited an Under Armour All-American in the 2014 class. The hill is only getting steeper.

For the upcoming 2014 season, Bellomy looks like option #3 at best. With Gardner entrenched as the starter and Morris playing fairly well in the bowl game, Bellomy might get some garbage time if any games turn into blowouts. With somewhat limited arm talent, the guy with the higher ceiling is freshman Wilton Speight, who might find himself lower on the depth chart only because the coaches can utilize a redshirt if he stays off the field. The last time Michigan used three different starting quarterbacks in one season was 30 years ago, when Jim Harbaugh (5), Chris Zurbrugg (5), and Russell Rein (2) each earned starts.

Prediction: Third-string quarterback

2014 Season Countdown: #79 Logan Tuley-Tillman

Logan Tuley-Tillman (image via MGoBlog)

NOTE: Due to a clerical error on my part (I counted Michael Ferns twice on my list), we’re skipping from #81 to #79 on the countdown.

Name: Logan Tuley-Tillman
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 290 lbs.
High school: Peoria (IL) Manual
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #72
Last year: I ranked Tuley-Tillman #90 and said he would redshirt. He redshirted.

Tuley-Tillman enrolled early in January of 2013 and was listed at 285 lbs. He did not look very good in the spring game, and he was never in the discussion for playing time during the 2013 season. He’s a tackle through and through, so that makes sense when he was blocked by seniors Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield.

Now the tackle position has been thinned out considerably, and Tuley-Tillman should be in the conversation. Unfortunately for all parties involved, he does not seem to have worked his way in there. He broke his hand and spent most of the spring wearing a large cast, but he was still working with the second- and third-teamers during the spring game. A left tackle by trade, he was passed up for playing time by true freshman Mason Cole and fellow redshirt freshman David Dawson, who also plays some guard. Aside from the two presumed starters at tackle (Erik Magnuson and Ben Braden), there appear to be at least a few more guys who would be inserted into the lineup before Tuley-Tillman: Cole, Dawson, and perhaps starting center Graham Glasgow or backup guard Blake Bars. Tuley-Tillman will probably find himself mired on the bench for another year, and since nobody is scheduled to graduate after the 2014 season, he might be sitting yet again in 2015.

Prediction: Backup left tackle

2014 Season Countdown: #81 Jaron Dukes

Jaron Dukes (image via MGoBlog)

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Name: Jaron Dukes
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Columbus (OH) Marion Franklin
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #83
Last year: I ranked Dukes #80 and said he would redshirt. He redshirted.

Dukes came in a little light last year and doesn’t have great speed, so he needed at least a year to bulk up. He has added three pounds. He is in essentially the same spot as he was last year despite the graduation of Jeremy Gallon, Jeremy Jackson, and Drew Dileo. The Wolverines brought in three pretty good receivers in the 2014 class, one of whom (Freddy Canteen) has already made waves with his play in the spring. I would expect a couple of the freshmen to shoot past Dukes on the depth chart on athleticism alone, so I believe he will watch from the sideline this year unless a blowout occurs.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver