Tag: 2014 season countdown

2014 Season Countdown: #82 Jared Wangler

Jared Wangler

Name: Jared Wangler
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 218 lbs.
High school: Warren (MI) De La Salle
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A 
Last year: Wangler was a senior in high school.
Final TTB Rating: 59

Wangler committed to Michigan in August of 2013 after originally committing to the Penn State Nittany Lions. He was a relatively under-the-radar prospect until Penn State and LSU came along to offer him, and Michigan finally extended an offer to the Wolverine legacy (his father John is a former starting quarterback) after some other options at linebacker picked other schools. He sat on the offer for a couple days before flipping to the maize and blue. The youngest Wangler earned an invitation to the Under Armour All-American Game, though he missed the game itself due to a shoulder injury.

You can see above that I pegged Wangler as a 59 on my scale, which means I see him as a backup option. I think Michigan has recruited a lot of talent in recent classes, and Wangler is not quite up to par, in my opinion. However, you may note that in his commitment post, I wrote: “For him to fit at SAM, I think he would have to play in a 4-3 Over defense, where he could cover the tight end and play in the C gap.” News came out this spring that Michigan plans to run more of an Over defense this fall, so perhaps that fits right in with where they picture Wangler helping. Regardless, I think Michigan is pretty well stocked with experienced linebackers for this fall (Cameron Gordon was the only loss to graduation), so Wangler can probably take at least a year to bulk up and mature as a player.

Prediction: Redshirt

2014 Season Countdown: #83 Chris Fox

Chris Fox

Name: Chris Fox
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 310 lbs.
High school: Parker (CO) Ponderosa
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #73
Last year: I ranked Fox #93 and said he would redshirt. He redshirted.

There isn’t much to say about Fox at this point. He tore his ACL toward the end of his senior season and his conditioning went south, so redshirting as a freshman was a no-brainer. Partly because of that, he finds himself behind several of his classmates. Fox does not appear to be on the two-deep and will probably be watching from the sideline yet again this year. It may be a long road for him with so many young players having earned experience last season. Backup right guard Joey Burzynski is the only senior on the offensive line, so the guys who are in line to start have two or three years remaining. While Fox came in to college expecting to play tackle, he was playing guard in the spring.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2014 Season Countdown: #84 Bo Dever

Bo Dever (image via Jasper Sailfin Photography)

Name: Bo Dever
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 195 lbs.
High school: Lake Forest (IL) Lake Forest
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #3
Last year: I did not rank Dever. He played in one game.

If you’re unfamiliar with Dever’s story, here’s a good place to start: his hometown newspaper. His father David played offensive guard for Michigan from 1984-1987, and the current Wolverine is nicknamed in honor of David’s coach, Bo Schembechler. Bo Dever came to Michigan as a preferred walk-on in the 2012 class. He redshirted as a freshman, played in the Central Michigan game last year, and watched the rest of the season from the sideline.

Dever caught a pass in the spring game and looked pretty smooth in doing so. He is probably not athletic enough to beat out the Devin Funchess, Drake Harris, and Freddy Canteen types, but he could be a possession guy who catches a ball here or there. He is also thickly built and could help as a blocker. The Wolverines are stacking some good talent at wide receiver, so it will be difficult to break through that wall.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver

2014 Season Countdown: #85 Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson

Name: Terry Richardson
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 172 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #13
Last year: I ranked Richardson #61 and said he would be a backup corner and special teams player. He did not play at all.

Richardson came into college with a lot of hype, even indicating that he was highly anticipating playing as a true freshman. Those expectations must have dipped quickly when he played a minuscule number of snaps as a true freshman in 2012 and then didn’t play at all in 2013. I’ll even admit that I thought Richardson was the best cover corner I had seen come out of Cass Tech since Michigan developed the pipeline in the late 2000’s, a series of corners that included Teric Jones, Boubacar Cissoko, Dior Mathis, Delonte Hollowell, and others. Then he tried to play the past couple seasons at roughly 160 lbs. That’s not exactly a recipe for success.

Now he stands at an imposing 172 lbs., but I have given up on Richardson as a heavy contributor until I see him start to make an impact. I have dropped him over 20 spots in the countdown, even behind a number of incoming freshman and some walk-ons. Michigan has some established cornerbacks, some true sophomores who earned quite a bit of playing time last year, and a heralded incoming freshman. I still believe Richardson has the smooth coverage abilities to be successful, but failing to put on weight suggests that he hasn’t bought into the college strength and conditioning (and nutrition) program. Unfortunately for him, it might be too little, too late, as younger guys have passed him on the depth chart. The talent is there, but he has to make up quite a bit of ground.

Prediction: Backup cornerback

2014 Season Countdown: #86 Michael Jocz

Name: Michael Jocz
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 231 lbs.
High school: Novi (MI) Novi
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #95
Last year: I did not rank Jocz. He played in one game but did not record any statistics.

Jocz is my pick for Random Tight End Who Might Play Because That’s What Tight Ends Do. He played a bit in the Central Michigan game last season, but that was it. It turns out there aren’t a whole lot of opportunities to play your fifth tight end when you’re struggling to beat UConn. The Wolverines are even thinner at the position this year after losing Jake Butt to injury (at least for a little while), Jordan Paskorz to early departure, and Devin Funchess to the wide receiver position. Junior A.J. Williams returns and redshirt junior Keith Heitzman came over to the offensive side of the ball, but redshirt freshman Khalid Hill and true freshman Ian Bunting aren’t up to the task of blocking FBS players at this point. Jocz may not be, either, but he could give those other guys a run for their money since he’s been in the strength program longer.

Prediction: Backup tight end

Here are some high school highlights to give you an idea of his abilities: