Tag: 2016 season countdown

2016 Season Countdown: #59 Ben Bredeson

Ben Bredeson (image via Rivals)

Name: Ben Bredeson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 293 lbs.
High school: Hartland (WI) Arrowhead
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Bredeson was a senior in high school (LINK). He was chosen for the Under Armour All-American Game.
Final TTB Rating: 88

Bredeson eventually surprised a lot of people. Most big-time offensive linemen in the state of Wisconsin go to Wisconsin because, well, the Badgers have done an excellent job of producing hogs over the years. It wouldn’t be a bad choice at all. But he ended up looking more at Michigan and Notre Dame, eventually choosing the Wolverines in June of 2015. By the end of his senior year, he was a USA Today All-American, an Under Armour All-American, and a Maxpreps First Team All-American. He also won Gatorade Player of the Year in Wiconsin.

Michigan has had a three-year run of playing a true freshman offensive lineman. Last year it was Grant Newsome, before that it was Mason Cole, and in 2013 it was Kyle Bosch. Bredeson seems the most likely to carry on that tradition. The coaching staff said they wanted him to start off his career at offensive guard. He won’t pass Ben Braden or Kyle Kalis to start this year, but he could press for playing time behind them. The next guard has been David Dawson, but Dawson has struggled and had an upper body injury this spring that caused him to miss some time. Jim Harbaugh likes to use an extra lineman or two in certain personnel packages, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Bredeson is one of those guys this season. He’s the most polished incoming lineman, and the staff could be grooming him for a starting job in 2017 when there will be at least three new starters on the line.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2016 Season Countdown: #60 Eddie McDoom

Eddie McDoom

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Name: Eddie McDoom
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 182 lbs.
High school: Winter Garden (FL) West Orange
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #13
Last year: McDoom was a senior in high school (LINK). He caught 29 passes for 653 yards and 9 touchdowns.
Final TTB Rating: 89

I am pretty unabashed about my high hopes for McDoom, who not only has an awesome name, but can also play football pretty well. He originally committed to Oregon, even though I heard that Michigan was his leader. He then decommitted from the Ducks over the winter to flip to the Wolverines. In the meantime, he played in the Under Armour All-America Game, scoring a touchdown against other elite talents.

I’m only putting McDoom down at #60 because Michigan has some other talented receivers, many of whom are more experienced. The two primary guys are Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh, but Grant Perry, Maurice Ways, and Drake Harris have also played a significant number of snaps. Add in the multiple-tight end sets and a large crew of incoming receivers, and the need for McDoom isn’t that great. Freshman receivers often contribute, and I think McDoom has the talent to do so. I think he could play in the slot, he’s a good route runner, and he might be able to help out on kickoff returns. But I think his chances to contribute will increase significantly in 2017, after Chesson and Darboh have moved on.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver

2016 Season Countdown: #61 Zach Gentry

Zach Gentry (image via MLive)

Name: Zach Gentry
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 244 lbs.
High school: Albuquerque (NM) Eldorado
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #10
Last year: I ranked Gentry #45 and said he would be a situational quarterback (LINK). He redshirted.

In one of my most overvalued posts last year, I put Gentry at #45. Without a clear pecking order at quarterback and lacking big-play guys on offense, I thought he could provide a spark as a run-first quarterback in the mold of a leaner Blake Bell. That turned out not to be necessary, and Jim Harbaugh didn’t rely much on designed quarterback runs to move the ball. Gentry ended up redshirting while Jake Rudock took the vast majority of snaps, and Wilton Speight filling in here or there.

This off-season Gentry moved to tight end. It looks like his quarterback days might be finished. He’s listed at 244 lbs., but you wouldn’t guess that by looking at his frame. He might not look like a real tight end until he adds another 15 lbs. or so, because he looked like a tall receiver . . . or a skinny quarterback . . . or, well, a freshman tight end, I guess. He struggled to catch the ball, and his routes weren’t sharp. Those things might improve over the summer, but Michigan has so many tight ends that I don’t see Gentry as a big-time contributor this season. He might be the tallest guy, and he might be the fastest guy, but he’s not well rounded yet. I think the coaches will get his feet wet in certain packages, situations, or games, but I expect him to mostly watch from the sideline.

Prediction: Backup tight end

2016 Season Countdown: #62 Shane Morris

Shane Morris

Name: Shane Morris
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 208 lbs.
High school: Warren (MI) De La Salle
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Morris #30 and said he would be the backup quarterback (LINK). He redshirted.

Well, aside from anointing Jake Rudock as last year’s starter, I royally screwed up the quarterback situation. I ranked Morris #30 and said he would be the backup QB. Instead, he redshirted while Wilton Speight was the #2 guy. I also thought Zach Gentry would play some, but he redshirted, too. Rudock was good enough to have clearly earned the #1 job, so that seemed like a no-brainer. Jim Harbaugh seemed to want to preserve Morris’s eligibility for an extra year, even though he started off the year as the #2 guy. By midway through the season, Harbaugh told the media that Speight had surpassed Morris. Whether that was coachspeak to support Speight or whether it was the truth, maybe we’ll never know.

What we do know is that Speight has thrown a touchdown in his career, something Morris has yet to accomplish.

This spring, with Rudock gone, the starting job was a battle between Speight and John O’Korn. I like O’Korn’s upside better because he can run and has a better arm, but the story is that Speight makes fewer mistakes. At this point I don’t have much faith in Morris’s future. He has been passed by younger guys and keeps getting pushed farther down the depth chart. What I do potentially find intriguing is Morris’s athleticism. He was playing a fair amount of receiver this spring, and he even threw a touchdown pass to Drake Johnson in the spring game on a double-pass from the WR spot. Of course, Michigan had some depth issues at wideout in the spring, but Morris’s good size and decent athleticism maybe puts him in a spot where he can be used in certain situations.

I have doubts about whether Morris will take even one snap at QB this season, but I wouldn’t put it past Jim Harbaugh to throw him out there. There are some creative ways to use a package of, say, Wilton Speight at QB, Drake Johnson at RB, Jabrill Peppers at slot receiver, and Morris at WR. Or Speight at QB, Peppers at RB, and Morris at slot receiver. Harbaugh and his crew did a nice job of putting together creative formations and personnel packages last year, and maybe Morris can be a part of that this season. This might also be his chance to audition for a graduate transfer in 2017, because I don’t foresee him surpassing O’Korn or Speight.

Prediction: Backup quarterback/receiver

2016 Season Countdown: #63 Shelton Johnson

Reuben Jones (#4) and Shelton Johnson (image via Maize and Blue News)

Name: Shelton Johnson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 212 lbs.
High school: Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt freshman
jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Johnson #65 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He redshirted.

Johnson is and has been a bit of a strange case so far. Last year he was listed at 225 lbs. coming out of high school, which is thin but not unheard of for a true freshman defensive end who’s in the process of filling out his body. This spring Johnson was listed at . . . 212 lbs. He either lost 13 lbs. of fat from his skinny body, or his weight was exaggerated as a recruit. (The latter is the most likely and why I rarely put much faith in listed weights in high school.)

I admit this ranking is based on high school film, not on anything I’ve seen or heard in the last several months. Johnson offers some speed and athleticism off the edge that most other guys on the roster don’t. He’s not in any danger of becoming a full-time player this year or even a primary backup, but he could be a situational guy since Don Brown likes to put in exotic blitzes with speed coming after the quarterback.

Prediction: Backup defensive end