Review of 2008 Recruiting: Tight Ends

Tag: Brandon Moore


14Feb 2018
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Review of 2008 Recruiting: Tight Ends

Kevin Koger

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THE ROSTER

Mike Massey (RS Sr.)
Carson Butler (RS Jr.)
Martell Webb (So.)
Steve Watson (RS Fr.)

THE COMMITS

Kevin Koger
High school: Toledo (OH) Whitmer
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #4 TE, #144 overall
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Michigan State, Ohio State
Scoop: Koger played as a backup in 2008, but he then went on to start 30 games over his final three years in Ann Arbor. He made 59 career receptions for 756 yards (12.8 yards/catch) and 9 touchdowns. He did not pursue an NFL career and has been coaching high school and college ball since then, including being an offensive graduate assistant at Michigan. He is currently the wide receivers coach at Eastern Kentucky.

Brandon Moore
High school: Trotwood (OH) Trotwood-Madison
Ratings: Rivals 4-star, #8 TE, #187 overall
College: Michigan
Other notable offers: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Miami
Scoop: Moore redshirted in 2008 and struggled to get on the field for the next couple years. He would go on to make one start in 2012, but he totaled just 2 catches for 28 yards in his career. He went undrafted in 2012 and did not play in the NFL.

Hit the jump for more on the 2008 class.

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3Apr 2013
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Brandon Moore, #87

Brandon Moore

HIGH SCHOOL
Moore attended Trotwood (OH) Trotwood-Madison and committed as a classmate of Roy Roundtree and Michael Shaw, but Moore committed in May 2007, several months before Lloyd Carr retired; the other two chose Michigan at the last minute in February.  Moore was the #8 tight end and #187 overall player to Rivals, but he was a 3-star and the #43 tight end to Scout.  He chose Michigan over offers from Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, and LSU, among others.  He had 20 receptions for 350 yards and 5 touchdowns as a junior, then added 518 yards and 4 touchdowns as a senior.

COLLEGE
Moore redshirted as a freshman in 2008.  During his redshirt freshman season in 2009, he played sparingly as a backup, gathering in 1 reception for 19 yards against Delaware State.  Still buried behind Kevin Koger and Martell Webb in 2010, Moore played in just two games.  With a dearth of tight ends on the roster in 2011, Moore played mostly as a blocker and special teamer, catching 1 pass for 9 yards against Purdue.  Most people presumed he would be the starter in 2012, and he indeed earned the job in the off-season, gaining the nod against Alabama in the season opener; unfortunately for him, he injured his knee and missed several weeks, giving way to walk-on Mike Kwiatkowski and freshman A.J. Williams.  He did not catch a pass during his senior year.

CAREER STATISTICS
2 receptions, 28 yards

AWARDS
#87 Legends jersey in honor of Ron Kramer


SUMMARY
Moore’s high school highlights seem to have disappeared from the internet, but he was a guy that Trotwood-Madison split out wide to use him for his athleticism.  The transition from that to being an interior blocker never seemed to work for Moore.  His speed diminished as he added weight, and he was no longer a mismatch; therefore, he was an H-back in a Y-receiver’s body.  I remember watching spring practice video from 2011 and being somewhat dismayed at the poor footwork of Moore, who was entering his redshirt junior year at the time.  It’s somewhat difficult to put a finger on why someone like Moore wouldn’t pan out in college – a kid with a reported 4.2 high school grade point average, who majors in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science, who was an athletic, big receiver as a high schooler – but that’s the way recruiting goes.  Some guys just don’t have “it” when it comes to competing against other high-level FBS athletes.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . . 
. . . his 19-yard reception against Delaware State.  For some reason, that image has always stuck in my mind, probably because it was the biggest play of Moore’s career.

PROJECTION
Moore is a 6’5″, 268 lb. tight end who produced very little as a collegiate athlete.  He lacks the athleticism and pedigree to make an impact at the next level.  I would even be mildly surprised if he gets signed as an undrafted free agent, and his football career is probably finished.

3Aug 2012
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2012 Season Countdown: #27 Brandon Moore

Brandon Moore

Name: Brandon Moore
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 261 lbs.
High school: Trotwood (OH) Trotwood-Madison
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #89
Last year: I ranked Moore #44 and said he would be the backup tight end.  He played in twelve games and caught 1 pass for 9 yards.

The time is now for Brandon Moore to turn his high school promise into college success.  Moore played very little during his first three seasons, playing mostly against overmatched opponents like Delaware State, against whom he caught his first career pass.  Between that 2009 game and Purdue in 2011, Moore didn’t catch a single ball.  Expected to be pass catching tight end, Moore was mostly used as a blocker last season, and even that task proved to be onerous as Moore missed a key block against Michigan State in 2011 that got Denard Robinson blindsided.

I have no delusions that Moore will turn into a star tight end overnight.  What we’ve seen is likely what we’ll get, for better or worse.  Departed starter Kevin Koger was versatile enough to play on the line or in the slot, and even played some fullback in the Senior Bowl, but Moore will mostly be used as an in-line blocker this season.  He added six pounds in the offseason, likely in an attempt to nail down the starting tight end job.  I expect that we’ll see fewer tight ends this season, and the news that incoming freshman A.J. Williams showed up at 282 lbs. bodes unwell for challenging Moore’s starting job.  It’s Moore’s job by default, which means I expect to see a lot of spread formations, single tight end formations, and quite a bit of Devin Funchess being used as an H-back type.  Not only does a spread offense suit Denard Robinson better, but it also helps Michigan avoid putting Williams and Jordan Paskorz on the field, neither of whom seem to be ready.  The tight end position won’t be pretty this season, but hopefully Al Borges can work around it.

Prediction: Starting tight end; 12 receptions, 120 yards, 2 touchdowns

14Apr 2012
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2012 Spring Game Review – Offense

Thomas Rawls (#38) looked pretty solid in today’s spring game

QUARTERBACKS
Denard Robinson didn’t play much.  We know what we have in Denard, and we’re not going to know whether he can cut down on his interceptions until the fall.  Devin Gardner looked very athletic.  He seems to be faster and in better shape this year than last, but he struggled throwing the ball.  He tried to force some throws, but the receivers really struggled to get separation from the defensive backs.  That’s probably why Gardner scrambled repeatedly, and he made the defense look silly at times.  Third stringer Russell Bellomy looked like what we’ve been expecting – a game manager type who can scramble a little and make check-down throws, but he seems to lack the requisite arm strength for pushing the ball downfield.

RUNNING BACKS
Fitzgerald Toussaint continues to look like a star on offense.  Backup Thomas Rawls looks faster and stronger to me than he did in the fall.  He seems like a viable #2 back and he runs angry.  You could tell when he got the ball that the defense stepped up its intensity a little bit, because those guys knew they were going to have a fight on their hands to get him down.  He did make a nice touchdown run early, but keep in mind that he ran through the tackle of backup free safety Jarrod Wilson, who should still be two or three months away from graduating high school.  Vincent Smith continues to be subpar running inside, but he caught the ball well.  To me it’s a wasted rep when he’s handed the ball to run up the middle.  Justice Hayes is in the same boat.  He doesn’t have any mass or strength behind him.  If there’s an injury to Toussaint or Rawls in the fall, the coaches are going to have to look at freshman Drake Johnson or maybe moving Hopkins back to tailback.

FULLBACKS
Hopkins and Kerridge looked pretty solid.  Michigan should be set at this position, especially with reinforcements coming in the form of Sione Houma.

WIDE RECEIVERS
As I mentioned above, the receivers really struggled to separate from the defensive backs.  We didn’t see a whole lot of Roy Roundtree, but he and Jeremy Gallon looked decent.  I would not be surprised to see Gallon lead the team in receptions this season.  He’s going to be a tough matchup.  After that nobody looked particularly impressive.  Jerald Robinson had an embarrassing drop, Jeremy Jackson is who he is, etc.  Games this season will continue to be won on the ground.

TIGHT ENDS
This continues to be a weak spot.  Brandon Moore didn’t get any separation, and both Moore and Ricardo Miller struggled at the point of attack.  They were playing against some pretty good defenders – Craig Roh, Jake Ryan, Cam Gordon – but tight end will be a liability this season, in both the running and passing games. I don’t think we’ll see as many two- and three-tight end formations as we did last season.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Taylor Lewan is a very good left tackle.  The starter at left guard was Joey Burzynski.  All spring we’ve heard that Elliott Mealer was the front-runner for the left guard position, and I think that might still be the case.  I have no inside information on this, but I have a feeling that Burzynski’s start was kind of a practical matter.  The coaches didn’t want Lewan on the field much; with Michael Schofield as the primary backup at left tackle, they seemed to want Mealer to rotate in at right tackle when Schofield flipped.  Burzynski doesn’t have the ability to play tackle.  Burzynski looked fair against the pass and somewhat ineffective in the running game.  Barnum blocked well, but he had two bad snaps because he failed to get the ball up to Denard before getting out of his stance.  That will be something to watch heading into the season.  Barnum also needs to speed up his shotgun snaps, which are noticeably slower than David Molk’s.  He’s also got to work on calling protections.  Omameh looked mostly solid but got blasted by William Campbell.  Schofield struggled some in pass protection, but picked it up as the day went on.  As far as backups go, the walk-ons played like walk-ons do, outside of Burzynski.  Graham Glasgow doesn’t know how to pull.  Kristian Mateus looks downright skinny.  Erik Gunderson might be able to play in a pinch.  Chris Bryant looked solid in the running game.  Jack Miller still lacks size.  Barnum must  stay healthy this season.