Ricardo Miller, Ex-Wolverine
Junior tight end Ricardo Miller has left the football program. He played in 14 games as a special teams guy, but just two as a tight end.
As you can tell from my first real post about Ricardo Miller in July of 2010, I was never a huge fan of Miller’s abilities. He peaked early at Orlando (FL) Dr. Phillips and earned some rave reviews as an underclassman, but it was painfully obvious once he transferred to Ann Arbor (MI) Pioneer for his senior year that he lacked any kind of deep speed or smooth athletic ability. You can see in this video that he just lacks explosiveness and athleticism. He seemed like a pure blocking wide receiver for Rich Rodriguez, and he even temporarily moved to tight end for Brady Hoke when he got up to around 234 lbs. Unfortunately, he was always destined to be a “tweener” – too slow to play wide receiver, too slightly built to be a tight end. Perhaps Rodriguez would have found a way to use him, but he doesn’t have a role for Hoke.
Regarding the future of the football team, this won’t really affect Michigan other than freeing up a scholarship. I didn’t expect to see Miller in any meaningful role for the remainder of his career, and Michigan’s coaches were already recruiting tight ends as if they didn’t expect Miller to step up, either. However, it’s somewhat sad to see a kid’s career end so early, especially when that player was so devoted to Michigan that he moved from Florida a year early and was heading up the recruiting for that 2010 class much like quarterback Shane Morris is doing for the class of 2013. By all accounts, Miller is a likable guy who just doesn’t have the athleticism to get on the field in the Big Ten. And he’s on pace to graduate from Michigan this spring, so he’s getting the job done in the classroom well enough to graduate after just three years.
Miller’s departure leaves just 14 players on the roster from the 27-man class of 2010. For information on other ex-Wolverines, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia
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