2014 Michigan Pro Day Results

Tag: Joe Reynolds


13Mar 2014
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2014 Michigan Pro Day Results

Safety Thomas Gordon had perhaps the most impressive Pro Day

DB Courtney Avery: 36.5″ vertical

DT Jibreel Black: 29 reps on 225 lb. bench

WR Jeremy Gallon: 39.5″ vertical, 10’10” broad jump

LB Cameron Gordon: 4.65 forty, 36″ vertical

S Thomas Gordon: 4.49 forty, 40.5″ vertical, 10’5.5″ broad jump, 4.10 twenty-yard shuttle

OT Taylor Lewan: Only participated in offensive line drills

WR Joe Reynolds: 37.5″ vertical, 10’5″ broad jump

OT Michael Schofield: 9′ broad jump

RB Fitzgerald Toussaint: 4.49 forty, 24 reps on 225 lb. bench, 6.59 three-cone drill, 4.10 twenty-yard shuttle

DT Quinton Washington: 26 reps on 225 lb. bench

20Dec 2013
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Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Preview: Receivers and Tight Ends

Tyler Lockett is the key to Kansas State’s passing game.

MICHIGAN
Starters: The diminutive fifth year senior Jeremy Gallon (5’8″, 184 lbs.) is the go-to guy, and he had an all-conference season with 80 catches, 1284 yards, and 9 touchdowns. He can be effective on just about any route – screens, hitches, square ins, fades, double moves, jump balls, etc. Aside from his lack of height (which he makes up for with his leaping ability and the timing of those leaps), he doesn’t have truly blazing speed, so he sometimes pulls away before getting tracked down in a foot race. The other starting wide receiver is sophomore Devin Funchess (6’5″, 235 lbs.), who made all-conference listed as a tight end but rarely plays it anymore; he has 47 catches for 727 yards and 6 scores. Funchess is Michigan’s bubble screen guy, leaps over tacklers sometimes, runs an occasional end around, and can beat teams deep. The de facto starting tight end is freshman Jake Butt (6’6″, 246 lbs.), who has come on late in the season to catch 17 balls for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. Butt can do a little bit of everything between blocking, catching, and running.
Backups: Redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson (6’3″, 196 lbs.) started a little bit early in the year before Funchess’s blocking became too big of a problem at tight end, and while Chesson’s playing time has dropped a little bit, he’s actually improved his route running and ability to adjust to the ball in the air. He has 13 catches for 213 yards and 1 touchdown. Senior Drew Dileo (5’10”, 180 lbs.) is the only other significant receiving threat, but he’s a possession guy who usually works over the middle. Occasionally, senior Jeremy Jackson (6’3″, 209 lbs.) or redshirt senior Joe Reynolds (6’1″, 196 lbs.) will pop up for a catch, but they’ve totaled just 10 catches for 140 yards and 0 scores this year. Sophomore A.J. Williams (6’6″, 265 lbs.) and redshirt junior Jordan Paskorz (6’3″, 255 lbs.) are the “blocking” tight ends that struggle to block, and while they’ll be on the field a fair amount, they have just 1 total catch.

KANSAS STATE
Starters: The clear leader of the receiving corps is junior Tyler Lockett (5’11”, 175 lbs.), who has 71 catches for 1,146 yards and 8 touchdowns on the season. Lockett has made a lot of big catches for the Wildcats and can be a real threat to the secondary on deep routes. Fifth year senior Tramaine Thompson (5’8″, 167 lbs.) is also a big-play guy from the slot with 28 catches for 495 yards (17.7 yards/catch) and 5 touchdowns. Junior Curry Sexton (5’11”, 183 lbs.) is the other receiver in K-State’s three-wide attack, and he’s been more of a possession guy with 36 catches for 409 yards. Redshirt junior tight end Zach Trujillo is rarely targeted, but he has 5 catches for 111 yards and 1 touchdown.
Backups: Senior Torell Miller (6’3″, 213 lbs.) is a former safety who was expected to start this year in place of Sexton, but he’s been relegated to backup duty and 11 catches, 106 yards, and 1 touchdown. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Klein (6’4″, 210 lbs.) is a former defensive end who has 5 catches for 59 yards on the season. Fifth year senior Andre McDonald (6’8″, 278 lbs.) is a mammoth blocking tight end who has just 2 catches for 19 yards this season. It’s a very thin group of receivers.

THE TAKEAWAY
Michigan has two guys who can be consistent deep threats, and another who has the speed to do so. Gallon has been outstanding this year and was one of the top couple receivers in the conference, while Funchess is simply a matchup nightmare. The other guys aren’t very scary, but Chesson, Dileo, and Butt can all be good secondary targets and move the chains. Meanwhile, Kansas State has a guy who can blow up in the form of Lockett, plus a somewhat dangerous slot guy in Thompson. In a couple closely contested shootouts against Big 12 opponents, Lockett has gone over 230 yards (237 against Texas, 278 against Oklahoma), and he’s the guy that quarterbacks Jake Waters and Daniel Sams will look to if things get rough. If the Wildcats can move the ball consistently on the ground, they’ll settle for trying to win the game without putting the ball in the air too much. Tight ends have hurt Michigan in a few games this year (Minnesota’s Maxx Williams, Iowa’s C.J. Fiedorowicz, Ohio State’s Jeff Heuerman), but that shouldn’t be a persistent problem in this game. It’s a tall task to stop Lockett, but he’s the key to their passing game.

ADVANTAGE: Michigan

25Oct 2013
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Poll results: Who will be Michigan’s leading receiver?

This is a poll I took over the summer, prior to the season. Then things got busy and I didn’t have a chance to post the results.

Who do you think Michigan’s leading receiver will be in 2013? All statistics are through seven games.

Jeremy Gallon: 79%
Gallon took a pretty commanding lead with his 369-yard performance against Indiana, but as of now, he has 45 catches for 831 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Amara Darboh: 10%
Darboh suffered a foot injury shortly before the season began, has not played, and is expected to miss the rest of the year.

Devin Funchess: 3%
Funchess has 23 catches for 492 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was pushing Gallon for the lead, but now he’s 339 yards behind.

Drew Dileo: 1% (6 votes)
Dileo has 8 catches for 99 yards and 1 touchdown. I expect him to catch a few more passes down the stretch, but he’s obviously out of the running.

Jehu Chesson: 1% (5 votes)
Chesson’s 7 catches for 98 yards and 1 touchdown aren’t particularly impressive, but the physical skills are there to be a leading receiver someday. He needs to work on his hands and on adjusting to balls in the air.

Jeremy Jackson: 1% (4 votes)
Jackson has notched 5 catches for 53 yards.

Da’Mario Jones: 1% (4 votes)
Jones has yet to see time on offense, although he has played on special teams.

Joe Reynolds: 1% (4 votes)
Reynolds has 3 catches for 56 yards after being passed up for playing time by Chesson.

Csont’e York: 1% (4 votes)
York has played sparingly this season and has yet to make a catch.

Other: 0% (2 votes)
I don’t know who else might have received a vote. Maybe Dennis Norfleet’s parents stopped by to vote.

Jaron Dukes: 0% (0 votes)
Yeah, nobody voted for him.

2Sep 2013
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Michigan vs. Central Michigan Awards

Devin Gardner’s second rushing touchdown against Central Michigan (image via AnnArbor.com)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Derrick Green. Green is not a game changer at this point, and he does look a few pounds overweight. If he’s the listed 240 lbs. right now, I think he could afford to play at 225-230. But he did look faster than the guy who was #2 on the depth chart, Drake Johnson. Johnson sprained his knee and may have to miss some time, anyway, but Green looked to me like the second-best back on the roster and led the team in rushing yardage with 11 carries for 58 yards and 1 touchdown.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Graham Glasgow. I thought redshirt sophomore former walk-on left guard Glasgow was the weak link on the offensive line. He had two false starts and didn’t seem to get much push. Word was that redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant would have started if not for getting his knee drained last week, but when healthy, I think Bryant should be ahead of Glasgow.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Cameron Gordon. Gordon is the starting SAM linebacker while Jake Ryan is injured, and the former ended this game with 4 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 pass breakup. He should continue to start until Ryan returns, but once that happens, Greg Mattison needs to find a way to get both Ryan and Gordon on the field. Gordon is too good of an athlete and a playmaker to keep on the bench. If that means putting Frank Clark at strongside end, Ryan at weakside end, and Gordon at SAM on passing downs, so be it.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Josh Furman. Furman started at strong safety in place of the suspended Thomas Gordon, and while Furman did a fair job of keeping things in front of him, he’s just somewhat slow at reading plays. He showed some nice makeup speed on plays to the sideline in Cover 2, and he helped hunt down a running back near the sideline deep in Michigan’s territory to prevent a touchdown. But ultimately, Gordon is the better safety at this point, and he needs to be on the field first.

Play of the game . . . the punt block for a touchdown. At the end of Central Michigan’s first possession, Michigan overloaded CMU’s right side and went for the punt block. True freshman safety Dymonte Thomas exploded off the line, came around the corner, and made a textbook block by laying out for the ball and aiming right for the toe of the punter. Former walk-on wideout Joe Reynolds picked up the ball and took it 22 yards for a touchdown to start the scoring.

MVP of the game . . . Devin Gardner. Gardner finished 10/15 for 162 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, plus 7 carries for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns. He wasn’t entirely focused early, which resulted in those two picks. In the end, though, he accounted for three touchdowns and kept plays alive with his feet. His two rushing touchdowns included some smooth cuts to juke defenders, and he also threw a great deep ball to Joe Reynolds on a play action pass on which he turned his back to the defense for an uncomfortably long time.