Tight end Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. has left the Michigan football program. Wheatley, Jr. is the son of a Michigan all-timer, and he was a part of the small 2015 class that represented the transition year from Brady Hoke to Jim Harbaugh.
Wheatley, Jr. redshirted in 2015 and has made 6 catches for 61 yards over the past two seasons. He was likely slated to be a backup once again in 2018, playing behind junior Sean McKeon and redshirt junior Zach Gentry. I put him at #49 in the 2018 Season Countdown (LINK) and did not expect much from him. Coming out of high school, I thought Wheatley would make a better defensive end than tight end, but he has not taken a shot at defense so far in his career. His future destination is unknown at this point.
There were only 14 players in the class of 2015, and now six have left (S Brian Cole, K Andrew David, DE Shelton Johnson, QB Alex Malzone, CB Keith Washington, Wheatley) and a seventh, Grant Newsome, may have suffered a career-ending injury.
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A shame, but stuff happens.
I wonder if this is a case where the desire to play football was never that strong in him? He had the name, and he had the size, but perhaps the *desire* wasn’t there to match.
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I’ve wondered that over the past three years, but I don’t know. He’s never been a big rah-rah guy or the type of guy who seemed to outwork everyone. Maybe that’s just his personality, but weight has been an issue. It’s not great when you have skill guys who struggle with their weight. I mean, weight struggles are never a good thing, but at least OL can put that extra weight to good use. Weight problems for TEs, RBs, QBs, etc. almost always have noticeably negative effects.
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Too bad. I was anticipating big things from this “jumbo athlete.”
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Thunder, I was never a fan of TWJr’s blocking ability, observing he was only good when part of a doubleteam. Do you think he would have done better as a Tackle?
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Nope. I think he would have been a better DE. He’s not tough enough to be an OT. You have to be willing to drive shorter, stouter DTs out of the hole as an OT, and he’s never really had that.
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At 300 lbs. with his feet, I’m thinking a pretty nice 3 Tech. Seems a shame that he seemingly was so stuck on being a TE. If indeed that was the case.
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Although, you have to be willing to take on a guy down after down after down after …. as a DT too.
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A 6’6 DT?
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Sure, why not. First of all I’m not sure he was really 6’6″, but, I really wouldn’t care if he wanted to be tough and play with technique. I’m willing to concede that those are two big ifs, particularly in a guy that didn’t want to be there in the first place, but that would be a big mobile dude to have to contend with inside.
As an aside and according to a couple different someones that may or may not have really done the math and are likely referencing each other, your average sized NFL nose is 6’3″ 315. For what it’s worth.
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