GBMWolverine: Coach's Corner -- Michigan Football -- Ricardo Miller -- Spring Evaluations

Posted at 6:00am — 5/11/2011

GBMWolverine: Coach’s Corner — Michigan Football — Ricardo Miller — Spring Evaluations

GBMWolverine Football Spring Evaluations: Position by Position — Player Profile.

GBMWolverine readers: Here is a brief overview of Ricardo Miller and GBMWolverine’s analysis concerning his progress this spring with the new system.

Note: We will not evaluate every player on the team and with this position group (tight ends) we will not evaluate #90 Mike Kwiatkowski, #40 Nate Allspach, and #42 Dylan Esterline. If you would like to chat about these players bring them up on the message board, in chat or send us an e-mail request.

Coming in: Chris Barnett (Bell), Frank Clark (Glenville), and Keith Heitzman (Hilliard Davidson).

The above list of incoming tight ends includes two players who could easily end up on the defensive side of the ball, or possible become a fullback, especially since Michigan already has two verbal commits from the 2012 recruiting class in Devin Funchess (Harrison) and A.J. Williams (Sycamore) and is still seriously looking at adding another tight end to the current 2012 recruiting class.

Obviously we take into account, and have already stated, that A.J. Williams could easily grow out of the tight end position and become an offensive lineman in a few years.

Losing: Kevin Koger, and Steve Watson

Ricardo Miller
Height: 6’4
Weight: 215
Number: 80
Position: Tight End / H-Back
Year: Red-shirt Freshman
City/State: Ann Arbor, Michigan
High School: Pioneer

Overview:

Ricardo Miller is still learning to play the tight end position after being with the split ends last season. But he can definitely be a factor at tight end in this offense.

Strengths:

Ricardo has excellent hands and the height to help the passing game.

As stated last season, we believe the tight end position might be one of the deeper positions groups regarding talent, but obviously this potential needs to start showing up on the field.

Needs Work:

Miller needs to add considerable weight and strength to handle the blocking duties at the tight end position.

The GBMWolverine staff believes this will happen when Coach Wellman initiates his strength program.

Contributing This Year?

Possible, but Ricardo’s playing time might depend more on how Kevin Koger and Brandon Moore do, and also if the two stay healthy. Another factor may be the extent Michigan uses a two tight end set this year. The coaches could possible use Ricardo as a third tight end near the goal line or in a big (jumbo) formation with two tight ends, an h-back, and two backs in the backfield.

We believe Ricardo is likely the third tight end for Michigan this year.

Final Thoughts:

Ricardo is a player that came in with a lot of hype especially coming from Florida and moving to Ann Arbor to play his final season in high school. Ricardo was an early entrant into Michigan and participated in spring ball last year. This helped him get acclimated to big-time football.

Ricardo’s primary problem is he probably outgrew the wide receiver position with his speed and it might time to adjust to tight end. The good news is Ricardo has the time to grow and acclimate with two good players ahead of him.

There needs to be some urgency, however, as Ricardo is one injury away from seeing the field regularly. Of course he could also just advance through personal improvement and performance in the fall.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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