Michigan Football 2017 Position Preview: Tight End

Michigan football needs to replace the greatest tight end in its history in 2017. The team has a few options on the roster to do so.

Of all the NFL-level talent Michigan football has to replace going into the 2017 season, tight end Jake Butt might seem like the most irreplaceable.

Butt’s accolades are many. He was a two-time first-team All-American and All-Big Ten player. He won the Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016. Butt was also awarded the Ozzie Newsome Award in 2015 and the John Mackey Award in 2016.

Butt holds the records for most yards and receptions for a Michigan tight end. If not for an unfortunate ACL tear in the Orange Bowl, he probably would’ve been taken in the first two rounds of the NFL draft.

Butt’s departure leaves a lot of production for the Wolverines to match.

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Michigan’s tight end unit also has to make up for the departure of Devin Asiasi, a four-star recruit in the 2016 class. Asiasi had two receptions and a touchdown as a true freshman, but he transferred to UCLA earlier this offseason.

Still, Michigan has more than enough talent at the position to consider it a strength in 2017. Jim Harbaugh loves using tight ends, and he has plenty of them to work with. Asiasi’s departure only brought the unit down from an embarrassment of riches to “pretty good.”

While there might not be an individual player on the team that can match Butt’s production, Michigan will still be more than capable at the position without him in 2017.

The majority of tight end targets will probably go to Ian Bunting. Bunting is a veteran who’s played two seasons primarily as a blocking tight end. He has served well in that role for the past two years and should be an upgrade over Butt in the blocking department.

It’s more difficult to judge how he will be as a receiver. With Butt down, he had an impressive performance in the Orange Bowl, pulling in a career-high three receptions for 40 yards, including a Butt-esque catch on a seam route. He only had two other receptions on the season, so it’s hard to say how he’ll do with a larger workload.

The other tight end most likely to see action is Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. The son of the legendary Michigan running back only had three catches for 27 yards and a touchdown in 2016. As a blocker, he was inconsistent. But even if he stays inconsistent, Wheatley will see game action.

He’s got tremendous size at 6-foot-6, 280 pounds, with speed that no man that large should have. Wheatley is such a mismatch opportunity that it balances out the potential downsides.

Converted quarterback Zach Gentry should see the field occasionally as a more-or-less oversized wide receiver. It’s hard to imagine his blocking is good enough to have him play the role of traditional tight end, but he has some tremendous mismatch potential with his athleticism.

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The top three seems very solidly established, so redshirt freshmen Nick Eubanks and Sean McKeon will have to compete for snaps behind them. Barring injury it’s unlikely they’ll see the field much beyond garbage time.

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