Michigan Football: Ian Bunting is another transfer that won’t matter

Ian Bunting announced his decision to transfer from Michigan football Tuesday, but here is why it’s not a loss worth worrying about.

The Michigan football program has had quite a few departures from graduate players already this offseason. But Tuesday, another player, Ian Bunting, decided to leave the Wolverines.

If you don’t know the name Ian Bunting, it would be hard to blame you. The tight end, who has spent four years with Michigan football, but played only three seasons, had just one catch for six yards in 2018.

At one point, he had some promise. As a redshirt freshman in 2015, he caught six passes for 72 yards. Then in 2016, he recorded five receptions for 46 yards. However, even with the graduation of Jake Butt, he wasn’t able to get on the field consistently last season.

Bunting posted the news on Instagram and here is a portion of the statement from the Detroit Free Press: 

"“This has been a very difficult decision, but I have decided to forgo my 5th year at the University of Michigan in order to play football and earn a graduate degree elsewhere. I have obtained my release,” Bunting wrote. “To my family, teammates, coaches, Michigan fans, and the University of Michigan, I will forever be thankful for the support you’ve given me over the years here in Ann Arbor."

It was somewhat surprising that Bunting couldn’t carve out a bigger role for himself this season, yet he got passed up Tyrone Wheatley Jr., Sean McKeon and Zach Gentry.

The Wolverines also have four-star tight end Mustapha Muhammad coming in next season. He’s a freshman that could have a chance to play right away, so even without Bunting, depth won’t be an issue.

More: Have Wolverines done enough in recruiting to address o-line? 

Some might try to make a big deal out of this, especially considering other guys such as Wilton Speight, Alex Malzone, Drake Harris and Maurice Ways have already transferred already in 2018. However, it’s just another case of a guy seeing the writing on the wall.

If you were Bunting, would you really stay in the Michigan football program? Sure he loved his time at UM, but he wasn’t going to play much in 2018, if at all. It was the same story for Ways, Harris and Malzone.

Speight probably would have gotten a chance to compete for the starting quarterback job, but if Shea Patterson is ruled eligible, it’s doubtful he would win. He might not even beat out Brandon Peters or Dylan McCaffrey.

Speight has wavered a bit recently. And it was reported that if Patterson is ruled ineligible, he might considering returning to play for the Wolverines in 2018. Harbaugh is also supposedly open to the move. Yet, it still seems unlikely to happen.

Ultimately, transfers are becoming a more regular part of college football. It’s something that we all have to get used to. Players are starting to take playing more into account and for guys like Bunting, you can understand the decision.

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Bunting is a good kid and a decent football player. But he won’t really be missed on the field. Michigan football will be just fine at tight end next season. So in the grand scheme of things, it’s another graduate transfer that won’t really matter.