Michigan Football: How walk-on Zonterio Weekley fits with Wolverines

Michigan football added a total of three preferred walk-ons Saturday and one of those was in-state cornerback Zonterio Weekley. Here’s what you should know.

A lot of times when people hear about walk-ons, they don’t tend to take them seriously. However, in order for Michigan football or any program really, to be the best it can be, finding a talented walk-on or two can be vitally important.

Obviously, some of the guys called preferred walk-ons are going to end up doing nothing. Those players aren’t guaranteed a spot on the team and essentially, they are invited by the staff to walk on and then, usually, through some type of academic scholarship, they pay for their own school.

Down the road though, if they play well and move up the depth chart, they can get rewarded with a scholarship, just as a couple of Wolverines were just in the last week or so and coincidentally, three 2019 recruits announced their intention to join Michigan football as preferred walk-ons Saturday, one of them being cornerback Zonterio Weekely.

Unlike the first two commits, Karl Kerska and William Wagner, Weekley is a position player and was committed to Michigan Tech before getting the chance to join the Wolverines. Kerska and Wagner have preferred walk-on status but are both special teamers. Kerska is a kicker and Wagner is a long snapper.

The news of those commitments will generally get a little more attention because as we saw last season with Jake Moody, it’s much easier to move up the depth chart at a position like kicker or long snapper than it is at defensive back.

However, Weekley does have some nice qualities, although his height and lack of speed could hurt his chances of playing cornerback for Michigan football. According to 247 sports, Weekley is 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds. He runs the short shuttle in 4.31 but according to another scouting service, his 40 time is 4.7.

Zonterio Weekley Highlights

Certainly, he could get a little stronger and quicker at Michigan and when you watch his highlight, he plays with decent speed, but admittedly, to me, he looks like more of a safety. In fact, the thing that stuck out in my mind when watching him was his ability to make tackles in traffic, a skill that might be useful in the kicking game. Early on, special teams could be his ticket.

It’s hard to know what a player could be after a year or two with a big program like Michigan and that’s why it’s worth taking a shot on a kid like Weekley. For one, you do need bodies at some point and with a scholarship limit of 85, you have to try and find some diamonds in the rough.

And with a kid like Weekley, who was committed to a Division II school, there has to be some hunger and motivation to walk away from a scholarship for a chance to prove yourself.

More often than not, those kinds of guys don’t pan out, but then again, there are guys like Jordan Glasgow who walk on and end up making a name for themselves. You just never know.