Michigan Football will be fine at tight end without Theo Johnson

Michigan football missed out on maybe its top recruiting target left in the 2020 class in Theo Johnson, but here is why the Wolverines will be just fine.

There was a lot of excitement about the possibility of four-star tight end Theo Johnson committing to Michigan football. It seemed like the Wolverines were trending, yet, when the top prospect in Canada made his announcement this week, his choice was Penn State.

It was a blow to the Wolverines, there is no denying that. Johnson is a 6-foot-6 beast who is 250 pounds and runs like a wide receiver. He was ranked fourth overall at this position in the 247 composite rankings and was a clear top-100 prospect.

Johnson also would have been a perfect fit in Josh Gattis’ offensive system, one that did create some success for Michigan’s tight ends this fall.

The big tight end would have been a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses and now Michigan football will have to figure out how to defend him the next few years in Happy Valley. The only good news is that thankfully, tight end could still be a position of strength.

It might be hard to imagine that with the loss of guys like Nick Eubanks and Sean McKeon, who were solid two-way tight ends, but U-M has some talent at tight end starting out with freshman Erick All.

All is a 6-foot-5 athlete that has played both tight end and wide receiver. He stood out in the spring game and is a move guy that can line up in the slot or out wide, sort of like Johnson.

The depth in front of All made it hard for him to contribute this season, but with all the losses, he should be in line for a bigger role, even if the position does start to change in the offense.

It’s not clear if Gattis is going to use the tight end as much going forward in his offense. He did this season, but at times, it felt like he was trying to fit the system to his personnel, which he should. However, when he gets his guys in place, guys like All, things could change.

Additionally, the Wolverines have two tight ends already committed to 2020. One of them is Matthew Hibner (highlights above), a 6-foot-4 prospect who has flown up the rankings in recent months. He’s a four-star recruit and is committed along with Nick Patterson, the three-star younger brother of starting quarterback Shea Patterson.

Hibner is another talented receiver like All. His blocking isn’t bad, but like McKeon and Eubanks, it would need to improve. But as the offense transitions more to the spread, it would seem like the tight ends would move more towards pass catchers.

Certainly, run blocking will still be important and whoever wants to start will need to be adequate in that role, but someone like Ben Mason could also be used in an H-back role if needed too.

The point is that there are still options and even though Johnson would have been an ideal fit and a huge get for Michigan football, it’has other promising prospects at the position.