The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS said. "Jake Butt was a developing threat in his catching and his run- after-the-catch capabilities. Just in one short year he had developed into an effective blocker, and you really need that from that tight end position with what I think this new offensive coordinator will want to do. "In my opinion, this is the equiv- alent of losing Jake Ryan on last year 's defense for the period of time that we did. This is just such a big loss." Michigan's best defensive player in 2012, leading the team in tackles (88), tackles for loss (16) and sacks (4.5), Ryan suffered a torn ACL in March 2013. He returned to action Oct. 12, in week six of the season, six months and three weeks after his injury. If Butt were to return in the same time frame — a rarity for an injury that usually heals in closer to nine months — he would be back in week three or four. But again, that is a best-case scenario. Worst-case is he misses the entire 2014 season, leaving fifth-year se- nior Jordan Paskorz (no ca- reer receptions), junior A.J. Williams (one catch), redshirt freshman Khalid Hill (no catches) and true freshman Ian Bunting to fill the void. J u n i o r D e v i n F u n c h e s s is also an option. The 6-5, 235-pounder played tight end in his rookie year and for the first four games of the 2013 season before transitioning to wide receiver. In his first game split out wide, Funchess had seven catches for 151 yards and a touchdown in a win over Minnesota. He averaged 4.6 receptions and 67.0 yards per game and scored five touchdowns in nine contests as a wide receiver. "I think Funchess' best threat is to stay where he is as a big physical presence on the perimeter of the of- fense," Skene said. "I like him out there. I think maybe A.J. Williams can get better at his blocking — he was decent a year ago — and maybe he develops into being able to catch some footballs. "Hopefully Hill has some capa- bilities to do both. At tight end, you have to be able to block first and catch second, and Butt was the only guy on this roster that had shown he could do both." Michigan has had a bad run with ACL injuries over the past few sea- sons, losing nine players since 2012 (see chart). ACL INJURIES SINCE 2012 Games Year Player Pos. GP Missed 2012 Kaleb Ringer* LB 0 13 2012 Chris Wormley* DE 0 13 2012 Blake Countess CB 1 12 2013 Russell Bellomy* QB 0 13 2013 Jake Ryan* LB 8 5 2013 Drake Johnson RB 1 12 2013 Joey Burzynski OG 2 6 2013 Ondre Pipkins NT 5 8 2014 Jake Butt* TE — — * Occurred before the season