The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/575020
Butt didn't try to hide his enthusi- asm for the headgear adornment. "I think it's awesome," Butt offered. "It's just another way to create an envi- ronment of competition. They're pretty sweet. We got them put on our helmets the other day. I want my helmet to be decked out by the end of the season with them. "You don't want to be the guy with the empty helmet at the end of the year. Everybody has a chance to win some stickers." Butt figures to win more than his share, if he stays healthy and beats the bracketing of- ten enough. Those around him aren't e x a c t l y s t i n g y with their assess- ments. Even those he competes against in practice take note. "He's probably one of the best tight ends I'm going to see all year," assured redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers. "It's a privilege to have him … you learn how to cover a tight end, how they use their body, how they position you to make those kinds of catches." "He has a knack for coming down with balls like that," noted U-M tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh, harkening back to the Utah highlight. "We say in our room, those 50-50 balls are our balls. We catch them. He's certainly the kind of guy who can make those plays." Plus, the younger Harbaugh noted, Butt excels in the mental game as well. "He's outstanding," he said. "A- plus. He knows the offense in great detail at more positions than he's even asked to play. He's really impressive in that regard." That doesn't mean the junior's game can't be buttressed with some addi- tional skills, the tight ends coach noted. Quite the contrary. "He can get way, way better," Har- baugh said. "He's not even close to reaching his po- tential in a lot of ways, and he's still making a lot of plays. That's ex- citing. "It's being well ro u n d e d . H e ' s obviously a very natural receiver, but as he matures as a player, he'll become a much better blocker and more effective blocker consistently. That's what he would tell you is his main focus." When he's not blocking, he's one of Rudock's top two targets in the early going. That only makes sense, accord- ing to Michigan passing game coordi- nator Jedd Fisch. "When you put a passing game to- gether, and you're able to have some- body that size with the catching ability, hands and radius, he's somebody you always keep in mind," Fisch noted. "When you're putting a plan together, DIGITAL BONUS: CLICK THE ICON TO PLAY OR STOP THE PODCAST Michigan radio side- line reporter Doug Karsch breaks down the Wolverines against UNLV.