The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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confirm the premise that U-M simply lacked difference-making athletes at that position. Houma's play and Smith's block- ing prowess in pass protection keep this final grade from dropping even lower. Best Player: TB De'Veon Smith Most Improved: FB Sione Houma Who To Watch In 2016: DB/RB Jabrill Peppers Tight End: A- Midterm Grade: A Reason For The Grade: Michigan's tight ends set a single-season record for receiving yards as a group with 853 yards (the previous high was 827 in 1969), collectively catching 68 balls and three touchdowns. They have the bowl game remaining to push those numbers even higher. By the end of U-M's 13th game, Butt could lay claim to the top sin- gle-season effort ever recorded by a Maize and Blue tight end — he needs six more catches and 43 yards in the bowl game to assume the top spot in both receptions (the record is cur- rently 53) and yards (662). With or without the records, he is having one of the finest seasons ever by a Michigan tight end. Senior A.J. Williams, meanwhile, produced career highs in receptions (12) and yards (129), evolving into a capable third-down target for Ru- dock, and both redshirt sophomore Khalid Hill (three grabs) and red- shirt freshman Ian Bunting (four) had their moments. Williams was the most proficient blocker of the bunch, solidifying a part of his game that had been largely inconsistent, while redshirt sophomore H-back Henry Poggi de- veloped into a strong blocker on the edge or coming out of the backfield. According to our experts and an- alysts, the only thing bringing the tight end grade down is Butt's block- ing, which they noted was below av- erage, especially for someone with his size (6-6, 248 pounds) and aspira- tions to play in the NFL. Best Player: Jake Butt Most Improved: A.J. Williams Who To Watch In 2016: Tyrone Wheatley Jr. Special Teams: B+ Midterm Grade: A Reason For The Grade: No posi- tion group graded out higher in the first half of the season than special teams, which boasted an elite return game, arguably the best punter in the Big Ten and a surprise kicker that made a habit of drilling the ball be- tween the uprights. Then the Michigan State game oc- curred, the victory lost by a botched punt on the final play of the evening. Special teams play continued to have issues after that. U-M allowed a 98-yard kickoff re- turn touchdown against Rutgers and a 67-yard punt return in the same game. The Wolverines surrendered a 51-yard punt return touchdown a week later at Indiana and then saw a punt blocked at Penn State in week 11. With the exception of the MSU game, however, the special teams