The Wolverine

than allayed the worries created by Hemingway's ride into the sunset. "You've got two guys out there who can go get it," Borges said. "Any time you have that, you've got some play- makers who can create some plays when everything isn't just perfect. That's always nice. That makes a big difference." other receivers, something Hecklinski will never do. He's seen the leader- ship and unselfishness of Roundtree, the production and blocking tough- ness of Gallon, the savvy and feisti- ness of Dileo, as well as significant spot contributions from players such as Jerald Robinson and Jeremy Jack- son. Which is not to discount Michigan's Hecklinski understands that as Michigan moves into the Big Ten sea- son, his group will continue to play a vital role and need to show off all the depth and toughness it possesses. They're all creating opportunities in Listed as a tight end, true freshman Devin Funchess has proven to be a dangerous pass-catch- ing threat and a very difficult player for opposing defenses to match up against. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL downs against Alabama on a 44-yard TD bomb from Denard Robinson. A week later, he led the Wolverines with five catches and another TD against Air Force before tacking on yet an- other scoring grab versus UMass. "I just feel blessed," Gardner said. "I thank God that I've had the op- portunity to do that. It's helped the team. That's the most important thing. I thank God for the versatility, honestly." Funchess demonstrated versatility, excellent hands and enough learn- ing savvy to reach the field in just the second game of his freshman season. Once he got there, it didn't take long for him to show why. The rookie made one of the more eye-opening debuts of any Michigan tight end in history, snagging four catches for 106 yards and a 30-yard 26 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2012 touchdown catch. He added a 26-yard TD grab the following week. The other half of Michigan's dou- ble-Devin attack doesn't hang out in the wideouts room, but he's enough of a hybrid to be very much a down- field receiving threat. U-M's coaches recognized that fact quickly in fall camp, Borges noted. "Devin Funchess just kind of mani- fested himself," Borges said. "We knew he was a good player, but we didn't know to what degree. It be- came increasingly evident that he had to be a part of our passing game." "Funchess is an athlete," Hoke con- curred. "He can make some catches that maybe some other guys couldn't make. He's also a little bit of a mis- match." The combination of Gardner and Funchess appears to have more the run game by blocking downfield, and that pleases Hoke and Hecklinski perhaps as much as all the catches combined. Gardner admits he's not a savvy blocker, but he's making the effort, and the rest of the Wolverines are battling hard on that front. "Watching them block on the pe- rimeter, I thought that was exciting," Hoke said. "Now, most people don't get excited about blocking, but I do. I thought they did a nice job. "Devin has come along. Gallon is a tough guy, and Dileo. They're not the biggest guys in the world, but they'll go out and block anybody. The depth at that position is probably better." Gardner smiled when the blocking question came up. As a quarterback, he was used to being afforded protec- tion, rather than providing it. He's working to develop the mind- set to perform even those wide re- ceiver tasks that don't come naturally. "I don't feel like I'm ever going to be a person that loves to block," he admitted. "That comes with the posi- tion. I don't think I'll ever love that." Meanwhile, the diminutive Gallon takes that aspect of the game person- ally, throwing himself into the task. He likes to catch the football as well as anyone, and is good enough at it to share the team lead in receptions. At the same time, he's looking to win, and figures all the receivers are on board with a "whatever it takes" attitude.

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