I mean I guess I should finish this series.

Previously: Last year's profiles. S Makari Paige, S RJ Moten, S Jordan Morant, CB Andre Seldon, CB Darion Green-Warren, CB Eamonn Dennis, VP William "Apache" Mohan, LB Nikhai Hill-Green, LB Kalel Mullings, LB Cornell Wheeler, LB Osman Savage, DE Aaron Lewis, DE Jaylen Harrell, DE Braiden McGregor, DT Kris Jenkins, OL Reece Atteberry, OL Zak Zinter, OL Jeffrey Persi.

Burke, VA – 6'4", 230
		24/7	4*, #134 overall #7 TE, #2 VA
		Rivals	3*, 5.6 rating #31 TE, #15 VA
		ESPN	3*, 76 rating #20 TE-Y, #22 VA
		Composite	3*, #398 overall #12 TE, #11 VA
		Other Suitors	VT, NC State, Vandy, Harvard, Princeton
		YMRMFSPA	Sean McKeon
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from yrs truly.
Notes	Twitter. Early enrollee.
Film
Senior Year:

In December of 2018, Matthew Hibner was a 190-pound tight end/OLB coming off a five catch junior season. By June he was committed to Michigan. At the cycle's end he'd shot up 600 spots on the composite and ranked inside the top 150 at 24/7. If the phrase "meteoric rise" made any sense at all one might deploy it here. But it does not. Meteors fall. That's what makes them meteors. THE VERY DEFINITION OF THE WORD METEOR ENTIRELY RULES OUT THE POSSIBILITY OF RISING and yet

…

What was I talking about?

[After THE JUMP: focus focus gotta focus]

Matthew Hibner's rise was like that of the mighty condor after catching a thermal. One hell of a fitness montage saw him shoot up 30-40 pounds over the course of a few months:

“…the combination of quitting basketball, eating 7,000 calories a day, religiously working out … we could see the change happen right in front of our eyes. He doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him. His weight room numbers went through the roof. We fed the machine at the perfect time.”

This took him from a guy who may have been of interest to the lower levels of football to a D-1 prospect. That happened in a flash. He showed up at a couple camps as an intriguing gent despite having exactly zero profile prior to arrival:

The best tight end at the camp, Hibner was a relative unknown heading into the weekend. … terrific receiving tight end. … linebackers had a tough time keeping up. … Expect college coaches to take a closer look at Hibner.

Adam Friedman:

… surprised some people on Sunday. He consistently got open against some of the best linebackers at the camp and made some pretty tough catches. Quarterbacks loved getting paired up with him because Hibner’s length helped him come down with nearly every pass thrown his way.

Virginia Tech took note of a local prospect on the come-up, invited him for a workout…

…offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen went to see [Hibner] work out during the spring evaluation period and offered basically on the spot.

…fired off a quick offer, and looked set to lock him down. He extended his recruitment at bit in search of the Perfect Combination™ of athletics and academics because he's the kind of guy who had a full suite of Ivy offers. This was bad news for VT.

The fact that Michigan happened upon him was pure serendipity. Chris Partridge was going to a number of schools in Virginia he knew nothing about—"To be honest, I’m going to schools on the list, but I don’t know any of your guys," Partridge said when Lake Braddock's coach asked him if he was in to see Hibner. Partridge watched some film, noticed the effects of the workout montage, and called in Sherrone Moore. Like the VT workout that immediately resulted in an offer; nine days later he was a commit. Hibner plunged into the Michigan offer like a peregrine falcon with a mouse in sight.

This was a leap of faith on Michigan's part, obviously. It's much less of one after Hibner caught 42 passes for a whopping 940 yards—over 22 yards a catch—as a senior. 24/ 7 moved him up some 800 spots shortly after his Michigan commitment and continued to bump him over the course of his senior year. As we've detailed repeatedly in this space they're the best service by a mile when it comes to identifying late risers and potential-laden guys.

Barton Simmons on the occasion of Hibner adding a fourth star:

… been able to maintain if not improve his athleticism [during weight gain 4000] … smooth, fluid athlete with an easy stride in the open field–he's had multiple long catch and run touchdowns this season while also showing some natural ball skills.

Brian Dohn after seeing his breakout senior year:

… inline guy…  have to learn [to] sink his hips when he’s blocking … [has] to continue to work on the little stuff … catches the ball easily.  He tracks it well. When he does come out of his breaks, he doesn’t really slow down.  … his initial punch is good, and it just stops the guy there.  … wants to block, and he looks comfortable in it. … he’ll create a lot more matchup issues than maybe Michigan’s seen at tight end.”

24/7's profile scout:

Very good frame … No bad weight. Athletic, long, runs well. Ran electronic 40 in 4.82 seconds. Accelerates well. Physical down the field and after catch. Strong hands. Tracks ball well. Can chip and get into route quickly. Has ability to be flanked wide. Needs to improve route running. … Blocking skills need development.

Other takes are scanty. TTB was working off his junior highlights, which are mostly at outside linebacker, and noted that at that point he didn't look like he had much experience as an in-line tight end; TTB compared Hibner to Noah Furbush.

Rivals had very little aside from the camp takes above. Mike Farrell said he "has good hands and is adjusting well to adding 40 pounds of muscle," and that was the only take from a national/regional analyst. Brandon Brown did have some analysis when he committed, but here too the takes are from before Hibner was able to deploy his hulked-up self to actual football:

… long arms and is built like a swimmer according to his coach … people close to him expect Hibner to be at about 250 pounds … expected to have a monster senior season. … runs well, catches the ball very naturally and with is hands away from his body and is getting better and better at running routes and creating separation.

It's possible that something slipped through the cracks but it doesn't look like Rivals really considered him much as a senior. That's probably good news since the highest ranking is the best-supported.

Etc.: Is an Eagle Scout.

Why Sean McKeon? About the same proportions and a similar recruiting story in which Michigan swooped in on a guy early after he showed up at some camps. McKeon's biggest offer outside of Michigan? Also VT. Ivy offers? Check. McKeon had a shinier combine 40—a 4.65 was best in the country for TEs that year—but had some change of direction questions. He never put up Hibner's numbers.

At Michigan McKeon started off as a good downfield option but eventually settled in as a safety blanket in the passing game. His blocking was passable to good.

Other comparables include Kevin Koger and maybe Jake Butt if Michigan gets lucky here.

Guru Reliability: Low. Non-entity until he was a rising senior with minimal scouting except from 24/7; giant gap in opinion. Takes prior to senior year close to useless.

Variance: Moderate-plus. Doesn't have a particularly long track record as an inline TE and could end up being deficient at a couple things there. Weight gain is sudden and means that evaluating him is difficult.

Ceiling: High. Rapid physical development has a bit of an Aidan Hutchinson air to it. Doesn't quite have the crazy catching radius of a Butt or Gentry and unlikely to end up as more than a Day 3 NFL prospect.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. Likely to be a contributor, likely to be a starter, not too hard to see him becoming an All Big Ten level guy.

Projection: Season does not exist. Redshirt?

Going forward he's in a good spot to get time as early as year two because Michigan's cut down significantly on the number of tight ends on the roster. He's one of just four, and Nick Eubanks will graduate after this year. (He might still be around, because of everything.) There will always be roles for second and third tight ends, especially guys like Hibner and Erick All who can flex out; he's likely to be rotation piece early and emerge into the top flex option after All's departure.