Previously: Last year’s profiles. P Tommy Doman Jr. S Rod Moore. CB Ja’Den McBurrows. LB Jaydon Hood. LB Junior Colson. LB Tyler McLaurin. DE Kechaun Bennett. DE TJ Guy. DE/DT Dominick Giudice. DT George Rooks. DT Rayshaun Benny. NG Ikechukwu Iwunnah. C Greg Crippen. C/G Raheem Anderson. T Giovanni El-Hadi. T Tristan Bounds.

Needham, MA – 6’6”, 252
[via Instagram]		247:               3.69*	3*, 88, #563 overall #28 TE, #3 MA
		Rivals:               4.45*	4*, 5.9, #85 overall #5 TE, #2 MA
		ESPN:               3.53*	3*, 77, #90 East, NR Ovr #24 TE-Y, #6 MA
		Composite:               4.05*	4*, .9052, #275 overall #11 TE, #2 MA
		Other Suitors	Wisconsin, OSU, PSU, BC
		YMRMFSPA	Sean McKeon but Butt
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by Ace.
Notes	Instagram.
Film:
Junior highlights (senior year canceled): More Film: Hudl page.

We HAD A DEAL, Rivals dot com. Michigan or Penn State unearths these super tall tight end athletes from places that half the country can’t find on a map like “Eldorado” or “Dudley” or “Burke” or “Hamden” or “Newburyport” or “Massachusetts.” You take half a look, shrug at a highlight reel of this giant running over the children more likely to have descended from John Adams than a modern Patriot, give him a 3-star ranking that’s nowhere close to the 4s, and then when he starts doing the same to Big Ten players, we pedantic nerd bloggers get to be all smug while the star-gazers act aghast.

247 did their job, keeping Hansen out of the top-500 because New England highlights are ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. ESPN took care of business with a cursory post-commitment “meh” before going back to not watching film on SEC recruits. All Rivals had to do was sneer at the offer list, write “5.6, #34 TE, #2 MA”, and we all could have gone about our 2021 surprised that Luke Schoonmaker’s light came on as the three-star mafia whines on our message boards that we always come in second for the Isaac Nautas while settling for some neighbor’s cousin of Don Brown.

But that’s not what you did, Rivals dot com. You didn’t even just go 4-star. You went 5.9. You went ranked. You went top-100. You even pushed the composite into 4-star range.

What’s next, are you’re going to start telling people that safeties should be boring, speed isn’t that important for a running back, Jay Harbaugh wasn’t a nepotism hire, and acknowledge angry [Midwest school position]-hating gods exist? WE HAD A DEAL!

[After THE JUMP: It’s the same deal.]

Explain yourself, Rivals dot com. Mike Farrell didn’t have much to say, actually. He wrote “He is athletic and tough” to fill the end of a “who’s got a tight end so far?” column and gave us just this when Hansen flew up to #65 right before his commitment:

Tall and athletic tight ends are key in the passing game these days and Hansen is a man among boys in New England.

National analyst Adam Friedman after his commitment:

Hansen brings a lot to the table as a flex tight end but he also is physical enough and strong enough to be an end line tight end as well. Expect Michigan to use him in a variety of ways but, most importantly, he'll be a great red zone threat and should create mismatches in the middle of the field with linebackers and safeties.

His coach told EJ Holland that Hansen might not need to thicken on the backburner as long as the usual Large Man of the Commonwealth:

"He's always had a great catch radius. His ball catching skills have always been off the charts. He can create mismatches against linebackers or smaller defensive backs. Louis is going to go in there and work hard. He's going to compete for early playing time. He's going to do everything they ask him to do on the field and in the classroom as well."

But since when have sites took what people tell the insiders seriously? The rest are things you can say about any 5.6 if you care at all about the fact that we had a deal.

Gulliver vs. the Lilliputians in a Game of 500. The first thing anyone will see on the Hansen reel are the catches. They are high. They are “contested.” They are highly unfair. Here’s a coach, Chris Butler of Belmont Hill, who had to go against Country Day a few times:

We game planned for Hansen and felt we had a schematic advantage defensively against him at times, but it didn’t matter because he’s such a great athlete. We’d double-cover him with a guy underneath and one over the top, and there was still nothing we could do to stop him. He’s that kind of caliber of an athlete, but he also has great body control and an outstanding catch radius.

Hansen is a weapon to have on offense, because he can go up and take away the football from a defender who has him covered well. He can out-physical any kid in man coverage, but is also extremely smart and understands where to sit down in zones.

There were a couple times where I couldn’t have asked my defensive backs to be in better position against him — they had perfect leverage and were along the sideline, and he was still able to go up and grab the ball away from them.

This is the 247 take as well. Brian Dohn thought Hansen could be a red-zone threat and noted he was mostly a “Flex” TE:

Excellent frame with length. Plays receiver and lines up wide and in slot. … Tracks ball and high points it. Uses length and size well. Sets up routes well.

….told Sam Webb it’s not just the length of the arms but the skillets at the end:

“I think the big thing is that Louis has really good hands. Anything near him, he's going to catch.”

…and described a guy playing bully ball:

He does a fantastic job of utilizing his size, length and strength to overwhelm cornerbacks as high school defensive coordinators continually lined up small corners to try and contend with him rather than someone with more size and length.

Touch the Banner sees Butt Zone potential:

The thing I like best about him is his ball skills. He tracks the ball well in the air, can adjust his body on the fly to make catches on bad throws, and shows the ability to be physical when fighting for the ball. He can go up and high point the ball.

MaizeNBrew’s Simmons liked Hansen “as a Jake Butt type of tight end that can be a safety blanket for the quarterback because of his strong, secure hands and wide catch radius.” And MGoFish’s resident coach Harry Hillman saw some of the little things that will work in the Big Ten:

In terms of his body control, Hansen does a terrific job knowing how much space he has to work with and his receiving instincts are good. He effectively tiptoes the sideline through tacklers and knows exactly what crease he has to hit when the ball gets into his reach. That’s a translatable skill that is hard to teach. Sure, B1G defenders will probably stop those from being touchdowns, but at the next level, every extra 3 or 4 yards counts and he shows he isn’t afraid of a little contact.

I’m insanely excited about the impact Hansen can make at the next level.

Is “Flex” another way to say he doesn’t block? This is always the question with these galloping giants from Gubeckistanton, or at least it’s the thing you can’t tell from watching the highlights of the latest rampage through Smurfland. Hillman tried the hardest:

The New England standout blocks very well for a tight end/wide receiver, with the caveat being that he’s a significantly better player than almost everyone he’s blocking. But what I look for more than the dominant blocks, is how they get to the pancake.

Hansen doesn’t leverage his weight and size advantage to get people on the ground, he has a strong punch, a great base, good technique and an insatiable leg drive on DBs and OLBs. He has a good hip lean in terms of being able to drive guys around. It’s an area of his game that looks a little unnatural for him, which says to me that it’s a technique he worked hard on and had to be coached on. That’s actually a plus for me in the book, because being able to adjust and take coaching and do it reasonably well is a great trait to me.

Everyone else gave their version of “Uh, I can’t scout this, but…”

• Simmons: “From the clips that were included, Hansen has good hand placement but his pad level is usually too high and he’ll need to add some strength to finish guys off better.”
• Dohn: “He's a willing blocker … My question with him is making sure that he sinks his hips and can block and be a really good explosive blocker
• Dohn again: “Will have to learn how to be inline tight end. Needs to sink hips when he blocks. Adding upper body strength is a must.”
• TTB: “He is also a willing blocker who does a good job of driving his feet, and he has the athleticism to latch onto second-level defenders. Eventually, he should have the bulk to handle being an in-line tight end as well.”

Rivals doesn’t even talk about it. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DEAL?

Frame! As with El-Hadi there was a lot of variance in the size reports. In this case it was because Hansen kept growing. Dohn guessed “6-4, 6-5, (230 pounds)” with “good length and the frame to be able to play at 250 pounds... then amended that to “245-250” after a year. Whoever does the SI All-American writeups started with the swear word.

Frame: Hansen has great size for a tight end, a big target, lean enough to move well, and room to add muscle to his body.

EJ Holland talked to Hansen’s high school coach last March:

He's filled out. He's added some good weight but is still fast and quick. He's looking to go there (Michigan) and compete right away.

And then he appeared on the roster this summer at 6’6”/252. Going off the training clips the school put out that might be true? I mean…

It’s also insane. Most of the guys in my database who arrived that size were OTs or DE/DTs. The one recent TE to measure anything like that as a true freshman was Ty Wheatley Jr. (6’6”/260), and they were telling him to slim down or become a tackle. The only one to be that dense and this svelte was Mark Campbell, the tackle-ish late-‘90s mauler who was the #1 prospect in Michigan coming out of high school. Even Tyler Ecker, who took a Mormon Misson and joined the team when he was already 20, came in at 240. Even if the Michigan roster lies, Hansen looks physically ready to be on the field.

If he can get off the line of scrimmage. The little we have on Hansen is also unanimous in his biggest issue. Dohn describes it best:

Hansen has to work on being quicker off the line of scrimmage and getting into his routes more quickly. He is quicker as an inline tight end getting off the ball then when he is lined up in the slot or wide. He needs to to continue to work on getting separation out of breaks.

But everyone had their version of foot-in-mud disease. Simmons went hardest:

I don’t think Hansen is super gifted athletically. He’s not very fast off the line, which is especially notable when he’s split outside.

But Hillman definitely went there:

His route running is ok, but his hip work and explosion on breaks is suitable for the level he plays at, but probably needs some work for the college level. It’s not a negative by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s an area that needs work. This will also translate to how he gets off the line. Currently, Hansen looks like a player that hasn’t completely grown into his body off the line, and lacks the pop on his first 2 or 3 steps.

And so did Touch the Banner:

What Hansen lacks are the physical traits to really separate himself from other tight ends or, frankly, defenders. He’s not particularly tall, fast, or bulky. His level of competition is nothing special, and yet he does not pull away from defensive backs or even linebackers.

Like most things in the Bay State this year, this has to be taken with some peanut butter and marshmallows, because there was no 2020 football season in Massachusetts. That’s especially true if he was in the midst of growing 2 inches at the time. We haven’t talked about this in awhile because Harbaugh tends to recruit so many guys closer to seeing the field, but one thing scouts look for in projecting upside at skill positions is were they going through a growth spurt. Troy Woolfolk was the canonical example: 5’10” CB in high school, ran a 4.75 forty, and then was the fastest guy on a Rich Rod team at 6’0”. That’s no guarantee, but it would have been nice to see some film younger than 2019.

Other Tight End U’s and Otherwise. Hansen’s recruitment was so Michigan-flavored that it was hard to get a read on who else was trying. Ohio State was poking around, and sounds like they were setting up to make a run at him before the lockdown. The Florida and Penn State offers were serious enough to come with visit plans—Adam Friedman noted he was #1 on Penn State’s board before they took the hint—and the Wisconsin offer was made at Wisconsin. The Florida visit was scheduled for March 13th. Oof.

Etc. Plays basketball of course.

Why Sean McKeon but Butt? Massachusetts flex-type tight end who has the speed, size, hands, and go-up-and-get-it to be an impact blocker and receiver, but not the acceleration to always be open like Jake Butt was. McKeon’s been in contact, and Lou watches Sean’s film, so this comp is particularly tight. McKeon was also an early contributor whose speed got him open downfield, but who lacked the acceleration and athleticism to create his own separation. Sean also became a great blocker later in his career, the guy they ran most of that split zone/arc read game behind. He did a lot of subtly great things as the pivot point of Michigan’s pin & pull game. He was missed last year.

I added “But Butt” because McKeon measured 6’5”/238 as a pro, while even after a healthy skepticism of Michigan’s roster veracity, Hansen is already larger than McKeon ever was, and the Butt Zone highlights are even better than McKeon’s junior tape. I couldn't find full game tape but there are enough handsy highlights to show Hansen doesn't have to be open to be a good option.

Another really close comp, especially early, is Wisconsin's Jake Ferguson, who's never open, but is one of the best chain-movers in the Big Ten because he can wall off and snag any pitch thrown his direction. Ferguson is more of a grabber than a blocker, which could be a problem for Hansen since a true freshman at Michigan is probably the opposite extreme from Barry Alvarez's grandson in how much Big Ten refs are willing to overlook a signature move that is 100% holding.

Guru Reliability: Extremely low. Rivals is horning in on our tea leaves game when they’re supposed to be the sober and serious ones. They’re also probably trusting their camp evaluations, though not reporting them. The other sites did the thing you do when a troll gets loose in the goblin realm.

Variance: Huge. Discussed.

Ceiling: Butt. We’re all still going off of the junior film right now, and at least one site got fed up with being continuously owned by underrating Northeast beasts and called Hansen a top-100 prospect. That’s a guess, but it’s also the industry saying “We acknowledge a hole in our system and are seeking to repair it.” Also: THE HANDS! Contested catch rates translate to college better than most metrics, and the negatives are mostly “unknowns.”

General Excitement Level: Buttery (that’s High-Minus, Mathlete). To this day I keep McKeon clips handy because he was an underrated player at Michigan, and the same people are scouting and will be coaching (since Jay moved back to TEs) Hansen. I can’t emphasize this enough: Hansen was called 6’5”/225 the last time we saw any film of him. He could be an inch taller, but he’s most definitely 25 pounds heavier. I have to scale it back though because there’s a lot of unknowns. Eventually one of these guys isn’t going to work out right?

Projection: You know the drill by now. Except the depth chart right now is thin enough that Hansen is likely to see the field as a true freshman, especially if he’s already 250. I don’t know if he can pass Hibner, but he doesn’t really have to; Michigan usually gets its fourth TE on the field for a few snaps per game (that was Schoonmaker last year), and Hansen has way more upside than walk-on Carter Selzer. Depending on how Erick All fares this year, Michigan could also be casting about for a Flex guy. This is a conversation about 7-10 snaps per game, not a major role.

After that, it’s up to Hansen. My guess is he sees his role increase substantially in 2022, and unless the elders are stretching their eligibility as far as COVID lets them, Hansen is a two-year starter at the Y, and in the conversation with whoever Wisconsin and Penn State found to for All-Big Ten. At that point we can go back to look at the rankings and say we called it f—GORAMMIT RIVALS WE HAD A DEAL.