Chris Barnett Also Gone Comment Count

Brian

chris-barnettgoodbye-bear

Chris Barnett has tweeted that he is out:

No longer at the university of Michigan

A couple of commenters wondered if that might be a joke. It is not. I've heard from multiple sources that Barnett was not in practice and was considering leaving or actually had left the team. Now it's (all but) official. That's the third member of the incoming class to flame out before the first game. At least in this instance I'd forgotten to write a recruiting profile for him. I did fret about his association with Baron Flenory.

Barnett probably wasn't going to play this year after suffering an injury late in his high school season and showing up pushing 280 pounds. Like Posada, his departure is more of a big deal next year when Koger and Watson graduate. At that point the only non-freshman tight end on the roster will be Brandon Moore, who hasn't played a lick thus far in his Michigan career.

Michigan might have to delay this manball thing even longer than they wanted simply because they don't have the personnel to put a tight end on the field much.

UPDATE: There's also Ricardo Miller at TE, though he needs to spend the next year eating nothing but bacon grease if he's going to get up to a reasonable weight.

Comments

WolvinLA2

August 25th, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^

Yeah, he'll be fine.  Lots of teams have starting TEs in the 235-240 range, and he's there already.  If he's anywhere in the 240s next fall he should be just fine. 

Brennen Beyer to TE anyone?  He's at SAM right now, behind Soph Cam Gordon and RS Fr Jake Ryan, adding highly touted guys to the mix next year too.  He might have more PT at TE next fall after a redshirt.

Blue boy johnson

August 25th, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^

I think my boy Keith Heitzman is the answer. He was the #63 TE nationally according to Scout, and one of my fav recruits. By what I read it seems Heitzman is a good athlete but doesn't look like one, perfect for some trickerization. Heitzman is listed 6'3'' 251 so he has good size already and the DE position looks to be a little crowded over the next few seasons. Go Heitzman!  Here is his bio on mgoblue

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/heitzman_keith00.html

jmblue

August 25th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^

Brandon Moore will also be around in 2012 (unless he isn't granted a fifth year).  He hasn't played much, but he had Koger and Webb in front of him last year (and we seldom played more than one TE at a time under RR), so I wouldn't read too much into that.

Wolverine0056

August 25th, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^

It's not necessarily because of being redshirted, he could have been forced to lose the pounds or like someone mentioned in another thread, move inside to the interior of the line. Which moving would not have helped our TE situation at all, but that may have been a possibility. I hate seeing guys with potential move on like this, but it happens. Plus with him coming off of a severe knee injury, maybe he just wasn't able to do what he had been able to do in the past. 

ken725

August 25th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^

This is pretty normal epecially when you get a new coach.  The only thing is you would expect players not recruited by the coach to leave (Stokes), I guess you can include Posada since he was mainly recruited by RR.

I'm not surprised by him leaving at all.  The Arkansas posters on another board were warning Michigan fans about how big of a drama queen he is.  I was just hoping that was the case during the recruiting process.

NorthFLWolverine

August 25th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^

Barnett probably realized that he didn't have what it took to meet the new Man Ball standards that are being put in place. If you're 30-40 pounds overweight and you walk into camp where you are expected to kick a little hiney...then only to find out your couch potato ways have caught up with your ass and the guys around you are kickin' the shit out of ya on every play...well, I can see why he left the team. See ya Arkansas 'fatty'...drama queen...please! We don't need any drama, we just need to kick the crap out of OSU this year for cryin' out loud. 2000+ days since we won...'F' that!

toomer18

August 25th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^

I kinda like when some of these guys leave the program. Either they are not a good fit of they arent' working hard enough and buying in 100%.  Its better they leave early then staying around with a bad attitude and not contributing.   We need the right kids here that want to be here.  It doesn't always work out.

TheHoke.TheHok…

August 25th, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^

That's a valid point backed up with Magnus' Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia (http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/p/ex-wolverine-encyclopedia.html).  For the vast majority of transfers (not decommits), they don't amount to much for their new teams, or they bounce around and leave football early.  About the only big losses we've had are Cobrani Mixon, who went on to do big things in the MAC, Ryan Mallett, and Mr. DickPlow.

JDNorway

August 25th, 2011 at 10:52 AM ^

I agree with you to a point. While it's obviously not good that players don't want to stay, it's just a fact of life that the demands of top level Division 1 football is not for everyone. These kids have got by on talent and a fair portion of hard work so far in their careers, but when someone who shows up out of shape leaves before they really get started (Posada, Barnett), it's a pretty good sign they were not ready for the work load required.

Touch The Banner does a great series on reviewing 2006 recruiting. The key takeaway is that for each highly ranked recruit who ends up being a high draft pick there are quite a few players who either perform well below expectation or leave the program they end up at. I would much rather these kids find the right college football program now than after spending two years on scholarship at Michigan. Best of luck to them wherever they end up.