Hello: Devin Funchess

Though Farmington Hill Harrison has traditionally been a Michigan State feeder, MI TE Devin Funchess has gone against the grain and committed to Michigan. He also told Tom he'll try to recruit his high-profile teammates to join the maize-and-blue fold.

INFORMATIVE PORTION

GURU RATINGS

We start, as we always do, with the measurements. Usually Scout is the over-estimator in prospect height, but this time it's Rivals that breaks the 6-4 consensus to credit Funchess at all of 6-5. In the weight department, it's 24/7 Sports that's not in complete agreement with the other sites. They say he clocks in at 215 pounds, whereas the others agree he's 205.

Since none of the premium sites have evaluations of his game (for the record, 24/7 Sports has ranked 10 TEs without getting to Funchess), let's dive straight into the newspaper articles. Funchess was one third of a Sam Webb profile a couple months back:

"(Funchess) was a surprise to us," [FHH Coach John] Herrington admitted. "He played much better than I thought he would and he is really developing. He really has dedicated himself. As a JV player I didn't know if he was going to go that hard or not, but he has. He is going to be a great prospect when he puts on weight. He can be a tight end, an H-back, a split end. He has big hands. I'm not sure what he's going to run the 40 in, but I think he could be around 4.6 or 4.7."

Scout's Allen Trieu also chimed in for the article:

"Devin Funchess has super upside. He's tall, can run for a kid of that size and can go up and make spectacular catches. I'd like to see him add some weight and keep working on his consistency. I think he will do those things... I think they're all BCS level players and among the top 10-15 players in the state. They're very talented. I think all three have a chance to be impact guys in college."

UMGoBlog's Sean O'Connell talked to Funchess about his game:

"I am an explosive player that will go get the ball where ever you put it. I have to work on my speed and try to get it down."

Rather than worrying on his speed, he should worrying about adding good weight while maintaining what he has right now. There's also not a whole lot of talk about his hands, choosing rather to focus on size/speed combo.

OFFERS

On top of some MAC offers, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, and Virginia were schools that had unofficially offered Devin. That's not exactly a murderer's row, but Missouri, Michigan State, and Nebraska have all had some decent success in the recent past, and Virginia has put out some good tight ends.

STATS

All free sources seem to have fallen into the internet memory-hole, but according to Scout ($), he had 33 catches for about 800 yards as a junior. He was named Honorable Mention All-State, according to the Free Press's Tom Markowski. Going into the playoffs, he had 22 catches for 410 yards.

FAKE 40 TIME

According to his high school coach (quoted above), he's in the 4.6 to 4.7-second range in the 40-yard dash. For a 205-pound tight end, that's not too unrealistic. None of the premium sites have listed times. I'll dole out 2 FAKEs out of five.

VIDEO

Youtube highlights:

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Funchess is one skinny bro for a tight end. Of course, he has another year of high school to put on weight, but he'll probably enter college undersized for the position. I'm not sure if he's planning on enrolling early, but if he doesn't, it's unlikely he gets much playing time as a true freshman, barring a physical transformation in the next 16 months.

That means a likely redshirt (also giving him a year of separation from Chris Barnett - and possibly other 2011 prospects who could end up at the position), as he molds his body and learns the offense. Following that season, he'll work into the lineup - Brandon Moore will graduate following Devin's redshirt year - getting some time in 2-tight end sets.

As an upperclassman, Funchess strikes me as the type of guy who is definitely not a liability, and will become a solid role player. It's tough to see All-Big Ten potential when he has so much developing to do, but it's not out of the question.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan's coaching staff continues the 2012 recruiting theme of landing two players at the same position group back-to-back, as they did on offensive line and at linebacker. If AJ Williams doesn't move to offensive line (a definite possibility), the coaching staff is probably done at the position. However, I think Williams does move down (or at least become a very different type of tight end), and there's still room in the class for Ron Thompson.

Going forward, Funchess could also help Michigan's case with his high school teammates Mario Ojemudia and Aaron Bubridge. The coaching staff has a need for wideouts, and Burbridge is one of the Midwest's best. Ojemudia is a DE/LB tweener, but the staff has shown a lot of interest in him.

The biggest needs for the remainder of the recruiting class are defensive linemen, a quarterback, a wideout, and maybe a safety or two.