Hello: Devin Funchess Comment Count

Tim

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

funchessM.jpg

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 24/7 Sports
4*, #6 TE NR TE NR TE 4*, 90, NR TE

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.

Comments

ken725

April 22nd, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^

Yes  !!! A kid from FHH.  I'm really excited about our class moving forward. 

Que the Spartys saying, "we didn't have room for him in this class anyways."

Bodogblog

April 22nd, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^

Or... anyone? I mean:
<br>"MSU is coming off an 11-2 season and a share of the Big Ten championship. That should allow the Spartans to be very selective about whom they offer. U-M is in a rebuilding stage and new coach Brady Hoke is being aggressive and stirring early interest." - Matt Dorsey, Spartanmag.com
<br>MSU is just like Texas now, man

Bodogblog

April 23rd, 2011 at 2:23 AM ^

makes a powerhouse. They're several years away from Iowa status (up, up, down, down, up, up, down) on a consistent basis. They are very distant from PSU, OSU, Neb, and M class.
<br>But I do think they're slow-playing recruits like they're TSIO, which gives me another reason to laugh at them.

Salinger

April 22nd, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^

Welcome to the University of Michigan, Devin!  This kid has good hands and some very raw talent.  Start eating as much steak as you can would be my recommendation and get BIGGER! 

Magnus

April 22nd, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^

A couple sites put Ron Thompson above both of these guys.  I think Funchess and Thompson are both pretty similar, although Thompson seems to be a surefire TE and Funchess could be moved all over the place.

I'm not sure how to feel about Williams, really.  He's a blocking TE or an offensive tackle.  We need a blocker, and he seems to fit the ball, so yay.  It's kind of like getting excited about a fullback.  Yeah, you need them...but they're typically not very exciting.

Moe Greene

April 22nd, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^

From the above article:

"I am an explosive player that will go get the ball where ever you put it."

 

NOTE: This means that our long dark nightmare of finding someone to catch the passes intended for Tacopants has been officially resolved. BOOK IT.

 

bsgriffin1

April 22nd, 2011 at 1:37 PM ^

i think he should maybe shed his weight a little and work on his speed and he could be a great big body possession receiver like the kind LSU have had recent success of

fabfive84

April 22nd, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^

How many TE's do we need? It's not that I'm not excited about getting these guys but we have 3 freshmen TE's coming in this year and now these 2 are commited for next year. I hope this doesn't hurt our chances at getting Ron Thompson because that guy is a stud. I'm thinking that 1 or 2 of these guys will move to DE?

fabfive84

April 22nd, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^

Thanks for the update. I figured that Heitzman would play DE but I didn't know about Clark moving to LB. Aslo whats up with moving Ricardo Miller to TE? With all the receivers that will be gone after this year you would think a big WR like Miller would fill in nicely next year.

BigT

April 22nd, 2011 at 2:35 PM ^

I can't see AJ Williams ending up as a TE.  He's got O-Line (or maybe even DE) written all over him.  It's interesting to go back anf look at our past classes on Rivals and see what positions some guys were listed at originally and where they ended up.

Sopwith

April 22nd, 2011 at 1:48 PM ^

The first catch on the tape is fun to watch.  Snags it like a bear snatching a jumping salmon, just kinda throws his big paw out there.

He's really good at using his height-- knows how to high-point the ball, sort of like a bigger version of Hemingway.

Maybe an ideal H-back type with AJ either moved to tackle or a de-facto "3rd tackle" in jumbo sets.  I think this still leaves room to get Ron Thompson as the every-down TE.

Solid, depth-building pickup.  Like it.

big10football

April 22nd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^

Not Magnus, but:

Sam Webb discussed safety in his recruiting round up from either today or yesterday. He mentioned Jarrod WIlson, although he wants to play on the same team as his teammate Corey Smith who probably wont get a UM offer. He also mentioned Wayne Morgan and Elijah Shumate as viable options. He also said that Deon Bush plans to make a trip to Michigan and that he likes that Mattison coached Ed Reed.

Magnus

April 22nd, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^

The above poster pretty much summed up what I would tell you.  Wayne Morgan is being recruited as a CB, but I think he would fit better as a safety.  The other guys we've offered don't seem to be extremely interested in Michigan, and I have a feeling that any safety we get will be a guy we haven't offered yet.

WolvinLA2

April 22nd, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^

I agree with the "ugh" on Gant, but what about Bam Bradley?  I know we haven't offered him yet, but he has a solid offer list and he's from Trotwood-Madison. 

However, I really hope Jarrod Wilson decides he doesn't really need to play with Corey Smith and comes to UM.

BigBlue4Life

April 22nd, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^

Devins tape is impressive.  his stride ihas a sweet glide to it.  definetly stronger than he looks.  I think his potential is much higher than people think even at WR.  I see glimpses of Megatron Johnson in this kid.  we can call him Funchemuss Prime!  GO BLUE!