February 22nd, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
Butt's going to make a huge splash against Miami.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:14 PM ^
Good thing - back just in time for our toughest home game of the year.
/sarcasm, but barely, sadly.
February 22nd, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^
I was more excited for the spring game. I figured Taco would get the best of Butt.
February 23rd, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
In their senior season of high school, their teams played each other and Ace (I think it was) covered the game. It led to one of the great ledes in Mgoblog history (IMHO):
In Rare Reversal, Butt Defeats Taco
February 23rd, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
I had forgotten about that. Maybe it was burned into my subconcious.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
and catch some football too!
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:04 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:06 PM ^
They just did...
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:08 PM ^
Isn't the key word in that tweet "projected"?
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:08 PM ^
And maybe once in surgery it was found that the damage wasn't as severe as the MRI suggested.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^
But it doesn't appear he's had the surgery yet. This is the latest info I could find:
Hearing that TE Jake Butt will have ACL surgery in a couple weeks on February 28th.
— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) February 13, 2014
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:23 PM ^
But if he's projected to be back for game three, which is being pretty damn certain this far out, it must be felt the damage isn't as severe as many people were thinking.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:07 PM ^
I remember Heitzman being a pretty big dude. I don't know how Nuss plans to use him but I can only assume he'll be more of a blocking tight end in run formations
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^
Who knows, but probably? He was at 280 last year at 6'3". And he looked like that might not be the best weight. Hopefully he can get down if need be. AJ Williams was 280 his frosh year and 260 sophomore year (although he's like 6'6").
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^
Heitzman is listed as 6'3" 280lbs. according to Michigan website. That is 15lbs. heavier that AJ Williams was listed (who was heaviest TE last year).
EDIT: Beaten to the punch... What he said
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^
and heights. Some are clearly fiction. It's a long tradition. There was a time when our OL were all 299 or 298.
February 23rd, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:21 PM ^
that Mattison must feel he's flush with D linemen. I wish I could say I felt as confident but, since he apparently is, so I shall become.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:59 PM ^
It seems to me with Beyer, Godin, and Charlton at SDE, plus Wormley and possibly Strobel and Poggi playing both 3T and SDE, there is enough depth there.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:24 PM ^
I just can't see Heitzman being used as a tight end outside of a goal line situation. Even when he was a d-lineman, I thought he would be a better run stopper than a quick reaction-type player. But if Craig Roh can go from 230 to 280 in 4 years, let's see if Heitz can prove me wrong.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:24 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
February 23rd, 2014 at 1:54 AM ^
If he can just block, then he'll be able to do one thing that A.J. Williams can't.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
Hopefully, we hold him out until Utah unless he is 100 percent against Miami.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:03 PM ^
Tom Izzo is crying because you made such a hurtful statement. Keep it up.
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
And I don't feel entitled to information. But, I mostly ignore what's said about injuries unless Brady says someone won't play. In Butt's case, I now believe that there is some unspecified chance, greater than zero, but otherwise unknown that he plays early in the season.
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^
he was saying that Ryan was projected to return in October. Ryan returned in October. That doesn't really matter though, does it?
February 23rd, 2014 at 2:01 AM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
when you take the time to realize you're commenting on something somebody said, about what somebody else said, about what yet another person said.
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
I like the info but consider the deeper story here. If Heitzmann works out (meaning positive contributor on offense, able to hold the depth chart, etc) then my couch coach vote is to redshirt Butt and let him get the full opportunity to rehab.
Jake Ryan did an impressive job of getting back on the field in record time, but IMHO he picked up steam with each game. So it wasn't like he was making an immediate difference when he got back. In Ryan's case obviously a redshirt wasn't an option so it made sense to get him back.
So the conundrum would then seemingly be, Butt seems like a nice route runner able to get open against LBs regularly, hence an extra receiver. However a little lighter than we might like on run blocking. Heitzmann would seem to have the strength and mass part nailed down, the questionmark being his ability to get open as a receiver....or maybe Nuss uses a TE sort of like a FB catching a pass....its a receiver you sorta forgot to cover since they rarely catch passes and thus rarely need any downfield coverage.
Overall its very positive to have the depth to be able to do this! Hope Taco can hold down a slot on the Dline with regularity, as someone else stated, he's an NFL body waiting for a player to fill it out... 8-)
February 22nd, 2014 at 10:32 PM ^
February 22nd, 2014 at 11:27 PM ^
I see Bunting getting some snaps on the outside ala Funchess.
February 23rd, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
February 23rd, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
February 23rd, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
smart move. been hoping theyd move someone like heitzman or beyer to TE for blocking purposes and addl depth if nothing else. hed just be another guy on DL, buried on depth chart and unlikely to make many impact plays and even if hes just another guy at TE, they need the depth there much more than DE. heitzman had close to 12 months to prove he could impact the game at DE and did not really produce....they need athletic difference makers on the edge and while the younger guys on the chart may not ultimately provide that impact, i think its safe to say heitzman likely would not have either. so looks like smart move. hopefully he can offer some stout blocking at LOS and maybe few catches