Jordan Paskorz impact at TE?
In light of the recent, and horrible, news about Jake Butt, I am curious about people's thoughts on Jordan Paskorz filling a substantial role at tight end this year. I know he has never done much, but he is a 5th year senior and played in 7 games last year. He never seemed to make a real impact on the games.
After a whole spring and summer as one of the main guys at TE, does he stand a chance to be a force there? I always wanted to see him do well, and I hope he fills a strong role for his last year here.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 4:01 PM ^
Pordan Jaskorz?
February 14th, 2014 at 4:36 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
Are we 100% he gets a 5th year?
February 14th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
Seems like he will now, under the circumstances.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
Unfortunately, I'm not sure you can expect much of a 4th to 5th year jump. At least not one that goes from "doesn't contribute" to "substantial contribution."
February 14th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
He'll be a Steve Watson. He won't be what Jake Butt would have been.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
So his first catch will be for a TD?
February 14th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
This is the second time I've seen you post this. Where did you hear it?
February 14th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
presumably from michael vick.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
Because IMO he was the only TE on the roster that was really going to contribute.
I think Shallman moves...we've got Hill and Williams, but Ian Bunting could turnout to be an early impact player if he can give us what Butt gave us last year.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:28 PM ^
I don't know, Williams has a pretty impressive 1-to-1 TD-to-reception ratio going. I say just throw to him all the time.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
1 catch and 1 TD...but he was thrown at plenty of times before that catch.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
It was a joke.
February 14th, 2014 at 7:41 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 9:03 PM ^
He can be our own little Joe Fauria, he of the 3 receptions for 3 TD game (and 18 receptions for 7 TDs on the season).
February 14th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
From what I've read, it would be a shock to see Bunting do what Jake Butt did as a freshman.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
we have to pin our hopes on Khalid Hill or maybe Shallman. It'll be interesting to see their weights when the spring roster comes out. Hill was 258 and Shallman 237 (same as Butt and 3 inches shorter) at the start of last year. I doubt Paskorz plays much since he basically maxed out at 255.
February 14th, 2014 at 9:59 PM ^
weight has no impact on paskorz PT, ability does. the kid has not proven to be even remotely productive in practive or game situations over 4 year period even with very depleted and weak TE depth chart....wouldnt get your hopes up for improvement from year 4 to 5 unless its nonexistent to barely serviceable due to depth again. if a TE cant block at point of attack or present mismatch in pass game then theres no role for that TE....unless youre aj williams and must be pressed into duty as very young and inadequate blocker (particularly at OT in heavy packages - really hoping that embarassing crowbar personnel move left with borges - or at least hoke honestly self reflected self scouted while watching tape and realized flawed idea). id love for paskorz to be a beast in 2014 but highly unlikely so his best role is probably none....hopefully younger kids play even if its more H's or maybe converted DL or LB attempt to grab TE snaps in blocking roles at LOS (i guess beyer being decent option given his ability to run at 250 and since he shouldnt impact games defensively unless as a reserve)
February 14th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
He'll be just a guy. I suspect they will give Williams every chance to play first, probably keep Funchess at TE nominally at least. If Jordan contributes much, it would be pretty startling.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
How long is Butt going to be out?
Jake Ryan tore his ACL on March 20th and returned mid-October.
Jake Butt on February 13th...
Ryan is a freak so to say mid-September is putting too much pressure on him, but could he too be back by mid-October?
February 14th, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^
it would likely take longer to be back near 100%. it's probably better for him to take a redshirt year.
February 14th, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
He was a better blocker than Williams, though still not great. He played more last year than any other year. It's possible he's smarter and has a better understanding of how to get in front of people, given the game time, but he won't overpower anyone.
But TE's really have to catch to be really valuable (or blocker really well), and we haven't seen that.
February 14th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
Than Sim Nelson, that's about the extent of any objection.
February 14th, 2014 at 5:30 PM ^
Hopefully Paskorz or someone else steps up at TE. I think this offense will be way more explosive if Funchess can play WR.
February 14th, 2014 at 5:35 PM ^
Paskorz-specific UFR:
| Opponent | Ln | Dn | Ds | O Form | D Form | Type | Play | Player | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | O39 | 2 | 1 | Ace Big H | 4-4 over | Penalty | False start | Lewan | -5 |
| Paskorz in now as second inline TE with Williams. Both he and Lewan jump(-0.5 each) | |||||||||
| Minnesota | O30 | 1 | 10 | Ace Big H | 4-4 over | Run | Power O | Green | 1 |
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Paskorz(-1) loses his downblock after getting a little motion; Kalis(-1) sees that happen and comes down to whack that guy, which he doesn't have to do. Butt(+0.5) had whacked his guy inside, with help from that guy, and the corner opens up for Green. Unblocked overhanging LB comes down for an immediate tackle. Opportunity for Green to make a play here, but nyet.
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| Michigan State | M40 | 1 | 10 | Ace twins stack | 4-3 over | Pass | PA comeback | Gallon | 11 |
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Near max pro; Paskorz does go out in a route. MSU sends five and Allen ducks inside so there's a pretty obvious outside lane for Gardner to step up in; he does so comfortably; Gallon hitches up and is open by yards, executed. (CA, 3, protection 2/2, RPS +1)
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| Northwestern | O36 | 2 | 5 | Ace twins twin TE | 4-3 even slide | Run | Bubble iso | Green | 2 |
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NW plays this aggressively to the playside and Green ends up cutting back behind Lewan. Paskorz(-1) and Butt(+0.5) have successfully comboed the end and gotten Paskorz to the second level, where he's set up to wall off the backside overhang corner. This becomes relevant with the Green cutback, and that guy comes under Paskorz to initiate a tackle on what is otherwise a first down. Glasgow(+0.5) and Mags(+0.5) had really blown one DT out; Bosch(-0.5) and Lewan(-0.5) didn't get much movement on the other so Green's cutback is awkward and slow. RPS +1; this should have gotten the first down easily.
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| Northwestern | 50 | 1 | 10 | Ace | 4-3 under | Run | Inside zone | Smith | 2 |
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NW creeping up now with both safeties inside ten yards and one plunging down at the snap. Paskorz(-1) expects his guy to be force and when guy is not force he loses him immediately. Safety is force; Funchess is cracking down on him but it won't matter. Bosch(+1) blows one DT off the ball; Glasgow and Mags(-1) double the other guy; once Glasgow leaves Mags gets ripped through. Glasgow gets to the MLB; DE and DT combine to tackle for minimal gain. RPS -1. Lewan(+0.5) didn't have to do much on his double because Bosch did a good job but did extend to a linebacker.
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| Indiana | O11 | 1 | 10 | I-Form | 4-3 over | Run | Zone stretch | Toussaint | -4 |
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Paskorz at TE. Burz(-3) blown up and discarded, DT right into Toussaint, he ducks that tackle but that's all she wrote. Paskorz(+1) got movement on the end and M actually executed a scoop to the outside. That broken hand might be a secret problem with the season.
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| Indiana | M14 | 2 | 5 | I-Form twins | 4-3 over | Run | Zone stretch | Toussaint | 4 |
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Paskorz(+0.5) gets a little motion on the playside DE as he tries to scoop the guy; Funchess(+1), the slot, comes down to bang the slot LB. He gets enough push on him to drive him into backside pursuit, picking off one of the backside LBs. A quick-reacting LB got past this and a safety fills. Kerridge(-1) gets blown up by a safety running full bore at him; Toussaint makes a quick cut behind the LB with the space afforded by the TE blocks.
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| Indiana | M18 | 3 | 1 | I-Form Big | 4-4 even | Run | Iso | Green | 3 |
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Kalis RG, Mags LT, Lewan Super LT. Paskorz(+1) gets a nice kick on IU's nickel LB, opening up a big hole. Kerridge(+0.5) submarines one LB; Schofield(+1) comes off a DE block to slow another LB running to the hole, and Green(+0.5) pounds it up for a first down, picking up a couple YAC.
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| Indiana | M9 | 1 | 10 | Shotgun 3-wide | Nickel even | Run | Counter | Toussaint | 5 |
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Paskorz(+1) blows in the playside end. Lewan(+0.5) gets the tackle. Mags(+1) pulls around and gets a sealing block on one LB; Jackson(+0.5) gets a block on a hesitant slot LB. One IU LB reacts quickly, getting around Bosch before he can release from his double, and fills. Toussaint tries to bounce, gets tackled by a safety.
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| Nebraska | M19 | 2 | 11 | Shotgun 2-back H twins | 4-4 even | Run | Inverted veer keeper | Gardner | 1 |
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Funchess is covered in the slot and cannot go downfield. Nebraska puts eight in the box and sends the gray area slot guy roaring at the LOS at the snap. He dives inside Kerridge(-1) before he can react to block him; Gardner pulls. Kerridge is on the ground trying to come back to the blitzer; Toussaint dodges him; Gardner stumbles on Toussaint's legs. M has now spent both Kerridge and Toussaint on this one guy and he's still forced Gardner to cut upfield. The rest of the play is actually well blocked. Schofield(+1) gets good movement; Paskorz(+1) also shoves his guy downfield and seals him inside, but the fiasco on the outside means Gardner has to cut it up directly into an unblocked LB. RPS -2; Nebraska read this formation and exploited it to blow up Gardner for little gain with an unblocked guy.
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| Minnesota | O2 | 2 | G | TO Goal line | Goal line | Run | Iso | Green | 0 |
| Playside DT submarines Bryant; NT tries to do the same to Burzynski and gets handled but seems to knock Glasgow(-0.5) off balance; Glasgow does get a hit on a linebacker but picks the same guy Paskorz, leading through the hole, does. A guy to the weakside is thus unblocked and comes through a lot of traffic to tackle. Kerridge(+1) had buried a linebacker and Burzynski(+1) sealed away a guard. Green gets form tackled by this dude impressively and doesn't seem to have other options. | |||||||||
| Indiana | M42 | 1 | 10 | TO I-Form twins | 4-3 over | Run | Power O | Green | -1 |
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Paskorz LT, Lewan super RT. IU shows blitz up the middle, sends it. With the overhang corner and S moving at the LOS from five yards deep, that's straight up nine in the box. DT shoots right under Mags as he pulls, no chance for Schofield to block him. Mags feels that and tries to ride that guy and still be useful. He can't do anything with the DE who swam outside Bosch; Bosch let him to to get a LB, so fine. Green has to cut back into two unblocked dudes. RPS -3, no hope.
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+3.5/-3.5 for the season. With a broken hand which Brian pointed at as a possible thing we should be bothered about when we look at misfortunes that affected the season. So it's plausible that he was more than an extra blocker they put out there a few times during the Max Protect portion of the season, although any time he went out for a pass the defense didn't seem to care too much about covering him.
Jordan is still on the roster and expected to be on the team this year AFAK (don't know where Ron Utah's info comes from). Since he had a broken hand last year and wasn't a tight end until the end of 2012 there's a possibility he'll be able to contribute this year. My guess: 8 catches for 51 yards and a TD he can remember for always.
February 14th, 2014 at 5:54 PM ^
In a way, I sort of feel bad for Paskorz because he seems to be a guy with no homeland, if you will, over the past few seasons. He was on defense, then offense, then back on defense, special teams at one point, defensive end, linebacker, now tight end....almost as if you name it, he's been tried there. He's never really had much of a chance to contribute anywhere, it seems.
That being said, if he does indeed come back for 2014, I don't know if he sees a lot of action other than perhaps as a serviceable blocker in various situations. It would be interesting to see if Nussmeier has something in mind for him, however, because Paskorz deserves to potentially be in on a play he'll never forget before he leaves Michigan, in my opinion.
February 14th, 2014 at 6:20 PM ^
Maybe it's all the coaching turn over or maybe I just didn't pay attention to roster management issues before, but it seems like there have been more of these kinds of players lately (guys without real solid positions). James Rogers was the same way, Cam Gordon definitely bounced around.
I always respect the players who are willing to simply go where they're needed, but you do feel bad for them when they're constantly tasked with gaining or losing weight and learning new positions.
February 14th, 2014 at 7:03 PM ^
You tend not to remember the guys who never played much. We used to recruit a lot of RBs and would move some of them. Ian Gold and Charles Drake were two who became starters. Jon Shaw and Patrick McCall were two more from around the same time who went to safety.
February 14th, 2014 at 7:08 PM ^
Yeah, that makes sense. There will always be roles to fill for guys who are football-sized and sufficiently athletic.
February 15th, 2014 at 6:04 AM ^
and one who is emerging from wherevern he lines up is Funchess, of course, originally recruited as a TE but can pose a nightmare for opposing defenses no matter where he lines up. Personally, I thought Chesson, throughout the season, showed glimples of what could become greatness. Along with these two and our incoming receivers, I think we can go to multiple sets and, as suggested, use this young man as a blocker if nothing else. I'm certain most of us recall when Tressell went to the two OTs on the same side of the ball and punished us greatly for not being prepared. We have enough talent to play some games this season.
February 14th, 2014 at 6:08 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 6:16 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 6:30 PM ^
For what it's worth, here (LINK) is Brian's "2013 Recruiting" profile of Shallman. It's got a tone of "the guy can sorta do lots of things, but probably not better than the people recrutied specifically to do one or two of those things."
My guess? He'll see more snaps than he ordinarily would have, and will perform adequately.
February 14th, 2014 at 7:23 PM ^
Paskorz played a little bit as third on the depth chart. This year there should be more contenders, but the depth chart is as wide open as could be. I could imagine him being ahead or behind Williams, Hill and Shallman. It's hard to expect a 5th year player to suddenly become an important contributor, but TE is a position where you don't need a lot of athleticism to be serviceable. We've had TEs step up far beyond expectations in their final season before. Joppru and Seymour played the position their entire career before doing so. Paskorz should at least be much better prepared than he was at the start of last season.
February 14th, 2014 at 7:56 PM ^
February 15th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
I think with the new OC it probably hurts his chances a little bit than if Big Al was still here (new scheme, can be less reliant on TE's, etc.)