Exit Zach Gentry
Zach Gentry's entering the draft:
@UMichFootball TE Zach Gentry has signed with an agent and will enter the 2019 #NFLDraft. #NFL #Wolverines
— Neil Stratton (@InsideTheLeague) January 1, 2019
This will no doubt thrill the portion of the fanbase I have muted on twitter after he had a touchdown punched out by a linebacker and an admittedly bad drop in the OSU game.
Gentry didn't get as much use in the passing game as he probably should have as Michigan spent its season trying to get Patterson through it upright; he remains a giant fast person and should be of significant interest to NFL teams. Gentry's blocking was functional.
Gentry's departure bumps Nick Eubanks up to the #1 flex TE; Sean McKeon returns for his junior year as the main inline guy. Michigan will get Mustapha Muhammad and Luke Schoonmaker off redshirts to back those guys up.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:23 PM ^
Good luck Zach. Thanks for playing in the bowl.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:29 PM ^
Go make that money!
As an aside, in my mind, his name was Zentry.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:29 PM ^
- As expected. The NFL loves TEs w his size and athleticism. Though he needs to start spending 2 hrs a day with a Jugs machine.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
Departure or not, I'm pretty excited to see more sets with 2-3 TEs and a FB while one or two of Tarik Black, DPJ, and Nico Collins sit on the bench watching.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
Love it!!!!
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
Who doesn't love to see MATCHUP NIGHTMARES at the TE spot?!?!
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
I loved Ian Bunting and Tyrone Wheatley Jr. as an uncoverable duo at TE.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
I think he could have used another year to hone his pass catching skills. But, maybe he's gotten some positive vibes from pro scouts and he figures another year of college ball won't be a good use of his time. It's too bad we didn't get him more catches, but you can pretty much say that for all the receivers this year. Thanks Zach and good luck to you!
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
I can see Eubanks becoming heavily involved next year. He's a good pass catcher with some good speed, and he seems to have really bought into the blocking aspect of being a TE. He was always a boom or bust prospect and I really hope he booms big time next year.
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:40 PM ^
He gets more catches if he has fewer drops.
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
I think you are right about positive vibes from scouts...I can think of 3 or 4 teams where he would be an excellent fit with his size and speed. I'd love to see him in an Andy Reid offense with Kelce, Hill, and the rest of those matchup nightmares! Mahomes would love this guy.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:33 PM ^
Good luck!!
I am happy for the guy. A dream about to come true.
And this is a two sided coin. This helps UM and JH in recruiting. Getting to the league overcomes a couple of bad losses ultimately.
So nothing but a win-win here!!
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
I like our TE group, but I would love for Michigan to pursue Luke Ford as a possible transfer. There is much speculation that he will be leaving Georgia to play in front of family and since he's from Illinois, Michigan could be a close place for him to do just that.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
Makes sense to me ... The NFL is a literal playground for tall, fast, dudes who can play TE. Some had sterling careers in college, but most are just exceptional athletes to take chances on. Zach likely made the right move.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:24 PM ^
The NFL is a literal playground for tall, fast, dudes who can play TE.
Do they have a seesaw? Or those motorcycle springy things you can ride?
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
Seesaw? You haven't been to an actual playground in a while, have you?
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
Good luck with your NFL draft.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
Going to be one of the combine freaks that Kiper and McShay fall in love with. Might move himself into day 2 consideration.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:46 PM ^
Great for Gentry.
It seems a little odd to me that a TE, a position that is a focus of the Michigan offense and then was a weakness, is able to come out early. His draft slot will be about potential because it won't be about on-field production. Which is another data point about the offensive coaching that's a head scratcher.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
Not sure I agree with that. Our views are a little colored by a poor game against OSU, but you can look at tape and on-field performance and see that he's produced. Maybe his TD and yardage numbers are lower than a lot of "elite" prospects, but I think we all know that's because we throw the ball 20 times in a game, not because of lack of skill. My instinct (admittedly, without getting online and breaking down stats) is that Gentry's YPC and catch:TD ratio is in the same neighborhood as any other elite TE.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:34 PM ^
From a feelings ball aspect, it seemed to me that Harbz prioritized throwing it to the TEs (multiple TEs--Gentry wasn't even clearly the starter all the time) and it didn't work very well partially because those several TEs kept dropping the ball. Gentry got the most passes of the TEs but always seemed to be competing to stay on the field. And it seemed the TE's were a weakness and not a strength at all. Which is odd, given the NFL views him as ready for the league.
From a stats veiw point, Gentry does not stand out as elite--particularly given the predilection of the offense for TEs and that he is only a passable blocker. He is 15th in yards and 25th in receptions. And his YPC is no better than the TEs for Alabama, UCLA, and Texas A&M who all have more (almost twice as many in some cases) receptions--just to name a few P5 schools. Purdues TE has better stats. As for TD ratio--Gentry only had 2 TDs so the sample size makes a ratio pointless.
What I am saying is it is most definitely not obvious to me that Gentry is more skilled than other TEs from watching the games. And if Michigan had an NFL ready TE on their roster why didn't they get better use from him?
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Best of luck to the guy. I thought he was going to absolutely blow up this year. It's a shame we can't figure out how to properly deploy our most talented players in a coherent offense.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
“Gentry probably didn’t get as much use as he should have “ Well ya don’t say ? None of the WR/TE got as much use as they should have .. Instead we run run run into stacked boxes thinking it’s going to work
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
I know that Tom Brady and Drew Brees aren't walking through the door, but with our TEs and WRs, we should be playing like the Patriots or Saints.
Throwing it 40 times a game is a good strategy if you have receiver and QB talent. And I'm sure our RBs would love 1-2 fewer defenders in the box.
"Pass to set up the run" is a good strategy for us.
Spath may not be the most trustworthy of sources, but his insistence that the coaches make dynamic game plans during the week and then immediately ignore them on gameday...is pretty consistent with what we saw all season.
If I'm Gentry, graduated with a mid rounds grade, I'm not sticking around for another year of this shit show either.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:45 PM ^
Gentry should have been our go-to guy in the end zone with his height advantage. He will probably go on to have a great NFL career and then we will be scratching our heads wondering why he wasn't our go-to guy when we had to settle for field goals. Come to think of it, I don't remember Jake Butt getting targeted much in the end zone.
"Pass to set up the run" is exactly what our offense needs. It is so much easier to run the ball without 9 in the box running down hill at you. Pass first offense will have the desired "body blows" effect the current offense is trying to achieve unsuccessfully against premier competition.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:15 PM ^
Or, we make a big deal about having an offense that features tight ends and then don’t throw to them. Why not just put another tackle there for better blocking?
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
Gentry, McKeon and Eubanks combined for 54 receptions this year. I think that's OK.
My criticism of the passing game is more centered on the use of the receivers and Evans.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
Fire Borges!
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
Good luck, Zach!
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:12 PM ^
Damn, I was looking forward to a senior Gentry and a junior Asiasi teaming together to give us a dominating TE combo. Well, next man up as they say. Best of luck to Zack.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:15 PM ^
Best of luck to a kid who switched positions and thrived in his new role.
Attention Msgrs. Eubanks, McKeon, Muhammad, and Schoonmaker, opportunities await in 2019.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:23 PM ^
With his size and athleticism, any concerns about his blocking should be mitigated by his ability to drag LBers and safeties around the field. I think he'll be better utilized in the pros than at Michigan. Wish him luck.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
Unfortunately this is true. As much hype as Gentry was getting as a receiver he was under-utilized as were all of the receivers. Hopefully JH is now satisfied that his running game/O-line are fully installed and they can begin to expand the passing game repertoire. It's going to be tough to recruit quarterbacks to hand off and receivers to block. The top talent wants to play!
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:24 PM ^
The NFL loves guys like this. Wouldn't be surprised that a team out there really, really wants to develop his upside and made it known to him. Good luck and go high !
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
I wonder who will have the better pro career - Gentry or Ian Bunting? Gentry had more receptions this year between the two (32 vs. 18), FWIW.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:32 PM ^
"This will no doubt thrill the portion of the fanbase I have muted on twitter"
If only there were a way to also mute certain MGoBloggers.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:57 PM ^
Oh come on, if you do that how will we ever know about upcoming A2 political elections?
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
I have a surprisingly large swath of A2-politically-active friends on Facebook that I can exploit.
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:02 PM ^
First thing I thought of when I read that was I’m probably now muted by Brian due to my rage that day...
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:28 PM ^
What NFL team -- given current QB and current needs -- would he be a best fit for?
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:10 PM ^
Since he was an All-America 4/5 star QB in HS with a ton of passing yards, it would have been great to see him throw a pass as a trick play when they needed one. (maybe he did and I missed it) But that requires a creative mind.
Best of luck, Zach!
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
not even close to true, but sure it would have been nice to see a tight end throw a pass for some reason.
https://247sports.com/Player/Zach-Gentry-30305/high-school-49527/
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:30 PM ^
Well, with Zach and David Long gone, my count shows that we are at 84 pending not counting any previous walk-ons (Hart, Glasgow, Tru, Schoenle) or any more late commits.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:32 PM ^
I know a lot of fans have expressed frustration with Zach disappearing in the OSU game and questioning whether his decision to go to the NFL early is a "mistake" and that he should return for one more year. But I'm on the record to say that Wolverine nation should appreciate Zach Gentry.
As a member of Harbaugh's first class, he could have gone anywhere and be a starting QB. But instead he helped stabilize a 2015 class that was depleted by Hoke's firing. Moreso, he took a risk to transition from QB to tight end ( a decision that I bet must have been tough for him to consider) and added a dangerous dimension to our offense that we didn't have since Jake Butt left.
Thank you for your dedication, sacrifice and faith in Wolverine Nation, Zach! We are proud to have had you on our team. Now go out and chase that $$$ in the NFL.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:51 PM ^
Good luck Zach
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:24 PM ^
How the fuck he never threw a flea flicker pass at Michigan is beyond comprehension.
Good Luck ZG.
January 2nd, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
Yup, ideal guy for some sort of misdirection pass play. Understood not seeing it vs Rutgers but maybe they did panic in the big games which is why we never saw it? Watch ZG do it at least twice as an NFL rookie.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:17 PM ^
Best of luck to you Mr. Gentry, good things await you!
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:25 AM ^
3rd rounder. And also, he isn't fast. He will have to improve quite a bit to have any productivity in the NFL.
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