8 — Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

2016 Season Review: Butt tops deep group of tight ends

With the Michigan football team’s 

2016 regular season in the books, the 
Daily looks back at the performance 
of each unit this year and looks 
ahead to the future in 2017. In this 
edition: tight ends.

At this time a year ago, 

Michigan tight end Jake Butt 
announced he would put off the 
NFL Draft and return for his 
senior season. He said he had 
unfinished business. And while 
he didn’t get to finish all of it, he’ll 
still go down as one of the best 
tight ends in program history.

Butt was the clear No. 1 option 

at that position again this season 

for the Wolverines, perhaps an 
even more central figure than 
last year. In 2015, A.J. Williams 
complemented his blocking skills 
with 12 catches for 129 yards. 
This year, the next-most frequent 
target was redshirt freshman 
Tyrone Wheatley Jr., who caught 
two passes for 27 yards. He and 
freshman Devin Asiasi caught their 

first career touchdown passes.

Butt’s production dropped off 

a bit (from 51 catches and 654 
yards to 43 and 518), but for the 
first time, he captured the Mackey 
Award, given to the best tight 
end in the country. He now holds 
Michigan records for receptions 
and receiving yards by a tight end 
with 135 catches and 1,618 yards.

Despite receiving fewer targets, 

the tight ends were still a focal 
point of coach Jim Harbaugh’s 
offense, as usual. Butt lifted the 
offense, in particular, on third 
down, when redshirt sophomore 
quarterback 
Wilton 
Speight 

looked to him as a safety net to 
move the chains.

HIGH POINT: Butt was fairly 

consistent as a short-yardage option 
all season, but his biggest impact 
came in Week 3 against Colorado, 
when he totaled a season-high 87 
yards on seven catches. That day, 
the Wolverines faced their first 
deficit of the season, trailing by two 
touchdowns after the first quarter, 
and Butt’s presence over the middle 
helped them slowly rally.

Two of Butt’s four touchdowns 

came a week before against Central 

Florida, though Butt also dropped 
two passes in that game, a rarity for 
the sure-handed senior. Another 
memory fans will keep from the 
season about Butt is that he was 
usually the primary option coming 
out of coach Jim Harbaugh’s 
famous “train” formation. After 
Michigan broke the huddle with 
nine players in a straight line under 
center, Butt was often the first 
target over the middle.

Asiasi 
and 
Wheatley’s 

touchdowns, on Sept. 24 against 
Penn State and Oct. 22 against 
Illinois, 
respectively, 
were 

promising signs as well.

LOW POINT: The weakest 

game for the tight ends, and the 
passing game as a whole, came 
on Nov. 19 against Indiana, when 
redshirt junior quarterback John 
O’Korn stepped in for injured 
starter Wilton Speight. That day, 
the Wolverines completed just 
seven passes for a season-low 59 
yards, none of which went to a 
tight end.

Butt’s lowest production of the 

season as an individual came in 
the middle four games of the year, 
during which he caught just 10 

passes for 118 yards, and perhaps 
that was because the Wolverines 
won three blowouts in that span 
and 
faced 
Wisconsin’s 
strong 

defense in the other game. Butt 
reemerged 
down 
the 
stretch, 

opening up the passing game Nov. 
5 against Maryland to the tune of 
five catches for 76 yards.

THE 
FUTURE: 
Just 
like 

at 
wide 
receiver, 
graduation 

losses are leaving the cupboard 
fairly bare from an experience 
standpoint. 
The 
returning 

tight ends — Wheatley, Asiasi, 
freshman 
Sean 
McKeon 
and 

redshirt sophomore Ian Bunting — 
combined for just eight catches for 
61 yards. Freshman Nick Eubanks 
is another name to watch in the 
next couple of years.

Of those players, Bunting seems 

like the best option to become the 
No. 1 receiving option because 
of his size (6-foot-7, 252 lbs.). 
Harbaugh loves to make use of tight 
ends, though, and whoever steps in 
as the starter will have plenty of 
opportunities, considering fifth-
year senior wide receivers Amara 
Darboh and Jehu Chesson are also 
graduating.

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Senior tight end Jake Butt posted his second consecutive All-American season in 2016 and won the Mackey Award.

JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

Season Review: Defensive Line

With the Michigan football team’s 

2016 regular season in the books, the 
Daily looks back at the performance 
of each unit this year and looks 
ahead to the future in 2017. In this 
edition: defensive line.

Michigan entered the 2016 

season with its fair share of 
question marks. It was unclear 
who would start at quarterback, 
how the linebackers would fare 
and what could be expected from a 
safety corps losing a mainstay.

But one position group that 

left no reason for concern was the 
defensive line. And somehow, the 
unit outperformed expectations.

Starting 
three 
fifth-year 

seniors and one true senior, the 
Wolverines’ defensive line was 
among the nation’s best right from 
the outset. Michigan finished 
fourth nationally in sacks (44) and 
had the second-most sacks per 
game with 3.67. The Wolverines 
were also the national leaders 
in tackles for loss (114) despite 
playing one fewer game than 
both of their nearest challengers, 
Clemson and Penn State.

Senior 
defensive 
end 
Taco 

Charlton was a breakout star, 
leading the team with 8.5 sacks 
and earning considerable NFL 
Draft hype in the process. Starting 
alongside him were fifth-year 
senior 
defensive 
tackles 
Matt 

Godin and Ryan Glasgow and fifth-
year senior defensive end Chris 
Wormley, the latter two of whom 
also have bright NFL futures.

And that was just the starters.
Redshirt junior defensive end 

Chase Winovich, redshirt junior 
defensive tackle Maurice Hurst and 
freshman defensive end Rashan 
Gary all had their moments, too. 
They helped the Wolverines wear 
out opposing offensive lines by 
rotating star after star into the 
game, constantly fresh in their 
pursuit of opposing quarterbacks.

HIGH POINT: At the time, 

Michigan’s 49-10 win over Penn 
State on Sept. 24 just seemed like 
a good team dominating a bad 
one. But when the Nittany Lions 
ripped off nine straight wins en 
route to a Big Ten title and Rose 
Bowl berth, it made what the 

Wolverines did against Penn 
State all the more impressive.

Playing against a team that 

finished the season ranked No. 
5, Michigan racked up six sacks 
and 13 tackles for loss in a total 
decimation of James Franklin’s 
team. Hurst and Charlton were the 
stars of the day, totaling three and 
two sacks, respectively.

Really, there were any number 

of games that could have gone 
in this spot. Michigan was so 
consistently good at this position 
that picking just one high was 
difficult. The first three quarters 
against Ohio State, for example, 
were arguably the most impressive 
the unit played all year.

But games have four quarters, so 

a dominating win over one of the 
nation’s top teams gets the nod.

LOW POINT: The Wolverines 

had their fair share of rough games 
against the run — most notably 
Central Florida and Iowa — but it’s 
hard to assign blame between the 
defensive line and the linebackers.

Even Maryland found success 

on the ground when it went to the 
edge, albeit in an effort that saw the 
Terrapins score all of three points, 
but it’s not always easy to discern 
where the flaws were coming from.

So we’ll give this one to the 

Central Florida game, in which 
the Knights netted 275 yards on 
the ground. That is 22.3 more 
than the number of total yards the 
Wolverines defense gave up this 
season, on average.

After the game, Central Florida 

coach Scott Frost declared his 
team had outhit Michigan despite 
a 51-14 loss. Needless to say, no one 
“outhit” the Wolverines’ D-line the 
rest of the way.

THE FUTURE: The curse of 

starting four seniors is that when 
the season ends, you lose four 
seniors.

Fortunately for the Wolverines, 

though, their second string will all 
return, and that unit should still 
be among the best in the Big Ten. 
Hurst, Gary and Winovich are all 
back and should be in contention 
for All-Big Ten honors by year’s end. 
Joining them should be redshirt 
sophomore Bryan Mone, who has 
battled injuries throughout his 
career but has shown flashes of 
dominance in his time on the field.

And while the second-string 

spots will be up for grabs, the 
Wolverines’ starting four should 
be firmly entrenched for another 
exceptional season.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Senior defensive end Taco Charlton led a loaded defensive line with 8.5 sacks.

MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

