8 — Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Zach Gentry looks for his next step after career day against Maryland

Can you compare Zach Gentry 
to New England Patriots’ tight 
end Rob Gronkowski?
Junior 
quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson thinks so, and he did 
exactly that on Saturday. Gentry 
would prefer you not.
“I mean, stature maybe,” 
Gentry 
says 
with 
careful 
consideration. “He’s gonna go 
down as one of the best tight 
ends ever. Pretty lofty, but maybe 
there 
are 
some 
similarities 
athletically. I appreciate what 
(Patterson) said.”
Added junior WILL Devin 
Gil: “He knows tricks to get by 
you or get underneath you. I feel 
like he’s a talented, unique tight 
end.”
Comparisons 
aside, 
the 
redshirt junior tight end is 

continuing to prove his worth 
for the Michigan football team 
this season and hoping to land 
on an NFL draft board. But 
he’s still receiving looks. Dane 
Brugler, an NFL draft analyst 
for The Athletic, ranked Gentry 
as the No. 5 draft-eligible tight 
end for 2019.
Saturday against Maryland, 
Gentry 
provided 
merit 
to 
that assessment. The 6-foot-8 
Gentry set career highs in both 
receptions (seven) and receiving 
yards (112) acting as the primary 
receiver. Through six games, 
Gentry leads the Wolverines in 
receptions (20) and yards (306), 
and after the game, Harbaugh 
listed every attribute that came 
to mind.
“Yeah, 
he’s 
progressing 
well,” Harbaugh said. “To have 
everything you want from a 
tight end — being able to block, 

being able to catch, being able to 
create separation, make a tough 
catch, has the big catch radius, 
in-line 
blocking, 
in-space 
blocking. He’s got the speed that 
you’d like to see, the athleticism 
you’d like to see.”
The amalgam 
of it all is a 
dependable 
tight end. When 
Patterson 
faced 
pressure, 
throwing 
to 
Gentry was the 
theme.
But Gentry is 
far from perfect. 
Harbaugh 
already knows what else he 
wants to see from him.
“The thing that’s probably the 
next thing for him ... is yards-
after-catch,” 
Harbaugh 
said. 
“Get the ball and create those 
yards-after-catch. But I think 

that will come. Everything he’s 
done as a player has improved, 
developed, the next thing he’s 
attacked he’s grown and gotten 
really proficient in. I think 
that’s the best place for growth 
for 
him 
as 
a 
player.”
Added 
Gentry: “Maybe 
getting a little 
bit better vision 
and trusting my 
blocking 
a 
bit 
more downfield. 
I 
agree 
with 
that, I think that 
catching the ball 
and being able 
to turn it upfield is something I 
need to work on.”
This deficiency in his game 
was readily apparent with two 
minutes remaining in the second 
quarter of Saturday’s game. 
Gentry stepped out of a block 

for a screen pass, and caught 
a throw with sophomore wide 
receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones 
and three offensive lineman 
forming a wall of blockers in 
front of him. Instead of charging 
behind their blocks, Gentry 
side-stepped 
inside, 
away 
from them and into a slew of 
Terrapin defenders, shortening 
a potential long-yardage gain to 
just seven yards.
According 
to 
Gentry’s 
counterpart, junior tight end 
Sean 
McKeon, 
yards-after-
catch (YAC) drills are a skill 
that the two have worked on.
“We have YAC drills, we have 
stiff arms, just getting up field 
quick,” McKeon said. “As a tight 
end, you’re not gonna juke a lot 
of people, being like 260 pounds. 
Really just trying to be physical, 
lower the shoulder, stiff arm 
someone.”
There is no time like the 

present to improve post-catch 
routes, but Gentry, while still 
shuffling through the nuances 
of the tight end position, spent 
the 
offseason 
just 
focusing 
on catching the ball. He and 
McKeon ran routes, worked on 
timing with the quarterbacks 
and 
practicde 
bare-handed 
grabs with a JUGS machine 
firing high-speed footballs at 
them.
The outcome of their work is 
evident so far, and continuing to 
elevate his route-running could 
further involve Gentry in the 
NFL discussion.
But don’t mention the pros 
yet. Gentry’s mind is on other 
things at the moment.
“It’s obviously something I 
want to be a part of some day,” 
he said. “But (I don’t think) a 
whole lot right now (about the 
NFL). Got so much school and 
Wisconsin to watch.”

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

‘M’ offense embraces new attitude

When the Michigan football 
team beat Nebraska on Sept. 22, its 
defense said it felt the Cornhuskers 
quit — like they couldn’t compete 
with the Wolverines and they knew 
it.
That helped explain Michigan’s 
suffocation of Nebraska, holding it 
to 132 yards of offense.
But the sentiment holds true 
for the Wolverines’ offense too, 
according to junior guard Ben 
Bredeson. Monday at Michigan’s 
media availability, he said the 
difference between this season’s 
offensive line and last season’s is a 
killer instinct. When an opponent 
is pushed to its breaking point, the 
Wolverines’ front five gives the 
extra effort to break them.
“You can tell when they’re 
starting to get tired, or when they’re 
starting to give out and you just 
gotta push harder for just a little bit 
more, and sometimes it’s just getting 
one or two more touchdowns on 
them and then they can start to give 
in,” Bredeson said. “You know, some 
of the issues last year were we’d get 
to that point, and people would feel 
it and kind of lax up. You know, the 
other team would score. They’d 
get back into the game a little bit. 
But this year we’re not letting that 
happen, and it’s paying off for us.”

It isn’t just that to Bredeson, 
though.
The variety of weapons Michigan 
has on offense compared to last 
season has allowed it to “let loose” 
and “make plays.”
“I think (the mindset has been 
present) since the first game and 
especially these last few weeks, it’s 
just, football’s a fun game. Play it 
with a smile on your face,” Bredeson 
said. “And it’s fun to win, so if you 
can let loose, make plays and win, 
that’s a good feeling. That’s what 
we’ve been going for as a team and 
especially on offense.”
But what exactly does that look 
like?
One 
example 
is 
sophomore 
fullback Ben Mason’s hurdle in 
Saturday’s game against Maryland. 
Another is sophomore quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson’s 
play-making 
ability, constantly scrambling and 
throwing on the run, providing 
a well-documented spark to the 
Wolverines’ offense.
For the offensive line, it isn’t 
so obvious. Obviously they aren’t 
hurdling 
anybody 
or 
scoring 
touchdowns.
“It’s just playing hard for us, 
really, is what we can get down to,” 
Bredeson said. “And then just being 
emotional. You know, when you 
score, it’s a good thing. Cheer, go 
celebrate with everybody. I feel like 
sometimes — this happens to me too 

— you get into the battle rhythm of 
the game. You score, you smile, you 
run off, you do it again. But it’s just 
important to remember that it’s a 
game. Have fun, go celebrate with 
your guys when you score.”
To the outside eye, Michigan’s 
defense has played the ostentatious 
role for the last few years. Whether 
it be former VIPER Jabrill Peppers 
or current players like junior 
linebacker Devin Bush, it would be 
hard to accuse the defense of not 
having enough fun.
It’s a unit that flies around 
the ball, makes plays, celebrates 
accordingly then lines up to do 
it again. Maybe that’s why the 
Wolverines have been first in the 
nation in total defense this season 
— the same spot they finished last 
year.
If that’s the case, and if that 
attitude has leaked into the offense, 
it can only mean good things for 
Michigan.
“They’ve been playing together,” 
Bush said. “You can tell they’ve 
been having a lot of fun out there 
together and competing. You can 
see it on film and it shows up on 
gameday.
“… 
That’s 
been 
something 
(Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh) 
has always been preaching, and I’m 
sure the guys bought into it more 
and more as they see more success 
come.”

MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor

EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry drew a comparison to Rob Gronkowski from quarterback Shea Patterson after Saturday’s win over Maryland.

“I appreciate 
what 
(Patterson) 
said.”

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Junior guard Ben Bredeson says Michigan’s offense has embraced a “let loose, make plays” attitude.

