Recapping 2012 Commit Devin Funchess

The second of the 2012 tight end commits is Devin Funchess from Farmington Hills, Michigan.  Devin is a great tight end and has good size at around 6'4", but not as big as his counterpart, A.J. Williams, weighing only around 200 lbs.  He comes from a great high school here in Michigan, Farmington Hills Harrison, which is often in the state championship conversation.  Important for Michigan because it shows they are competing for the top in-state talent once again under coach Brady Hoke.

When I was looking at Devin, it was pretty interesting.  He is basically the polar opposite of A.J. Williams.  Devin is definitely more of your pass catching tight end.  He definitely has great ball skills and ability to catch the football, while A.J. is more of your blocking Tight End.  One of the reasons I like the pick up of Devin is because you need that pass catching Tight End.  These guys are nightmares for defenders to cover.  In watching his film, he lines up at both Tight End and Wide Receiver so that shows his versatility. He has great quickness and football and is also a solid route runner and is able to go across the middle.  When I say the opposite of Williams, I meant it.  His area of improvement is definitely in his blocking.  I could see him putting on a bit of weight to fit the more true Tight End role.  An impressive thing about Devin is he played Linebacker in high school also.  He was a pretty good one as well and you don't find many two way players that are that good at both positions.  Michigan is definitely set at the Linebacker position and he won't play there, but it is something that should be noted.  It's impressive and says a lot about his talent and should help him at the Tight End position because of his understanding of the defensive side of the ball.  Look for 15-20 pounds to get put on so he's able to do a bit more blocking as well to match his great catching ability.

Here are the basic stats for Funchess:

	ESPN	Rivals	Scout	247Sports
Height	6’4”	6’5”	6’4”	6’4”
Weight	215 lbs	205 lbs	205 lbs	215 lbs
Position	TE	TE	TE/ OLB	TE
Rating	4*	3*	4*	4*
Position Rank	#5	#9	#8	#10
National Rank	NR	NR	NR	NR

According to the experts, Devin is listed around 6'4" and between 205-215 pounds.  One of the higher rated TE in the country being ranked in the top 10 in the country across the board.  He also appears to be a 4*, with the exception of Rivals. Not ranked nationally, but he is definitely one of the top Tight Ends in the class.  All of the sites praised his ball skills and receiving abilities, saying he was really more of a wide receiver playing the tight end position and could add on some weight.  Weaknesses were really his blocking and as I said, definitely improve in that area, as the great tight ends have the ability to catch as well as do their share of blocking.  Tight Ends are headaches for defenses and look for Devin to be one.  If he can improve on his blocking ability and do some work in the weight room look out.

The impact for Devin as a freshmen is probably one of the wildcards of the 2012 recruiting class.  Yes, Michigan is pretty thin at tight end and wide receiver, but Funchess is also pretty small, especially for a tight end.  Unless he puts on a good chunk of weight, I can't see him making much of an impact as a tight end, especially because he won't be able to do almost anything in terms of blocking.  He appears most likely to be headed for a redshirt here.

Having said that, if there are any injuries, especially for the tight ends and wide receivers, he may see the field because of the lack of depth at those positions.  He can definitely catch, but for Michigan's offense, he really needs to be able to block as well to play tight end.  The best decision for Funchess is probably a redshirt.  However, with his raw talent, he could be incredible at the position as he gets bigger.

Check out the highlight tape below: