Mailbag question: Kevin Koger to defense

Posted at 8:00am -- 4/24/2010

Mailbag question: Kevin Koger to defense

Do you think the staff would consider keeping Webb and Moore at TE and move Koger to DE? Koger was very impressive in High School at DE, and in my opinion was better at DE than TE.

Thanks,
Eric S.

-----------------------------

Thanks for the question.

This is a very similar mailbag question that we recently answered concerning another tight end.

No tight end has yet moved or seen snaps on the defensive side of the ball.

In our opinion it is not a question of the offensive/defensive staff considering the move, the substance of such a move is if Kevin Koger desires or is ready for the move. One thing is clear, at least in our opinion, this offense is getting away from the tight end a bit and going to more of a true two slot formation offense.

All of our sources (VERY close to this situation) have said the same thing; Kevin Koger sees himself as a tight end and has little desire to play anywhere else. He is a team player and if the coaches strongly feel he could help out on the defensive side of the ball we are sure he would give it a try. But he does strongly see himself as a tight end and would prefer to stay at the tight end position.

If that is the case, and we believe it to be true, moving a player to a position he has no desire to play is a recipe for disaster.

Also, GBMW on numerous occasions saw Kevin play both ways in high school. Why he was probably more impressive to you on defense is because his team did not use Kevin very effectively on offense. Against most teams on offense, Kevin was bigger, stronger, taller, and in a lot of cases faster than the defenders, but his high school team’s offense was run-oriented team, especially concerning the quarterback. There were some high school games one would have never thought he was a Michigan commit.

This observation is not a knock on Kevin at all. We feel he was underused in high school and so far in his young career at Michigan. He had his struggles holding on to the ball last year, but some of those problems can be related to the offense and the quarterbacks as well for not throwing a better, more accurate ball. We have seen Kevin make some great catches last year, such as the one arm grab against Western Michigan and the touchdown catch in the end zone where for a big man he made a great catch.

One thing to keep in mind is right now Koger is the starting tight end and moving a player to another position might weaken the position he is leaving. A look at the current depth chart right indicates Michigan only has three tight ends on the roster. Martell Webb is a senior, Kevin Koger is a junior, and Brandon Moore is a red-shirt sophomore. So after this year that only leaves two tight ends, and to be honest that is a little thin even for an offense that does not count on the tight end as much.

It will be interesting to see if in the next recruiting class Michigan picks up a tight end. The staff had a chance at three very good tight ends last year and either missed out or decided tight end was of lesser concern than other positions. If UM does not get a tight end in this upcoming class, one can infer that the offense is going away from the tight end all together and will mostly use two slot formations. Michigan may then try and pick up a walk-on, move somebody from the defense to play tight end, or just use a linemen as an extra big body when needed, such as in short yardage or goal line situations.

Written by GBMW Staff

Go Blue -- Wear Maize!