Ondre Pipkins dumped 29 pounds over the course of a few months, which should bode well for his playing time. Competing at the three-tech? Yeah, possible.
· Elsewhere on the defensive line it's mostly BEEFCAKE, with Chris Wormley up to a hello-three-tech 290, Frank Clark up to 277, Mario Ojemudia up to 244, and Keith Heitzman scaling up to 277 after not having a spring weight last year.
· Guys who did not move significantly are Quinton Washington (after three years of dropping, a few added pounds at 300 are probably good), Jibreel Black (probably not so good if he is a 276-pound DT), and Brennen Beyer (possibly good or bad or something). Surely there will be better options than a 276-pound three tech; I bet Black moves to SDE to compete with Heitzman. Meanwhile, Clark is now listed at exactly the same weight as those guys, blowing past classmate and WDE competitor Beyer. Most have pegged that as a platoon in which Beyer executes the run defense and Clark gets to the QB; could Clark take over the role full-time? He'll have to be a lot more responsible.
· If Beyer can't continue adding weight a move back to SAM might make sense. This has been your Brian Wonders About Moving Someone To SAM moment.
· Taco Charlton entering at 265 means he has a shot to blow past everyone at WDE as well. Likely? No, but despite the apparent depth at that position don't put him in the autoredshirt category.
· The tight ends are not exactly hulking up. It makes sense that AJ Williams would shed some weight as he transitions back from offensive line to TE, and 265 is a reasonable weight for an in-line blocking TE. Devin Funchess adding three pounds is not ideal unless he's really just a wide receiver with a little blocking to do. Jake Butt showing up at 231 isn't a huge surprise—he weighed in at exactly that number for the Army game—but may indicate he, too, is not going to be much use as a blocker in year one. Redshirt? Probably not since there are no other scholarship TEs on the roster and Kwiatkowski graduated.
· Jehu Chesson and Amarah Darboh are meeting in the middle. For non-lineman bodies ten pounds is a relatively big change. See also beanpole safety Jeremy Clark.
· Dennis Norfleet losing two pounds isn't a huge surprise since guys that size usually stay exactly that size.
· Relatively flat OL numbers are generally good news since they indicate radical overhauls are not necessary for player X to see the field. See Lewan and Schofield above. Chris Bryant is a clear exception since 325 is tough to play at and his injury makes it difficult for him to do a lot of the things Michigan would like him to. Meanwhile, size concerns about Jack Miller are probably minor. 291 is well within plausible.
· I'd be surprised if Blake Bars can overtake Ben Braden, who is 30 pounds heavier. Magnuson and Bars going nowhere in year one is a slight concern.
· Chattering about Kyle Bosch being ready to play this fall is reinforced by his 307 pounds. Logan Tuley-Tillman at 285 brings this whole exercise into question since that almost has to be fiction. The other option is that LTT is going to be a rich man when he shares his diet secrets. If he really is 285, that would be very good news since his star rose and fell based on his weight when he was a recruit. He seemed like a boom or bust type because of that. I'll ask Ace, who saw him in person with some frequency, to evaluate the plausibility of that weight after the spring game.
· James Ross, man, you're supposed to get bigger. Also you, Joe Bolden. All linebackers not named Ringer have been on a diet
Go Blue!!