22 IN '22: Wolverines to Watch: #14 - TE Erick All

Every Tuesday until the season begins TMBR will be counting down the "22 in '22 Wolverines to Watch". These are the twenty-two players with the best chance to make an impact ranked by their potential impact.

THE LIST: #22 DB Will Johnson | #21 OL Zak Zinter | #20 DL Kris Jenkins | #19 DB/WR Mike Sainristil | #18 WR Darrius Clemons | #17 EDGE Jaylen Harrell | #16 WR AJ Henning | #15 DE Taylor Upshaw | #14 TE Erick All

Erick All committed to the Wolverines in the summer of 2018. He chose the Wolverines over Florida State, Michigan State and Notre Dame. While he had recently competed at an Ohio State camp, the Ohio native was never pursued by the Buckeyes. Harbaugh's goals sold All in the recruitment, "He's set a goal and he's willing to chase it and do what it takes to beat Ohio State and maybe go to the playoffs and play for the national championship," All said. "When he told me that, I decided I wanted to join and help."

All was slightly undersized at 223lbs in high school, but was still a physical player. His love for blocking was something that attracted the Wolverine staff to him. They expected him to add 20lbs or so in Ann Arbor and become a great two way TE. He was the 16th ranked TE in the class.

All received heavy praise from head coach Jim Harbaugh early in his time in Ann Arbor when Harbaugh said All could be "one of the best TE's to play at Michigan." Huge pressure for sure, but Harbaugh saw the potential with All. In his freshman year he was a contributor, mostly blocking and in special teams. In the shortened 2021 season All cracked the two-deep and saw more snaps at TE. He seemed to struggle with drops, but was able to snag 12 for 82 yards in his backup role. Again, where All really excelled was blocking.

Entering 2021 All was the expected start at TE and had the breakout season his head coach had been predicting all along. With Michigan focusing on running the ball, All was an instrumental force in the run game. Whether holding pat on the line as a set TE, or as the lead blocker in a pull scheme. All even lied up as an H-back or true FB at times for Michigan.

All became a weapon receiving the ball as well. At 6'4" 245 All is a huge target in the seam or coming across the middle in drag routes. He was second on the team in receptions with 38, only two behind Cornelius Johnson, and second in yards with 437. All will forever be known for his touchdown against Penn State. A play that essentially saved Michigan's season and propelled them to the Big Ten Championship.

With Erick All deciding to return to Ann Arbor for his senior season, the sky really is the limit. All leads the deepest TE room Michigan has had since Harbaugh returned to Ann Arbor. Luke Schoonmaker will surely play often behind all, but there are plenty of talented underclassmen who will see the field as well. Michigan isn't scared to use 2TE or even 3TE sets, so All will not be coming off the field often.

The Michigan running game starts behind its best in the nation offensive line, but the horse out front will almost always be Erick All. Where All can take another huge step is in the receiving game. Already one of Cade McNamara's favorite targets in 2021, All could feast in the middle of the field this season with opposing defenses needing to focus on the outside speed of Michigan's WRs. One area where Michigan struggled early in the season was in the red zone. While the run game and specifically Hassan Haskins started to find more scores in the second half, in 2022 a big target like Erick All could see a significant rise in red zone targets.

Michigan is going to be matchup dependent often with its talented WR group, while All is more likely to be a constant force throughout the season. On volume alone All could easily catch 50 balls for 600 yards and get 5+ TDs. A season like that would surpass what we saw from Jake Butt and make Harbaugh's prediction true of All being one of the best tight ends in Michigan history.

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