The Wolverine continues its series of the top 25 Michigan players since 1997 with No. 22, Jake Butt.
Over his final two years in Ann Arbor, Butt was one of the most reliable and relied upon receiving targets in Michigan's arsenal, as well as one of the top players in the country at his position.
Butt came to Michigan as a four-star prospect from Pickerington, Ohio, and the No. 8 player in the state in the class of 2013 according to Rivals.com. He played on both sides of the ball throughout his career at Pickerington North High School, racking up 142 tackles, 39.5 tackles for loss and 20.5 sacks throughout his career on defense. On the offensive side of the ball, Butt finished his time in high school with 96 catches for 1,361 yards and 20 touchdowns. Following his senior season he was invited to the Army All-America game but was injured and did not play.
As a Wolverine, Butt saw the field immediately, appearing in all thirteen games that season and starting eight times. Butt established himself as a major offensive weapon that first year in the Ohio State game, hauling in five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown in the final game of the regular season. Over his college career, Butt played in at least 10 games each of his four seasons in Ann Arbor. In his first year under Jim Harbaugh, Butt had a career season and finished second on the team in receptions and third in receiving yards, with 51 and 654, respectively. Those marks are respectively second and third by at tight end in a single season in school history. Butt was also named Ozzie Newsome Tight end of the year following the 2015 season, as well as Kwalik-Clark Big Ten Tight end of the year and was voted a first team All-American by Sports Illustrated and CBS.
It was in his senior season that Butt really etched his name in the Michigan history books. In Harbaugh's first rivalry game victory, a 32-23 victory over Michigan State, Butt's three catches pushed him past Jim Mandich into first place in school history for career receptions by a tight end. Later in the season, Butt's 76 yards against Maryland again topped Mandich in the record books, this time for career receiving yards by a Wolverine tight end. Following his record breaking season, Butt won the John Mackey award, given to the nations best tight end, and was again named the Kwalik-Clark Big Ten Tight End of the Year. He was also named a consensus First-Team All-American, the first Michigan tight end to earn that honor since Mandich in 1969.
Due to an ACL injury Butt sustained in his final college game, the Orange Bowl loss to FSU, Butt was unable to participate in workouts leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft. The injury lowered his draft stock, and Butt was not selected until the fifth round, No. 145 overall by the Denver Broncos. He is the first Michigan tight end selected in the NFL Draft since Tyler Ecker was picked by the Washington Redskins in the 2007 draft.
