Jim Harbaugh’s fifth Michigan Wolverines football team will have a different look than the first four, having installed a new offense under coordinator Josh Gattis. The ball will be spread around, and while this isn’t a tight end-centric offense, the big guys are expected to get more than their share of catches.

Senior Sean McKeon is the odds-on favorite to get the most. He had an outstanding spring, is in the best shape of his life and is making plays regularly in camp.

“Sean McKeon had one of the best springs I've ever seen of a tight end, and I was really excited about it,” Gattis said last week. “He was probably one of our top two offensive players in the spring, just consistent in everything that he did.”

How many balls they catch remains to be seen, especially with so many capable wide receivers vying for their share. McKeon is confident he’ll get his though, calling himself and his fellow tight ends the “jacks of all trades” of the offense, knowing they’ll be asked to block and catch.

But he also knows they’ll need to make the most of their opportunities.

“That's kind of the goal, to spread the ball around,” McKeon said. “I guess we'll find out how Coach Gattis does that, but so far, a lot of different guys are making plays, so I think just the more the merrier.”

He’s watched his share of film on former Iowa tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant, he added, and believes he and redshirt junior Nick Eubanks could be “up there” and as good as the Hawkeyes’ duo was last year.

If they are, that would bode extremely well for an offense that’s supposed to provide big play potential. Hockensen was the Detroit Lions’ No. 8 pick overall and one of the nation’s elite players. McKeon caught 14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown last year, while Eubanks hauled in eight passes for 157 yards and a score … Hockensen caught 760 yards in passes last season and Fant exceeded 500.

McKeon hasn’t come close to that production, but he has put himself in position to have his best year by killing it in the weight room this summer.

“My main focus in the summer was to cut body fat and build up muscle,” he said. “I’m playing a little lighter this year so I can be quicker and faster for the spread.”

“I think we were still making plays in the spring, as well, but now I feel like Coach Gattis definitely trusts us to go and make a big play. He’s not afraid to go 12 personnel, have two tight ends out there even with all the receivers we have. It definitely gives us a lot of confidence that he trusts us to make plays.”

When the ball comes his way, he added, he’ll be ready.

"Coach Gattis does a really good job of trying to get playmakers the ball however he can," McKeon said. "He’s going to put it in some good spots, so we’ve just got to execute and make plays.”

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