Throwback Thursday: 2012 Tight End Recruiting

Last week I took a look at the running backs Michigan recruited in 2012 (LINK). This week we look at Michigan's tight end prospects.

Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison was a moderately hyped midwest tight end recruit, garnering offers from Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, and Nebraska, among others. Despite good length and borderline wide receiver speed, something kept the national programs away.

Despite the light recruiting pursuits, Funchess would become a Freshman All-American to some outlets after playing in every game and starting five of them. He caught 2 touchdowns in the first three games, one of which was a breakout 100+ yard receiving game against Air Force. He finished with 15 catches for 234 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2012. In 2013 he caught 49 passes for 748 yards and 6 touchdowns. By 2014, after dabbling with it the previous year, Funchess was moved full-time to wide receiver, where he caught 62 passes for 733 yards and 4 scores.

His career accolades included being named Big Ten Tight End of the Year in 2013 and being named a semifinalist for the Mackey Award that same season. Interestingly, Funchess wore three different jersey numbers in his three different years: #19 as a freshman, the #87 Legends jersey as a sophomore, and the #1 jersey as a junior.

Funchess left for the NFL after 2014 and became a 2nd round pick (#41 overall) of the Carolina Panthers in 2015. He played four seasons for the Panthers, one for the Indianapolis Colts, and one for the Green Bay Packers. After only being a practice squad player in 2021 for the San Francisco 49ers, he signed with the Detroit Lions this off-season and is attempting to make it as a tight end.

Cincinnati (OH) Sycamore tight end A.J. Williams was a similarly pursued recruit to Funchess. Williams was pursued by midwest programs (Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, etc.) and a few others (Arkansas, West Virginia), but he was never a hot prospect.

More talked about than Williams's talent was his size. At 6'6" and 260 lbs., a lot of Michigan fans - who had been burned by poor offensive line recruiting by Rich Rodriguez a few years earlier - thought Williams should naturally add a few pounds and shift to offensive tackle. That thought followed Williams for the remainder of his career, especially as his weight ballooned to 285 as an upperclassman.

Throughout his four-year career, Williams played in 49 games and started thirteen of them. He caught 17 passes for 164 yards, and his only career touchdown happened on his first career catch, which was against Iowa in 2013.

Colorado TE Evan Baylis (Oregon)
Ohio TE Pharaoh Brown (Oregon)*
Ohio TE Sam Grant (Oklahoma)
Pennsylvania TE J.P. Holtz (Pitt)
California TE Taylor McNamara (Oklahoma)
Florida TE Sean Price (South Florida)
Florida TE Kent Taylor (Florida)
Michigan TE Ron Thompson (Syracuse)

*Decommitted from Michigan