Grant Newsome breaks down Michigan's 'three starting tight ends,' why AJ Barner has played the most

Michigan Wolverines football has “three starters” at tight end, according to position coach Grant Newsome, but that’s not just coach-speak. Through two games, three tight ends have started — junior Max Bredeson in the opener against East Carolina and both senior AJ Barner and sophomore Colston Loveland versus UNLV.

All three have different skill sets. Barner is more of a ‘Y’ or in-line tight end, Loveland can be moved around and serves as Michigan’s ‘H,’ a fantastic pass-catcher and Bredeson is a fullback/tight end combo, excelling in run blocking. For the most part, Newsome has stuck to what all three do well in the first two contests. Loveland has the most snaps on passing downs (39), Barner is balanced (37 passes, 34 runs) and Bredeson’s snaps have been run-heavy (28 rushes, 13 passes).

“Every guy has different skill sets,” the Michigan assistant said Wednesday. “All of the guys in the room are extremely talented, but every guy in the room has different skill sets. We try to put them in position to showcase those skills. At the same time, you’ve gotta keep people honest, so trying to not develop tendencies that when one guy is in, it’s always this or when one guy is in, it’s always this. It’s always a balance of putting guys in position to succeed but also mixing things up.”

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While tendencies are inevitable and have a lot to do with game situation, Newsome said he likes to think “they’re all capable of doing pretty much anything,” and he likes to “mix them up.”

Loveland has been featured the most in the pass game, with 6 catches for 63 yards with a 24-yard long, and figures to be one of Michigan’s top receivers all season long. Barner, an Indiana transfer, meanwhile, just hauled in his first reception as a Wolverine against UNLV, going for 12 yards and a first down. Bredeson has 1 catch for 14 yards, too.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said last week that he hoped to get Barner more involved in the passing game, where he thrived with the Hoosiers. In the last two seasons at his previous stop, he racked up 42 receptions for 361 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Newsome has been pleased with how Barner acclimated himself since joining the Michigan program in January, noting that transfers can be hit or miss.

“It’s always a gamble,” Newsome said. “Obviously, having [Michigan running backs coach and run game coordinator Mike] Hart here, who had that relationship with him when he was at Indiana, was a huge factor for us, because you have that built-in level of trust and experience with Mike’s time with him. We kind of knew what we were getting.

“The biggest thing he’s brought besides his on-field abilities, which you guys have gotten to see, is just the maturity. Coach Harbaugh has done a great job across the program of bringing in older transfers who were kind of about their business, very veteran guys. There are none of the young guy maturity that shows up even with the best of kids. He’s really about ball, which is awesome.”

Barner has seen the most snaps for Michigan at tight end this season (71), ahead of Loveland (57) and Bredeson (41). But that could change as the season goes on and has more to do with “the flow of the game” than anything else, Newsome said, and he’s received no complaints.

“I see it as, we have three starting tight ends,” he said. “If you look at the first game, Max was the quote-unquote starter, just because we were backed up and he was the personnel on that play.

“I’m very fortunate that none of those guys in the room are selfish. It’s not like, ‘Why did he play 34 snaps and I only play 31?’ They all care about winning and being great as a team. But no, it’s just kind of how the game flowed.

“Another luxury we have is having three starting tight ends and more guys that can win us games. One thing I wanted to focus on this year was not playing those guys 70 plays a game like I did last year — something I didn’t do well. I overloaded Schoony [former Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker] a little bit, and it caught up to him at the end of the season. I’m definitely going to focus on distributing those snaps and making sure that we keep those guys healthy the entire year.”