Like Will Johnson at cornerback last year for Michigan football, Colston Loveland started showing signs late that he may be among the nation’s best.
Though Loveland made some plays starting in the 2022 spring game, it wasn’t until the Nebraska game in November that he started putting his mark on the game. Then, against Ohio State, he had a big touchdown, and he followed up by splitting two defenders for a score the next week in the Big Ten Championship game.
This year, with both Luke Schoonmaker and Erick All gone, the onus is on Loveland to take the mantle and become the next great Michigan tight end. And he has the capability to do just that, Grant Newsome, the Wolverines tight ends coach, told Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast this week.
“He’s on the right track. I mean, it’s impressive,” Newsome said. “And the cool thing for him is, I don’t think he realizes quite yet just how good he is and how good he can be. And that’s great for us because he works every day like he isn’t one of the best tight ends in the country. He works every day like he isn’t one of the most talented guys we’ve ever had come through here. So there’s no arrogance, there’s no cockiness, he just puts his head down and grinds and is so humble so mature about it.
“But yeah, I mean he’s got an immense amount of ability. I was joking with Jake Butt it was the best tight end I’ve ever seen come through here in my nine years here and he watched a practice. And afterwards he and I sat down and talked and he said, ‘Yeah, he’s gonna be better than I am. He may already be better than I am.'”
What fans have seen is an electric playmaker, a tight end that has the capability of being a dominant pass catcher. Newsome says that coaches plan to put him in as many advantageous positions this year to take advantage of his playmaking ability.
“I think we’re very fortunate because of his height, because of his length,” Newsome said. “Because he’s already pretty strong. He’s got to keep getting stronger. But for a young guy, he’s very strong. Yet he’s athletic, yet he’s comfortable putting his hand in the dirt in the backfield and being that second puller, I mean, you saw that the touchdown versus Purdue in the Big Ten Championship game — he’s lined up in the backfield. He’s comfortable doing kind of everything so we can kind of manipulate him and move him around, by gameplan or by matchup, to get what we’re looking for.”
The one question entering 2023 is how will Loveland do as a blocker? Because, after all, that’s one of the tight ends’ main duties.
He was hit-or-miss in 2022, which is why we saw him more in a receiver-type of role. But it’s not because he isn’t capable blocking, Newsome says. In fact, the sophomore from Gooding, Idaho has everything he needs to be a dominant blocker, he just needed to gain the requisite amount of strength to be able to contend with the conference’s best edge rushers and linebackers.
And now he has just that.
“So he is very natural, especially for a guy who, playing out in Idaho, playing a little bit smaller football, he was the best player in the field every single week. So they used him all over the place,” Newsome said. “His coaching staff had him at quarterback, they had him at receiver. I said basically outside of snapping the ball, he played everywhere on the field at some point. As you should. I mean, he’s the best player in the state for a reason.
“But for a guy who didn’t really have a background in blocking, that’s not what he did a lot of in high school, to come in — just a lot of things that we know with former offensive lineman are sometimes tough for guys to get used to and perfect. Playing with tight hands, playing with a great base, like getting his cleats in the ground. All the things that are tough for offensive linemen who’ve been doing it their entire lives or at least their high school careers to do came pretty natural to him. And the more you watch the last year’s film — there were times if he would lose a block it’s, ‘Oh, he’s not quite strong enough yet,’ or improving little technique things. But the foundation was very, very, very good, especially for a guy who that was not his background.”
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