High School Football Profile: Michigan Recruit Kevin Koger

Toledo has always been a battleground state for Michigan and Ohio, especially in football.

The town has often been described as a split between Michigan and Ohio State fans. According to a co-worker of mine at WTKA radio in Ann Arbor, MI who did radio shows down there, the majority of fans in the area for either school depends on which one is doing well at the time. Or at least it seems so, as fans of the winning school are often more vocal.

The same Michigan vs. Ohio scenario played out in the recruitment of 4-star Class of 2008 tight end/defensive end Kevin Koger, and the 6'4, 235-pounder ended up picking the Wolverines over the Buckeyes.

Suddenly for Michigan, an area that lacked depth has now become a potentially loaded position for the foreseeable future as UM will have plenty of targets for upcoming stud QB recruit Ryan Mallett to work with.

ome might say Koger is a bit short of ideal tight end height, but he's such a great athlete that it won't make much of a difference. Besides, those claims are from nit-pickers anyway. A guy by the name of Antonio Gates is doing pretty well for himself at the same size in the NFL right now for San Diego. Add in Koger's speed and strength and it's easy to see why he could be a weapon for UM in the very near future.

His biggest strength as a player is his ability to run with the football after the catch, using stiff arms and good agility to get through and around people and his long stride and second gear to break away from defenders for long gains.

Michigan already has the tall red-zone targets in 2007 recruit Martell Webb and fellow 2008 tight end recruit Brandon Moore, so Koger should be utilzed more in the middle of the field on streaks and waggles to get him in open space over the middle.

UM actually got beaten out by Michigan State for in-state 4-star TE Tyler Hoover earlier, but Hoover is more of a tall, red-zone target, slower-type of tight end and that's why Koger might actually compliment UM's other incoming tight end prospects better for the future.