Why Josh Pate expects one Michigan football player to break out in 2023
Whether you’re a listener, a viewer, or even player, you’re either Pate State material or you’re not. And when it comes to one Michigan football player entering the 2023 season, he’s got Pate State written all over him.
247Sports’ Josh Pate has a successful, must-watch podcast that he does twice a week, which airs live on YouTube, and he’s in the thick of looking at the upcoming 2023 college football season. He appears to be buying the hype surrounding the maize and blue, noting that the one-two punch at running back leads the charge above all other positions in Ann Arbor.
But Pate also has another player he’s looking at as a potential breakout, difference-maker type, and that’s sophomore tight end Colston Loveland.
“Luke Schoonmaker, out the door, very productive for them. Erick All transferred to Iowa, very productive for them,” Pate said. “All of a sudden, we need to know the name Colston Loveland. He’s 6-5, he’s 240, really good hands, really athletic. Like I said, they look at Brock Bowers down at Georgia — I’m not gonna do the comparison thing, I’m certainly not — but they look at Brock Bowers and what he’s doing and they think internally, ‘We’ve got a guy that can do some of that! Colston Loveland can do some of that!’
“And I don’t think it’s just bluster — I think he’s just that good. And I think the rest of the country will find that out this year.”
Loveland started coming onto the scene in 2022 in the latter third of the season. He finished the season with 16 catches for 235 yards and two touchdowns, with one TD coming in the second half against Ohio State and the other being the first score of the Big Ten Championship game against Purdue.
As Pate mentioned, with Schoonmaker and All gone, Loveland — a former wide receiver in high school in Idaho — will likely be targeted early and often.
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