Matthew Hibner’s path to Michigan, outlook for 2023

Michigan loves a full stable of tight ends, and Matthew Hibner is a piece of that puzzle. While Hibner hasn’t tallied high reception totals thus far with the Wolverines, he’s been on the field plenty in other capacities.

The story so far

Hibner was a high-three-star prospect in the 2020 class, ranked as the No. 400 overall prospect and No. 12 tight end. He flourished as a senior with 42 receptions for 940 yards and 12 touchdowns. Hibner held offers from Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, NC State, and others.

Hibner redshirted in 2020, appeared in eight games in 2021, and caught the first two passes of his career in 2022 for 15 yards while appearing in 13 games. To this point in Hibner’s Michigan career, he’s been utilized as a blocking tight end and on special teams.

“He’s playing his tail off right now,” Michigan tight ends coach Grant Newsome. “I’m excited to see throughout this playoff and into the next season how that kind of translates more to tight end.”

The biggest play of Hibner’s career to this point came in the spring game in April, where he caught two balls for 62 yards, including a 52-yard snag where he displayed good speed and route running. Hibner would have scored if the turf monster didn’t bring him down.

Outlook moving forward

Michigan’s tight end room has Colston Loveland and AJ Barner at the time, but Michigan loves rotating tight ends in and out of the game and using packages that put three on the field at a time. Hibner will have opportunities to contribute this fall, once again it’ll primarily be on special teams and as a blocker, but he can catch passes, too.

Other tight ends are looking to rise up the depth chart including Max Bredeson and Marlin Klein, so Hibner will have his work cut out for him.