via cache.daylife.com

After being out of school for a year, FB/TE Matt Dunham has re-enrolled at FSU and returned to the football team.  _Warchant's twitter page

I personally believe Dunham will play fullback.  He's 6'1 and somewhere between 230 and 250 depending on what kind of shape he's in.  I expect him to play at 245-255 as an H-Back. 

Dunham was a 2005 recruit, but he didn't play in 2005. He did play in 2006 and 2007.  From Seminoles.com (cached page):

At Florida State: Will battle for playing time at the tight end position...entered Florida State in 2006 as a fullback and was moved to the tight end position to take advantage of his athletic ability and pass catching skills in the spring of 2007...originally a member of the Seminoles' recruiting class in 2005 but chose to enroll for the spring of 2006 and joined the team for spring practice.

2007: A redshirt year...did not play during the season with various injuries after making the switch from fullback to tight end in the spring of 2007.

Dunham isn't an in-line Tight End and will instead play the H-Back role.

Not surprisingly, the then 23 year-old sophomore flunked out.  He went to Juco last year.

Back on August 25th, I wrote

Dunham was a total bust. A relic of the Nepotism Era, Dunham's progress consistently disappointed observers. This is a good loss.

I stick by that.  Dunham had a reputation for being often injured and perpetually out of shape.  He didn't appear to enjoy playing football and was probably 260lbs with 18% body fat at the end of 2007.  H-Backs shouldn't have a 42 inch waist.  I thought he had seen his career go up in smoke, but apparently not. 

2008 counts towards his eligibility, so his career now looks like this:

2005: did not enroll
2006: Freshman
2007: Redshirt
2008: Flunked out, JUCO, counts as Soph year
2009: back on team as Redshirt Junior

His high school graduating class was 2005, but Dunham will actually be 24 this season, as he was born June 6, 1985.  That's a really old college Junior!  His High School graduating class was 2005, but it looks like he was held back at least one year in grade school, maybe more.  There's a serious difference in physical maturity between a 24 year-old and a 21 year-old.

The key here for Dunham will be to do everything right.  Avoid the munchies, put on good weight in the weight room, and learn the playbook.  In fact, I'd argue that he should avoid the classroom, since he probably only has a year to play here.

Despite my earlier comments, I like this move for several reasons.  First, we need the depth.  At fullback, Seddrick Holloway is chronically obese and I have no confidence in him being in shape.  At tight end, Ja'Barris Little is a complete slacker who is lazy on the field and in the weight room.  If Dunham can provide us with 30 snaps per game of decent blocking and some receiving threat from the H-Back position, I'll take it. 

The other reason I like the move is because I think it will be a temporary one.  I doubt Dunham will be able to make the passing grades in the classroom to play in 2010 (see also, 24 year-old Junior), and as such, wouldn't impact how many scholarships the Noles can award in the upcoming recruiting class. I'm not rooting against him in the classroom, but rather speculating on the long-term academic prospects of someone who had trouble with non-major classwork as a sophomore.

GO NOLES!!

Become a fan of us on facebook! 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/TomahawkNationcom/63264950770

Follow us on Twitter!  https://twitter.com/TomahawkNation