Michigan Offensive Line Taking Shape But Not Set In Stone
Cesar Ruiz, Ben Bredeson, Michael Onwenu, Jon Runyan Jr. and, most recently, Jalen Mayfield — all pros.
That means Ed Warinner has a very tough job ahead of him. He's got two guys he can lean on in Ryan Hayes and Andrew Stueber who have both started games but three spots are all the way up for grabs.
Hayes spoke with the Michigan media earlier today and actually gave a pretty honest answer when asked who the starters would be if there were a game this weekend.
"I'm not going to say for sure who would be the starting five but right now we've been running with me at left, Chuck [Filiaga] and Trevor [Keegan] rotating at left guard, [Andrew] Vastardis at center, [Andrew] Stueber at right guard and Karsen [Barnhart] at right tackle," Hayes said. "Everything fluctuates everyday so I couldn't really tell you who would for sure be in the starting lineup."
Hayes also singled out some newcomers who seem to be ready for the next step.
"Two younger guys have really impressed me," he said. "Karsen has really stepped up since Jalen left. He's been playing really well. Zak Zinter does not look like a freshman at all. Zinter has really impressed everyone."
A couple weeks ago, I took a stab at what I thought the offensive line would look like and I was pretty close and again, the lineup is definitely in pencil right now, not stone.
Expect heated, contested and close battles between Filiaga and Keegan, Stueber and Zinter and Vastardis and Zach Carpenter, who wasn't mentioned by Hayes.
It's really interesting to think about one scenario. If Keegan, Carpenter and Zinter win their respective battles, Hayes would be the oldest lineman up front as a redshirt sophomore with just two starts. It would go redshirt sophomore left tackle, redshirt freshman left guard, redshirt freshman center, true freshman right guard and redshirt freshman right tackle. That could result in some struggles early, but could really set U-M up for success later in the year and especially down the line.
I'm glad I don't have to make the call. I like the idea of playing Filiaga and Stueber at the guard spots as two of biggest and bulkiest linemen on the roster, but I also love the idea of playing younger, more athletic guys like Keegan and Zinter. And it's not like Keegan and Zinter are small dudes at 327 and 334 pounds respectively. It's just that Filiaga and Stueber go 345 and 339 respectively.
I don't know who's going to start up front whenever the guys return to the field, but I do know I love talking about it. Michigan's offensive line has the potential to be more athletic and actually bigger than last year's group that had four guys drafted into the NFL. That must really excite Warinner, even though he does have a lot of work ahead of
