Ed Warinner Has Exceeded Expectations, But 2020 Will Be His Toughest Test Yet
Take yourself back to November 2, 2013. Michigan was 3-4 under Brady Hoke and traveling to East Lansing to square off with the Spartans. It was a rainy day as Devin Gardner ran for his life while the Michigan State defense made a mockery of the Wolverines’ offensive line. Gardner was sacked seven times and Michigan’s offense went backwards more than forwards as they finished the game with -48 rushing yards. The Wolverines went without a touchdown against the Spartans for the second straight year. For any Michigan fan, this seemed like absolute rock bottom.
Fast forward to November 10, 2018. Michigan is on an eight-game winning streak including three dominating victories against Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State. In those three victories, the Wolverines averaged 254 rushing yards per game. Now Michigan is in Piscataway, NJ to take on Rutgers. Late in the second quarter, Karan Higdon takes a handoff for a two-yard run, putting him over the 1,000-yard mark for rushing yards on the season — the first Michigan running back to do so since Fitzgerald Touissant in 2011. Ed Warinner’s offensive line had taken a giant leap in his first year.
Move forward to April 25, 2020, and four of those linemen were taken in the NFL Draft, including Cesar Ruiz as a first-round pick. Ed Warinner has taken what used to be a weak spot for Michigan and flipped the script, turning Michigan’s offensive line back into a rushing powerhouse, similar to the Lloyd Carr and Bo Schembechler days. It is without a doubt that Warinner has exceeded expectations in his short time in Ann Arbor, but the question now is, can he do it again?
Warinner will have his work cut out for him for the 2020 season. With four linemen leaving for the NFL draft, that leaves Michigan with very little experience in that position group. In fact, the Wolverines will have only one player with more than two career starts on the entire roster (Jaylen Mayfield). There is a possibility that Michigan begins the season starting three sophomores on the line that have never started a game at the collegiate level.
Here is a breakdown of what I believe the starting offensive line could look like come September:
Left Tackle: Ryan Hayes
- 6-7, 299 pounds
- redshirt sophomore
- two starts
- appeared in 12 games in 2019
- named Offensive Player of the Game against Middle Tennessee
Left Guard: Karsen Barnhart
- 6-4, 301 pounds
- redshirt freshman
- zero Starts
- appeared in two games at left tackle in 2019
- played some tight end in high school
Center: Zach Carpenter
- 6-5, 320 pounds
- redshirt freshman
- zero starts
- Scout Team Player of the Year in 2019
Right Guard: Nolan Rumler
- 6-3, 321 pounds
- redshirt freshman
- zero Starts
- Under Armour All-American
Right Tackle: Jaylen Mayfield
- 6-5, 319 pounds
- redshirt sophomore
- 13 Starts
- All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2019
Battling for Positions:
Guard: Chuck Filiaga
- 6-6, 341 pounds
- redshirt junior
- appeared in 10 games throughout Michigan career
Guard: Andrew Stueber
- 6-7, 334 pounds
- redshirt junior
- two starts
- appeared in seven games throughout Michigan career
- suffered torn ACL during training camp last year
It will be up to Warinner if he wants to go with young talent or experience at the guard positions. Barnhart and Rumler bring a lot of hype and athletic ability to the table, while Filiaga and Stueber bring size and experience. With limited time to evaluate positions because of spring practice due to COVID-19, it is going to be a tough test for Warinner and the Wolverines to get this young and inexperienced position group ready to go this fall.
I imagine there will be some speed bumps to get through in the first few games, which could be a problem in week one on the road at Washington. It also won’t help that Michigan will have a new signal caller directing the offense at quarterback this year, as well. With all this being said, Warinner has proved that he can put together a successful offensive line. Only time will tell if he can do it again.
Justin Roh is one of the cohosts of the Blue By Ninety podcast, which you can find here.
