Two Surprise Wolverines Lead Team In Snaps

Jim Harbaugh was able to play quite a few different players in a blowout win over Western Michigan, but the two players that logged more snaps than anyone may surprise you.

Michigan hosted Western Michigan in its season opener yesterday and came away with an impressive 47-14 win. The game started out a little slow for U-M, but both coordinators adjusted, found some weaknesses to exploit and eventually led the team to an easy victory.

We saw some new faces for the first time. Freshman quarterback JJ McCarthy and freshman running back Donovan Edwards received loud ovations when they entered the game. We also got our first glimpse of defensive end Braiden McGregor. We saw linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green in his first start. And we even say Taysom Hill 2.0, Dan Villari, in the game at quarterback.

Of course there were some mainstays as well. Aidan Hutchinson made some big plays including a strip sack and a blocked field goal. Brad Hawkins held down the strong safety spot in a big way with several nice hits. And captain Josh Ross looked faster than ever at his linebacker spot.

But it was two surprise players who paced the team in snaps on both sides of the ball. On offense, offensive guard Chuck Filiaga played 53 of 64 snaps, and on defense, safety RJ Moten, in his first start, played 59 of 70 snaps.

Filiaga started all six games for the Wolverines in 2020, so he's not exactly a newbie. However, seeing him on the field more than Ryan Hayes or Andrew Stueber is a little bit surprising. Per Pro Football Focus, Filiaga finished in the middle of the pack among starting offensive linemen with an overall grade of 68.5. 

**For reference, PFF describes its grades as such: 90.0 and higher, elite; 80.0-89.9, high quality; 70.0-79.9, above average; 60.0-69.9, average; 50.0-59.9, below average; 49.9 and below, poor.** 

So even though 68.5 seems like a lowish score if you think about it in terms of letter grades, Filiaga was just a shade below above average against Western Michigan.

Moten played a solid game all around and finished with five tackles. He wasn't especially effective as a blitzer, which isn't surprising since Western focused on getting rid of the ball so quickly, but he was the best tackler on the team according to PFF with a grade of 83.2. He needs to continue to work on his specific assignments against the run and in coverage, and that's why his final grade was 64.3, despite being very good in a couple of other areas.