Victor Oluwatimi Has Transferred To Michigan
Michigan picked up a significant transfer out of the portal today, a late Christmas present to use next fall while the current team prepares for Georgia and the Orange Bowl. That transfer is C Victor Oluwatimi from the University of Virginia:
#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/eqPYvXtyzM
— Olu (@bigolu55) December 27, 2021
Oluwatimi is a big deal because he's an excellent football player. He finished as a Rimington Award finalist for the NCAA's best center (losing out to Iowa's Tyler Linderbaum) and PFF ranked him the 3rd best run blocking center in the FBS this season. He was named a Second Team All-American by a number of publications and has racked up ACC awards too. Oluwatimi is 6'3" and weighs 310 lbs., a product of Upper Marlboro, Maryland and DeMatha Catholic. As a little-known recruit in the 2017 class, he began his career at Air Force but never saw the field and then transferred to UVA. Oluwatimi sat out a year due to the transfer in 2018 and then ascended to the starting center job the very next season. Fast forward to the present and Oluwatimi started all 12 games for the Cavs in 2021 and he's now started 32 consecutive games.
Oluwatimi entered the transfer portal just a few days after Cavaliers coach Bronco Mendenhall announced he was stepping down. Oluwatimi visited Clemson and Michigan, but was reportedly wooed back to Virginia when the Cavs hired Clemson's OC Tony Elliott. In the end, he opted for the Wolverines, where his mauling run blocking acumen should fit in seamlessly to the physical run game that Michigan operates.
Having played in a power conference like the ACC, there shouldn't be many transition costs in moving to the B1G for Oluwatimi. This is optimal because he projects as a plug-and-play, immediate replacement for 2022 rather than a developmental piece. Michigan is set to lose 6th year senior center Andrew Vastardis in the offseason and it seems the Wolverines have got their 2022 starter penciled in. If nothing else, this move signals that Harbaugh, Gattis, and Sherrone Moore feel that young center prospects Reece Atteberry, Raheem Anderson, and Greg Crippen are not quite ready to start, and that they want to leave Zak Zinter at guard.
With Oluwatimi on board, you can have him play center as a one-year fix, let the youngsters marinate an extra year, and then pick your Center of the Future in summer 2023. It's a big boon for the 2022 team, ensuring minimal drop-off on the OL, and somehow landing a piece who has a chance to be an upgrade over Vastardis. The news just keeps getting better for Michigan Football fans.
We'll have a hello for Oluwatimi next week. There is no content after the jump.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:01 PM ^
Still a game or two to play this year, but next year's offense should be really, really good.
Welcome!
December 27th, 2021 at 7:55 PM ^
No 'or', it's two games to play...:-)
December 27th, 2021 at 8:35 PM ^
This should help them with their depth at guard next year, too. Seemed like this past off-season they wanted to see if Zinter could play center. My guess is they wanted to make sure center was solid in case of an injury to AV, and the freshman weren't really ready yet.
Now Zinter can stay at guard if there's an injury at center and if there's an injury at guard, GC or RA could also fill in if needed. Holding onto quality depth is going to be a new challenge in the portal era. Hopefully they can find ways to keep everyone involved. This team is gonna be loaded next year.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:03 PM ^
Awesome addition, Go Blue!
December 28th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Hail to the Victor?
December 27th, 2021 at 7:05 PM ^
That is an incredible addition for 2022. 5* transfer and 5* name.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:33 PM ^
Big time pickup.
I don’t know that this says much of anything about the young guys. If you can add an All American at an open position, you do that pretty much every time.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:36 PM ^
Our offense ought to be good enough that Olu can sit on the bench in the latter stages of most games, giving the young guys the necessary playing time they need to mature and develop.
December 28th, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^
Our offense ought to be good enough that Olu can sit on the bench in the latter stages of most games, giving the young guys the necessary playing time they need to mature and develop.
I think the excitement of the season has gotten to you. I like a lot of what's coming back next year too, particularly on offense. But, just because we beat OSU in '21 doesn't mean we are magically becoming them. I don't envision us putting up 50-65 pts a game like OSU does most of the time. You do remember that MSU, Rutgers, & Nebraska played us down to the wire, right? I'm not sure "most" is the word I'd use unless you're talking pre-conference slate. I'd guess over 50% of our conference games will not showcase backups getting many meaningful snaps. I'm sure they'll be a few games that happens, but certainly not the majority of conference games.
December 28th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
We were #1 in plays over 50 yards. We return our best receiver who looked incredible before injury. We also return half a dozen other receivers who showed potential and a great TE room. Haskins touches will largely go to Edward's which should result in more big plays as well. The offensive line is arguably going to be better next year. Oh yeah, another year of development for our two great QBs. I think we can project improvement after dropping 84 pts in the last two games.
December 28th, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^
We return our best receiver who looked incredible before injury.
Assuming that a guy coming off an ACL injury will be just as good or better is a massive assumption.
Haskins touches will largely go to Edward's which should result in more big plays as well.
Assuming Edwards will match Haskin's 1200+ yards and 20 TDs is also a massive assumption.
I think we can project improvement after dropping 84 pts in the last two games.
I don't see UM's last 2 game's offensive output as a baseline to project forward from. The entire season's average is probably a more indicative number. In 2022 I see games at OSU, Iowa, and MSU and home games against PSU & Nebraska as challenging games. I don't see those as games where backups are going to get significant snaps. In order for me to be wrong in my assessment backups would need to get significant snaps in some of those games. Maybe it will happen, but I think that's optimistic.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:33 PM ^
Welcome young man ??
Excellent addition to next year's team.
The O-line should be very good again.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:35 PM ^
I guess this will have to do for 'content' during game week. I mean, I understand that normally this is vacation time because Michigan isn't 'normally' (ever) in the playoffs and playing a meaningful game and that it's a great time to recharge for basketball season. But we are still in football season...and this is almost, maybe, up until this point, a once in a lifetime occurrence. Gack! Sure, I can go elsewhere, but I mean, I would prefer to go the most trusted place for Michigan football. A week off from the 23rd is like...I don't know, the day before the game. Sure, beggars can't be choosers...but this can't be the way we are forced to learn new behavior (go elsewhere).
December 27th, 2021 at 7:44 PM ^
With the rates these free blogs charge readers nowadays one would expect a staff putting up content 247/365
December 27th, 2021 at 11:15 PM ^
Seriously?
This site puts out TONS of amazing free content all year—better than the vast majority of paywall websites—and you have the gall to call them out for not giving you MORE free content over Christmas/New Years??
Yes there's a game coming up, but these are people with families and friends who 100% deserve to take some time for themselves over the holidays. They work their assess off all season to keep us entertained and informed, let them be for a few days. Jeez.
December 28th, 2021 at 6:52 AM ^
If they had time to write this story then they would have had time to write one story about the team this week had this transfer not happened.
December 28th, 2021 at 7:04 AM ^
I'm guessing they wrote it previously and just released it, this transfer has been predicted for a few weeks now. Let them take a few days off for the holidays, people.
December 28th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
It's common mgopractice to have drafted Hello posts for probable commits. I know there was a famous one out there for Da'Shawn Hand at one point amongst many others I'm sure. I'd imagine the staff had this drafted and ready to publish well over a week ago
But I too am outraged that my free-to-read blog isn't churning out posts during the holidays. The audacity...
December 28th, 2021 at 10:00 AM ^
First off, this is not meant in any way as a negative on MGB. I really enjoy the content they put out and of course it's free! But, I have been curious about the business model, particularly because it seems in contrast to many others. It seems like it's closest rival is 11W. I believe they started at roughly the same time with similarly humble beginnings and similarly rabid fanbases ready to devour any of their favorite team's content. But, 11W puts out way more content and has way more writers. It's almost as if Brian does not want to grow his business. He seems to purposefully leave profits on the table. He could most certainly grow the following, get more writers, get more clicks, get more ad revenue if he so desired. But, he only keeps a hand full of writers on staff and takes chunks of the year off, and puts out much less content. I'd guess the big wigs of 11W take the holidays off too, but probably have younger staff and interns churning work during those periods. Anyways, I've always been curious to hear about the business model from Brian and if my assumption is accurate or not and/or why he choses to keep things smaller than they could be. It's unusual in today's day and age. But, happy holidays to all and I hope our staff folks are enjoying some time off to be with friends and family.
December 28th, 2021 at 6:10 PM ^
While I know nobody does (or should) care about being downvoted with imaginary points, but just saying that in this comment you brought up a reasonable question in a respectful way that could be misinterpreted as a criticism. I agree with others that Retnep's initial complaint was really unwarranted whining.
I think keeping things smaller is really refreshing. A common theme for those Japanese small businesses that have been in operation for literal centuries is that they simply stay small rather than expanding in search of greater profits.
December 28th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
They take a week of vacation. They haven't posted real content since 12/21, so you can assume that vacation started then. It's been 7 days since then. Now we have a real post with real content.
Get over yourself, game preview content is coming, and patronize other Michigan sites like Touch-the-banner and Maize'n'Brew.
December 28th, 2021 at 4:12 PM ^
Get over yourself
Eff off with that shit.
December 28th, 2021 at 7:03 PM ^
I wasn't replying to you so not sure why you're getting so offended.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:40 PM ^
Dude has attended Air Force and graduated from UVA, this guy has got to be wicked smaat
December 27th, 2021 at 9:55 PM ^
they liked having a man sized line, with a sixth year center... Don't underestimate that vs a skilled but smaller and not quite big enough guy like Crippen. people get their full man strength between 22-26.
December 28th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
people get their full man strength between 22-26.
The exercise scientist in me just cringed. Lumping all people together and assuming they develop physically and/or adapt to resistance training at the same time or rate is never accurate. There is always context that meaningfully changes the time frame.
December 28th, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
And the pedant in me cringes when folks use the absolutes "always" and "never." As you say, context is key, but so is not overselling your point.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:45 PM ^
Mansome.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:47 PM ^
Hello, Mr. Oluwatimi. Come and Go, Blue!
December 27th, 2021 at 7:47 PM ^
This is excellent news. Our running game shouldn't miss a beat between Oluwatimi's arrival and Edwards picking up Haskins's load.
December 28th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
I haven’t seen much speculation on filling the right tackle spot. Apparently there isn’t an obvious choice. So that probably means there will be a drop off at that position. Even so, the other 4 positions will improve and the line should still be even better than this year’s.
December 28th, 2021 at 2:13 PM ^
I think the wild card is Trevor Keegan. His recruiting page says "hope you like the words right tackle repeated ad nauseum" so he could kick out. That could allow us to simply take the top 5.
But the top candidates are likely (in no order)
Karsen Barnhart: Athletic swing lineman who has started 4 games at LT and 2 at LG. He is probably been the most active backup.
Trente Jones: appeared in 12 career games on the offensive line and is our jumbo TE.
Giovanni El-hadi: He will only be a redshirt freshman but he was an elite prospect.
Bounds/Persi: Huge athletes but probably need another year in the oven.
Crippen/Atteberry/Anderson: could take LG spot if Keegan kicked out but are likely a year out.
WILDCARD Filiaga returns and takes a spot.
December 28th, 2021 at 3:20 PM ^
Theres not an “obvious” choice, but there are plenty of options that should be competent at the least. Without getting too far into the depth chart, we have Barnhart who has a few starts and plenty of reps under his belt and Trente Jones, who is our 6th OL/Jumbo TE.
Even with a slight drop off from Steuber, the improvement from the other four positions should add up to a better line overall.
December 27th, 2021 at 7:50 PM ^
Fantastic news. This is like getting a first team All Big Ten center transferring in. I wonder why he simply didn't enter the NFL draft.
December 27th, 2021 at 8:13 PM ^
Shhhhhh! Don't give Oluwatimi any ideas, hehe.
#GoBlue
December 27th, 2021 at 8:34 PM ^
The average NFL career lasts 3.3 years. Even if you make enough to retire on, it’s nice to have a UofM graduate degree on your resume in case you feel like being productive for the next 30-40 years.
December 28th, 2021 at 6:54 AM ^
Will he earn a graduate degree in one year?
December 28th, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^
He certainly could, especially if he enrolls in the spring. Depends on his field of study.
December 28th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
Doesn’t have to earn it in one year. He gets a year into it at the least and schools typically honor the scholarships of athletes through the completion of their degrees so he can come back and finish at any time.
December 27th, 2021 at 8:16 PM ^
Meeesh Meeesh.
December 27th, 2021 at 8:37 PM ^
As our current President once said — “this is a big fucking deal.”
December 27th, 2021 at 8:41 PM ^
Great news. With the damn transfer credit thing it seems like grad transfers are the main option for us - but curious why he is not declaring NFL draft. Anyone our gain.
p.s. has anyone heard if OSU has any players opting out for the Rose Bowl???
December 27th, 2021 at 8:51 PM ^
This seems like awesome news. Congratulations and welcome Mr. Oluwatimi ! Go Blue and Happy New Year !
December 27th, 2021 at 9:04 PM ^
Bronco Mendenhall becoming one of our best OL recruiters.
December 27th, 2021 at 9:18 PM ^
Bronco Mendenhall resigning and leading to Michigan getting two huge OL pieces was not on my bingo board for this season
December 27th, 2021 at 10:34 PM ^
Yes sir baby!!!
welcome Victor, looking forward to seeing you maul some fools.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:06 PM ^
The Line, The Line, The LINE!
(and I think the rest of the team would agree with this).
December 27th, 2021 at 11:06 PM ^
Welcome Oluwatimi! You will be a great addition to the team. The offense should be in great shape with a great OL!
December 27th, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
Started with the Air Force?? I guess you can transfer in and out of any college including service academies. Anyhow, welcome young man.
December 28th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
Out, I’m not so surprised — it’s not rare to wash out of a military academy. They’ve also had 280, 290-pound linemen since at least the last time M played them; VO was probably undersized during his time at USAF.
That said I’m still ignorant of how they accept cadets that large in the first place. I know football opens a lot of doors but how do you apply military doctrine & standards to someone with, just for starters, 3x~5x the caloric intake of a typical cadet? (Unevenly, I guess.)
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