Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson, LB Deuce Spurlock, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE/LB Micah Pollard, DE Derrick Moore, DT Mason Graham, DT Kenneth Grant, DT Cam Goode, T Andrew Gentry, T/G Connor Jones, G Alessandro Lorenzetti.

Virginia transfer (HS: Hyattsville, MD)– 6'3”, 310
[Patrick Barron]		247: 6'4/275 4.40 as transfer	AS TRANSFER: 94, #1 IOL, #19 overall
		Rivals: 6'2/279         n/a	not rated OG
		ESPN: 6'6/275         n/a	not rated OG
		On3: 6'6/275         n/a	did not exist
		Composite:         2.67*	2*, 0.7667, #3300 ovr #160 OG, #48 MD
		Other Suitors	Clem, ND, UVa (transfer)
		YMRMFSPA	Cesar Ruiz
Previously On MGoBlog	Commitment Alert by Alex. Spring bits and bits
Notes	Rimington Finalist. "Oh-lu-SHAH-goon, Oh-lu-wa-TIH-mee"
Film:
UVa vs Miami last year:

Michigan's fourth offensive lineman of the class, and second OL transfer from Virginia, is a one-year rental of the best kind. He's a two-time captain of Power 5 program, and one of three finalists for his position's national award to return to school. Though he started at center for 2.5 for DC area power program DeMatha, Oluwatimi was barely recruited in 2017. He signed with Air Force but transferred to Virginia, sitting out 2018 for transfer rules. He started every game but one (hand injury early in 2019) for the Cavs for the next three years thereafter, 36 total, and 32 straight, earning all-ACC (HM in 2019, 2nd team in 2020 and 2021) every time. Bronco Mendenhall and his staff were let go after the 2021 season, which helped shake Oluwatimi loose, but it was a Day 3 draft grade that kept him in college, and looking for a place that could get develop him better.

Around these parts we tend to sniff at OL transfers, because so many of them fail. But remember what data set that comes from. Most OL transfers are moving down or sideways for playing time, and those moving up often discover they have a major weak spot that the old competition couldn't exploit. The truth behind it is there's usually a heavy transition cost, as different programs run their lines differently, and offensive line is already such a heady position that you get better at as a group over years of practicing together. Clemson doesn't recruit transfers, but Dabo made an exception here.

Also the history books don't have much to say on what happens when a Rimington finalist moves schools.

Transfer OL caveats aside, it's really hard to find any reason that Olusegon Oluwatimi won't have success here. The ACC might be a half-step down in competition, but they had some excellent DTs in that conference. Also Virginia ran just about the closest offense to Michigan's base stuff as anybody in the country. And word from spring practice so far is Olu's been one of their best, and certainly an upgrade on graduated Andrew Vastardis, who was pretty good himself. I can't tell you Michigan yoinked itself a year with the best center in the country, but if an OL transfer was ever going to match reasonable expectations, this seems like it.

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The best center in the country?

There's an argument, seeing as this guy was a 2nd team All-American and Rimington Trophy finalist in the year of Tyler Linderbaum. The Rimington, given to the best center in the country, chooses just three finalists. Iowa's Linderbaum (25th overall, Ravens), one of the  best college centers in recent memory, was always going to win it, and Boston College's three-year starter Alec Lindstrom (UDFA, Cowboys), who took 1st team all-ACC, would have taken in many years. Oluwatimi is the only one of them going back to college, and On3's Mike Huguenin's preseason pick for this year and ESPN's choice for All-American, though in both cases that seems to mean "is the only Rimington finalist still in college." That was enough for old friend TomVH to include Oluwatimi among the year's biggest pickups in college football.

Rivals' Mike Farrell had Oluwatimi the 2nd best OL transfer of the year, after UF's O'Cyrus Torrence out of Louisiana-Lafayette, but behind Notre Dame's Jarrett Patterson and Wisconsin's Joe Tippmann for #1 center. 24/7's Clint Buckley had Oluwatimi the 2nd biggest transfer pickup in the Big Ten after the edge defender Nebraska got from TCU. He was an 80 overall to Pro Football Focus, the second-highest center grade after Linderbaum.

Engine of a great offense

Virginia's offense last year was one of the most productive in the country, but also one of the passingest teams in the country—#2 in standard down pass rate (67%), according to my stats, and over 50% of their rushes by quarterbacks (which means a lot of those "runs" were scrambles). It worked; they were 3rd in yards per game, 5th in SP+, 6th in success rate, 12th in power success rate, 10th in line yards, 3rd in passing down success rate, 53rd in explosiveness, and 95th in sack rate.

This puts Oluwatimi's passing numbers in context; defenses knew that Virginia was going to throw the ball, and probably quickly, meaning Oluwatimi saw more interior blitzes and stunts than perhaps any other center in America. It also puts those rushing numbers in context; when those blitzes were picked up there was space to run underneath, and Oluwatimi got used to heading downfield after a few beats to pick up a healthy 6 or 7 underneath, which accounts for the high OL yards.

Could be in the NFL

Those projecting him to Michigan all note Oluwatimi is bound to end up in the NFL. 247's Clint Brewster speaks of natural ability behind his site's reasoning to bump Olu from a 91 to a 93 (he'd later move up again to a 94, the equivalent of a top-100 prospect) and says he "wouldn't be surprised to see Oluwatimi as the next draft pick at the center position"

He has the length, athleticism, and movement skills to make all the difficult reach blocks and second-level climbs.

Zach Shaw shared that their site sees reassessed after spring and were even more certain this is a future NFL draft pick:

Oluwatimi possesses elite movement skills and ability to reach the difficult shades required at the center position. He’s well-polished from a technical standpoint and looks very comfortable calling out the protections at the line of scrimmage. There’s no question Oluwatimi will be a leader of the Wolverine offense this fall.

In spring ball, the Wolverine's Chris Balas shared Olu might be Michigan's best player($), "probably NFL-ready, and he'll be playing the position for a long time," and an insider who thinks Oluwatimi "could be a significant upgrade on Vastardis"($) because he's "incredibly strong, moves extremely well for his size (6-3, 310) and was a Rimington Award finalist last year for a reason."

“Talent-wise, he’s as good as they come," said Sherrone Moore, a guy who pays particular attention to that.

So why did he come back to college?

Oluwatimi did put in for a draft grade but shared on the Jansen podcast that the NFL might not feel the same way:

“I got my draft grades back and my feedback from the league, and I was getting day three grades and undrafted … So, I was like, 'I’m going to use my last year of eligibility to work on what the league says I need to work on.'

My NFL guy said it sounded like Virginia's offense was the sticking point—I'd asked if it was pass protection—because they don't run. That's what it sounded like on the Jansen pod as well:

Oluwatimi seemed to be looking for a new challenge, one in which he could showcase his run blocking ability. The U-M coaches will ask him to pull, drive block and more, and he’ll have an opportunity to put more on film for NFL scouts.

The run blocking

It's…good? I too found it hard to get a good sample on tape, but what was there was very good. Pro Football Focus put Oluwatimi just after Linderbaum in run blocking, with a 90.2 grade. He's boxy, and gets low when digging guys out:

And the rare pulls went well; he's been coached to keep his shoulders square downfield and use his feet to get to his target:

I didn't get to see much stretch zone—I don't think Virginia does that much—but the one time they tried it Oluwatimi managed to stick with his DT (recent transfer to Minnesota Darnell Jeffries) and take him down when his feet could no longer keep up:

Most of the time opponents let him release to the second level—which is how Michigan handled Linderbaum—because the left guard was terrible, which explains why those watching his film often say things like this (by 247's Brewster):

He has the length, athleticism, and movement skills to make all the difficult reach blocks and second-level climbs.

Those don't really look like much on film. When Olu's compatriots came with him, the inside zone blocking was excellent, with a strong initial punch and a good feel for when and how to move down:

Most of the running snaps featured Oluwatimi moving directly to the second level and catching a LB. One sample:

His new teammates were seeing it in practice. Ryan Hayes:

“One of the first days we put on pads, in one-on-one pass rush, we saw him lock up some better D-linemen and said, ‘this guy’s gonna be good for us.'”

Zak Zinter called him "smart, strong, physically wise," and Donovan Edwards called Olu "a man among boys on the football field. He manhandles whoever is in front of him." A Balas source called Oluwatimi "an absolute beast."

“He’s different,” our source said. “From the way he hits people and moves to pushing the sled across the field like it’s on ice.”

My spring game charting is incomplete but I had him at +3/-3, for what it's worth. The coaches noted a few more moments:

Oluwatimi identified and picked up a stunt to keep the pocket clean on Donovan Edwards’s long catch in the first quarter, sealed off George Rooks well on two goal-to-go runs and created a hole up the middle for Leon Franklin on a rush near the end of the first half.

The pass blocking

Pro Football Focus uses a "did you pressure?" over "was it a pass play?" metric that has some problems because it ignores context. They were also confused by the difference between no sacks allowed in 2019 and a very different 2020:

Oluwatimi has been a different player each year for the Cavaliers. His pass blocking buoyed his success in 2019, earning a 76.2 grade in that facet to go along with a 66.0 run-block grade. But in 2020, his pass block grade dipped to 54.1 while his run-block grade spiked to 77.1.

He didn't give up a sack in 2020,and I couldn't figure out from their numbers what accounted for the difference.

247's Zach Shaw saw a competition differential:

He wasn't quite as consistent in pass-protection against the better teams on the Cavaliers' schedule, but he still passes the eye test as a physical upgrade over Vastardis.

I watched the 2020 Clemson game and 2021 Notre Dame—the two best pass-rushing teams Oluwatimi faced the last two seasons—and the Cavs passed enough to get a pretty good idea of what they're seeing on film. Three aspects stood out, two excellent and one meh. Nobody else mentions this but I love his arms:

There's good anticipation there but the hand placement and initial punch are what allow Oluwatimi to match the DT's feints and get him to play into help. If you get into a pure handfight with Olu, you're going to lose:

Oluwatimi has a great initial punch to his pass sets that help him get set up and deal with all the stunts that come his way:

The punch also protects him from the issue with his protection game: his feet:

Faster rushers were able to take advantage of this, even mid-rush:His feet move plenty fast in the run game—Oluwatimi got to those linebackers with no problem—so I wonder if it's a coaching thing. I could think of a few choice words an OL coach might share for someone who tries to anchor when he should hop:

…or hop when he should anchor:

That's not an unusual problem for a center. He also makes up for it and more by always knowing whom to block. He's the best I've seen on the college level since Ruiz at identifying stunts and setting them up, even if his teammates then screw it up:

He's also very cool against every kind of blitz look, which comes from Virginia telegraphing that every play is going to be a pass:

Though his teammates often lost their physical battles, Virginia's protections always seemed to make sense, and were capable of casually turning big threats into safe harbors.Even when they were overwhelmed, with a true freshman at quarterback, that QB knew where the pressure was coming from.

Via the Jansen pod and comments from his Michigan teammates, however, those protections were a lot simpler than ours. Sherrone Moore on the transition:

“It was a little difficult because I think he had a little less responsibility before. Now, with how we do it, we put a little more range on him and what he does,” Moore said. “He’s really picked it up quickly, and he wants to do it.

On Jansen's pod post-spring Moore said Oluwatimi "brings a calm. very, very smart. Very cerebral. Smart from a standpoint of understanding the game, knowing what he’s doing."

The guy was seven installs deep when I came back from recruiting in January of what to do in the playbook.

Ryan Hayes claims his new center already "learned his stuff in the season already before spring ball started, so he knows all the calls," and Zinter concurs, as does Jim Harbaugh:

First impressions of Olu, just hasn’t missed a beat. Came in and hit the ground running like he’s been here for three or four years. Very good leadership, very mature guy, very strong guy. Great addition would be the first impression there.

The maturity

Olu was a two-time captain for UVA whom other Cavs bring up as their example. Here's the walk-on replacing him:

Learned a lot from him [Olu]. I would say a big thing from him, is just patience - being able to analyze film, being able to read the defense, being able to step up the line and have confidence in yourself and not be too nervous or excited. So especially when I would play next to him in practice and in spring ball, you know, he was a calming presence really made the calls called out everything.

His new teammates speak the same language. Kris Jenkins said "Olu's a guy" (twice):

“He came in real quiet, real chill, you could tell he’s about his business and you could definitely see that play out on the field. Dude is very talented, very humble, always looking for new aspects to help his game, to help tweak the little stuff, but he also has been pushing us a lot too and we’ve been growing with him and he’s been teaching us stuff. So he’s been a great addition to have on the team. His personality is awesome.”

Harbaugh noted there was no ego, and that Olu proved himself to the team in spring. Oluwatimi in his own words:

"I don't want to be remembered as mediocre," said Oluwatimi. "Mediocre player, mediocre leader, that's something I don't want to be remembered as.

Etc. Older brother Oluwaseun played DT for Maryland.

Why Cesar Ruiz? Compact, athletic, and most of all heady and calm All-American center a little bit of footwork short of a Rimington. Ruiz was the guy with Bredeson and Onwenu who formed the most organized interior protection in Michigan memory. Ruiz was also money in space, though Michigan wasn't able to take advantage of it because of Patterson's shortcomings and injury in 2019, but if you go back and watch some of those successful 2018 QB keeps on arc read you'll find a bunch of Ruiz getting to the second level.

Guru Reliability: High as it gets. Only 24/7 goes through a ratings cycle with transfers at this point, but they seem pretty reasonable. He's played so much however that we have three good years against Power 5 competition, Pro Football Focus numbers, and plenty of film.

Variance: Low. There's the transfer OL thing, and Michigan is going to put another layer of difficulty on his protection calls in addition to the move from an offense he was in for three years. But the OL transfer thing isn't about Rimington finalists. As Olu says: football is football.

Ceiling: Rimington. I mean, what else is there?

General Excitement Level: Very high. Michigan should get the best player available at a position of need more often.

Projection: Oluwatimi has already seized the starting job with his spring performance, so the question from here is does he have a breaking in period? Fortunately there's a slow ramp up to tougher competition, especially when it comes to defensive lines, on Michigan's season. I think running systems are easier to pick up, but there will be an adjustment if they're asking him to be the kick blocker on their pin & pull game, since that takes a lot of feel to know when to turn a guy in versus kick him out. On the other hand he should be an instant upgrade on Vastardis in athleticism, and in picking up a stunt—Olu's going to be like "Wait, your opponents don't stunt on 1st down here?" I think he'll match Vastardis—there were significant holes in his game—in most aspects, probably not stretch zone. And sure, why not: first team All-Big Ten, and a Rimington finalist again, because once you're on the list they expect you to stay there.