This is terrible news for anyone planning on standing between Michigan and the goal line next year.

But it is very good news for Michigan. Zinter is on his way to being one of the best interior linemen in school history after breaking into the lineup as a true freshman in 2020. His incredible size, strength, and agility have made him a key component of the two Joe Moore Award-winning offensive lines since. And he was doing that in 2021 with a club on his hand.

With fellow guard Trevor Keegan also back, a third Moore Award is certainly on the table. Michigan now returns starters at three of its five spots on the line, and six of eight who started a game last season. LT Ryan Hayes and C Olu Oluwatimi are off to the NFL, but Michigan brought in Arizona State T/G LaDarius Henderson, Stanford C Drake Nugent, and Stanford RT Myles Hinton from the portal to compete for the open jobs. They also have both veteran right tackles Karsen Barnhart and Trente Jones, and great depth after G Giovanni El-Hadi and LT Jeff Persi proved capable backups when starters were injured last season.

Score a big one here for Valiant's One More Year fund. Of all those names, Zinter was the one with major star potential for next season. His impact as a puller is elite, among the best we've ever charted.

And Zinter's experience and excellent sense of timing has seen him factor in some of the biggest plays at Michigan since he's been here. Like this one for example.

Though less of a savant than his guard-mate, Zinter has been one of Michigan's best pass protectors since 2021, perhaps their best since Mike Onwenu. He was also the only Michigan lineman to manage to grade out positively against Georgia last year.

As much as that depth meant Michigan could have survived a Zinter early entry in the NFL draft, getting him back is a big step toward what could be, with a junior JJ McCarthy, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards in the backfield, rising sophomore Colston Loveland, and an experienced group of receivers, one of the best Michigan offenses of all time.

The NFL draft decision deadline is tomorrow. Michigan is now only waiting on official word from Kris Jenkins, who was last seen not 100% sure after previously indicating he was coming back. They're also, of course, waiting on official word from head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is expected to sign a reworked, more lucrative extension some time in the next few days.

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