Michigan's OL will be largest in over a decade

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Had some spare time so I figure I'd do some research on our offensive lines recently given our projected starters are all over 300lbs.

I wanted to see how that stacked up against recent lines. So here are the average sizes of our starting OL since we transitioned back to a pro style offense in 2011.

Season Height Weight Rush Yds Sacks Allowed
2011 6-5 298 2,884 18
2012 6-5 304 2,389 18
2013 6-6 302 1,634 36
2014 6-5 301 1,954 25
2015 6-6 302 2,057 18

..........Okay so as we can see, bigger does not always equal better. Coaching obviously trumps all. But size AND coaching? 

The projected starting offensive line averages 6-6, 314lbs. A mass of humanity that hasn't been seen in over a decade.

  • Grant Newsome (So.)-- 6-7/318
  • Ben Braden (5th)-- 6-6/335
  • Mason Cole (Jr.)-- 6-5/305
  • Kyle Kalis (5th)-- 6-5/305
  • Erik Magnuson (5th)-- 6-6/305

Michigan's 2005 OL averaged 6-5/315. And that's not counting Jake Long as a starter who was injured most of that year.

Player Height Weight
Adam Stenavich 6-5 317
Leo Henige 6-4 339
Adam Kraus 6-6 311
Matt Lentz 6-6 305
Reuben Riley 6-3 304

The 2004 team averaged 6-5/316 on the OL. 

Player Height Weight
Adam Stenavich 6-5 313
Reuben Riley 6-3 311
David Baas 6-5 307
Matt Lentz 6-6 316
Jake Long 6-7 331

 

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DonAZ

August 14th, 2016 at 7:35 PM ^

Not as if there's anything wrong with that ... :-)

(Whoever our QB ends up being ... may he enjoy boundless time in the pocket, and may he watch his running backs run through truck-sized holes.)

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Blue4U

August 15th, 2016 at 9:03 AM ^

players were asked anonymously about Michigans O line.  The consensus was the line was good but what stopped it from being great was the guards.  When pulling or moving to the second level they couldn't find a block.  I'm hoping this won't be an issue this year.  It would be nice to see 3 yard runs turn into 7-8 yard runs. 

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Generic Username

August 14th, 2016 at 7:39 PM ^

I mean, if between 2011 and 2015 there was only a max difference of 6lbs, thats not much of a spread to really gauge the effect of size on performance (and thats not even taking into account the small sample size).

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LSAClassOf2000

August 14th, 2016 at 8:43 PM ^

As I remember, Football Outsiders ran their offensive line stats for the NCAA only for the last two seasons, something they've done with NFL teams for much longer. That being said, I think that in 2014 anyway, their metric for adjusted sack rate put Michigan's offensive line basically at "average" (maybe a shade below) in that regard (72nd overall), but it would be very interesting (horrifying?) to see the 2013 run of these numbers. 

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Hotroute06

August 14th, 2016 at 7:47 PM ^

Does anyone know a way to find out weight room stats for the players ? Squat, bench and clean max lifts etc ?

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Richard75

August 14th, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^

Yeah. To be fair, the 2014 team got a boatload of rush yards against App State, while the 2015 team played a couple of sorry defenses (Rutgers and Indiana) that chose to be strafed in the air instead of giving it up on the ground.

But there is indeed still a long way to go in the run game. Hopefully the Florida breakout was real.



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MAccLA

August 14th, 2016 at 8:18 PM ^

Adam Stenavich!

That 2004 OL was pretty nice. I recall Stenavich being a weak link early in his career making significant progress as an upperclassman. He always had talent; it just took him some time to put it all together...Kalis is a good comparison (although he plays OG)...hoping to see him take a big step forward this year.

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MichiganStudent

August 14th, 2016 at 8:19 PM ^

Hoke deserves a lot of credit in this, but I love that Harbaugh is really focused on building two strong lines as the base of his platoons. Everyone says it, but it's true... You can't win big without having truly dominant offensive and defensive lines. It makes up for a lot of deficiencies in other areas of the field.



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Richard75

August 14th, 2016 at 10:28 PM ^

Man, I don't know how much credit we should be giving the previous regime for the state of the OL. I mean, it's the No. 1 reason why Hoke lost his job. All the other flaws (QB recruiting, lack of playmakers, suspect preparation) could've been ameliorated if they just had a decent OL.

And frankly, the OL still is one of the most worrisome aspects of the team, despite having tons of experience.



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SD Larry

August 14th, 2016 at 8:25 PM ^

Good stats for OL.  Thanks WD.  FWIW, going into this season I think we have the best OL, TE's, RB crew, DL, and secondary we have had in 10 years.  Jehu and Amara are excellent receivers.  With QB Whisperer JH, and solid pool of QB's, and a great coaching staff, there is a lot to excited about the upcoming season.  Pretty tough schedule.  Going to be a lot of fun.

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