Observations on Barnum and Schilling
Not sure if anyone else has seen Ricky up close and personal to comment on this, but damn does that guy look like a throw back. He has that thick build along with being taped up to hell, playing through wrist problems. By the way, wrist problems suck for a lineman, particularly hitting the sled and completing blocking drills. Thumbs up for toughness. We need more of this.
While you could call fairly call Schilling an enigma at this point, I still think there is something there. I never liked him at tackle (please don't call me Mr. Obvious) from the standpoint that I thought he would always be better on the interior. In two years, we have not seen much that would warrant a longer campaign at that position, but I really think it was more of a necessity and less of his desire to be beaten by a speed rush. I still feel he has potential to have a good year playing as a guard.
Thoughts from the gallery?
March 25th, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^
Schilling, as I've said before, has a guard's build, and would have been a guard had Zirbel not blown up his knee and any other tackle worked out. The line this year, left to right, should have been, Ortmann(I think), Boren, Molk, Schilling, Zirbel. That would be pretty sweet.
Schilling also was injured his first year, then got mono, then got destroyed by Gholston. He's never actually be put in an advantageous position to use his skills. I think he'll be very impressive this year as long as he remains on the inside.
Zirbel would have been a worse tackle than Schilling. Last year's probable starting lineup had Zirbel at RG and Schilling at RT. That's the way it was until Zirbel got injured. So flip-flop those two and I'll agree.
it's going to take some pressure of the Offensive Line to some degree because they just don't have to sustain blocks quite as long for lead footed statues back there. The ball is going to be dished off quickly outside or handed off inside to faster guys. They need to play well, but what I'm trying to say is: Yes, Michigan ran the spread offense last year. But at the same time, Michigan didn't run the spread offense last year.
Michigan's OL looked bad early on, but they did show marked improvement as the year wore on. And overall they stayed healthy, which is like a freaking first at Michigan since 2003 or something.
What if you threw in a QB into attack that defenses had to account for on every single play regardless of the down and yardage? Threet/Sheridan were simply not dangerous last year.
That's what I'm hoping will change this year because the OL doesn't have to do much but open a small hole or seam for a few seconds for major property damage to be inflicted on the enemy.