Offensive Line
January 28th, 2009 at 2:43 PM ^
Barnum and Omammeh closest to contributing with Khoury probably third.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:48 PM ^
I loved what Barnum did last year on Signing Day. I wonder sometimes if he still would have done that if we had lost to Florida in the Capital One bowl.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:44 PM ^
Was it O'Neill?
NTIM. Just wondering.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:48 PM ^
My guess at ratings coming in which don't matter anymore
Oneill
Barnum
Wermers
Khoury
Mealer
Omameh
A lot of people think they are going to make an impact. I think they have another year yet.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^
If one of these guys can step up and play guard, they've got to move Ferrara back to DT, right?
January 28th, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^
Dan O'Neil was rated 6.0 by Rivals, the number 10 tackle in the country and number 49 player in the country. Ricky Barnum up next was the number 5 center but I don't think he cracked the 250 but was a 5.8 on using Rivals' scale. Take it FWIW.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:56 PM ^
Apparently Rivals never saw O'Neil at a water polo match (meet? game?).
January 28th, 2009 at 2:57 PM ^
I think we will definitely see Barnum(guard) and Omameh(tackle). O'Neill has potential but still needs some work. We need immediate help at guard more than tackle.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:02 PM ^
I think Moose, Molk and Schill and Ortmann are set. Barnum has a pretty good shot but they seem to love Ferrara's potential. I'd like to see Ferrara back on D line I thought he was decent and we need a body in there to clog the lane, not a fan of True frosh's in the trenches despite my man love for Martin's performance last year.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:07 PM ^
Redshirt Freshmen, if we play them, generally get dominated on the O-line. Not just ours - most schools. I really think RR will keep the starting 5 next year, as they vastly improved as the year went along:
OT: Schilling, Ortmann
G: Mooseman, Ferrara
C: Molk
If one guy were to lose his job, I'd think it would be Ortmann at tackle.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:21 PM ^
and with much greater depth, we won't be screwed if one or two of the starters get injured, like last year. Maybe by midway thru the year one or two of the rsFR's can start to rotate in and out of the lineup and push for a starting job.
January 28th, 2009 at 5:09 PM ^
Since our DT depth is pretty bad, I'd hope that Ferrara moves back to DT now that we'll have 6 redshirt freshmen OL ready to step in. I'm thinking that Barnum takes one of the Guard spots with Mooseman rotating to the other guard position. I think Barnum was to play at LG? Even if we sign Jones and Graves, I still think we need more depth at DT, hence moving Ferrara back.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:33 PM ^
I seriously doubt Ortmann will lose his job. He'll be a fifth year senior and he played pretty well last year. The interior of our line was the trouble spot, especially at that left guard position. I still think Ferrara is the most susceptible to losing his job, although he improved toward the end of the season.
I think the starting five will remain intact, but then we'll have two spots (Ortmann, Moosman) opening up in 2010.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:33 PM ^
McAvoy is probably out, as Ferrara played ahead of him.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:38 PM ^
Yeah, I wasn't including McAvoy, since he ended the year as a backup.
January 28th, 2009 at 4:56 PM ^
I agree that the Rivals/Scout ratings only mean so much.
Carson Butler was a 3 star TE. Mike Hart was a 3 star TB. Morgan Trent was a 4 star WR.
I don't know.
In the Big Ten, only Michigan returns with it's offensive line fully intact (zero graduation losses). The depth chart is deep. There are a lot of seniors and 5th year seniors returning for the 2009 campaign. The only "thin" spot is center.
And if there was one thing that did gradually improve over the last 8 games of the season, it was Greg Frey's work with the Wolverine offensive line. I think adding in a more mobile QB might help the UM OL a little.
I realize that Michigan's offensive numbers did not impress in 2009 and this reflected poorly on the OL. They were inexperienced. But they are talented. Most Big Ten schools would kill to have OL players like Michigan:
Tackles:
Schilling (5 star) Sr.
Ortmann (3 star) 5th yr Sr.
Dann O'Neal (4 star) So.
Patrick Omameh (3 star) So.
Perry Dorrestein (3 star) Sr.
Rocko Koury (3 star) So.
Bryant Nowicki (2 star) Sr.
Guards:
Tim McAvoy (4 star) 5th yr Sr.
David Moosman (4 star) 5th yr Sr.
Kurt Wermers (4 star) So.
Elliott Mealer (4 star) So.
Ricky Barnum (3 star) So.
John Ferrara (3 star DE) Sr.
Mark Huyge (2 star) Jr.
Center:
Dave Molk (4 star) Jr.
Michael Ramirez (NR) Sr.
George Morales (2 star)So.
?
The OL roster is not star-spangled, but all things considered, Michigan could do a lot worse in terms of OL talent. The real question is whether Frey can continue to improve their consistency, their overall gameplay experience, and somehow avoid the injury bug.
January 28th, 2009 at 5:02 PM ^
A couple pointers - use Rival's ratings. Most on this board agree that they are the most reliable. Ricky Barnum was certainly not a 3 star.
Also, I would use the players eligibility year, and if you want to show that they redshirted (which isn't necessary since almost all O linemen redshirt) you can do so in some way. For all intents and puposes, the guys from the 2008 class are all freshman this fall.
January 28th, 2009 at 5:56 PM ^
for Academic intents and purposes. but who really cares about that anyway?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:06 PM ^
I wouldn't say that academics are unimportant, but for our football analysis purposes, they aren't relevant. I'm think their GPA is important as well, but that doesn't need to be discussed while talking about the depth chart over the next few years.
I think the only time academics is important to us is when it is keeping a player from qualifying or from seeing the field.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:28 PM ^
Did they decide already that Cory Zirbel is not going to be able to play next season? I know they said his injury was worse than they expected, but have they made that a highly likely possibility or just that he's behind on his rehab?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:44 PM ^
I've heard a few people say that Schilling isn't a great fit at RT and would be more effective inside. Is this possibile/likely? If so, could Dorrestein or Omameh be ready for a starting job?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:46 PM ^
Dorrestein played well in the OSU game last year. That's where we found most of our running room. I would guess that he's a step ahead of Omameh. But the only place for Schilling to move would be LG because Moosman and Molk have RG and C, respectively, locked down. So I think he'll stay at tackle.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:53 PM ^
yes - Zirbel is likely done for good. Very severe knee injury a la, I hate to say it, Antonio Bass.