Onwenu once again plays well in a starting role for Patriots
A position change this week to right guard on the offensive line for Michael Onwenu. Once again he excelled.
"Onwenu allowed zero QB pressures on 34 snaps in pass protection and made key blocks in the run game."
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-week-4-pff-refocused-kansas-city-chiefs-26-new-england-patriots-10
October 6th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
Big Mike doin’ well.
October 6th, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
Grape news.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:13 AM ^
I seed what you did there.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Put a cork in it, as there is no need to wine about it, that would just sound like sour grapes.
October 6th, 2020 at 10:53 AM ^
Could be a future Lion once he's past his prime.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:06 AM ^
This is a great comment. So true....
Or the Lions would ask him to be the star on the OL instead of just one piece of a complex puzzle.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
I'm as indifferent to the Lions as the next guy, but are they really asking on offensive guard to be a star of anything? That seems too ridiculous even for the Lions.
October 6th, 2020 at 12:20 PM ^
Oh I could definitely see them doing that. Starter at multiple line positions will finally allow the lions to get rb to 100 yards!
October 6th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
I tell you what, he does look good. Not that he wasn't effective at UM (he received all-B1G honors, but never seemed to dominate), but he certainly looks different and is playing at a different level. He looked overweight at Michigan, but appears much more proportioned, and I was really impressed with him last night.
Cheers to a long, healthy career for him!
October 6th, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
Or, dare I say it, better coaching?
October 6th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
I was saying this exact same thing to a buddy. He was pushing people around last night and I only saw that on a rare occasion at Michigan. Same with Cesar Ruiz this weekend. Granted it was against the worst defense in football, and he was playing guard, but he dominated the Lions.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:41 PM ^
There are UFR clips of Onwenu blocking a guy 10 yards downfield, and of him paving DTs over and over. He had a few off games, but he was pretty dominant. At his size, everyone expected him to beat the DT into a pulp every time, when he sometimes just ushered them out of the way instead.
PFF has always been high on him. Recall that they had him as a mid-season 1st team All-American last year.
The thing I liked about him is how intelligent he was — dude’s head was always on a swivel. There’s a clip of him blocking two people at once during pass protection, and another one of him coming off a block to pick up someone that he realized was either the OT’s or TE’s responsibility.
He was one of the smartest OL I’ve ever seen. Glad to see him doing well in the pros.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
I thought Mike was outstanding. Not an all American but he was really damn good. Bredeson, Ruiz and Onwenu were the best interior Michigan has had in a while.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:10 AM ^
Onwenu allowed zero QB pressures on 34 snaps in pass protection
. . . at the NFL level.
This is the protection Shea repeatedly bailed on.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:49 PM ^
Something happened to that guy, mentally. He almost looked scared last year, would not have said that about his junior year.
October 6th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
IMO his time behind a nonexistent OL at Ole Miss broke him. In 2018 he was asked to do very little so we didn't notice his flaws as much. We threw the 29th fewest pass attempts in the NCAA and they were often the result of PA. His primary mission was to give the ball to Higdon and to punish teams when they cheated up to stop the run. He was in a bubble.
October 6th, 2020 at 3:33 PM ^
Should have had dlinemen rushing him from 20 yards away as soon as he teed up during his golf outings.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
Chase Winovich is also called out for strong play:
Winners: LB Chase Winovich & DE Deatrich Wise Jr.
One part of the reason why the Chiefs’ passing offense had a comparatively tough day against New England is the pass rush: the Patriots were able to repeatedly put pressure on Patrick Mahomes by rushing just three or four players. Chase Winovich and Deatrich Wise Jr. were among those bringing the heat on numerous occasions. While the former registered a 7-yard sack that could have easily also included a forced fumble and recovery, the latter proved himself a stout presence against not just the pass but the run as well.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
Big Mike is the star of this Patriots rookie class at the 1/4 mark. Swing tackle, starting left guard. Starting right guard. No drop off in play and looked very good on a couple pulling plays. Body type change is very noticeable. Belichick has to love having a 6th round player out of Michigan making a difference!!! Speaking of Michigan players on the roster, Chase has been a complete stud this year.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
The article also calls out Winovich as a "winner". I think he was the guy who got to Mahomes when the refs totally blew the call in the first half.
I'd love for someone to put together a summary of "Wolverines in the NFL" if they have the time.
October 6th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
They have an update every week.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:27 AM ^
Watching all the former Michigan players in the Chiefs/NE game last night made me sad. All that talent and not much to show for it.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
i thought the same thing....there Wolverines everywhere...Taco, Frank Clark, all the Patriots, etc.
Sad on one hand, but happy to see those guys excelling at the next level.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:06 PM ^
I believe Taco Charlton had a nice strip sack for the chiefs too.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
Not that Onwenu was bad for us, he was solid, but it seems like he's doing even better than he was at UM or is that just me? I always thought we should have had a dominant line last year with Runyan, Bredeson, Ruiz, Onwenu, and Mayfield, but it just seemed solid rather than dominant. I thought we would have been able to have our way in a number of games that we did not.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:59 AM ^
The O-line play was excellent. The QB play was atrocious, and for half the season our hotshot OC was getting his ego rightfully beaten to something sensible.
Complete waste of an NFL-caliber line.
October 6th, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
Explain to me how our "hotshot OC was getting his ego rightfully beaten to something sensible"?
October 6th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
That horse has been beaten to death and then some. Gattis hadn't properly evaluated Shea's limitations before drawing up his playbook, tossed out all the arc read stuff, tried out a bunch of gimmicks that didn't work (remember the double-QB formation?), and when Shea got injured the offensive staff didn't have a Plan B. As a result our base play for half the season was a zone read where everyone knew the QB was going to hand off, to the point that we almost lost to Army.
For a more comprehensive analysis, check out the offensive UFRs from last season.
To his credit, he learned. That's more than can be said for a lot of people. But damn, it was painful watching a guy in his mid-30s growing up.
October 6th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
This is so correct. And that someone was ignorant enough to down vote you here is stunning. Shea single-handedly destroyed all the potential that offense held. A solid to excellent OL, good RBs and an excellent fleet of receivers-and the offense was mediocre. Having a zone read offense is fine...except when your QB either doesn't know how to make the read or refuses to execute it. Shea was a prima donna player. Michigan would have won more games with McNamara playing QB-not kidding...that kid will do whatever it takes to win.
October 6th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
The O-line play was excellent. The QB play was atrocious, and for half the season our hotshot OC was getting his ego rightfully beaten to something sensible.
Not saying you're wrong, but I'd like to hear more. From my perspective even if the problem was mostly the QB, shouldn't we have been able to run the ball more effectively in several games? Army (100 yds), Wisconsin (40 yds), Iowa (124 yds), and OSU (91 yds) games all come to mind where we averaged like 20 pts per game and well under 100 yards of rushing offense.
October 6th, 2020 at 6:56 PM ^
Yeah I think they were much better in pass protection than the run game. I've been plenty critical of Shea, but now everyone on here seems to be saying he was just so atrocious teams could just stack the box. That's ridiculous. Shea was not a terrible QB. I don't recall UFR OL numbers being terribly great in the run game last year.
October 6th, 2020 at 12:49 PM ^
We did have a dominant line. Patterson was just terrible so they saw a lot of stacked boxes and he rarely threatened on running plays. So basically Patterson kept the line from producing the results we expected.
Runyan was good but he also wasn’t a traditional OT so teams with elite edge rushers caused some problems.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
The Athletic just named big Mike to their all-rookie team through the first quarter of the season....
October 6th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
Take a look at the box score from last nights game. Scroll down to defense. There were 3 sacks total by both teams - look at the 3 players who got them. What do they have in common?
October 6th, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
I actually went and looked. Very very cool. Not sure that's ever happened before but who knows. For those with less motivation, the 3 sacks were: Winovich, Taco Charlton, and Frank Clark.
October 6th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
Haven't seen Frank Clark that motivated since he found out about "free" Mac Book Pros in dorm rooms.
October 6th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
Full wolverines-in-NFL update at MGoBlue
As a Saints fan, I can tell you the who dats are pretty happy about Cesar's first start last weekend. I am doubly happy considering the amount of buckeyes on the team in prominent positions (Jenkins, lattimore, M. Thomas)
October 6th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
Good for Mike. Watching him at Michigan, I never thought he would be much of a pro. Overweight and out of shape (for a football player). You would think the M strength and conditioning program would have whipped him into shape, but apparently he was a guy who needed to focus exclusively on football to achieve his potential.
October 6th, 2020 at 12:26 PM ^
I think Onwenu, Wino, and Uche will be foundational pieces for the Pats for years to come. Bill seems to love the guys Harbaugh and Brown bring on. Will only help recruiting seeing a pipeline from UM to NE. Great news!
October 6th, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
From the MLive article. Impressive.
"Onwenu started for the Patriots in Monday’s loss to the Chiefs. The 2020 sixth-round pick entered Monday as the top-rated rookie in the NFL by Pro Football Focus."
October 6th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
Onwenu, on prancer, on dancer, on blitzing!!
October 6th, 2020 at 1:13 PM ^
Michael Onwenu and Chase Winovich are winners and Brian Hoyer a loser for the Pats vs KC?
Yes Please!
October 6th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Big Mike!!!!
October 6th, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
PFF now has onwenu rated as the 2nd best ol in all of the nfl. Just yesterday Balas was trying to act like he was bad at UM lololol.
October 6th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
Answer to the question, On Onwenu, nu?
October 6th, 2020 at 2:44 PM ^
Mike's going to make some serious coin on his next NFL contract.
It's so great to see him excelling at the next level, but also so depressing to think that we had 5 legit NFL O-linemen last year and didn't take full advantage of it.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:17 PM ^
Winovich, Charlton and Clark all had huge plays as well.
All that talent. Can't beat OSU.