Warinner Talks OL/Depth Chart
Warinner named the starters and backups.
LT - Runyan/Hayes
LG - Bredeson/Filiaga
C - Ruiz/Spanellis
RG - Onwenu/Honigford
RT - (Steuber or Mayfield) **** Both players have started the same number of practices and have shared equal reps. The competition is expected to run through mid August.
Warinner talked about the uptempo offense and made a couple of comments that cement the new philosophy Gattis has been installing. Michigan will not huddle and they plan on running approximately 70 plus offensive plays a game compared to last years' 50 plus.He also said that he is very comfortable with the "no huddle" offense and that last year was the only year since 2003 that he coached a team that actually huddled.
Onwenu adjusted his weight to the 330's. He is much leaner and quicker with more stamina. Runyan has been communicating much better. Bredeson and Ruiz have been outstanding. Mayfield and Hayes are putting on the weight needed to play tackle in the B1G.
It's almost as if all weight gains are good. So also are all weight losses.
Nutrition was an area of emphasis over the winter. Each player had a plan to follow.
umbig11, hasn't that always been a thing especially the last 10+ years?
March 30th, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
They definitely put a bigger emphasis on it this year, but you are right. It has been a part of the process for several years.
March 30th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
I remember Kwity Paye stating in an interview that meals were much more regulated after the arrival of Herbert and Abby Martin.
There’s a story like this every year with UM football. It’s conditioning one year, nutrition the next, and on and on. Why can’t UM figure this stuff out like other major programs?
March 31st, 2019 at 12:05 AM ^
Because it's pure unadulterated off season fluff
March 30th, 2019 at 12:05 PM ^
I hope they're getting enough juice in their diets.
I think you are confusing us with Clemson
One of my initial thoughts after hearing the Gattis switch to temp was how Big Mike was gonna hold up and if Spanellis was going to be in Warinner’s back pocket during game day....good to hear hes’s taking to conditions. That middle 3 is going to be tough.
On a side note with some of the philosophies already in place anyone else wish we could see some of that spread power that West Virginia used to run instead of ommiting the FUllback altogether. I mean it’s not as if Ben Mason is Owen Schmitt’s Doppelgänger or anything.
March 31st, 2019 at 11:40 AM ^
The power spread saint Urban ran the year they beat Bama is what I’m hoping for. Although you need a stud RB to pull that off and I’m not sure we have that yet.
This should be the all around best and most experienced line we have had in a long long time.
Will it help us to finally beat Osu is the question. Every game will feel like a scrimmage to me until that one. I hate that I feel that way, but I can’t help it.
Well, as Brian had stated, beating OSU is really the only thing left to do. So, you’re right.
March 30th, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
winning a conference championship would sure be nice too
March 30th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
OSU is the reason we don’t have B1G championships in 3 of Harbaugh’s 4 seasons.
March 30th, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
That’s......not true. If we were 4-0 against OSU under Harbaugh we would still only have 2 conference championship game appearances. Reversing our results against OSU in 15 and 17 still wouldn’t have put us in the championship game.
Edit: Also, no doubt we would’ve stomped NW in the championship game last year. However, I’m not entirely sure how confident I would’ve been against Wisconsin in 16 on a neutral field with an injured Speight.
He said 3 of 4, not 4 of 4. So you agree on 2017, and given that season was a disaster, duh. You're correct in 2015, but only due to a stupid random event play that will never recur over the next 100 years of football vs. MSU. His point, obviously, is that OSU remains the primary roadblock to championships.
You are correct. I forgot that in '15, Staee had the head-to-head on us and would have gone to the championship game regardless.
Starting OL maybe, but the quality depth is still utterly lacking.
When you have two starting right tackles, you have zero starting right tackles.
March 30th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
Probably, but there are 5 months until an actual game so I'm going to err on the side of extreme optimism and say that both are all-american caliber right tackles and the coaches just can't tell who is more awesome. And Runyan is so good that neither can supplant him. We will lose zero games next year and beat OSU by 40. Additionally the men's basketball team will be pre-season #1 and sweep MSU. Enjoy the off season!
March 30th, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
While I would normally agree with this right away; I think we have plenty of time to develop Mayfield.
March 30th, 2019 at 11:29 AM ^
So... (Over Reading Theater here): while either could take the job, Mayfield is the nudge-nudge, wink-wink guy.
March 30th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
He's saying we don't have a starting RT right now and we won't have one unless Mayfield turns into one.
You could very well be right. UMBig11 could weigh in and let us know, but if he's going to sit there all Sphinxie, I think we're either a pessimistic over reader who thinks it's Mayfield, or an Ulizio situation; or an optimistic over reader who thinks Mayfield's upside is huge, but Stueber is solid. Brian's initial assessment on Stueber was for a very high ceiling and high excitement, so unless he really hasn't developed or Brian was way off, there's some reason for optimism. Ideally, Mayfield will develop into all Big 10 material or better, and the whole thing is moot.
I will take Mayfield.
What in the hell is Sphinxie? New slang? I weighed in below, but I have no idea at this point. I will go with Jalen in the fall.
Guessing he means sitting there like a sphinx, meaning, like a motionless stone sculpture being non responsive? Either he was attempting humor or he thinks you work for him.
Ha, no I just went outside to enjoy the 70 degree Maryland weather today. Blue Crab and Rockfish (Striped Bass) season are right around the corner.
do you ocean fish much? i did when we lived out west, but have no idea about east coast/atlantic fishing conditions, seasons, game fish, etc. i have crabbed some before in the pacific.
and maryland's weather is just like up north. really. we are 22 degrees with a 30 mph north wind. shorts weather....
We fish the Chesapeake Bay mostly. We have to go 70 miles out for Tuna etc. So, not many of those trips. I have a few friends with crab pots and a couple that use trot lines for crabs.
Man, is it really that cold up there today? Wow!
March 31st, 2019 at 11:03 AM ^
Yeah, attempting humor (apparently emphasis on "attempt"). Putting my liberal arts education to work a little as well. The sphinx I was referring to was the mythic one who spoke in riddles, not the Egyptian monument. Seriously, I think UMBig11 has to do be vague out of necessity sometimes because he wants to give us hints but not out his sources.
March 31st, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
Ahhh gotcha.
March 31st, 2019 at 11:10 AM ^
Gotcha, thanks. 1) I made up a word in a stab at humor. See below. 2) I don't know shit about the finer points of o-line play, but I know if the coaches give a little run to a true freshman in the position, like they did with Mayfield, they like him a lot. So it's good to hear he's developing.
Enjoy your crab.
And a backup 270 lbs LT. Yikes.
March 30th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
I would expect the 2nd string RT to move over there if it gets to be serious.
I think that is way overly pessimistic. Even a highly regarded young player has to have his first game at some point. It could be that we have two high-ceiling right tackles in a tough competition with the winner being good now and potentially excellent down the road.
March 31st, 2019 at 12:07 AM ^
That's pessimistic considering we've seen Steuber against two very good dlines and he was solid, not great but at least competent. So worse case Steuber plays hasn't gotten much better and is just decent. Most likely hes going to be a little better and mayfield is a high ceiling guy that is pushing him. Solid situation to me. Also Warinner said hayes is in the 290's now.
March 30th, 2019 at 10:00 AM ^
If we run 70 plays vs 50 - increase of 40%, DB's defense will also give up 40% more points as the opponents will also have more possessions & plays.
March 30th, 2019 at 10:59 AM ^
I'm hoping that most of the extra plays on offense happen because we won't be punting as much.
I can see that being the case. Also, just because we don't huddle doesn't mean we won't be taking our time. Get to the line quick, see the defense, call audibles to where we can attack the weak spot. I also like the idea of going hurry up when we've got the defense tired and/or their backups on the defensive line are in. I've noticed teams would do that to us when a few of our DL starters would sub out for a breather. Would be nice to take advantage of this for once. This is where the TE and FB could come in to play. Tight formation with a RB, FB and TE then next play switch to a one back (FB) move the RB to the slot, and kick the TE out wide to a spread formation. Either still pound the run with the FB or find the weak spot in the secondary based on the matchups. Or do the reverse to have the defense's big formation in tight then next play spread them out. Force a run stopping LB/DE to cover a TE or RB in the slot.
March 30th, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
How does running 20 more plays a game on offense= giving up 40% more points a game on defense?
March 30th, 2019 at 12:08 PM ^
There is a course in LS&A called “Math 101: Essentials of Pessimistic Algebra” and I think it’s required for all future Michigan fans ...
We will absolutely give up more points and yards if we go tempo and run significantly more plays. But that also doesn't matter. It doesn't make the defense worse, it means the other team has the opportunity to score more points. The focus is winning the game, not having cool, old fashioned defensive stats to look at.
So the logic here is that if we're up tempo, we'll eat less clock which will allow more plays per game by both Michigan and our opponents. I guess that makes sense.
I'd like to go at whatever tempo gets us more yards, more points and all the wins.
We will absolutely give up more points and yards if we go tempo and run significantly more plays. But that also doesn't matter. It doesn't make the defense worse, it means the other team has the opportunity to score more points. The focus is winning the game, not having cool, old fashioned defensive stats to look at.
False equivalency. This would only happen if our defense sucked. Our defense isn’t so bad that we need to offense to take up more time so they can stay off the field.
EGJ, you're assuming that UM's offense will have the same effectiveness as it did last year. But of course, nobody knows. If running more plays means extending drives rather than punting, then the other team's offense won't have proportionately more plays in comparison with last year. (Reason for optimism: continued OL development, continued WR development, continued QB development. Reason for pessimism: Higdon departure, and Evans off the team. I'm not sure about the TEs.)
March 30th, 2019 at 10:05 AM ^
I truly believe that having a modern offense that doesn't allow defenses to tee off on the O line is going to make them look a helluva lot better. The play calling last year was simply abysmal at times.