Previously: The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. 

INTERIOR OL: YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY

Michigan's offensive line is coming off back-to-back Joe "Sherrone" Moore awards. They get back six guys who started games last year and added two of the Pac-12's best OL, plus a former five-star with a season and change of starting experience. Cocky? Nah. Call it confid—

On Zinter's proposed formation with 10 offensive linemen and a running back

You know, I get ... every day the linemen are sending me plays and formations. I'm like, 'can you guys just worry about what you got to do?'

Ok, cocky.

I am rapturous about Sherrone Moore rolling into the building every morning only for Keegan and Zinter to confront him with their latest ludicrous offense against God and football. They are both wearing full pads and helmets. Keegan sports his trademark faceful of eyeblack. They show him a play where three offensive linemen pull in different directions and then the ball is lateraled to a fourth OL. Moore tries very hard to remember that these guys are his ticket to a head coaching job next year and says he'll take it under advisement. Zinter and Keegan high five, elated. Exit stage right, repeat every day of the summer.

In addition to those two guys, Michigan added a two year starter and All Pac-12 honorable mention center to go with two more guys who I'd be perfectly comfortable starting. And the top backup at guard looked like he'd start at a majority of Big Ten schools last year, when he was a redshirt freshman.

Sometimes I think back to that time Rich Rodriguez got the Michigan job and arrived to find out he had a total of seven scholarship OL, one of whom was immediately lost for the season. This section's title is a riff on old lady cigarette ads, and I assume Rodriguez smoked several packs of lady cigarettes upon beholding the roster. That's over! ALL OF THAT IS OVER.

Michigan's offensive line is now a zombie apocalypse. You can shoot as many guys in the head with a shotgun as you want but the pile is gonna lurch forward with you under it.

[After THE JUMP: there is a PFF intern who deserves a whoopin']

I've been meaning to do a fall football bits for some time, but the roar of rumors on the insider sites has been strangely quiet this season, especially compared to the past couple seasons. Only now is there enough information that I could reasonably cobble together one of these pieces, but it still feels a bit light. Is that a function of a team with few pressing questions or some other factor? Not really sure. Regardless, we do have just enough information to put one of these pieces together and there will hopefully be one more round before the season starts. [Note: this is the offense football bits, defense is this afternoon]

Quarterback

What we want to hear: JJ McCarthy has transformed into a deity in the flesh, reading defenses better than ever, his deep ball right on the money, and ready to elevate himself into legitimate Heisman conversation. Jack Tuttle and Davis Warren have been engaged in a fierce battle for the backup job where the winner would legitimately start at half the other schools in the conference, and even Alexi Orji and Jayden Denegal look ready to play. 

What we're hearing: Not much at all to be honest. Can't say it's surprising with a returning starter, but descriptions of McCarthy's play have been rather hard to find, with some focus on the backup spots. Most of what we've gotten on JJ ranges from the hyperbolic (Harbaugh labeling him "generational") to the mild, including details about his performance at last weekend's scrimmage. One source called it merely good ($), another used higher praise ($). Make of that what you want. Most of the other chatter about the squad's valiant starting QB has been about intangibles, leadership, that sort of thing. Nothing terribly interesting. 

As for the backup position, there's been mixed signals here. It's between Jack Tuttle and Davis Warren, with Warren getting the extra reps at the scrimmage. Some have interpreted that as an indication that he's the clear QB2 ($), but reports earlier in camp were more favorable to Tuttle ($). When Sherrone Moore did a press conference last week, he gave no indication when asked specifically about Tuttle. Beyond those two, Denegal got a quick shoutout in one scrimmage summary but otherwise has mostly been absent in chatter. JJ was effusive in his praise of both Denegal and Alex Orji at a press conference early in camp, but that's mostly run of the mill from someone in McCarthy's position. 

I would be remiss not to note the real chatter about Alex Orji, which is his potential acumen as a kick returner??? There were rumblings in insider reporting about a "special way to use Orji" that could not be divulged as if it were a state secret, only for Harbaugh to come out and say it himself publicly: 

"Also a secret plan for Alex Orji,” Harbaugh said. “Got a chance to be maybe one of the greatest kick returners of all time. Big 230-235 pound guy, so he just started doing it, we’ll see how it goes"

Harbaugh followed it up by pouring a bit of cold water in saying, "we have to improve in our kickoff return blocking before I would agree to have Alex Orji returning the kick", but certainly something to keep an eye on. 

What it means: McCarthy is The Guy and it's impossible to know how many strides he's made until we see him in regulation games, even if there was more buzz than there is. Tuttle and Warren are probably running close to even for QB2 but perhaps a tilt or lean towards Warren. Denegal praise is probably more obligatory than anything else, while the Orji kick returning chatter is 50% something that might actually work and 50% Something Crazy That Jim Wants To Try (remember when they lined up Dylan McCaffrey in the slot to catch a screen?). 

[AFTER THE JUMP: less glamorous positions]

Previously: Podcast 14.0A, 14.0B, 14.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Offensive Tackle.

The Joe Moore Award was started in 2015 by some Notre Dame OL with money who wanted to honor their old line coach. Mike DeBord's career spanned roughly the same time period as Joe Moore's, and by any metric was as successful. Had Jeff Backus thought to endow an award before former ND tackle Aaron Taylor, it might have been the Mike DeBord Award.

This would have been a superior development. It rhymes, for one. Two, I wouldn't have to keep specifying first names when differentiating between the line coach the award is named for, and the line coach whose guys won the award in his first-ever season as line coach.

Since nobody has the time to chart every OL, the award for most outstanding offensive line is as much about vibe as anything else. Eleven games into 2021, I would bet Michigan wasn't in the Might Have Been DeBord Award committee's top three. Eleven point seven-five games into 2021, this was the vibe:

Michigan should not pass the ball anymore.

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) November 27, 2021

(But in a good way)

The two Michigan guards putting tears in the eyes of gruff former trenchmen who say "football" like "FOOT-ball" were just 2nd and 3rd year players with freshman eligibility. They lost an organized, underratedly agile walk-on but are joined by a transfer the Rimington voters thought was no worse than the 3rd best in college football. Our heuristics would be projecting a healthy charge up the rankings and hot-taking Moore's corps to win the Moore if they hadn't just done so.

The comparisons to 2000 and 2019 have already begun. The next generation has made the two-deep. The biggest questions people have about the interior OL are "How long can it last?" and "Can we buy them all Italian sports cars so they'll never leave?"

Michigan OL Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter sign a Lamborghini NIL deal with Xtremexperience. @bighitslive @DenoteHunter @DzikNoah pic.twitter.com/vGzgtwxHRq

— Bighitsnil (@Bighitsnil) May 23, 2022

Okay then, so how long can it last?