Great article by Nick B (Mlive) explaining why there should be optimism with the OL
I thought this was a very good analysis of what we saw Saturday from the big guys on the line. It gave me hope anyway.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2017/04/why_michigans_offensi…
April 18th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
April 18th, 2017 at 11:13 AM ^
April 18th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
"... run of the mill ..."
FTFY
Lewan and Schofield were 4-star recruits. So were Barnum and "Q" Washington (before his postion switch. Jake Fisher was well-regarded, too (before he decommitted). Frey wasn't working with a bunch of no-names.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
Frey was indeed working with a bunch of no-names in 2008. The OL wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as it should have been. Off the top of my head, I think we started guys named John Ferrara, Tim McAvoy, Mark Ortmann, and Perry Dorrestein that year.
This is slightly irrelevant to the original comment, because Rodriguez didn't recruit those guys. But Frey did take those no-names and made them decent, particularly Dorrestein and Ortmann.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
I have to think that one sure benefit is that the OL, as a group, now has two coaches really dedicated to teaching (I forget how they broke up the positions between Drevno and Frey). An extra set of eyes and another coach teaching day in and day out has to be a serious benefit.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
The fact he's been less than complementary of the OL lately at least suggests this optimism isn't purely him being a homer. Some optimism, still plenty of concern and uncertainty.
Effective run blocking the past two years at critical times of the game would've netted Michigan 3 more wins -- MSU 2015, Iowa 2016 and Ohio State 2016. It was the difference between the Orange Bowl and the playoffs this past season.
2018 gon' be good.
Maybe even late 2017.
I'm looking at you, Urban.
April 18th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
April 18th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
April 18th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^
if I am seeing them actively block another team well then I get excited
April 18th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
Sad!
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April 18th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
..5 inferior blocks by 3* recruits, when properly timed and exectuted, are more effective than 3 pancakes and a wiff from 5*'s.
April 18th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
Has to be getting better right? I grew up with Michigan O Line dominance a given. It's been painful watching a poor line during the Hoke era. I trust that our coaching and recruiting is going to get us back where we need to be.
GO BLUE!!
April 18th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
I think the oline has been getting better under Harbaugh. The catch is they aren't at the 'elite' level yet. They did a pretty good job mashing the weaker teams on the schedule last year, something that the oline struggled to do in the Hoke era. However, last year they struggled against the better teams.
April 18th, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
the Don Brown and the defense showed nothing. The few times the defense blitz, it made it past the o-line with little resistance.
Which if he was writing about pass protection would have been an amazing counter-point, since he was specifically talking about run-blocking in the context of executing assignments, not so much.
April 18th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
The play he diagrams is blocked pretty well, but Watson should have been there to cave that near the line of scrimmage. For some reason he bites on a WR crossing the formation instead of filling that hole.
But I thought Kugler looked really good, which in itself is very reassuring. He seems to have a good innate sense of who to help in pass pro when someone's not lined up over him. People complained about Onwenu, but I liked his feet as well and he's as strong as advertised: he won the initial punch battle with Mone at least a couple of times. He naturally fires low and uses his weight well. He has to work on staying engaged, and he could be quicker off the ball. But he can pulverize people in a way our OL last year could not. In the play cited, I give most of Mone's movement to Onwenu based on the rest of the game. Cole looked outstanding at LT. Bredeson lost more than he won against Mone and Hurst, but was OK. Don't agree with Baumgardner on Runyan - I thought he was pretty poor and handled easily for the most part. That's OK he still has plenty of time.
Wheatley Jr. had some really good blocks, including one where he and Cole mashed Gary into the middle of the line (though this was probably a combo and Wheatley should have moved on to the LB). Was not a fan of McKeon in this one.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^
I think I read on Magnus that there only 6 yards of TFL on running plays and 5 of those came on one Walker run. So that's a bonus esp in light of the 2013 year. The pass blocking however looked pretty frightful. I'm not counting on any freshman who shows up in June to help this so hopefully JBB is improved out there at RT and Onwenu gets significantly better in the next 4 months.
Most likely we are going to roll a lot out to the left for our passing plays!
April 18th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
April 18th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
Encouraging that guys are getting movement across the front. I have a tendancy to look at if from the other angle: come on, Brian Mone. Let's go, big fella.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
I think they'll be fine. I think there is enough there to find 5 quality starters, young or veteran. I believe in the younger players.
I wish we had more of a cupcake first game, but I still think it's winnable. And it's time to start beating OSU. I'm sick of waiting for "next season". I've been waiting for many years for "next season".
April 18th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
but I think pass blocking is still going to be rough. Whomever is back there is going to have to frequently make plays with his feet. I think we forget that but for WS being surprisingly mobile, we might have had a great many sacks, and lost a couple more games.
April 18th, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
April 18th, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^
We'll know pretty quick how good the OL is. Florida's offense may be a mess, but their defense is pretty darn good. I expect their DL to be an enormous challenge.
Luckily Harbaugh and Co. have several months to prepare.
April 18th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
Nick's right, I think, and I noticed that too on Saturday - basically, the one play they should be able to block in Harbaugh's offense is one they blocked pretty much perfectly and it was fun to watch them do it. That's one of the things that has me confident that this OL is definitely climbing back to the offensive lines of the past that we talk about often around here.