Shuffling the OL

A wise man once said, “if it isn’t broken, break it.” This idea would fall into that category.

Experience? MSU started two sophomores, 2 freshman (1 true), and a senior at O Line and the LT was a walk on and their QB didn't take a sack and wasn't rushed but a few times. Your telling me we can't play the young guys? That MSU's young guys are better than ours? Is MSU all th sudden recruiting better than us? I said it earlier in the thread, we need more athleticism in the line, a couple guys are too big and slow. NFL linemen can all move, I don't see that from all of our guys.

a

 

 

My hot take that isn't worth a shit: Drevno and Frey may be at odds.  Drevno probalby wants big road-grading maulers to manball people to death.  Frey wants them leaner and faster to employ zone blocking schemes.  The results so far indicate the players may be confused by the competing mind-sets.

That said, I do think the running game has improved from week 1 even though the competition has gotten stronger.  We are no Alabama but I am seeing incremental improvement.  Other than RT, pass pro has gotten better as well.

The biggest problem I see on offense is that the guys who are/should be in their 5th, 4th and 3rd years in the program just aren't very good/aren't here anymore.  If you crunch the numbers, Michigan basically went 2/10 over a 3 year period from 2013 to 2015.  And that's not counting Newsome and his injury.  Getting basically 1 year of Kugler out of the Kugler/Bosch/Fox/LTT/Dawson/Samuelson class is killing us this year.  

O-line breakdown:

2013: Kugler/Bosch/Fox/LTT/Dawson/Samuelson = 1/6

2014: Cole/JBB = 1/2

2015: Newsome/Ulizio/Runyan = 0/2 not counting Newsome's injury.

2/12 hits over a 3 year period in where the guys would currently be upperclassmen is the biggiest issue.

Run left every running play.

Roll left every pass play. 

Just kidding.  I'm 60 with a bum knee.  I was a D2 DE, but I could do as well as our RT until the knee gives out. .     

that did not play all of 2016 at the position they are at now

Bredeson played some LG

Cole played no LT

Kugler didn't play

Onwenu barely played

Ulizion didn't play

 

we have 5 new OL basically

 

if both guards return, RUiz to C and Newsome to LT maybe the transition to 2018 goes smoother, but 5 new OL compared to how we started last year is tough

Like everyone else, can't figure out the question, is it:

a. recruiting

b. coaching

c. talent

d. all the above

When Harbaugh and Drevno came in, thought the easiest area to recruit based on track record would be TE and OL.  For whatever reason both areas have been underwhelming.  Maybe the freshmen after red shirt years develop and Newsome is able to come back to close to what he was pre-injury.  Too much to hope for next season:  Newsome-Bredson-Ruiz-Big Mike/Runyan-Filaga?  

as a cement block... he is stiff beyond all understanding...

I wouldn't be heartbroken if Frey took over sole OL coaching responsibilities.

Just give them simple and coherent guidance, and watch the talent emerge. Swapping older kids out for younger kids is not the fix. Removing overlapping and inconsistent coaching probably is.

 

1.) Cole - Bredeson - Kugler - Onwenu - Runyan

2.) Cole - Runyan - Kugler - Onwenu - Bredeson

3.) Cole - Spanellis - Kugler - Onwenu - Bredeson

4.) Cole - Ruiz - Kugler - Runyan - Bredeson

 

Take your pick...

From an outsider's viewpoint, it certainly seems like beyond time to get Ruiz into the lineup, and perhaps Peters or McCaffrey for similar reasons.

The future, Mr. Goetz, now where's the girl?

I believe the biggest issue with the o-line is the zone blocking scheme they tried to introduce this year. To me, this is the biggest issue with the team. More than the talent, youth or even QB. This type of blocking scheme favors smaller, more agile lineman. Right now the 3 guys starting that we thought were future NFL talents either look bad or regressed. I don't like this scheme at Michigan or any big time program. It doesn't favor your most physically imposing lineman that a school like Michigan should be able to recruit. I think it'll be a limiting factor in recruiting future high potential lineman with NFL attributes. Either Michigan's lineman need to become smaller and quicker or they need to abandon this scheme. Not going to happen this year which is why I really fear what's going to happen to them now that the cats out of the bag and teams have zeroed in on it. Next they need a QB who can make decisions quicker. It would take some of the pressure off the line and eventually slow down the rush. There's a perfect storm right now. It could be fixed but I fear that won't be until next season when they have a chance to abandon the blocking scheme and find a QB to make quicker decisions. Still emphasize people not to freak out. The issues are so obvious that it would be a shock if they aren't rectified this offseason. A wasted season will be a shame but it's not the end.