Previously: The Story. Podcast 12.4A, 12.4B, 12.4C. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL.

Depth Chart

LT	Yr.	LG	Yr.	C	Yr.	RG	Yr.	RT	Yr.
Ryan Hayes	So.*	Chuck Filiaga	Jr.*	Andrew Vastardis	Sr.*	Andrew Stueber	Jr.*	Jalen Mayfield	So.*
Trente Jones	Fr.*	Trevor Keegan	Fr.*	Zach Carpenter	Fr.*	Zak Zinter	Fr.	Karsen Barnhart	Fr.*
Jeffrey Persi	Fr.	Jack Stewart	Fr.*	Reece Atteberry	Fr.	Nolan Rumler	Fr.*	Joel Honigford	Jr.*

This idea is impractical but if Michigan could hire Greg Frey to recruit two tackles every four years in perpetuity I'd be all right with that. In his first go-around during the Rich Rodriguez era he recruited Mike Schofield and Taylor Lewan. Then he showed up for a one-year cameo a couple years back and grabbed Ryan Hayes and Jalen Mayfield.

At the time both of the latter two were anonymous three-stars. Now they're Michigan's starting tackles. Mayfield is headed for the first round of the draft and Hayes isn't too far behind. Meanwhile Frey decided to take a job at Florida State just in time for everyone to get fired. In year two of the new coaching regime. Then they hired a guy who got his team to briefly go on strike because he sent them a form email about George Floyd. Then the team publicly aired concerns that there was essentially no coronavirus response from FSU. Then they lost 52-10 to Miami. I had something for this. Right!

the management apologizes for this digression into internal FSU politics

Anyway, Greg Frey: he's available for consulting! I mean, he's technically employed by Duke but that's more or less available!

[After the JUMP: better use for money than coaching search consultants]

TACKLE: THE ENBEEFENED

RATING: 4.

One of the ~20 snaps that have people hyped [Bryan Fuller]

There was a ton of JALEN MAYFIELD hype entering 2019. Perhaps an unprecedented amount. I'm not sure I've ever seen a quote like this from a coach before:

"[Mayfield's] in a battle, but it's so good — you like Steuber a lot, you like Mayfield a lot — if you ever had to put them both in at tackle … (Jon) Runyan’s an All-Big Ten tackle right now, but you wonder."

Runyan was an All Big Ten tackle right then. He continued being an All Big Ten tackle. And people were wondering. Everything anyone said about Mayfield was redeemed… eventually.

It did take a minute or several to get there. A redshirt freshman OL who ends up on the field is inevitably going to make a bunch of mental errors, and Mayfield was no exception. He'd occasionally pass set on a run play or misidentify who he was supposed to block. This site said had an "offense Mouton"—Jonas Mouton was notorious for racking up a ton of positives and an equal ton of negatives in UFR grading—game against Illinois because every time he pulled around the edge and sat on a recalcitrant child…

RT #73 pulling to top

…or blew a guy into the next county he was directly responsible for a thing that was not good:

RT #73

Some of these were missed assignments; others were Mayfield violating the diverse and infinite list of things OL are never to do and losing blocks.

This wasn't an outlier early in the season. Mayfield was 6.5-6.5 = 0 against MTSU and had three pass pro minuses. He had a tendency to not quite push his guy upfield enough to allow his QB to stand in the pocket, and he'd miss a few assignments. This was our summary after the MSU game:

Mayfield continues to Mayfield. This means he gives up about two pressures a game on which he stays attached and doesn't get his QB annihilated, except Willekes did get him once here. He alternates crushing blocks with youthful indiscretions. A lot of potential. Chase Young rather looms.

It wasn't a straight arrow up but there were hints things were clicking midway through the season. He had a 7.5-1= +6.5 day on the ground against Notre Dame—though he did give up a few pressures of the variety referenced above:

Harbaugh said this was Ruiz's best game at Michigan and that they gave Mayfield their OL of the game award… yes?

They're both at least in the ballpark. I think Ruiz or Runyan had a better case for OL of the week than Mayfield largely because Mayfield gave up two minor pressures and one severe one—we forget but Patterson got sack-stripped by Mayfield's back on the last play before the half.

On the ground he was very good. Mayfield delivered some pop and was effective comboing through guys. If Onwenu can secure this better this is another chunk run:

RT #73

That kind of movement against a good player bodes well.

On the other hand he picked up a –4 against Indiana the week before Ohio State:

Here he gets a block for a second and then gets flung upfield:

RT #73

… There were a couple more plays like this; Mayfield fell off a lot of blocks. This was his worst game of the year on the ground and that's probably a blip, but his down-to-down performance has lagged the rest of the line, as you'd expect, and Chase Young rather looms.

Do you feel the looming? It loomed. Going into the Ohio State game Mayfield was just another fairly promising young tackle, a guy who had his moments but was clearly running behind the other four guys on the line. Then Michigan played Ohio State, Chase Young was fairly anonymous, and the end of it has not yet been heard.

There is a bifurcation now. When you grade Mayfield against Ohio State you get a certain result. Seth did so because he is insane. We don't grade exactly the same but it's close enough since UFR grades are always meant to be talked about, not jammed into a database: Michigan avoided testing Mayfield on the ground (2-2 = 0) and he came in for 7.5 pass protection minuses by Seth's reckoning. That's a lot. We were rending our shirts and proclaiming the end of everything when Jon Runyan Jr had –9 in his first start against Notre Dame.

On the other hand, Chase Young was a top five pick and is busy killing it in the NFL currently. Nick Baumgardner focused on the dozen-and-change snaps where Mayfield went head to head with Young:

…during his head-to-head reps, Mayfield gave Young everything he wanted — and more — for the bulk of the game. Mayfield saw roughly a dozen head-up reps against Young during the first three quarters and didn’t allow a pressure during that time. Michigan used a running back to chip Young just twice … Young tried to explode by Mayfield off the edge a number of times in this game … he found that task to be challenging.

Mayfield’s footwork off the snap in pass rush situations is generally smooth. He’s rarely beaten with a straight speed rush. Young did give him some trouble with inside moves, which is what he used to win a rep on his fourth-quarter pressure against Mayfield. But for the most part, the Ohio State standout had trouble getting Mayfield off-balance, because his natural ability to bend and twist without losing his balance is one of his top attributes.

What we have here is a disconnect between the current reality and projected ceiling. Mayfield did a lot of stuff that fired up the neg catapult; he also showed an upside that is rare. NFL folks don't care if a redshirt freshman dorfs a stunt because they assume that'll get coached out of him sooner or later. It still slowed Michigan's offense down last year.

So: there is a lot of promise here, but I think people are getting a wee bit ahead of themselves. In the aftermath of the OSU game Mayfield has been noticed by the draft-industrial complex. Mel Kiper put him in the top 15 of his too-early 2021 mock; The Draft Network asserts that "You won’t find a better right tackle in college football"; Mayfield was about to jet to the draft after one year as a starter. This is Taylor Lewan hype; Mayfield did not perform at the same level that Lewan did in his second year.

He did show he can get there. Not consistently, yet. The success against Young in under 20 one-on-one snaps has propelled Mayfield talk to a level of certainty that's not quite warranted. I do think he'll improve a great deal this year and reach the heights all the talk implies he can. But this isn't Aidan Hutchinson, who is already an All Big Ten level player looking to be an All-American. He's got to get there.

He likely will for a lot of reasons. He's been relentless in the offseason:

Before the season last season Mayfield checked in at 6-5 319. I’m told he played during the season at 315 lbs. Today I was told he returned to Ann Arbor from the shutdown weighing in at 322 lbs., but had lost body fat, and increased muscle mass. 

But it's not a lock.

It is reasonable to expect the redshirt freshman OL who's returning to continue blowing up. The heart of his distribution is that he looks like a high draft pick and is one. I think we might be talking about the second round and a season a little short of dominant, because he's a redshirt sophomore.

hello frame man with good frame [Bryan Fuller]

Classmate RYAN HAYES [recruiting profile] is set to start opposite Mayfield. Hayes is the kind of guy who arrives on campus and has a cup of coffee at tight end before accepting his destiny as a tackle. His third year is the first moment where he could be plausible, according to everyone. Last year's preview quoted John Runyan Jr saying he's "shoving food down [Hayes's] throat because he needs to add more weight" and noted that literally all purveyors of insider talk were saying identical things:

He's tracking well, and word from inside the program is positive… but it's positive about next year. 247 ("staff loves [him] … probably one more year away"), Rivals ("going to be a good one … still a year away"), and your author ("much bigger … still not big enough … on track to contend in 2020") are all of one mind.

Fast forward a year and lookit that: starting left tackle.

There was a slight deviation from the above expectations. Thanks to a minor Runyan injury, Hayes started the first two games. These two starts showcased both Hayes's promise and how far he had to go. The MTSU game was an unqualified success, albeit one with a caveat:

Hayes mostly maintained his pass protection the following week—he did pick up one –2 for getting spun through—but he had a very rough outing on the ground. Some of that was your garden-variety redshirt freshman stuff, like not pulling on a pin-and-pull or failing to ID and pick up a run blitz. Mayfield was doing some of the same stuff.

Other parts confirmed the "very excited… about next year" takes:

This clip is why every take on him this offseason was "he's a year away":

LT #76

Can't get driven back two yards as an OL. That blows up an otherwise well-blocked play.

Runyan returned and Hayes returned to a reserve role. He did re-emerge as a bonus OL later in the season. This was most notable against Michigan State because of the guys he was dealing with:

Hayes, lined up just outside of them and wearing a nameless #80, gets a tough task against Willekes, who's lined up inside of him and needs to be turned out. Hayes keeps his feet moving and gets the job done even though he ends up getting flung to the ground at the end of the play:

TE-ish #80 to the left

Another year of meat and he should be good to go.

On top of those mostly encouraging performances we have a lot of circumstantial evidence that he's going to be a dude. For one, at no point did Michigan even look at moving at their touted NFL prospect from right tackle to left. At no point did anyone threaten Hayes's lock on the job. And the talk from inside the program is what you'd expect given the previous two items. Webb:

I expect this to be a breakout season …  Ryan had begun doing a lot of extra stuff outside of practice and meetings… a lot of film study, a lot of extra technique work. … had a great winter conditioning session, running in the 4.9s at 6-7, 300 lbs.

More than one coach… from Michigan and elsewhere… that I’ve talked to about Ryan has shared with me their belief that he’ll be a high round draft pick.

If there's any slight concern it's that Michigan's updated roster only added three pounds to Hayes. 302 isn't exactly undersized; it might be less than ideal for a guy standing 6'7". It's reasonable to expect he'll be something other than a mauler on the ground. That can be for later. As long as he anchors against power rushes, the rest of the line can pick him up on the ground, and Joe Milton can wait for guys to get 70 yards downfield.

The most likely outcome here is that Hayes is a little rough to begin and grows into his role over the course of the season. IE: Mayfield last year.

BACKUPS

holy crap Sessa is a stork, also Barnhart is 52 [Patrick Barron]

When Jim Harbaugh announced that Chuck Filiaga had won the left guard job he immediately added that he "considers KARSEN BARNHART [recruiting profile] a starter" despite not actually, you know, being a starter. This is believable because Barnhart was guy who jumped out when Michigan's highly-touted six-man OL class hit campus last year. Last year's hype via Sam Webb:

A kid we probably won’t hear from this year, but who I’m told looks like he will be the best of a very good bunch is Karsen Barnhart. You might recall me sharing that as my belief back when the class signed. After watching him add muscle and maintain his outstanding athleticism, folks inside the program are saying the same thing.

Barnhart backed the talk up a bit, as well. He was the only freshman OL to get on the field last year, seeing snaps late in two games. Harbaugh before the Wisconsin game last year:

"[Freshman offensive tackle] Karsen Barnhart continues to be really impressive. He'll be playing at some point this season with the way he's gaining steam. It'd be great if we could redshirt him, but he's really coming on and I think he'll play quite a bit."

Barnhart has kept to that track, which is doubly impressive since he played in a wing T for tiny Paw Paw in high school. To go from that level to just about locking down a starting job in year two is extremely encouraging.

Circumstances may have conspired against him, too. Barnhart was widely expected to win that guard job until Mayfield's yo-yo pulled him to tackle for a portion of this very elongated fall camp. Then he was set to replace Mayfield at RT.

It feels like Barnhart and Filiaga are close enough that it makes more sense for Michigan to prep Barnhart to replace Mayfield next year. If Barnhart is forced into a game because someone got dinged, it'll be fine. Not ideal, but fine.

Keegan contended at guard this year [Patrick Barron]

If things get past Barnhart it will be either TREVOR KEEGAN [recruiting profile] or TRENTE JONES [recruiting profile], both mid-to-high four-star redshirt freshmen, stepping in. Stueber mentioned both when he ran down the guys getting first team snaps in fall camp. Hayes, meanwhile, listed Keegan as a co-starter with Filiaga at guard during the brief Mayfield interregnum. That would seem to give the edge to Keegan unless Keegan is interior-only.

Neither Keegan nor Jones has seen the field, even in spring, so recruiting stuff and insider takes are all we've got. And there aren't many of the latter. Recruiting it is.

Keegan was the slightly more highly regarded recruit but had a lot of scouting that said he was a right tackle only because of a lack of agility…

…big, thick prospect … college-ready frame … good kick step and initial quickness… excellent drive blocker… athletic enough to make blocks in space and get to the second level. Solid bender. … Can still get more flexible and explosive. … right tackle … [can] slide inside if needed.

…so guard might not be a brief dalliance. When Sam Webb detailed the situation in the aftermath of Mayfield's return he said that Keegan and Zak Zinter were "major head turners" who were "seriously pushing" the starting guards and that their performance was a reason Barnhart might be left on the outside. It's likely next year's preview addresses him on the interior.

Jones is a long-term tackle. Like Barnhart, Mayfield, and (to a slightly lesser extent) Hayes, he's a guy Michigan jumped on early who shot up the rankings later. In Jones's case he finally started getting some of the attention previously reserved for his five-star teammate Wanya Morris late in the cycle. He got this attention because he can move:

Brian Dohn: "…jumped out to me because he is so athletic … moves so well laterally. … has a chance to be a really high level player because of how athletic he is, his ability to move side to side, and reach."

John Garcia: "…super-athlete who has really worked on his body … ability to get to the second level, to reach block, and get over TWO gaps, to lead the way on stretch plays …movement and skill will allow for so many different types of looks. …maybe even a left tackle down the line. I think he could play guard too. … [upped his] stock as much as anybody."

Jones has been mentioned consistently in the group of eight or so guys pushing for playing time and is the most likely left tackle of the bunch. He'll back up Hayes this year and take another swing at right tackle next year when Mayfield is presumably in the NFL.

There are a couple guys deeper down. True freshman JEFFREY PERSI [recruiting profile] is another Frey tackle and needs at least a year to beef. Redshirt junior JOEL HONIGFORD [recruiting profile] was the guy Michigan flipped out to tackle in the aftermath of the Stueber injury. He got in ten games as part of the backup line without executing a Spanellis block to draw the eye, and I'm not sure he's been mentioned since the position move. He might be back at guard for all anyone knows. Honigford did add back 20 pounds to get over 300 again after a mono-related dip last year, but it'll take an injury avalanche to see him on the field.