Coach Ed Warinner Today on WTKA: OL Review/Update
Some highlights from what Ed Warinner said today:
You have to have a high football IQ to play in the BIG10. But that can't be the only criteria...
The 5 best players, most productive players, not the 5 best athletes, not the 5 smartest guys, not the 5 fastest guys, not the 5 strongest. The 5 most productive players, that get the job done. That's our goal.
On Ben Bredeson:
Ben's a hard worker. He's tough. He's smart. He's a leader...
....very coachable.
We left him at LG.
On Cesar Ruiz:
I'm excited about Cesar...
He has a very smart football IQ...
He will be the quarterback of the offensive line...
On the Stephen Spanellis/Michael Onwenu/Chuck Filiaga competition for RG:
(On Stephen Spanellis and Michael Onwenu) We definitely want that competition still going into the Fall... The last few practices of Spring ball we started to rotate who was in the first group with those guys... They're in a competition there...
You never know, Chuck Filiaga is a guard too. And Chuck could be a factor in that...
Between those three guys, one of 'ems going to start, and then the other two will be the back up...
Mike... he just has to play with consitency... we talked to him about that...
Steve Spanellis is very smart... needs to get a little stronger. Needed to get a little more explosive. I think he attacked that this summer very hard...
Chuck... still young... has to learn the system better... become more of a technician... he's a big, strong mauler. But, it's still comes down to technique when it comes down to good players against good players.
On Jon Runyan:
He probably was the most improved player in the Spring in terms of the offensive line...
He could be, and probably will be, a starter at one of the two tackle positions...
Jon definitely has a lead on being one of the starting tackles.
On Juwann Bushell-Beatty:
I saw a lot of growth. I saw a lot of change...
He got smarter as a player. But he also learned what his weaknesses were. And then he attacked 'em aggressively. He was one of the young men who did not go to Paris intentionally, and went straight to the weight room, straight to conditioning. And when we came back from Paris he was 10 pounds lighter than at the beginning of Spring...
Different demeanor. Confident...
But we're going to challenge him. I mean, he isn't guaranteed a starting spot.
On James Hudson:
James is extremely talented. Talented enough to be a starting tackle at Michigan. And be talented enough to be an Honors winner Conference wise...
Each step along the way he's improved in his consistency; in his consistency of work, focus, effort, all those things. And I'm excited about him. His ceiling is so high.
He has the traits of an NFL offensive lineman...
He knows what to do against all base defenses. But, you know, he hasn't played enough, and had enough reps, to be comfortable with all the adjustments that occur at this level, especially going against our defense....
LINK: https://omny.fm/shows/michigan-insider/004-fall-preview-ed-warinner-pt1-073018
4:30 video that was part of the interview, the beginning of the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7S09waIFLU
Photo: The Michigan Insider YouTube Channel
That's about as good as it gets, in terms of getting actual information from a coach. Good stuff.
My translation: Onwenu is physically the superior guard, but is inconsistent. Spanellis is more likely to make the right play, but isn't physically as capable as Onwenu as of now. Filiaga is talented (young, after all) but working from behind those two.
Interesting to hear that JBB stayed back, and it was to work out. Sounds like he's getting good direction on fixing his flaws. And it sounds pretty clear that Hudson doesn't know how to handle every adjustment and game situation yet, but can hold up physically.
This is great stuff. I hope one of our LTs really "gets" what he needs to get.
May the best man win the job, but here's to hoping that Hudson beats out an improved JBB.
Hudson seems to have the highest ceiling. I would choose to believe that if he won the job it was because he really grew in his ability to handle difficult defensive situations.
Of course if JBB wins the job I choose to believe that it is because he has corrected his weaknesses and is an ultra-reliable if not physically dominant LT.
If nothing else I'm choosing to take some comfort in that, in a worst case scenario (if someone got hurt), someone else could step in and it might not be a cliff dropoff. Different strengths and weaknesses, but servicable (which is what we're asking for this year from OT!)
Gotta root for the younger kid who has more time left with the program, but JBB turning down a free trip to Paris to focus on conditioning is some dedication...
Can't say I would've done the same thing
I know I wouldn't have.
Maybe there's a chance if you still have dreams of the NFL... but being a 5th year senior fighting for the second tackle spot on a mediocre at best OL doesn't exactly scream future draft pick.
I wonder if it actually had something to do with him missing the bowl game and this is the spin on it.
Could be, but the NFL isn’t out of the question yet. Ryan Mundy was no further along at the same point in his career. Then he had a strong 5th year and wound up playing in the league for several years.
Hey, if JBB starts and has a good year, there's a good chance he gets a look, and perhaps makes a roster. Making a roster gets you that NFL minimum, which is still a huge amount of money.
This is the time to reach for that. If he is making that effort, good for him.
This line may turn out mediocre, but it isn't mediocre at best.
Also, yes he's in a fight, but everything we've seen has said he's been the leader throughout the off-season.
I thought JBB looked the part physically...but didn't play the part. Warinner has expressed what many eyes have seen .
Sounds like Hudson won't be a starter at the beginning of the season but very well could be starting LT by the end.
JBB showing great dedication he has experience and is improving. Look for him to be the starting LT this year. Onwenu will start at RG and Runyon at RT. I expect an improved OL this year
Probably a similar issue that Onwenu had last year. He's so big he wears down come the 4th quarter/has to get a breather in the middle quarters to last all the way.
Hard to move 330 lbs+ around for a full game and not miss plays/assignments due to fatigue.
Onwenu looked fat to me last season. Eating grapes all day doesn't help. interesting no mention of this. So now it appears he takes plays off.
I never said he took plays off. He literally was pulled from games (Purdue specifically) and had Runyan/Spanellis/Ruiz (I can't remember which) take some snaps so he could go into that 4th quarter and help crack some runs for Evans. Missing assignments isn't taking plays off either. Fatigue makes it hard to get where you need to be and is a drain on your mental ability to diagnose things.
Great info about the biggest question mark position group.
It's so refreshing to get actual football info instead of the usual summertime subjects around here . . . .
I heard this on the Michigan Insider podcast this morning and was just about to come on here and let people know. Warrinner really gives the goods, which is refreshing. There was also interviews with Sherrone Moore and Jay Harbaugh, which I haven't gotten to yet. Although experience tells me we will not get much out of Jay.
Sounds like we've got some depth everywhere, with a few question marks at the starter position. Hopefully JBB's lights have come on as far as pass blocking because he is a huge dude and he was very strong as a mauling right tackle in the run game last year.
Really hope Runyan has taken the leap here. I was never concerned about JBB. His worse case scenario was a ++ run blocking - pass blocking RT. Its not his fault there hasnt been a LT recruited.
so much pressure on Jalen Mayfield reaching his potential in the future.
good stuff SP. thank you for the summary.
Thanks for posting this. Good stuff!
Warinner also mentioned two things i found very telling:
1) Warinner will not be rotating guys as much. Seems like they will get reps a 1-2 spots (instead of 3-4). Mentioned how last year guys moved around quite a bit but that will not be his approach to fall camp.
2) There will be several line calls removed. Seems like a focus on simplifying terminology and blocking assignments. Hopefully that leads to stunts being picked up at a more consistent rate.
Yeah this tells us that depth is not a strong suit and that our O-line has a way to go before we get to our more sophisticated offensive schemes. Nothing wrong with the K.I.S.S. approach. Keep It Simple Stupid.
I think it says the opposite about the depth Rotating the players, especially the backups, all over the line is what teams without depth have to do. That's standard practice in the NFL with their 53 man rosters.
Totally agree. Keeping guys in place means you have the luxury to keep guards at guard, because there are guards to back them up, and tackles at tackle, because they have tackles to back them up. Moving around is what you do if you think you only have a couple of guys that can play and you might need Bredeson to swing out to tackle because the backup tackles would be a tire fire.
The simplified calls one can read however they want, but the line sure did seem to have some communication issues last year and definitely had two massively different schemes it was juggling, so most people think that "simplification" simply means finding the right thing to do and getting good at it.
I think it has nothing to do with depth and everything about simplifying things for our O linemen.
I think Warinner is saying we have depth on the OL actually, hence rotating guys at fewer positions. That's what a team with significant depth on the line would do rather than try to use players all over the line.
Schematically, it could very well be that it is simplified, but from the sound of things, it wouldn't be simple because they were afraid of having numerous rotations up front.
To be clear, depth doesn't necessarily imply good depth. I'm not trying to bash on our guys. I have a lot of confidence that with good coaching and more experience that they can take steps to be better than last year.
It may mean that we simply have a lot of guys who can all do the same stuff at the same level. If it's not at a high level, we still have issues. That's all I'm getting at.
I disagree.
If all the coaches had was a bunch of guys at the same low level, they wouldn't be satisfied to stand pat. They would be moving them around.
Plus, that scenario doesn't seem very plausible, especially if you read the interview. Warinner talks about the players being much different from each other, with their own strengths and weaknesses and obviously different levels of experience.
And we're pretty confident, based on experience, that guys on the interior (Bredeson and Ruiz in particular) are solid already.
I definitely got the opposite impression from that statement. If there wasn't any depth, he wouldn't have three guys battling for one Guard spot. And if the depth was a problem, the second best guy is probably the backup for both Guard spots. Instead, there is going to be a dedicated backup at both LG and RG.
The comments on Hudson remind me of when Lewan was on the cusp of playing. We knew we had this bad ass tackle, and just kept hoping each week would be the week...
Good thread.
I've been listening to these all day on the michigan insider. The Sherrone Moore clip was good too, he gave some updates on the tight end's. Apparently Gentry is up to 265 (height almost 6'8) and he is going to be a monster out there.
I'm about to listen to the Jay Harbaugh clips now, however I don't expect he'll give as much detailed info as Warinner or Moore.
This may not mean a damn thing when it comes to performance at game time, but from the standpoint of speaking and explaining what he's trying to do, Mr. Ed comes across in a more authoritative, articulate, and convincing manner than the previous OL coach (not named Frey) did in the interviews I heard.
It's a great thing that we now have a good OL coach with a proven track record that fits our pro style system.
They have options at LT whether it is JBB, Hudson, Steuber, or even Mayfield. They just need to find the most ready one
I'm becoming more and more confident about our interior line. If we get even OK play at tackle, and the young receivers take a step forward, this offense could be great.
I've expected the interior line to be great. Bredeson, Ruiz, and Onwenu all proved themselves capable of powerful blocking, particularly against the run, last season. They now have a year of seasoning and a full offseason of practice at their respective positions. Onwenu is getting pushed, but since he was already pretty good last year, I have to assume that means we have depth rather than a problem.
I expect the interior line to be road-graders this year. Average-to-below-average defenses are going to get pulverized up the middle. The questions revolve around: 1. The tackles! 2. The ability of the line to pick up the weird stuff, like blitzes and particularly stunts, that they had trouble with last year.
Amendment: They'll be good against above-average defenses, too, but above-average defenses can hurt us elsewhere and we'll need the passing game and the tackles to be adequate or the interior won't matter. All things being equal we should be able to run on everybody, though.
Onwenu's problem, along with the rest of the line last year, was not being good enough mentally. Getting beat easily by stunts and any sort of front that wasn't block the guys in front of you. It sounds like he is still struggling a bit with picking up blitzes or stunts which isn't ideal but he still has time and is young.
The tackles are going to grade out at best as ok based off these comments. Which is sort of what we all expected but can hope Warinner is just like Zordich and faint praise is really the best duo in the conference.
Nothing in the Warinner-Webb interview made me more confident. I would have liked to have heard that Onwenu now GETS IT and that Hudson is a Lewan clone (on the field). Also would have liked to have heard that JBB has tremendously improved in pass pro and Runyan is a "canny guy great to have around as utility."
I did not want to hear that Spanellis is still in the running for a starting job because, well, he actually can read and understand the game, and sure he isn't strong enough but come on, our other options are going to get Shea Speighted, and at least Spanellis will be in the right place to provide a body to run over. Which is pretty much what he said given coachspeak and context, I think.
Most insightful post of the month on the biggest open issue.
Place your starting lineup bets. I’ll guess:
Runyon
Bredenson
Ruiz
Spanellis
Hudson
with either Tackle at right or left.
Excited about Hudson
What I think it will be:
JBB
Bredeson
Ruiz
Onwenu
Runyan
What I wish it would be:
Hudson
Bredeson
Ruiz
Onwenu
JBB
My only question would be- it seems a lot of people agree JBB is an very good run blocker. So-so to not that good at odd blocking. So if Hudson wins the LT spot is JBB an option at LG...
No, not at all.
Most likely JBB will start the season over Hudson. But if JBB struggles, they won't hesitate to throw Hudson out there to see if he can seize the job.
I agree. JBB will be given the opportunity to prove his value against ND. But from there the leash will be short if he is questionable in the opener...and Hudson should then be given the next three games to see if he can come up to game day speed.
Otherwise, I believe this report should give the Michigan faithful optimism.
Coach was great.