Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh opened up practice to the public Saturday. Here’s what we picked up.
Honestly … it wasn’t much. They didn’t practice in pads (only helmets) and spent the first hour with their position groups doing drills. The first offensive line was exactly what Harbaugh’s been saying all spring — left to right, fifth-year senior Jon Runyan Jr., senior Ben Bredeson, junior Cesar Ruiz, senior right guard Mike Onwenu with either redshirt sophomore Andrew Stueber or redshirt frosh Jalen Mayfield at right tackle. Today it was Stueber working with the ones.
Onwenu is moving pretty well and looks like he’s dropped a few pounds.
There were no one-on-one drills with the defense line or anything; just practice on combo blocks with grad assistants, team managers, etc. holding up blocking pads and dummies to work with.
Quarterback drills included receivers emerging from behind 6x6 pads to catch balls that are on them quickly. All of the signal callers throw nice balls. Freshman Cade McNamara is maybe a shade over six feet tall, but he can sling it. He had a nice throw in seven-on-sevens late to freshman tight end/receiver Erick All that got behind the defense, probably the best in the 10-minute session.
Senior Shea Patterson took the first reps in 7-on-7 inside the 20. He just missed frosh Mike Sainiristil on a fade and then dropped the snap on his second attempt. Redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey came in next and hit three different receivers for scores (we’ll have film up on this Sunday). Sophomore Ronnie Bell dropped one in the back of the end zone, a high pass that would have been a tough grab but one great receivers make.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis let him hear about it.
Sainristil had a few other nice grabs, too. He and All look the part — smooth, effortless pass catchers. All is somewhat reminiscent of former Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker in style. He’s a big target, and he’s strong and thick.
Redshirt frosh tight end Mustapha Muhammad and redshirt sophomore Oliver Martin were among those who dropped passes in 7-on-7s. Martin also made a few catches. Redshirt sophomore Tarik Black dropped one, but he caught everything else and was running around well.
The tight ends as a group still see a bit undersized. Senior Sean McKeon looked pretty solid, and Nick Eubanks did, too.
Redshirt junior defensive tackle Mike Dwumfour was dressed, but he didn’t participate. It was good to see him out there, though, considering Harbaugh’s comments on him last week (that his injury might be more serious than thought). We didn’t see any of the other injured Wolverines on the sideline.
The defensive line unit as a whole is very impressive physically, just some huge bodies. Redshirt sophomore Donovan Jeter passes the look test. He’s massive, and he moves really well.
They did a relay drill (again, we’ll have this on film tomorrow) in which the linemen had to jump over obstacles and weave through them, too, and he was impressive. The two guys who needed the most work here were Luiji Vilain, who stumbled a few times, and converted fullback Ben Mason. That’s probably to be expected given that Vilain is coming off two knee injuries and this is the first spring with these drills for Mason.
Kwity Paye, Aidan Hutchinson and Josh Uche were moving extremely well. They look great. Defensive line coach Shaun Nua really gets after his guys, and he’s right in the middle of it during drills, often holding the bags. It’s hard not to like this guy.
Frosh defensive tackle Mazi Smith is big enough to play. He and veteran Philip Paea were both wearing No. 58 – Paea is back on the D-line after moving to offense. He’s added some good weight. Frosh David Ojabo is raw, but a great looking athlete.
Redshirt junior linebacker Devin Gil looks the part and was moving around very well. Defensive coordinator Don Brown was really working hard on redshirt freshman safety Sammy Faustin. Faustin missed an assignment, and Brown really let him know it. He looks great physically, however.
No sign of punter Brad Robbins. Last year’s starter, Will Hart, was really dropping the coffin corners in nicely, however. Sainristil did his share of fielding punts.
Watch for film tomorrow.
Honestly … it wasn’t much. They didn’t practice in pads (only helmets) and spent the first hour with their position groups doing drills. The first offensive line was exactly what Harbaugh’s been saying all spring — left to right, fifth-year senior Jon Runyan Jr., senior Ben Bredeson, junior Cesar Ruiz, senior right guard Mike Onwenu with either redshirt sophomore Andrew Stueber or redshirt frosh Jalen Mayfield at right tackle. Today it was Stueber working with the ones.
Onwenu is moving pretty well and looks like he’s dropped a few pounds.
There were no one-on-one drills with the defense line or anything; just practice on combo blocks with grad assistants, team managers, etc. holding up blocking pads and dummies to work with.
Quarterback drills included receivers emerging from behind 6x6 pads to catch balls that are on them quickly. All of the signal callers throw nice balls. Freshman Cade McNamara is maybe a shade over six feet tall, but he can sling it. He had a nice throw in seven-on-sevens late to freshman tight end/receiver Erick All that got behind the defense, probably the best in the 10-minute session.
Senior Shea Patterson took the first reps in 7-on-7 inside the 20. He just missed frosh Mike Sainiristil on a fade and then dropped the snap on his second attempt. Redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey came in next and hit three different receivers for scores (we’ll have film up on this Sunday). Sophomore Ronnie Bell dropped one in the back of the end zone, a high pass that would have been a tough grab but one great receivers make.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis let him hear about it.
Sainristil had a few other nice grabs, too. He and All look the part — smooth, effortless pass catchers. All is somewhat reminiscent of former Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker in style. He’s a big target, and he’s strong and thick.
Redshirt frosh tight end Mustapha Muhammad and redshirt sophomore Oliver Martin were among those who dropped passes in 7-on-7s. Martin also made a few catches. Redshirt sophomore Tarik Black dropped one, but he caught everything else and was running around well.
The tight ends as a group still see a bit undersized. Senior Sean McKeon looked pretty solid, and Nick Eubanks did, too.
Redshirt junior defensive tackle Mike Dwumfour was dressed, but he didn’t participate. It was good to see him out there, though, considering Harbaugh’s comments on him last week (that his injury might be more serious than thought). We didn’t see any of the other injured Wolverines on the sideline.
The defensive line unit as a whole is very impressive physically, just some huge bodies. Redshirt sophomore Donovan Jeter passes the look test. He’s massive, and he moves really well.
They did a relay drill (again, we’ll have this on film tomorrow) in which the linemen had to jump over obstacles and weave through them, too, and he was impressive. The two guys who needed the most work here were Luiji Vilain, who stumbled a few times, and converted fullback Ben Mason. That’s probably to be expected given that Vilain is coming off two knee injuries and this is the first spring with these drills for Mason.
Kwity Paye, Aidan Hutchinson and Josh Uche were moving extremely well. They look great. Defensive line coach Shaun Nua really gets after his guys, and he’s right in the middle of it during drills, often holding the bags. It’s hard not to like this guy.
Frosh defensive tackle Mazi Smith is big enough to play. He and veteran Philip Paea were both wearing No. 58 – Paea is back on the D-line after moving to offense. He’s added some good weight. Frosh David Ojabo is raw, but a great looking athlete.
Redshirt junior linebacker Devin Gil looks the part and was moving around very well. Defensive coordinator Don Brown was really working hard on redshirt freshman safety Sammy Faustin. Faustin missed an assignment, and Brown really let him know it. He looks great physically, however.
No sign of punter Brad Robbins. Last year’s starter, Will Hart, was really dropping the coffin corners in nicely, however. Sainristil did his share of fielding punts.
Watch for film tomorrow.
