Michigan continues to go through spring practice, and there are plenty of rumblings on both sides of the ball. Here’s the latest …
First, the offensive line …
We wrote this about new offensive line coach Ed Warinner yesterday … he said this line has a chance to be a ‘very solid Big Ten line.’
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-football-ed-warinner-predicts-line-will-be-very-solid-
And while that doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies, it’s actually encouraging to hear a coach talk about his position with less hyperbole. It’s more believable this way, and let’s face it — very solid would be an upgrade.
Warinner also said he planned to keep guys at certain positions for a good majority of time before moving them around. He wants them to not to be jack-of-all-trades, masters of none; rather the other way around, getting good at one position before moving to others.
We said last week fifth-year senior Juwann Bushell-Beatty had been seeing the majority of snaps at left tackle (or at least a lot of them). That remains true. He was there again yesterday, and he’s been doing pretty well, all things considered (among those things — the level of competition he’s facing).
The line has been the same: left to right, Bushell-Beatty, junior Ben Bredeson, sophomore Cesar Ruiz, junior Mike Onwenu and redshirt junior Jon Runyan Jr. Ruiz has been a stud at center, as Warinner noted yesterday. The coach believes he’s on the same trajectory as some of his pros who started in their first years.
Onwenu has been extremely solid and is playing faster (not fast – faster). He’s stood out at times.
The defense is outstanding, as expected … “just really damn fast.” The offseason conditioning with strength coach Ben Herbert has done wonders for a lot of these guys.
We know the drill — new strength coach comes in, he’s got great new methods, he’s better, etc. etc., but Herbert has really earned great reviews from folks really close to it.
He’s the real deal.
The quarterbacks have all looked good. Redshirt sophomore Brandon Peters has thrown the ball well, and redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey is bigger and stronger, playing well. Freshman Joe Milton is fast and has the cannon for the arm most expected. He’s made a few more of those throws off is back foot that would be ill advised if he didn’t have the arm to bail him out.
All that said, junior Shea Patterson is a step above, as expected. His lawyer expressed optimism the other day that he would receiver his waiver to be immediately eligible, which continues to be what we’ve heard despite a few bumps in the road.
The receiver group is “just ridiculous,” much bigger and stronger. Sophomore Tarik Black is working his way back into great shape, but as head coach Jim Harbaugh said the other day, sophomore Donovan Peoples-Jones has really elevated his game.
“He made a catch the other day that legends are made of,” one person told us. “It was like the Charles Woodson (one-handed interception at Michigan State in 1997), only on offense. But right there on the sideline and he pulled it in with one hand.
Redshirt freshman receiver Oliver Martin “has been awesome,” he added. He’s going to be a factor this fall. Senior Grant Perry has been banged up a bit, we hear, but will certainly factor in.
Finally, on the recruiting front, we’ve heard a big visitor was in yesterday for the second time in two weeks in offensive tackle Paris Johnson. The 2020 four-star out of Cincinnati St. Xavier was in for Junior Day, as well, and had a great time then.
From the article we posted March 18:
The 6-foot-7, 260-pound offensive lineman has offers to play for Alabama, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Stanford, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio, Penn State, Tennessee, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Toledo, Virginia and Wake Forest.
One of the main things that sticks out to Johnson about Michigan is Harbaugh being the head man of the football team.
“I’ve always known Coach Harbaugh as a winner,” Johnson said. “He’s won at every program he’s coached. My dad is from Chicago, so he watched Coach Harbaugh play and win for the Chicago Bears.”
We’ll follow up on that one in the days to come, but two recent visits for the 6.0 four-star is pretty intriguing.
First, the offensive line …
We wrote this about new offensive line coach Ed Warinner yesterday … he said this line has a chance to be a ‘very solid Big Ten line.’
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-football-ed-warinner-predicts-line-will-be-very-solid-
And while that doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies, it’s actually encouraging to hear a coach talk about his position with less hyperbole. It’s more believable this way, and let’s face it — very solid would be an upgrade.
Warinner also said he planned to keep guys at certain positions for a good majority of time before moving them around. He wants them to not to be jack-of-all-trades, masters of none; rather the other way around, getting good at one position before moving to others.
We said last week fifth-year senior Juwann Bushell-Beatty had been seeing the majority of snaps at left tackle (or at least a lot of them). That remains true. He was there again yesterday, and he’s been doing pretty well, all things considered (among those things — the level of competition he’s facing).
The line has been the same: left to right, Bushell-Beatty, junior Ben Bredeson, sophomore Cesar Ruiz, junior Mike Onwenu and redshirt junior Jon Runyan Jr. Ruiz has been a stud at center, as Warinner noted yesterday. The coach believes he’s on the same trajectory as some of his pros who started in their first years.
Onwenu has been extremely solid and is playing faster (not fast – faster). He’s stood out at times.
The defense is outstanding, as expected … “just really damn fast.” The offseason conditioning with strength coach Ben Herbert has done wonders for a lot of these guys.
We know the drill — new strength coach comes in, he’s got great new methods, he’s better, etc. etc., but Herbert has really earned great reviews from folks really close to it.
He’s the real deal.
The quarterbacks have all looked good. Redshirt sophomore Brandon Peters has thrown the ball well, and redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey is bigger and stronger, playing well. Freshman Joe Milton is fast and has the cannon for the arm most expected. He’s made a few more of those throws off is back foot that would be ill advised if he didn’t have the arm to bail him out.
All that said, junior Shea Patterson is a step above, as expected. His lawyer expressed optimism the other day that he would receiver his waiver to be immediately eligible, which continues to be what we’ve heard despite a few bumps in the road.
The receiver group is “just ridiculous,” much bigger and stronger. Sophomore Tarik Black is working his way back into great shape, but as head coach Jim Harbaugh said the other day, sophomore Donovan Peoples-Jones has really elevated his game.
“He made a catch the other day that legends are made of,” one person told us. “It was like the Charles Woodson (one-handed interception at Michigan State in 1997), only on offense. But right there on the sideline and he pulled it in with one hand.
Redshirt freshman receiver Oliver Martin “has been awesome,” he added. He’s going to be a factor this fall. Senior Grant Perry has been banged up a bit, we hear, but will certainly factor in.
Finally, on the recruiting front, we’ve heard a big visitor was in yesterday for the second time in two weeks in offensive tackle Paris Johnson. The 2020 four-star out of Cincinnati St. Xavier was in for Junior Day, as well, and had a great time then.
From the article we posted March 18:
The 6-foot-7, 260-pound offensive lineman has offers to play for Alabama, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Stanford, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio, Penn State, Tennessee, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Toledo, Virginia and Wake Forest.
One of the main things that sticks out to Johnson about Michigan is Harbaugh being the head man of the football team.
“I’ve always known Coach Harbaugh as a winner,” Johnson said. “He’s won at every program he’s coached. My dad is from Chicago, so he watched Coach Harbaugh play and win for the Chicago Bears.”
We’ll follow up on that one in the days to come, but two recent visits for the 6.0 four-star is pretty intriguing.
