The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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46 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2020 Beyond that, however, there are only a few guys who have played. The best lines are usually those with experience and talent, but only redshirt junior Andrew Stueber, who has played in 14 games with two starts but is com- ing off a knee injury suffered last fall that cost him the season, and redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes, who played in 12 games last year and started two, have meaningful experience. It could take some time for this group to jell, but there's some tal- ent here, a lot of it in the redshirt freshman class in addition to redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga and redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes. "That was what was nice about the bowl prep — [redshirt freshman] Karsen Barnhart gets a lot of reps, [redshirt freshman] Zach Carpenter a lot of reps, [redshirt freshman Trevor] Keegan a lot of reps, [redshirt fresh- man] Nolan Rumler got a lot of reps, Chuck got a lot of reps, Ryan Hayes," offensive line coach Ed Warinner said this spring. "Those are the guys that we kind of see at the forefront of the pack right now in terms of the youth." The good news — they've got one of the best in the business coaching them. 2. The Interior Defensive Line And Overall Line Depth: This was a concern last year, as well, but the line held up relatively well other than the obvious — blowout losses at Wiscon- sin and home to Ohio State, the two teams against which U-M are judged. The Badgers ran for 359 yards in con- trolling the line of scrimmage and the Buckeyes 264, dominating up front. U-M didn't have enough beef in the trenches in those games, but Brown and Co. aim to change that this year. It helps that fifth-year se- nior Carlo Kemp returns to provide leadership and experience. " [ S o p h o m o r e d e f e n s i v e tackle] Christopher Hinton is really doing a good job," Brown said. "Ob- viously, we've got [defensive tackle] Carlo Kemp back for his fifth year. [Redshirt freshman defensive tackle] Mazi Smith, in my opinion, is now ready to challenge for playing time, which is good to see." But they also need someone to step up behind veterans Paye and Hutchinson at defensive end. "[Redshirt junior] Luiji Vilain I think is coming along … [redshirt sophomore] Taylor Upshaw has definitely taken strides," Brown said March 10. "He ran very well during the winter testing. "[Redshirt freshman] David Ojabo has what I call that hybrid-type abil- ity, somewhere between a linebacker and defensive end, very similar to [graduated senior] Josh Uche. A little bit different body type, but hopefully similar results. It starts with those guys on the edges." 3. Secondary Depth: Brown told Jansen during a podcast the second- ary had a chance to be the best they'd seen in some time, a bit of a surprising statement given the losses of senior All-Big Ten selections Josh Metellus (safety) and Lavert Hill (corner). "Secondary-wise, we really feel tre- mendously, like we've built the depth there the way you'd hope to," Brown said. "[Redshirt sophomore corner] Vincent Gray, and obviously [senior corner] Ambry Thomas is the leader of the corner group. [Redshirt fresh- man corner] D.J. Turner continues to impress. [Redshirt sophomores] Ger- man Green and his brother [Gemon Green] have both had good winters. [Redshirt sophomore safety] Sammy Faustin, [sophomore safety] Dax Hill, [senior safety] Brad Hawkins … "So you're talking about a num- ber of guys, which is good because you're creating competition, and at the same time, we feel good about the amount of guys we could insert into different roles." None of them are proven, however, outside of the first four, and most have been here a while. It's time for a few to step up. 4. Quarterback: There are two guys battling here, and both have a lot of talent — neither, however, has much experience. Redshirt junior Dylan Mc- Caffrey has shown signs of being able to move the offense, but he has had a hard time staying on the field due to injuries fostered by his desire to take off and run. He needs to pick his spots and be smarter about when to get down. Redshirt sophomore Joe Milton has a big arm and is elite physically, but he needs work on reading defenses. He'll get plenty of opportunity this fall. Combined, the two have thrown just 46 collegiate passes, completing 24 (52.2 percent) for 359 yards, four Redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes (No. 76) made his Michigan debut last year, starting the first two games of the season at left tackle for an injured Jon Runyan Jr. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL