The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1523593
O F F E N S I V E L I N E THE WOLVERINE 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 75 a guy that has starting experience at a position, there's a possibility of keeping him there," Newsome assured. "We want to make sure we cross-train him in differ- ent areas and make sure that regardless of what the offensive line looks like, he's in a position where he can help us at multiple spots." Crippen stands as a testament to pres- ent Michigan football culture, the lure of playing for a winner, patience and "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." He's a na- tional champion now but sees an oppor- tunity to seize a much bigger role in 2024. The veteran has appeared in 15 overall games for the Wolverines, including nine during the national title campaign. "Crippen has done a great job of learn- ing and maturing," Newsome praised. "He's one of those guys who is really a technician of his craft. He's in here some- times as much as us coaches watching film, studying, trying to be mentally as sharp as he can possibly be, which is obvi- ously huge at that center position. "I also think it's awesome that he was patient and took his time. In this day and age, it's not common, especially if you're bringing back-to-back transfers at his position, for a guy who is talented as he is, to stick around. We're very happy he did that and excited to see what he does with this opportunity to go out and try to win that starting center job." El-Hadi isn't a stranger to serious ac- tion along the offensive line but sees his best chance to become a consistent starter. He's appeared in 30 games for the Wolverines, 20 on the offensive line, in- cluding three starts. He earned the latter three assignments in the Big Ten cham- pionship season of 2022, getting the nod against Maryland, Michigan State and Nebraska. "He started games for us at both left guard and right guard," Newsome said. "He'll be in the mix to compete at those spots. I'm excited to see how he's han- dled his business this spring. Taking that next step in, not necessarily maturity, but leadership role. You're an older guy but you're behind six NFL offensive linemen to now, like I said, you still have experi- ence in the room [but], all of a sudden, you're one of the elder statesmen. It will be awesome to see him use his voice even more and become a leader among the of- fensive line." Gentry is definitely one of the elder statesmen, having served a two-year Mormon mission out of high school be- fore coming to Ann Arbor. It took a bit for him to get back up to football speed and timing, but he feels he's there now, and his position coach agrees. "He's done really, really well this spring," Newsome said. "He's been a Swiss Army Knife for us in years past where he's backed up multiple spots. It's been awesome to see him be able to com- pete. I think the other thing for him now, going into this third year in the program, but taking that mission he was out of football for two years. It's been awesome to see that he's kind of got his strength back and I think he's able to compete at a high level. He's been playing well and we're excited to see how he and some of the other guys I mentioned before battle it out the rest of spring." Joining the right tackle battle will be Persi, who got into all 15 games of the national championship run as a special teams performer. He also performed in five games on the offensive line, one at tackle, four at guard. He'll be not only battling Gentry, but also several younger performers at the position. "There are multiple guys in the mix there," Newsome said. "Andrew Gentry and Jeff Persi are both playing well and competing back and forth there. Happy to see some of the young tackles, too. Guys like [6-6, 307-pound sophomore] Evan Link playing well at the tackle position. Blake Frazier [a 6-6, 275-pound fresh- man] has been impressive so far in his limited time on campus. There are mul- tiple guys competing at those spots. I'm excited to see that continue." There are others who can provide depth, and Newsome knows as well as anyone how the Wolverines will need it come fall. He'll oversee the ongoing sort- ing-out process in fall camp. "You can't go into a season and expect to play five guys and win like that," New- some said. "One, we're going to try and trot out six or seven at times, but you also have to be ready — hey, if someone goes down, who is the next guy up at those spots? We feel like we need to have 10 guys who are ready to play, and it's been encouraging. "There have been some young guys who have stepped up. Raheem Anderson QUICK FACTS Position Coach: Grant Newsome (1st year coaching OL at U-M, 3rd as assistant coach) Returning Starters: None Departing Starters: Zak Zinter (42 career starts), Trevor Keegan (37), Karsen Barnhart (30), Drake Nugent (15 at U-M, 24 at Stanford), LaDarius Henderson (10 at U-M, 29 at Arizona State) Projected New Starters: Myles Hinton (5 at U-M, 16 at Stanford), Josh Priebe (29 at North- western), Giovanni El-Hadi (3), Greg Crippen, Andrew Gentry Top Reserves: Raheem Anderson, Jeffrey Persi (1), Evan Link, Dominick Giudice, Nathan Efobi, Tristan Bounds Wait Until 2025: Connor Jones, Blake Frazier, Ben Roebuck, Andrew Sprague, Luke Hamilton, Jake Guarnera Newcomers: Frazier, Guarnera, Hamilton, Priebe, Roebuck, Sprague. Rookie Impact: None Most Improved Player: Gentry Best Pro Prospect: El-Hadi [FYI] ❱ Three U-M offensive linemen earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last season — center Drake Nu- gent (coaches, media), right guard Zak Zinter (coaches, media) and left tackle LaDarius Henderson (coaches). Left guard Trevor Keegan (coaches, media) and right tackle Karsen Barnhart (coaches) were named second-team all-conference. ❱ Michigan ranked tied for ninth nationally in run blocking (73.6 grade) and 50th in pass protection (70.3) last season, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). ❱ According to PFF, fifth-year senior left tackle Myles Hinton is the Wolverines' returning offensive line- man with the highest grade last season, posting a 72.4 overall rating. He graded out at 75.0 as a pass blocker (third among OL returnees) and 67.5 as a run blocker (first). Hinton saw 287 offensive snaps in 13 outings. ❱ Michigan was one of 12 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, handed to the nation's top offensive line, in 2023. The Wolverines became the first-ever back-to-back winners by claiming two in a row from 2021-22. The award began in 2015.