The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2020 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS The Offensive Line's Progress Is The Key To The Season By Chris Balas Michigan loses four starters from the offensive line, all of whom earned some sort of All-Big Ten honors and will likely be selected in the 2020 NFL Draft. Guard Ben Brede- son and center Cesar Ruiz, in fact, are projected as high as the first or second round. Offensive line coach Ed Warinner has his work cut out for him, but he's been here before and he's got a lot to work with. Redshirt sophomore tackle Jalen Mayfield had a very good first year on the right side, and redshirt junior An- drew Stueber should return from a knee injury to battle at guard or tackle. Redshirt sophomore tackle Ryan Hayes also has some experience. But a line takes time to jell, and it takes some experimen- tation to find the right combination. The center position is huge. While redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter has potential, he is still a first-year guy. It's now or never for redshirt junior guards Chuck Filiaga and Joel Honigford. The good news — there's a lot of good, young talent here and opportunity for the guys who want it the most. This group as a whole has a lot to prove. Quarterbacks Need To Show Significant Improvement By Austin Fox Quarterback will be one of the biggest unknowns on Michigan's entire team heading into fall camp, with Shea Patterson off to the NFL and redshirt junior Dylan Mc- Caffrey and redshirt sophomore Joe Milton vying to replace him. Both of the potential replacements are still quite inexperienced, with the former having attempted just 35 career passes and the latter only 11. They have each shown rushing capabilities as well (Milton has two rushing scores under his belt and McCaffrey has averaged 7.2 yards per carry on 23 attempts), but their accuracy and ability to lead an offense through the air remain a mystery. Inconsistent quarterback play has helped derail U-M's sea- sons in the past under head coach Jim Harbaugh, with 2017 being the best example (the club started three different signal-callers that year, a group that collectively completed only 53.5 percent of its passes). Neither of the aforementioned quarterbacks have to preform at an All-America level right away, but showing improved ac- curacy and a solid understanding of the offense will help them take advantage of their numerous weapons in the fall. POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WHICH AREA DOES MICHIGAN NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST BEFORE THE 2020 SEASON? JALEN MAYFIELD DYLAN MCCAFFREY Junior Cameron Bock and the Wolverines were ranked No. 3 nationally by the College Gymnastics Association when their season was shut down in mid-March. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Coronavirus Cancels Several Stellar U-M Seasons With the cancellation of the remaining winter and spring sports by the NCAA, teams at U-M and around the country will not have the opportunity to finish out the 2019-20 campaign. The Wolverines had several teams that were vying for confer- ence and national championships, in both winter and spring. When athletics were halted in mid-March, U-M had 13 teams that were nationally ranked in their respective sports' latest rankings, including six teams that were listed among the top 10: — Clayton Sayfie Sport Rank Poll Baseball 25 Baseball America Men's Gymnastics 3 College Gymnastics Association Women's Gymnastics 5 College Gymnastics Association Ice Hockey 15 USA Today/Hockey Magazine Women's Lacrosse 13 Inside Lacrosse Rowing 4 CRCA/U.S. Rowing Coaches Softball 18 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Men's Swimming and Diving 3 CSCAA Coaches Women's Swimming and Diving 5 CSCAA Coaches Men's Tennis 5 ITA Women's Tennis 16 ITA Water Polo 7 CWPA Wrestling 22 NCWA Coaches