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Previously: Quarterback, Running Back, Receivers

Installment #4, and the final piece of the offensive side of the ball, for The Enemy, Ranked 2023 has arrived. Today we'll be looking at the offensive lines on Michigan's schedule. This list is not a murderer's row by any means and in fact the teams at the top of this list are teams in which the offensive line is one of the biggest question spots on their team. Part of this is Michigan being unable to play themselves (which I noted in RB), but part of it is Wisconsin and Illinois not being on the schedule either. So keep that in mind as you read this piece, which I will try to emphasize as we go along. 

12. Bowling Green

Note for tables in this piece: bold = returning starter, italic = transfer in who started at another school  

Bowling Green was 112th in Football Outsiders' adjusted line yards metric last season and now lose three starters off of that line. The returners, Bronson Warner at RG and Alex Wollschlaeger at RT, graded out horribly in PFF's charting last season (I don't like having to defer to PFF on OL, but I also didn't get a chance to chart BGSU myself in 2022 so I have no choice). That's a rough place to start from! Projected LG starter Tunde Fatukasi is a sort of half-returning starter, logging a ton of snaps last season on offense (442) after transferring from Rutgers (you may remember his brother, Rutgers stand-out LB Olakunle Fatukasi) but his grading wasn't any better. So while there are some pieces with experience, it's not exactly great experience. The same could be said for Kameren Stewart, who right now is not seen as a projected starter at tackle despite logging 461 offensive snaps of his own for the Falcons last year, also to subpar results. 

To try and help the rough performances from the returners and fill in the gaps, C Hunter Deyo comes in as a 4* RS Fr transfer from Iowa State. He didn't play for the Cyclones in any substantial capacity last season, so this is his first go-around. Former C Cade Zimmerly missed last season with an injury and may not be back until mid-season, so TBD on that. Nate Pabst is a second year player moving from DL to OL (never really what I want to hear), while reserves at G and T Chris Akporoghene and Armon Bethea, respectively, are P5 transfers in from various locations without much experience in multiple seasons of CFB. In summation, this is an OL that was terrible last year, loses three starters, brings back some pieces who were mostly substandard, and brings in transfers with little to no experience. Not great! 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More offensive lines]

We start with relatively positive news about Michigan’s top 2020 target, MI DE Braiden McGregor. Sam Webb put it best when he discussed the “afterglowy” comments that were published post-Notre Dame visit, which was McGregor’s first official visit and one where he was close to committing; he told Irish Illustrated he also got that I-might-just-commit feeling at Alabama and Michigan as well. It’s been almost a month now and not only has he not pledged to Notre Dame, but there are once again positive rumblings on the Michigan side of things.

The Webb article linked above praises Jim Harbaugh for the length of time and connection that he’s made with McGregor and his family. There’s another coach mentioned near the end of that article who is the subject of much of the rest of the reporting after McGregor’s most recent unofficial to Michigan: Shaun Nua. Though Nua’s pretty much been recruiting McGregor from the minute he got the Michigan job, he’s found a way to recruit McGregor with persistence but without annoyance. McGregor mentioned in a video interview with The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown that Nua told him that he was trying not to text him so much that he overwhelmed McGregor, who then said it was big for him that Michigan recruits him hard but also gives him space to think.

McGregor’s involved his family heavily in his recruitment, and it seems they have the same appreciation for Nua’s personality and recruiting tactics as McGregor. McGregor’s father, from an interview with The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich:

Adding on Coach Nua: “I can’t say a bad thing about the guy. He’s very personable and very easy to talk to. He’s very genuine and very caring. Obviously, he wants Braiden to come there, but he’s said it many times if Michigan isn’t the fit for you, then I respect that and you got to do what’s best for you. He does a good job recruiting him, but at the same time, he’s telling Braiden to do what’s best for you and if it’s not here, we understand.

It also says something about McGregor’s interest level that he made sure to get his recent visit in before the team left for South Africa so he could spend time with players, who will be off until June. That piece of the trip also went well, as did the scheme-fit portion of McGregor’s chat with the coaching staff. His father told Marich that they see him fitting into the Josh Uche mold and playing a little bit of linebacker and weak-side end and, if his frame dictates it, strong-side end.

Marich says he thinks this comes down to Michigan and Notre Dame, and at this point all Michigan can do is keep utilizing the tactics they have been and wait for a decision that could come…sometime. McGregor has only used one official visit and, though he said he doesn’t need to take an official to Michigan or Ohio State, might take another unofficial to Michigan before making his final choice.

[After THE JUMP: all the safeties, all the 2021s]