Harbaugh on Tackles in Spring Preview
Sam started his spring preview today with Jim and it sounded like to me we have clarity on the tackle positions heading into camp. You may have interpreted things differently but it sounded to me that if the season started today JBB and Runyan would be your starters.
JBB- Sounds like the light has gone on and he made great strides in conditioning this winter.
Runyan-Solid
On the other hand you could clearly hear a spark in his voice when he mentioned Filiaga and Hudson and the pressure they are going to put on the veterans. It sounded pretty clear to me that he expects these guys to take those jobs if the veterans don't keep making great strides.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
Yeah that doesn't seem good.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
Or he doesn't want to put too much pressure on him. He's been out a year and a half already, as well as coming off a potential career ending injury. No need to talk about him potentially starting at LT.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Newsome should be not be counted on to be a starting Tackle at UM. I think he's done well for himself just to run and be active.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
Talk about the OL is just that. Talk. I'll believe this OL will be any good when I actually see it happen on the field against opponents not named Rutgers, Maryland or Minnesota.
I'm sure Warriner is up to the task. Or at least his OLs at OSU seem to indicate he is. But we've had smoke blown up our ass from the media and from the coaches about how good the OL could be for the better part of a decade. And every year is more or less the same results. All sizzle, no steak. Falling apart in the biggest games of the season. Unless its anything from Don Brown's side of the ball, color me skeptical about what I hear about this team.
Hopefully Harbaugh and Co. make me eat crow this Fall.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
I think your letting years of losses stain your outlook. Harbaugh has been here 3 years not a decade. I don't think at any point in his tenure the consensus expected the line to be dominant.
When he came in the line was a disaster and they went up a level to semi-competent. That was considered a win.
In year 2 they were solid as we made a run to a possible playoff berth. It was no miracle turnaround but it was solid. It wasn't the oline play that cost us a playoff berth. I'll take that sentence every year of my life.
Last year had some optimism, but we were replacing so many guys most realized there would be a drop off and in pass pro there was a big drop off but the run blocking actually improved for a 3rd straight year.
Going into year 4 I can't guarantee great pass protection but it's reasonable to conclude it should be better and the run blocking should be dominant.
If your opinion is we suck until proven otherwise why do you bother with any of this talk prior to the season as it probably pisses you off every time you hear it?
March 14th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
True. Harbaugh is not responsible for the failures that came before him. And I'm not saying he can't get the job done. His results at previous stops indicate he can. I'm just tired of all the talk about how good Michigan will be on the OL and results seem to always fall short of expectations. Show me on the field, in a game that's not against an over-matched opponent, and I'll shut my mouth.
I'd really rather just hear nothing out of Harbaugh but "We're working on it. We have a long way to go, but we're hoping to get better each day." and have that be the end of it. But neither Harbaugh nor the media answer to me so it is what it is.
As far as the OL not costing us a playoff berth in 2016, I'll say that they weren't the sole reason it all went the way it did. Speight's three turnovers against OSU are on him. But even with those turnovers, all we needed was one measley first down in the 4th quarter and that game is signed, sealed and delivered. Just one. That didn't happen. That's largely on the OL. I'd venture to say the Iowa game is largely on the OL as well. I'll never say they were the sole reason we lost out on the playoffs. But they are very much an accomplice to it.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
I haven't heard the interview, but these are the sounds of Spring. This year will be the first in 10 years or so that I'm not letting the hype get to me. Let's just see how these guys look against ND and maybe read something into the Spring Game before that.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
All he was doing is giving a pecking order.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
Especially given the pass rushers (or lack thereof) that he'll see there this year. Who will be the best rusher that our RT sees this year before OSU? Wisconsin's OLB? If JBB can get to average in pass pro we can feel good about protection on that side for at least 10 games this year.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
Too early. My guess is we wont know time day of like last year.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
As others have said, until we see it, I won't put much stock in it. The OL has been average to bad over the last few years and we've heard off-season remarks similar to this that turned into nothing.
My personal opinion? JBB was actually decent last year. Yeah he's not great in pass protection, but a lot of his biffs made me think it was Kugler making bad line calls. Against Wisconsin, they rushed 4 guys and JBB had a OLB to his outside (clearly pass rushing) and a DT inside of Ruiz to his left. For some reason, JBB blocked down on Ruiz's guy and let the OLB run free. That made absolutely 0 sense and even the commentators were confused. That screamed "BAD LINE CALL" to me. Cole did it too on occasion and we know he knew what he was doing. So again, bad line call. JBB can run block and when he doesn't get out over his skis, he's not terrible.
Against OSU, the OL gave up 4 sacks (IIRC) against arguably the best DE rotation in the country, but 2 of those were squarly on O'Korn for not throwing the ball away after 6 seconds, while standing 3 yards from out of bounds.
If JBB's best from last season is this year's floor, I can live with that at RT. Runyan came in late against OSU and did fine as well. I know he's not the prototypical OT build, but neither was Cole and he survived.
Give me Ruiz (who is physically there - just needs to make good calls), Bredeson and Onwenu, a marginally improved JBB, find a LT and it should be... ok?
March 14th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:34 AM ^
I mean, didn't I say just that? JOK was responsible to (what I remembered) 2 of them. If it was 3, ok. Regardless, my overall point still stands. The OL can be decent, but it requires improvement from last year, a better center, and a QB who doesn't turn into a deer when the rush comes.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
Injuries! Weather! Bad luck!
March 14th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Idiots! stop looking at observable factors contributing to successful or unsuccessful play! These guys rushed for 0(!!!) yards against Bama! Harbaugh's teams are just soft! He's lost his mojo!
March 14th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
If Kugler were incapable of making the line calls, I wouldn't think they would want him coming back as a graduate assistant in the fall. Just my $0.02.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
That's a fair point. But I can't explain how that JBB play would have happened otherwise. And how Cole let free runners through as well.
Maybe it was the backs that didn't pick up guys correctly, but I find it hard to justify blocking down a full gap+ when rushing 4 instead of taking the guy right in front of your face.
Plus, we know they couldn't pick up a twist last year and Kugler specifically got beat on it multiple times.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
The guy to the inside was heads up at most on Ruiz. The inside guy is more dangerous, but when there's only 4 pass rushers (2 of them on the right side of the line), then I lose understanding not blocking 1 of them.
Kugler, Ruiz, and JBB had 2 guys to the right of Kugler with 0 ILB to worry about, so shifting left might have been the call, but Ruiz went for the same guy and they didn't move the pocket left so that OLB had an easy path to Peters who was not anticipating him being in his face.
You're right, we don't know the calls or what they anticipated, but they couldn't pick up a twist and had multiple instances like the JBB one that I talked about. Either the coaching staff was coaching the line to anticipate blitzes and shift all season incorrectly, or the OL was making bad calls.
March 15th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
I understand that (I played QB and WR and thew/ran the route route mutliple times).
JBB could have made a mistake, but Cole was doing similar things on the other side of the line. JBB screwing up makes sense. A 4th year, 50+ start LT, who also played center, biffing and letting free runners through is what I would point to when narrowing down the issue. That and the constant missed twists.
It could very well be players making their own, individual mistakes. But they happened constantly, against confusing and simple looks, against good and bad competition.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Personally I think JBB looked out of shape last year. Hopefully he can shed some lbs and be a little quicker this year.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
Bushell-Beatty has looked out of shape ever since he popped up on our recruiting radar.
There is a picture of him out there where he is doing an interview in a tight undershirt. Looks like he could cut some weight in that gut.
Hopefully some time with the new S&C staff can change that.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
I think that was with the assumption we hit on a couple more targets in the 2018 recruiting class or grad transfers. We did not, we have a need, and we have space (likely that the couple people leaving to get under the 85 mark doesn't include JBB).
I don't put much stock in JBB/Runyan being the two openers. They're simply the ones with most experience since they played at RT last year and didn't perform half bad. I hope JBB gets his pass pro figured out. I'm excited about Filiaga, and with Hudson/Stueber/Honingford/Mayfied battling for spots, I'm hoping that Warriner can shape this OL to be pretty good next year.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^
Agreed. Spanellis is a better candidate to move outside than Bredeson. Bredeson is a guard and we shouldn't disturb the interior, since it is good.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
So long as he gets the invite back after spring, I agree, he'd be my guess there as well.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
Without pads on. Yawn
March 14th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
The full quote says that they were thinking about pulling Hudson and Filiaga's redshirts last year so I assume that they looked good in padded practices.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
That is true.
It doesn't mean they looked good.....just meant they were better than what was playing. Ba dum bump tiss.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Just thinking about the line is terrifying, and I'd rather not discuss it? He's the coach.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
I'm a little leery if Runyan and JBB are the guys. Both looked like live bodies last year, but neither were that impressive. Yeah, perhaps the "light has come one."
Or perhaps nobody else has risen to the occasion. That was the takeaway when Ulizio won the starting job last year, and it proved correct. If Newsome can't go, my hope would be that at least one of the tackle spots is taken by a young guy who shows Onwenu-type potential.
But that's an "if" with Runyan and JBB, because those were the top two guys behind Cole last year and the staff hasn't seen them practice since then. So naming the first two guys left on the depth chart doesn't tell us much, and is pretty typical Harbaugh-speak with media. It's nice hearing that a "light is on," but that doesn't tell us if a guy is suddenly going to start handling speed rushes, power, and inside moves with competency.
We have all of spring and most of fall to fill in the remaining data points. Time for a guy like Hudson or Filiaga to step up.
FWIW I think protection should get a lot better just because our talented interior line is going to improve in picking up stunts, a major flaw last year. We know the guys are physically capable, so another year of work should shore up some of the issues that were youth-and-maybe-coaching related.
Re: Newsome - no idea if he's going to be able to get back to his old form. But let's face it, it feels like the injury was longer ago than it was. It is, in fact, only a year and a half old, and it was pretty catastrophic. We've gotten so used to guys coming back from ACL tears in 9 months we forget that some of these things take real time. Even if Newsome is capable of returning to the field (that's way up in the air) it might take time to get back to where he can play at his old level.
I thought JBB looked really solid as a run blocker. Definitely need the lights to go on for pass protection, but he's a known commodity in at least one facet of the gameplan.
I agree about this being coach-speak, but at the same time most teams have questions along their offensive line, and usually they get suitable solutions by the time the season starts. And it makes sense that guys you have seen for multiple years will "pop" when they improve.
Again, I'm not expecting this to be an amazing offensive line. But if it's "pretty good", that's more than enough.
I'm ok in theory with JBB taking one of the spots. I'm a bit more concerned if both JBB and Runyan are the guys, though. For this reason: I figure it's not unreasonable to hope that one guy turns the corner and explodes in development, even late in their career. If you have four OL spots locked down by good players and, say, three guys available for that fifth spot, it's at least a decent bet that one of them is going to have the light go on and be the man.
It is a lot harder for me to believe that multiple guys will see that same light go on and exceed the expected development curve. This is why I was pessimistic about the team's outlook before last season relative to many on the board, because while our young guys were all talented and could emerge quickly, to hope that all of the many holes would be filled by such guys was unrealistic. And I was right.
I don't believe both Runyan and JBB will make head-turning improvements this offseason. That's not a knock on either of them, just a personal estimate of probability. If they both start, my worry is that the ceiling is "ok" rather than "great," because that's what we were looking at last year.
As you said, though "pretty good" isn't bad. We were getting there last season, and I'm hopeful that the mental pass pro issues (missing stunts, getting the wrong guy, as opposed to just getting beat on the edge) that were the team's biggest weakness will be much improved this year.
I think they'll give the QB enough time to put together a passing offense. And this team will go as far as the passing offense will take them.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
March 14th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
Article with the interview at the bottom which you can listen to.
https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Spring-Preview-Jim-Harbaugh-anticipates-intense-OL-battle-116218172
March 14th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
I prefer Zordich's method of telling us everyone sucks, causing some MGOBlog freak outs. Then his postion group turns out to be the strongest on the team.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Let's hope Warriner is the next Yaklich