Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing.

Quickly: Tall former HS TE who moved to OL and became Michigan's starting LT for each of the past two seasons, a capable performer in both the run and passing game but who was never the feature of the line. 

Draft Projection: Hayes appears to be in the later round territory (5th-7th), with a decent chance of slipping into the UDFA zone. Hayes was a solid starter for Michigan who earned All-B1G honors, but he never seriously threatened for first team honors nor was ever considered the best OL on his own offensive line. He has multiple years of starting experience on an elite NCAA line with ideal size for the tackle position, but his results against elite pass-rushers leave reason for concern. Hayes lacks the sort of high-end traits scouts are looking for but his experience and success at the collegiate level may be enough to get him a later round draft slot and if not, a free agent deal to get his shot in a training camp setting. 

NFL Comp: I am not an NFL OL or NFL Draft expert, but I will note that Teven Jenkins and Brady Christensen are two comparables I saw pop up in scouting reports of Hayes when I was collecting material for the "what others say" section. 

What's his story: Ryan Hayes arrived at Michigan in the fall of 2018 as a 4* in-state recruit out of Traverse City, part of a two-man tackle class with Jalen Mayfield (2021 3rd round pick), during the brief (second) tenure of Greg Frey. Frey was known for taking massively tall HS tight ends who brought athleticism but lacked muscle and trying to turn them into future starting tackles. He didn't stay at Michigan long enough to see the project out but both tackles he recruited in that class eventually became starters. Of the two, Hayes was even more raw than Mayfield, the ultimate Frey style tackle recruit at 6'7" and somewhere between 255 and 265 in his HS days. 

The expectation was that Hayes would spend many years in the Crock Pot marinating, needing to add immense amounts of weight and muscle to be in playing shape. Which is why it was moderately surprising to see it be Hayes who got a shot to start at LT at the outset of the 2019 season when Jon Runyan Jr. was injured, only one year into his collegiate career. His first appearance against Middle Tennessee State was shockingly good for a player who was still inexperienced at tackle and skinny, but that was followed up by a sharp come-down against Army. Michigan then had a bye week, Runyan returned for Wisconsin, and Hayes went back on the shelf. 

Hayes was next seen in 2020, his RS So. more year, starting at LT opposite his classmate Mayfield at RT. He played two games and didn't look particularly great but then got injured and his season was finished, as Michigan only played six games in the COVID year. It wasn't until 2021 that Hayes finally became a week-in, week-out starter, which was roughly around the time we'd always expected Hayes to emerge anyway. That season he rounded into a solid LT, putting together a statement game against Washington to begin the year. Hayes proved himself easily able to defeat linebackers and bad DEs, but was ripped apart in brutal fashion by PSU's Arnold Ebiketie (2nd round pick, 2022), the first elite, NFL-caliber passrusher he faced that year. We all were on edge for Hayes in The Game, but he had few problems, taking care of the Buckeyes and helping Michigan snap their rivalry drought. For his efforts, Hayes was named 2nd Team All-B1G by the coaches and got an honorable mention from the media. 

Hayes opted to return to Michigan for his fifth year in 2022, one of three returning starters on the defensive front and an anchor of the line at LT, with Michigan plugging multiple faces into the RT spot after the departure of Andrew Steuber. Hayes missed week one against Colorado State, but then returned to being himself, a solid tackle in every phase of the game. The Michigan running game was right-handed this season, built around the interior presence of RG Zak Zinter and C Olu Oluwatimi, so Hayes didn't get as many moments to shine as a mauler, but he held the blindside well and posted consistently strong grades in our UFRs. His performance against Michigan State was a highlight, followed by injury against Rutgers, before returning to close the year well, including a second-straight excellent showing against Ohio State. He was named 2nd Team All-B1G by the coaches and 3rd Team All-B1G by the media. 

Positives: Experienced, veteran tackle with who is smart and possesses decent athleticism, strong in the run game and a decent pass protector too. 

Negatives: Shorter arms and limits on his athleticism and playing strength have left him vulnerable to elite pass rushers and limit his upside at tackle. 

[After THE JUMP: What others say, grading, video, and final thoughts]

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What others say: PFF, who, as we discussed in the Oluwatimi piece, we are NOT big fans of for OL, graded Hayes as the 38th ranked OT this past season in the NCAA. Given some of the names ranked above of him.... yeah, that's all I need to say about PFF and their NCAA grades. As for folks that do actual real scouting, Dane Brugler of The Athletic's draft guide has some things to say about Hayes and I'll share a few of them ($): 

STRENGTHS: solid linear athleticism with light feet in his kick slide … efficiently reaches his landmarks to set up shop ... quick into his blocks in the run game and plays stout when his hands stay controlled ... moves with good pacing on combos and as a climber to engage defenders at the second level

WEAKNESSES: Disproportionate arm length for his height ... below-average core strength and often slow to drop his hips/anchor ... forced to lunge when attempting to cut off inside swims ... inconsistent leverage and tall pads once engaged, getting up on his toes

Lack of ideal length to play tackle is a major area for concern among scouts, as Hayes is extremely tall to play guard and has zero experience doing so at the NCAA level. Last Word on Sports has a scouting report along similar lines (again, excerpts): 

Strengths:

• An impressive run blocker with a mean streak you want in an offensive lineman
• Intelligent player who understands where the rush is coming from
• Does a good job of getting to the second level and choses violence

Weaknesses:

• Arm length could force him into playing guard as opposed to protecting the blindside
• Overcompensates for outside moves and surrenders too much inside leverage quickly
• Needs to get stronger in order to be able to drop the anchor against the bull rush, pass rushers in the NFL will only be stronger and this is something he struggles with as is

Here's some tape of him from the Senior Bowl: 

CAREER CHARTING BY GAME

The following numbers are based on the 2020-22 charting in Upon Further Review. For runs, one point is roughly equivalent to an action that affected the play by 5 yards, i.e. zero points are awarded for simply filling an assignment. In pass protection offensive linemen only get negative points for allowing successful rushes: –1 if their breakdown gave the QB a chance to escape it (or if fault was shared), –2 if it didn't, and the rare –3 goes out when he offered no resistance. Protection% is dropback snaps minus total pass pro negatives over opportunities.

Oh and one more note... because of how much Hayes played for Michigan, this is gonna be a lot: 

2019 Opponent	Pos	Run+	Run-	Total	Pass Pro	Notes
MTSU	T	9	1	+8	-1	Worry a bit about his oomph but yep, eye opener
Army	T	2	12	-10	-2	Did not expect to see this number even as I charted it

2020 Opponent	Pos	Run+	Run-	Total	Pass Pro	Notes
Minnesota	G	3.5	3	+0.5	-3	One +2, run game was very right handed
Michigan State	G	4	10	-6	--	Mis-ID’ed a lot of blocks
Indiana	G					DNP
Wisconsin	G					DNP
Rutgers	G					DNP
Penn State	G					DNP
2021 Opponent	Pos	Run+	Run-	Total	Pass Pro	Notes
Western Michigan	T	4	3	+1	--	Blocked backsides they never ran off
Washington	T	22	3.5	+18.5	--	Plan was to donkey UW's OLBs. Plan succeeded
Northern Illinois	T	10.5	2.5	+8	--	Does PFF hate the mashing or the face?
Rutgers	T	7	8	-1	--	Big comedown as he encountered guys he couldn’t ragdoll
Wisconsin	T	2.5	3	-0.5	-1	So he's not a Jedi who can stop slants under him.
Nebraska	T	9.5	8	+1.5	-1	Fought back to even, struggled with Nebraska's wiley DTs
Northwestern	T	11	9.5	+1.5	--	Thunkin on combos, deep blockdowns slipped inside him.
Michigan State	T	5.5	3	+2.5	--	Not such a different that tackle-over was a good idea
Indiana	T	10	1	+9	--	He destroys bad DEs, athleticism an asset in stretch
Penn State	T	6	16	-10	-10	Everyone gets a bad day. It was a very bad day.
Maryland	T	7.5	3.5	+4	--	Quietly good bounceback, no protection problems.
Ohio State	T	11	4	+7	-2	Kicked Steele Chambers's ass.
Iowa	T	5.5	4.5	+1	-2	Agility kept pace with the funny looks the LBs were giving him.
Georgia	T	1	4	-3	-2	One good pin, one Jones event, one pass pro minus.
2022 Opponent	Pos	Run+	Run-	Total	Pass Pro	Notes
Colorado St.	T					DNP
Hawaii	T	2		+2	-2	Michigan was right handed on the ground and used TEs a lot. Two pass pro minuses
UConn	T	1.5	3	-1.5	-2	Two pass pro minuses on the two McNamara throws. Not a lot of opp on the ground, one mistake.
Maryland	T	6.5	4	+2.5	--	One MA, other than that physicality was encouraging.
Iowa	T	6.5	2.5	+4	-3	Lots of +0.5s, like everyone.
Indiana	T	8	1.5	+6.5	--	Got a couple crunchers in.
Penn State	T	11	5	+6.5	--	Crucial block on Edwards TD.
Michigan State	T	12.5	0	+12.5		Dude.
Rutgers	T					DNP
Nebraska	T	9	2.5	+6.5	--	One bad miss on a linebacker, otherwise basically perfect.
Illinois	T	9	3.5	+5.5	--	Held up against tough customers.
Ohio State	T	5.5	0	+5.5	-3	Not knocked back once.

One very ugly showing in his two full years as a starter, a lot of very nice performances otherwise, including in the two biggest games. 

Video of All Varieties: Maybe the best thing you can say about Hayes is he got push against Jordan Davis and we have video evidence of it:

Blocking two different guys to pave a path off the left side: 

Getting out into space to help create a TD: 

Gotta have a clip against the Buckeyes (2021): 

Gotta have a clip against the Buckeyes (2022): 

A play from his best-graded game this past season:

Unfortunately, we can't tell Hayes' story without brining up the 2021 PSU Disaster:

One more: 

And ending on a happy note:

Just keep blocking a dude straight out of the picture.

Summary and Projection: Of the two Michigan offensive linemen in the draft this year, I'm a bigger fan of Olu Oluwatimi's potential than Hayes'. Oluwatimi was a tremendous college player, Hayes was a merely good one. How much does that mean? Not really sure, but it's a benchmark to keep in mind as they move to the next level. Hayes showed us a lot to like during his collegiate career. He was a strong run blocker, even if a lot of the action was going the other way a lot of the time. When given a chance to hammer linebackers, like Washington and OSU in 2021 provided him with the chance to do, Hayes could be dominant. Even among the majority of college DEs, he was totally fine.  

It was against the high-end players with the ability to either bullrush with immense force or elite athleticism to bend around the edge that gave Hayes problems. The cause for concern is there will be many more of those in the NFL. Moreover, the arm length issue is a bit of a limiting factor in projecting him as an NFL left tackle. I think it's more likely a pro team gives him a chance as a reserve swingman and if Hayes can prove he can play guard, maybe he could be a more athletic version of Dan Skipper, who bounces around practice squads and active rosters, every so often getting a chance to play meaningful snaps in a regulation NFL game.