Michigan Football: 2014 Roster — Going Into Spring — Offensive Line
Posted at 8:30am — 1/25/2014
Michigan Football: 2014 Roster — Going Into Spring — Offensive Line
Going into spring football we are going to do our version of the roster breakdown and what we believe going into spring football might look like.
Michigan Football Spring practices start March 25th.
2014 Offensive Line Spring Roster
| Name | Number | Height | Weight | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erik Magnuson | 78 | 6'6 | 295 | Red-shirt Sophomore |
| Kyle Bosch | 65 | 6'5 | 302 | Sophomore |
| Graham Glasgow | 61 | 6'6 | 303 | Red-shirt Junior |
| Kyle Kalis | 67 | 6'5 | 302 | Red-shirt Sophomore |
| Ben Braden | 71 | 6'6 | 318 | Red-shirt Sophomore |
| Chris Fox | 73 | 6'6 | 338 | Red-shirt Freshman |
| David Dawson | 55 | 6'4 | 297 | Red-shirt Freshman |
| Patrick Kugler +++ | 57 | 6'5 | 287 | Red-shirt Freshman |
| Chris Bryant +++ | 58 | 6'4 | 316 | Red-shirt Junior |
| Jack Miller | 60 | 6'4 | 290 | Red-shirt Junior |
| Dan Samuelson | 74 | 6'5 | 283 | Red-shirt Freshman |
| Blake Bars | 62 | 6'5 | 291 | Red-shirt Sophomore |
| Logan Tuley-Tillman | 72 | 6'7 | 300 | Red-shirt Freshman |
| Mason Cole ^^^ | 6'5 | 275 | Incoming Freshman | |
| Kristian Mateus *** | 70 | 6'7 | 305 | 5th year Senior |
| Ben Pliska *** | 63 | 6'3 | 276 | Red-shirt Sophomore |
| Greg Froelich *** | 51 | 6'2 | 275 | Red-shirt Freshman |
| Joey Burzynski *** +++ (Out for Spring) ??? | 56 | 6'1 | 293 | 5th year Senior |
+++ Coming off of injury.
Apr 13, 2013; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines offensive line gets set during the Spring Game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY SportsWell a lot of question marks lead into spring football. How to replace two NFL prospects who have started for several years on the offensive line? Can the offensive line get worse? Will the youth and depth finally be shown this coming year? Time will tell, but this group will be under every fans microscope this coming year and also Coach Funk.
A lot of heat was brought upon this group and mostly well deserved, but once again everything works together and in this case the offensive team. The Quarterback, Running Back, Tight End all have to share the blame for the bad offensive line play, but obviously the offensive line themselves will take most of the heat.
Sep 1, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Michigan Wolverines offensive line coach Darrell Funk on the sidelines against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY SportsLooking at the above roster should make Michigan football fans excited for the future of the program with so many players with less than 2-3 years of experience going into spring football. In fact, not one Senior or fifth year Senior on scholarship and only three on the roster which includes Joey Burzynski who will be fighting back after a injury in the Northwestern game along with two other walk-on’s. So in that regards the future is bright for this offensive line group who will be playing together for several years as a unit.
The problem lies in most Michigan fans eyes with looking at the roster besides can the line get worse mainly because we have to replace Lewan and Schofield? In theory you would think how can the line get any better knowing we have probably lost two possible NFL draftees.
Well the simple fact of hopefully going into fall camp we will have a line in place and won’t see all the shuffling around like we did this past season with having so many different combinations along with ten different players in the line-up at various times and the only two that were consistent starters are now gone.
Aug 4, 2013; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier signs autographs following practice at Bryant Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY SportsExperience of last season will help this young group no matter how poorly some fans believe they played. A possible switch to one blocking scheme could be a major factor as well under Coach Nussmeier and Coach Funk if they decide to go to a zone blocking scheme. Getting another year in the weight room along with getting another year older should in fact help this offensive line group as well. If you look at Ohio State this past season they was loaded with 4th and 5th year Seniors along with many years of playing together and games played as a unit which I believe was around 170 games compared to about 60 for Michigan last season. Also if you look at teams like Wisconsin in the past where most of the time they would develop their lines and you would rarely see them until their 3rd or 4th year in the program and almost every linemen would be red-shirted as well.
Getting a line to gel along with knowing what to do, who is beside them, and how to play will be a huge factor that we all hope is at least somewhat settled going into fall camp from this spring football season.
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff
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