Michigan football: 3 Best qualities of the Wolverines offense

Offensive line

Four out of the five starters from last season returned including 2018 team captain Ben Bredeson who retained the honor of leading the team.

Ben is sandwiched between legacy left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. and center Cesar Ruiz. Jon’s dad was also a spectacular offensive lineman for UM in the early 1990s and finished his career in the NFL with All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections.

Ruiz is the lone junior of the group, and he came to the Wolverines ready to play. As a freshman, Cesar appeared in ten games, starting as a guard in five of them. Before arriving in Ann Arbor, he established himself as the best high school center in the country and broke the top fifty players in the country for his recruiting class.

To Cesar’s left is Michael Onwenu, a Detroit native who played for Cass Technical, a very competitive inner-city school. The 6-foot-3 350-pound senior has appeared in 33 games over his four years at Michigan and has started on the line 21 times.

The right tackle position was a toss-up between Andrew Steuber and Jalen Mayfield this offseason and all signs were pointing to the upperclassman Steuber securing the spot. That is until Steuber suffered a season-ending knee injury and since then, Mayfield has been announced as the starter. Jalen is a sophomore Grand Rapids native that appeared in three games last season as a true freshman.

Behind Mayfield is Joel Honigford and Ryan Hayes – who has been taking snaps at both tackle positions. Ryan – listed at 6-foot-7 and 300-pounds – has been impressing lineman coach Ed Warriner, and more importantly, the guy in charge.

“How about Ryan Hayes?” Harbaugh said on his weekly Attack Each Day Podcast. “Right out of the gate, let me just jump to Ryan Hayes. He’s made a big jump (from) what I have seen. I love the way he’s coming off the ball, Ed.”