Michigan Football: Weighing the Wolverines offensive line options

With no spring football to gain sufficient practice, the big boys in the trenches will be forced to gel on the fly for Michigan football if the season ever commences.

Missing out on spring this year is going to leave a lot of unanswered questions unfulfilled for Michigan football. Four lineman must be replaced after getting selected in last week’s NFL draft. It’s undoubtedly the most worrisome group on the team because of the lack of experience left behind headed into the 2020 schedule.

At the tackle spots, Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes are the frontrunners to see the field post hast. Mayfield had a solid campaign as a first-time starter and is even being mocked in the opening round of early 2021 drafts. Hayes filled in when Jon Runyan got dinged up and earned some rave reviews from his head coach for those efforts. It is widely believed that both would have solidified their standings as the anchors on the line with a full spring routine.

The inside of the line offers a whole lot more uncertainty. These three gaps that remain speculative, missed out the most, with no time to hone their skills as dependable starters. A lengthy focus on the entire unit has to be one of the top priorities when practices resume.

Michigan football’s O-line coach Ed Warinner tabbed Chuck Filiaga as the successor to Ben Bredeson or Michael Onwenu at either one of the guards. He’s played sparingly through his three years on campus, but those who watch his progress daily believe he can efficiently supplant Bredeson with the work he puts in moving forward.

As far as the other two holes are concerned, there are about four names that have a dog in the fight. Karsen Barnhart and Andrew Stueber are two guys to be aware of for the second guard position.

Barnhart emerged in the weight room and in the eyes of the coaches. Stueber’s injury put him in the rearview mirror even more and he’ll knowingly have to put twice the grind in as his teammates to seize the reigns.

Then, whoever slots in the middle knows they have lofty expectations to live up to. Zach Carpenter and Andrew Vastardis would be those two center candidates. Carpenter really opened the door for himself on the scout team. Vastardis walked on and fought his way up the rotation. Carpenter possesses more talent than Vastardis, but Vastardis owns more playing time.

Those four stand out by showing up on projected depth charts more often than not, but they’re not the only ones who get to step up to the plate.

Nolan Rumler, Trente Jones, Joel Honigford, and Trevor Keegan have a bit of a heads up on the rest of the competition to have gained attention from the Michigan staff. In spite of all that, the race to dawn the jersey as a starter in Seattle on September 5 spells for a conflict of serious proportions.