Position Preview: Interior Offensive Line

Redshirt sophomore Patrick Omameh is poised for a breakout year at right guard.

The position previews continue today with a look at one of the team’s best position groups, the interior line:

Returning Contributors: David Molk (RS Jr.), Stephen Schilling (RS Sr.), Patrick Omameh (RS So.), Ricky Barnum (RS So.), Rocko Khoury (RS So.), Elliott Mealer (RS So.), John Ferrara (RS Sr.)
Ready to Contribute: Quinton Washington (RS Fr.)
Incoming Freshmen: Christian Pace
Key Departures: David Moosman

The Projected Starters: Michigan fans will be happy to see center David Molk healthy and back in the starting lineup after missing most of the 2009 season with foot and knee injuries. Molk has arguably been the team’s best offensive lineman when healthy the past two seasons, and he is the perfect fit at center in Rich Rodriguez’s offense — a strong, agile lineman who excels in zone blocking and getting to the second level.

Left guard Stephen Schilling is a former five-star prospect who earned All-Big Ten honorable mention last year from both the coaches and the media. With 36 career starts, Schilling is the most experienced lineman on the team, and he is a very strong player who is at his best in the run game. Schilling should once again vie for postseason honors in his final year as a Wolverine.

Redshirt sophomore Patrick Omameh has surprised many by going from a two-star defensive end prospect to starting the final three games of 2009 at right guard, where he projects to start full-time this season. Omameh has been very impressive in spring and fall practices, and like Molk he is a very agile athlete for his size (6-4, 299 pounds). Many, including myself, expect big things out of Omameh in his first full year as a starter, and when combined with Molk and Schilling he rounds out what should be a stellar interior line for the Wolverines.

The Competition: Although the starting lineup appears set, Michigan has several solid backups in the interior line should the team need to replace one of the above players. A trio of redshirt sophomores — Ricky Barnum, Elliott Mealer, and Rocko Khoury — should be the primary backups. Barnum is a former four-star and an extremely versatile player who can line up at any position along the line — he saw snaps at both center and guard during Saturday’s scrimmage, and will likely be the top backup at guard this season. At 6-5, 313 pounds, Mealer is a huge guard and a solid athlete who saw action in 11 games last season. Khoury has worked at center since arriving in Ann Arbor, and with Moosman gone he will be pressed into action should Molk go down to injury again this year. He is reportedly much-improved at the quarterback-center exchange after struggling with it in practice last year.

Others: Redshirt senior John Ferrara has been passed on the depth chart by the trio of sophomores, but he has six career starts at guard and would be a capable and experienced replacement if called upon. Redshirt freshman guard Quinton Washington is a former four-star recruit, but he’s likely a year away from sniffing the two-deep at one of the most stacked positions on the roster. True freshman Christian Pace is a promising center prospect very much in the Molk mold, but he is a lock to redshirt as he continues to add weight after enrolling early in the spring.

Outlook: The interior line boasts three players with all-conference potential, and should be one of the strongest position groups on the team in 2010. Having Molk healthy alongside Schilling and Omameh should be a huge boost to the offense and give the Wolverines one of the top lines in the Big Ten. On top of having a great starting trio, the team has a great deal of depth in the interior of the line — it’s hard to see this group being anything but a strength this fall.

Previous Position Previews: Quarterback, Running Back, Outside Receiver, Slot Receiver, Tight End, Offensive Tackle

For every position preview, click here or hit the “2010 Position Previews” tag at the bottom of the post.

//

Position Threat Levels: Low

Remember the Homeland Security Department’s biggest PR move, the terrorist threat level indicator? You know, this thing:

Well, I decided — in a desperate attempt to figure out what type of content to post during the slow summer months — to apply these threat levels (minus the whole, you know, terrorist thing) to Michigan’s position groups. In other words, which groups are the Wolverines comfortably stocked at, and which ones have you buying mass quantities of bottled water and canned foods to prepare for the football apocalypse? Over the next week, I’ll be placing each of the position groups into one of the above categories. Today, I start with the spots that Michigan fans have the least to worry about — the “Low” threat category:

Slot Receiver: Rich Rodriguez has made a very concerted effort over the last few recruiting classes to bring in small, speedy players who fit his system, and the slot receiver position is now stacked with a talented, and crowded, depth chart. Roy Roundtree emerged as Tate Forcier’s go-to guy over the second half of the 2009 season, and his performance in this year’s spring game showed that Forcier isn’t the only quarterback looking his way when a big play needs to happen. He should, once again, be the team’s leading receiver, and with a full season of playing time should easily surpass his numbers from last year. Martavious Odoms has been somewhat overshadowed by the emergence of Roundtree, but is still a very solid all-around receiver who could force Michigan to play a lot of four-receiver sets to ensure their best players are on the field. Jeremy Gallon and Terrence Robinson both impressed during spring drills and provide versatile (both played in the backfield in high school) and athletic options as backups — both could also see time returning kicks. Kelvin Grady has been the odd man out at the position this spring, but he’s still a talented athlete who could contribute if called upon, especially as he learns Rich Rodriguez’s system. Michigan has too many skilled athletes in the slot to not get good production out of the position this fall, and Roundtree and Odoms will likely be the top two receivers on the team — of all the positions on the field, this is the one I’m least worried about.

Interior O-Line: The Wolverines have a great combination of talent and experience on the interior of the line, and with a healthy (knock on wood) David Molk back at center, this group should be a strength for the offense. Molk is the key player here — he was Michigan’s best offensive lineman when healthy last year, and the offense struggled when he was out of the lineup (though part of those struggles can, and should, be attributed to a freshman quarterback entering a tough Big Ten slate of games). Stephen Schilling, a former five-star recruit, has the left guard position locked down, and although Schilling hasn’t lived up to his recruiting hype, he is still a very solid and reliable player who could have an all-conference type season in his final year as a Wolverine. At right guard, redshirt sophomore Patrick Omameh has emerged as one of the team’s most promising young lineman after earning a few starts at the end of last season. He is poised for a breakout year in his first season as a full-time starter, and getting those starts in 2009 should greatly ease any concerns over breaking in a new player on the offensive line. Michigan is relatively young once you get past Schilling and Molk on the depth chart, but there is certainly a lot of talent waiting in the wings —  redshirt sophomore Ricky Barnum and redshirt freshman Quinton Washington were both four-star players coming out of high school, and should be the primary backups at guard, while redshirt sophomore Rocko Khoury gained valuable experience this spring at center while Molk recovered from last season’s injuries. Redshirt sophomore Elliott Mealer and fifth-year senior John Ferrara provide even more depth at guard, a luxury Michigan has not had in the past couple seasons with thin offensive lines.

Those two position groups should help power Michigan’s offense to further improvement in 2010, and (barring an injury to Roundtree, Odoms, or Molk) will be two areas where Wolverine fans can expect solid performances week in and week out. Tomorrow, I’ll have the “guarded” positions as we move up the threat level ladder.

The Foundation: A Look at the 2006 Recruiting Class

Guard Stephen Schilling was considered a five-star prospect by both recruiting services.

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be examining the foundation for the 2010 Michigan Wolverines: the five recruiting classes, from 2006 to 2010, that comprise the team. First, let’s look at the players from the class of 2006, some of whom have fifth-year eligibility for the fall:

Class of 2006 (Sorted by Rivals.com Ranking):

[table id=103 /]

Who’s Left?

A relatively small class to begin with (just 19 players), the class of 2006 was hit hard by departures (Boren, Kates, Mixon, Patilla, and Woods) and players not living up to their potential. Just seven players — Stephen Schilling, Jonas Mouton, Adam Patterson, Greg Banks, Perry Dorrestein, Obi Ezeh, and John Ferrara — are still on Michigan’s roster, and the career performance of those players has been somewhat disappointing considering the lofty recruiting rankings they arrived on campus with. Schilling has been a solid starter at left guard, but hasn’t been the game-changing force expected from a player with a  five-star ranking. Mouton has had an up-and-down career after outgrowing the safety position and moving to linebacker, while Patterson and Banks have languished on the bench despite ample opportunity to step into a larger role. Like Mouton, Ezeh has had a rocky career at linebacker after a position switch from high school, but expectations were much lower for the three-star in-state running back. Dorrestein and Ferrara have both stepped into occasional starting roles, but while Ferrara appears destined to end his career as a backup offensive lineman, Dorrestein is competing for a starting tackle spot.

Who’s Gone?

In short, almost everyone, which isn’t exactly a surprise five years down the line. I don’t need to explain how big a loss Brandon Graham is from this Michigan defense, nor do I need to rehash the tale of Justin Boren, Dirty Buckeye Traitor. Of the other departed players who did manage to see the field at Michigan, few lived up to expectations: Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor could never stay healthy enough to consistently play at an all-conference level, Greg Mathews was a solid but unspectacular possession receiver, and Stevie Brown was a disaster at safety before becoming a solid linebacker in his final season. The rest of the class either remained buried on the bench, left the program, or handled kickoff duties (hello, Bryan Wright).

The Upshot:

It’s tough to call this class anything but a disappointment after four years — by my count, only eight players from Rivals.com’s #13 recruiting class have had a major impact as a player at Michigan and stuck out their time in Ann Arbor. The reputation of this class could very well hinge on the 2010 performances of Ezeh and Mouton — if they play like they did last year, or lose their starting jobs (more likely for Ezeh than Mouton), this class will have far underperformed expectations. The fact that so much of this class has already left without making much of a positive impact (besides, of course, Graham, who may be the only player in the class who played above his recruiting hype) helps show why this team has struggled so much the past two years.

Observations on the Michigan State Game

Michigan's defense gave Kirk Cousins far too much running room.

Boy, am I excited for this one. Here are a few thoughts on the game, based on my initial (and so far, only) viewing of the game from Spartan Stadium:

• I don’t know if anybody expected the loss of David Molk to have as much of an impact as it has thus far. His absence reaches far beyond the occasional bad snap — it’s pretty clear that Molk-Moosman-Huyge is a much more preferable combination in both run- and pass-blocking than Moosman-Huyge/Ferrara-Dorrestein. It was tough to tell from being at the game (and in the nosebleeds), but if I had to guess, the biggest factor in the running game disappearing was poor line play. Forcier was also sacked four times, and spent several other plays scrambling for his life. Just a bad performance from the line overall.
• The offense deserves much of the blame for this loss, but I don’t think you can let the defense entirely off the hook. MSU did everything they could to give this game back to Michigan, turning the ball over four times and committing some boneheaded penalties (State finished with eight penalties for 94 yards), but they moved the ball at will. The 17 play, 70 yard drive that led to the Spartans’ first score was pure torture to watch. I mean, look at this:
  

  1-10-MIST20	(12:22) MIST was penalized 5 yards.
  1-15-MIST15	(11:30) Running back rushed for no gain.
  2-15-MIST15	(11:15) Kirk Cousins passed to Charlie Gantt for 18 yards.
  1-10-MIST33	(10:49) Larry Caper rushed for 5 yards.
  2-5-MIST38	(10:12) Larry Caper rushed for 6 yards.
  1-10-MIST44	(9:37) Keshawn Martin rushed for 18 yards. MIST was penalized 15 yards.
  1-25-MIST47	(9:13) Kirk Cousins passed to Blair White for 9 yards. MIST was penalized 15 yards.
  2-16-MIST41	(8:59) Kirk Cousins passed to Blair White for 17 yards.
  1-10-MI42	(7:46) Kirk Cousins passed to Blair White for 3 yards.
  2-7-MI39	(7:31) Running back rushed for 1 yard.
  3-6-MI38	(6:50) Kirk Cousins passed to Mark Dell for 9 yards.
  1-10-MI29	(6:30) Kirk Cousins passed incomplete to Charlie Gantt.
  2-10-MI29	(6:25) MIST was penalized 15 yards.
  2-25-MI44	(5:49) Kirk Cousins rushed for 19 yards.
  3-6-MI25	(5:19) Kirk Cousins passed to B.J. Cunningham for 15 yards.
  1-10-MI10	(4:51) Running back rushed for no gain.
  2-10-MI10	(4:02) Larry Caper rushed for 2 yards.
  3-0-MI8	(3:17) Kirk Cousins rushed for 7 yards.
  4-0-MI1	(2:25) Touchdown. Larry Caper rushed for 1 yard.
  (2:25) Brett Swenson made the extra point.
  MI 3   MIST 7,   Plays: 17   Yards: 70   Possession: 10:02.

  The Spartans were penalized 50 yards on that drive, and yet were still able to convert two third-downs and a fourth-and-goal to put seven on the board. Excuse me while I kick the nearest puppy.

• How on earth do we let Kirk Freakin’ Cousins rush for 75 yards, including a critical 41-yard scramble in the fourth quarter? I really don’t know who to pin that one on: it could be the scheme, the d-line not keeping contain, or the linebackers not doing their job, but one way or another, that cannot happen in the future. If Ricky Stanzi starts gashing the defense for 30 yards at a time this weekend, I might just set my TV on fire.
• Darryl Stonum continues to be both electrifying and frustrating. He was the only Wolverine other than Tate Forcier to put up a productive game on offense, hauling in five catches for 95 yards and the critical 60-yard TD to put Michigan within seven. However, he couldn’t find a seam on kickoff returns, and, more importantly, put the ball on the ground early in the fourth to kill a promising drive deep in Spartan territory. Overall, Stonum had a great performance, and he really seems to be improving with each game, but he can’t make those kind of mistakes.
• Has the team’s tackling completely regressed since the first couple weeks, or is it just me? Maybe it’s just the image of Larry Caper shedding tackles en route to the end zone in overtime, but this team needs to wrap up and haul guys down on the first try.
• There were a few bright spots, so I’ll try to end on a happy note: Besides the terrible decision on the rollout punt, Zoltan Mesko had a great game, averaging 43 yards a punt and booming a long of 56 yards. Jason Olesnavage hit both his field goal attempts, including a 42-yarder. Jordan Kovacs actually looked quite solid in run support when Michigan brought him off the edge; I couldn’t tell how he did against the pass, but he did bring something to the table. Donovan Warren continues to merit “don’t throw at me” status. Brandon Graham continues to toss aside double teams to make plays. Tate Forcier continues to not get nervous. I’ll end there, before I start making asinine comments.

This game was rough, but we have to remember preseason expectations. I expect Michigan to have a solid bounce-back effort against Iowa, and we’ll learn a lot about this team as they try to rebound from a bad loss. It should be a very interesting week of football.