Michigan Football Tidbits: Offensive Line -- Part 1

Michigan Football Tidbits: Offensive Line -- Part 1

A year ago this group was a mess and had the extra privilege of playing for a coach (Frey) who has about as much patience as Coach Rod.

So not only were kids learning a new position (one in which almost everyone who played were not accustomed to or in proper shape for), but they had to endure endless pushing from coach Frey. To say the least, season seemed liked it would never end.

On top of this, this group had very little depth (example Ferrara having to move from defensive line). What a difference a year makes and is a prime example of how the combination of recruiting and development can change your football team.

Michigan has now gone from having one legit offensive linemen (Schilling) who some could argue was out of position and also not in proper body shape) to having at least eight players who could legitimately be starters this year with another two players who if not for being true freshmen could be in the mix.

There are three Michigan offensive linemen who have a least a bit of an edge to their game. Molk, Schilling, especially while playing at offensive guard, and really expect to see him play with more of an edge, and Dorrestein, who despite not being the overall athlete that others are, will absolutely bury your ASS if he locks onto you. A fourth who is showing signs of that type of attitude this spring was Khoury, he is not scared to mix it up either.

Some kids just have that natural edge / attitude, some kids have to develop it. Playing correct position where player has proper skill set definitely helps. Playing left tackle for Schilling would always of been a challenge. Playing left guard where he is able to use his strength and natural mauler tendencies in our opinion, will be huge help.

Just an overall observation of being Michigan fans. For years Michigan has had this reputation of being a running team (a power running team). We always thought expect for a few cases that Michigan was always vastly overrated in terms of running the football. We think they just had this reputation and people went with it. But even when we had Mike Hart, even with C. Perry (expect for times his senior year), and even with AT we always thought we struggled running the ball against good / great teams and was always inconsistent.

We think Michigan this year will start being that team that opponents say they have to stop the running game and it will be accurate. This is the part of Michigan football we are most excited about. Not only we will be able run the ball effectively, but we will finally see some of those long runs. The scheme, the players, the work ethic all seem in place for Michigan to have a productive year of running the ball.

Lesson learned: Recruiting and development works. We just need to get the "other areas" of the team at the same level.

Some tidbits on the Offensive Line:

Ortmann: Have written about Ortmann before and nothing has changed. In our opinion, Ortmann, Molk, and Schilling are right now the guaranteed three starters with Mooseman as close to a sure thing (at least to start the year) as you can get. Left tackle is just a position coach Frey does not want to mess with and he certainly does not want to start a first year player at that position. So, Ortmann is a starter and really is an example of a kid who deserves his time.

Lets not forget that Ortmann has been through so many changes and been given so many promises. He has been told to change his workout routing numerous times who went from a tight end body to over bulking, then back. Five years at Michigan and finally Ortmann feels like he is where he thought he would be three years ago. Kudos to the kid for sticking it out and working his ass off. We will be rooting for Ortmann this fall.

Molk: He is undersized, but his wrestlers mentality really pays dividends for him. He just wont quit and the coaches have continually looked at other options (remember when Zirbel was healthy it was between Moose and Molk as to who would be starting offensive center).

Now he is getting pressure from Khoury, but gap is big enough that Molk is pretty secure with his starting spot. In a strange way, even though Molk was recruited by the Carr staff, it is pretty obvious that Molk probably never would of played in old system. Coach Frey's schemes especially how he uses his offensive center fits Molk perfectly and is one of the big reasons they pursued Pace so aggressively.

Now Molk, may end up being all Big 10 and lets hope he does, but the facts are a year ago he was not going to be the starter until Zirbel was injured. Mooseman had basically beaten him out, except for the fact that Moose was struggling some with snaps and Molk seemed much more consistent. But since Molk has won the job he has done everything to hold on to it. That is not to say he has not been pushed. Khoury is pushing him, but he is a freshman.

The point about Carr was Molk probably would of struggled in a more power running offense and even though Michigan had gone to zone blocking a couple years ago it was a much different type of zone blocking than coach Frey's schemes.

Molk is not, or never will be the most physically talented offensive linemen or offensive center at Michigan or in Big Ten. Molk makes up for his physical liabilities of short arms and lack of size and quickness with a nasty edgy attitude and a work ethic that is off the charts. He was the only Michigan player who had the BALLS against Ohio State to fight back. This team, especially the upper classmen do not have enough of this type of edgy, "I am going to rip your F*****G head off attitude!"

Schilling: Been discussed, but continues his impressive gains in weight and strength.

Part 2 the rest of the offensive line

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Written by MaizeMan, CoachBt and ErocWolverine