An onlooker or two literally fainting at something Gary does
this spring would be nice. [Bryan Fuller]

Our annual rite. The Question:

What do you want to hear out of spring practice?

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Adam: There's depth on the D-line. Not "there are humans and they are large and they have played football before so yes, they are football players" depth. I'm looking for reports gushing about how much the backups have developed.

We've seen this a bit with Michael Dwumfour in last season's bowl practices. That assuages fears about NT depth a bit; Mone still has to stay healthy for a full season, but at least five-star Aubrey Solomon is available and, if his high-school highlights are any indication, ready to enter the rotation.

Every other spot on the line, though, is returning a starter with a fair bit of on-field experience and really unproven backups. Rashan Gary will start at SDE/Anchor, but he'll need Carlo Kemp or Donovan Jeter to spell him. Mo Hurst is the best 3Tech in the conference; positional nomad Lawrence Marshall or true freshmen James Hudson and Deron Irving-Bey are ostensibly his backups. Chase Winovich got to live out his dream and actually chase things down last fall, and if Don Brown's effusive practice reports are any indication then he should continue to do so this fall. There's a veritable stable of options behind him in Reuben Jones, Ron Johnson, Corey Malone-Hatcher, Luiji Vilain, and Kwity Paye; this group has a combined four games of collegiate playing experience. There's a ton of talent along the line, but it still has to be cultivated if Greg Mattison is going to have the eight-man rotation he prefers.

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Ace: Charles Matthews is hitting his jump shots. Wait. Shit.

Seth:
/reaches over to Acebot
/flips switch

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Ace: Okay, Cesar Ruiz is on track. With the depth at tackle in its current state, Michigan needs interior linemen to step up so there’s at least the option of shifting someone (probably Mason Cole) to tackle to get their best five out there. While there are a couple other bullets in the chamber in Jon Runyan Jr. and Stephen Spanellis, freshman Cesar Ruiz seems like the best bet to crack the starting lineup, whether at center or guard. He’s far from your average true freshman interior lineman: he played center, not tackle like most D-I OL prospects, at IMG Academy, so he’s already acclimated to playing on the interior. He was consistently talked up as the best interior lineman at the Under Armour All-American game. He’s got the build at 6’3, 320. Michigan doesn’t need him to be the star this year that he should become; it’ll be encouraging to hear that he’s on track.

[After THE JUMP: can you play tackle? No asking seriously do you have eligibility and really quick feet for your 6’7/310 frame?]

Brian: Similarly, anybody can play tackle. Look at this team. Look at it. It's all right, you know? It could go places. As long as barely-blocked hell-demons are not flying off the edge with eyes on Wilton Speight's bird-bones, this could be a real good season. I just don't know what the hell they're going to do there.

I assume the Grant Newsome talk is just that and we won't see him until 2018, so Michigan's options there include 1) starters on the interior last year, 2) guys who got passed by a starter on the interior last year, and 2) freshmen. None of whom are enrolling early. (I believe JaRaymond Hall is a guard.) Soooooo... just exiting Spring with a plan would be great. To be honest I kind of want that plan to be moving both Cole and Bredeson outside and rolling with Onwenu/Ruiz/Kugler on the interior, in whatever order you want.

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David: While we’re on the line, I want to hear Mike Onwenu is crushing more than grapes. IIRC, Onwenu looked solid in his spotty mop-up minutes in 2016. He's always had the size and nimbleness -and apparently he's even slimmed down a bit to enhance his efficiency. So, it is not a stretch to think he can compete for and win a starting job, but getting positive returns early will give Michigan more options moving forward...and put bloggers minds at ease.

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Seth: Yes yes yes to all of these OL things but specifically the one I want to hear most is Ben Bredeson is competing at left tackle. Remember last spring when Little Ben was supposedly giving Newsome a run? They’re not even suggesting it now. We got a very early glimpse of the OL status recently and the configuration had Ruiz at center and Mason Cole flipping back out to LT, with JBB at RT and Bredeson remaining at LG. Of all configurations that one probably has the lowest ceiling for this year: Cole will never be more than adequate at left tackle, Bushell-Beatty should have cracked the lineup by now if he's going to be better than mediocre, and I don't care how IMG you are, a true freshman at center when the two guards are true sophomores is a recipe for Borgesian levels of blown assignments.

The best chance Michigan had of avoiding that this year was for Bredeson to emerge from a freshman season that was, at best, excusable. After recently rewatching the Orange Bowl, where Bredeson made a ton of non-opponent-dependent blunders, the likelihood of a big leap since is low. But lights can go on. If Bredeson locks down a tackle job, Michigan can either solidify the other side with Cole, or JBB or one of the freshmen can actually play. The ideal lineup would have Cole stay at center with Ruiz at his left as understudy. Every lineup that doesn't give me heebie jeebies has Bredeson outside.

Ace: Little Ben?

Seth: Big Ben = Braden. These things are relative. Also last year's left side after the Newsome injury was Ben and Ben. I can't be the only person to have made this connection.

Ace: I guess he’s smaller than the clock.

David: The clock at LT is not the worst option.

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Ace: Since we’ve focused entirely on the trenches, I’ll throw out a short and somewhat obvious one: David Long and Lavert Hill have locked up the starting corner spots.
That’s 100% the expectation; it’d be disconcerting if it didn’t come to fruition.

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Brian: Switching to explosion based desires, I'd like to hear that Chris Evans can break tackles now and Donovan Peoples-Jones is ready to go right now. Evans was about five broken tackles from having an absurd YPC, and most reports have him the clear #1 back entering spring. Another ten or fifteen pounds to run through the arm tackles opponents have to resort to on him frequently would presage a breakout year.

Meanwhile, DPJ is already causing exclamations in winter conditioning. This guarantees nothing, but these days maybe a third of five star wide receivers can make an immediate impact. The opportunity is there, and I'm down with Braylon 2.0 (with hands!).

BiSB: Obligatory:

Alex: "Braylon but with hands!" initially struck me as Fred Jacksonish but I'm not gonna bet against DPJ eventually being a star.

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Seth: With quarterback I think we'll have to trust our eyes more than anything the coaches say, but given how Speight's year ended I'm gonna be watching carefully for signs that he's completely healed and has his pocket presence back. After Indiana we got a small sample baseline for the rest. Peters was redshirting so he was excused, but one thing I don't want to hear is that O'Korn is the anointed backup. Ideally we'll get some raving about Peters followed by a Spring Game where he and Speight are taking turns lobbing bombs to all manner of receivers.

Adam: As far as Speight's pocket presence is concerned, he lost 20 pounds in the offseason. I'm interested to see the way that translates to the field.

Ace: I’m here for the raving about Brandon Peters.

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Seth: Anything else guys? Wheatley crushing a known quantity at DL? A favorite in the VIPER position battle? In-house fluff piece about Kekoa Crawford that suggests he's secured a starting job?

All: Nope. Just a tackle.