Jalen Mayfield’s exit leaves Michigan OL even less experienced - MLive.com

panggilansaja.blogspot.com

The Michigan football team’s least-experienced position group on offense just got even younger following the planned departure of Jalen Mayfield.

Mayfield, a junior with just 13 starts under his belt, made an announcement Tuesday night that he was going to forego his remaining college eligibility and declare for the NFL draft.

His decision came just one week after the Big Ten said it was postponing all fall sports, including football, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league hopes to resume play in the spring, but it left high-upside players like Mayfield in a bind when it came to the 2021 NFL Draft, scheduled for April 29 to May 1 in Cleveland.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Mayfield opted to take the plunge and bet on himself in uncertain times, leaving the Wolverines with a significant experience gap when they do resume.

Related: OL Jalen Mayfield plans to enter NFL draft

And assuming there is a spring season, Michigan will have to figure out who replaces Mayfield at right tackle. The obvious move is to slide Ryan Hayes over from left tackle to right.

Back in February, Michigan offensive line coach Ed Warinner said Hayes, a 6-foot-7, 302-pound junior from Traverse City who started the first two games of the 2019 season at left tackle, spent most of his time in 2019 on the right side backing up Mayfield. He felt Hayes was better in a left-handed stance than Mayfield, which explained the plan for fall 2020.

But the best laid plans are always subject to change, and may need to. Warinner identified redshirt freshman Karsen Barnhart as the next-best available tackle, emerging as the backup to Jon Runyan, Jr., on the left side. While it’s unclear how both players progressed over the summer, Hayes and Keegan, who appeared in just two games last season, remain front-runners for the starting tackle jobs for a potential spring season.

There’s also Andrew Stueber, a former tackle and the wild card in all of this. Stueber, listed at 6-foot-7 and 339 pounds, gave Mayfield a run for his money at right tackle during fall camp in 2019 before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. Stueber has appeared in 14 games, starting two at right tackle, and seemed prime for a spot along the interior. Could Michigan lean on Stueber’s size and experience at tackle instead? Joel Honigford, with two years of eligibility left, should also be in the mix here.

More: Have these names played their last game in a U-M uniform?

That could hinge on what happens inside. The Wolverines remain less experienced at the two guard positions and at center, where a competition was expected this summer and fall between former walk-on and fifth-year senior Andrew Vastardis, with zero starts under his belt, and redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter.

At guard, Stueber was expected to provide depth for an unproven group that included redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga and Trevor Keegan, another redshirt freshman who did not play in 2019.

Beyond that, Michigan has a list of six freshmen — redshirt and first-year players — with minimal to no collegiate experience: Reece Atteberry, Jeffrey Persi, Trente Jones (redshirt), Nolan Rumler (redshirt), Jack Stewart (redshirt), and Zak Zinter.

While the cupboard is far from bare, Warinner will have his hands full this fall trying to determine Mayfield’s replacement and who falls in place behind. The group goes from having a combined 18 starts under their belt to just five.

Subscribe on:

Get Wolverine Confidential texts straight to your phone from our Michigan football writers. Cut through the clutter of social media and communicate directly with our beat reporters, just like you would with your friends. Sign up for insight on the Wolverines for $4.99 a month (with a 60-day free trial) by texting 734-215-6605.

Read more on Michigan football:

U-M’s top 10 safety recruits since 2000, and how they fared

Michigan and Jim Harbaugh could be in a peculiar spot come 2021

Parents of U-M players want Big Ten to play football this fall

Michigan AD says Big Ten ‘couldn’t move forward’

Harbaugh proposed seeded game to crown Big Ten champion

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"Exit" - Google News
August 19, 2020 at 06:30PM
https://ift.tt/2DYeqPq

Jalen Mayfield’s exit leaves Michigan OL even less experienced - MLive.com
"Exit" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2zNkU0N
https://ift.tt/2YrnuUx

Bagikan Berita Ini