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| Jake Ryan |
Michigan held its annual Football Bust on Monday evening, and here are the award winners from the event:
Bo Schembechler Team MVP: Jake Ryan, LB (5th)
Captains: Jake Ryan, LB (5th) and Devin Gardner, QB (5th)
Hugh J. Rader, Jr. Award (best lineman): Jack Miller, OC (RS Jr.)
Dick Katcher Award (best defensive end/outside linebacker): Brennen Beyer, DE (Sr.)
Roger Zatkoff Award (best linebacker): Jake Ryan, LB (5th)
Robert P. Ufer Award (senior who demonstrates love and enthusiasm for the program): Brennen Beyer, DE (Sr.)
Dr Arthur Robinson Scholarship Award (senior scholar): Joey Burzynski, OG (5th)
I don’t think any of these awards would surprise anyone except perhaps the Rader Award. Miller took a lot of heat during the 2013 season for his performance, and he was eventually replaced by Graham Glasgow last year. But he turned into a solid lineman in 2014, which I think is simply proof that experience is key on the offensive line. Michigan improved with two new starters at the offensive tackles, and the interior included two redshirt juniors and a redshirt sophomore. Assuming all five players return in 2015, Michigan will be starting (from left to right) a sophomore, a fifth year senior, a fifth year senior, a redshirt junior, and a redshirt junior. The 2016 season could see a junior, a redshirt senior (Erik Magnuson?), a redshirt junior (Patrick Kugler?), a redshirt senior, and a redshirt senior. Michigan is on its way to having some age and experience across the offensive line once again.
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These guys worked hard and were heroic. I hope Beyer and Jake Ryan will have a good NFL career. I hope Gardner at least get a chance (albeit at a different position).
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Oh, and the O-line depth. I hope we keep recruiting plenty of linemen every single class. Thank God we'll start to see some solid depth starting next year. Oh depth, how I have missed you.
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Miller is really a surprise since he couldn't even play on the awful 2013 line. I don't know if anybody outside his family members expected him to (effectively) displace Magnuson from the starting lineup.
It's a credit to Nussmeir that the OL as a whole was improved on the season. I thought they'd get better at run-blocking and worse at pass-blocking, but it seems that they actually got better in both.
As for next year, I hope we can retain these guys and that Bosch rejoins the program. Experience is indeed crucial, though as we see with Cole, it's not always that simple.
I believe we need to continue to hit OL recruiting hard if we plan to run a pro-style offense.
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