Vastardis, Bredeson, Runyan, and Ulizio (L to R, image via Detroit News)
Name: Andrew Vastardis
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 305 lbs.
High school: Ashburn (VA) Stone Bridge
Position: Center/offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #68
Last year: I did not rank Vastardis. He redshirted.
TTB Rating: N/A
Vastardis was a preferred walk-on who arrived on campus last year. He’s a block of granite. And he moves like one, too. But when you’re an interior lineman, sometimes that can work. He saw a fair amount of time in the spring game, and he acquitted himself well. Michigan has some decent options on the inside, and things seem to be fairly settled. The top four guys on the interior appear to be Ben Bredeson, Patrick Kugler, Michael Onwenu, and Cesar Ruiz, and I don’t think Vastardis will beat out any of them. However, he could be an injury replacement for one of them, and he will probably get some chances to hone his skills in mop-up time.
Prediction: Backup offensive guard
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I enjoy the surprise (to me anyway) walk-ons on the list.
Vastardis as the 5th guy on the interior is as realistic as it is disappointing.
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On the plus side, he might not be the 5th guy. He might be surpassed by Filiaga, Spanellis, etc. It’s just that the four guys I listed are the ones who are (almost certainly) ahead of him.
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Or Runyan, who gets to play inside in a best case scenario for the team.
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I liked Vastardis better than Spanellis coming in, predicted that Vastardis would see the field before Spanellis and am sticking with that predicttion.
I thought I saw on his film a powerful kid that stayed pretty low and was a bunch niftier than you would expect, which … ok … nobody expects much in the way of nifty from a block of granite … but still. I’m told that he’s also tough, smart and coachable. That’s three very good things in an offensive lineman.
I’ll hedge my prediction only to the extent that he and Spanellis might run out there together as fellow second teamers. But I believe him to be ahead of Spanellis and expect him to stay in front of Spanellis and Filiaga, both. Actually, I think Vastardis is ahead of Ulizio too, should the conversation come down to, “Somebody got hurt, who’s our next best lineman?”
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