Name: Andrew Vastardis
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 317 lbs.
High school: Ashburn (VA) Stone Bridge
Position: Offensive guard/center
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #68
Last year: I ranked Vastardis #87 and said he would be a backup center (LINK). He played in six games.
TTB Rating: N/A
Vastardis was a well regarded player coming out of high school a few years ago. A three-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball), he spurned some lower level scholarship offers to make a go of it at Michigan. So far it has turned out fairly well for him. He played in six games in 2018 at center and guard, along with special teams.
I still don’t see a big need for Vastardis going into 2019. Cesar Ruiz is entrenched as the team’s starting center, and Stephen Spanellis is Ruiz’s backup. Jess Speight is also a capable walk-on center, so Vastardis’s value is diminished a little bit, and there are a few solid guard options. Vastardis should be a special teams contributor and will see some snaps on offense.
Prediction: Backup center/guard
You need to login in order to vote
I think this is one of the better players I would feel OK with throwing in the lineup that’s ever been ranked in the 70s.
While it’s true that the 9th or 10th OL is almost never going to be very relevant in meaningful downs, Vastardis should be a big help in practice, sounds like a proven contributor on special teams, and could probably step into a meaningful role at anytime without causing disaster. That won’t be true for many guys listed in the 20 or so spots ahead of him.
FWIW I rank the backup OL in the following order of importance.
6. Spanellis
7. OT competition loser (Mayfield/Steuber)
8. Honinford
9. Filiaga
10. Vastardis
Vastardis might deserve to be a couple spots higher than that given his positional versatility.
You need to login in order to vote
Underrated! Vastardis stepped in against MSU when Ruiz went down. Against a couple of the toughest DTs in the conference, he seemed to manage just fine. Hopefully he’s back in AA in 2020 but may have options to start somewhere else if Ruiz comes back.
You need to login in order to vote