Posts under: Blog

2019 Season Countdown: #5 Cesar Ruiz

Name: Cesar Ruiz
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 319 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Center
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #51
Last year: I ranked Ruiz #5 and said he would be the starting center (LINK). He started all thirteen games.
TTB Rating: 99

Ruiz has had a solid career so far. Sometimes expectations for highly regarded recruits can get out of hand, especially for linemen. For whatever reason, I don’t think that has been the case with Ruiz – for good reason. Many centers start off their careers as redshirts, backups, or contributors at offensive guard – check. (Ruiz started five games at guard as a freshman.) Then in their next year, they play but don’t necessarily stand out – check. (Ruiz had a decent year in 2018, but he was Third Team All-Big Ten). He was Offensive Line Player of the Week against Nebraska, a pretty bad squad.

This year is when Ruiz should hit his stride. He’s no longer adjusting to play center in college – he’s already done it. Despite a new offense, the schemes up front won’t be any more difficult; if anything, they should be a little simpler. Ruiz is quick and powerful, and he has great size. There has been a little discussion about his potential to leave for the NFL after this season, and we’ll see whether that comes to fruition or not. He might not be First Team all-conference in 2019 (Tyler Biadasz from Wisconsin already won that honor, so I expect him to win it again), but I think Ruiz will be just as good. As the commander of the offensive line, he’s a very important piece, but he does have a solid backup in redshirt junior Stephen Spanellis and a freshman who has turned some heads in Zach Carpenter.

Prediction: Starting center

What are the best Michigan football books?

For those of you who are interested in reading – and you’re reading these words right now, so that probably includes you – I thought I would put together a ranked list of my top Michigan Wolverines football books. This is not an exhaustive list, because I have not read every Michigan book, even though I own most of the ones listed. (Star ratings are via Goodreads.com.)

BOOKS I’VE READ (ranked in order of my preference)

1. Three and Out by John U. Bacon (4.15).
2. Endzone by John U. Bacon (4.32).
3. Fourth and Long by John U. Bacon (3.92).
4. Braylon Edwards: Doing It My Way by Braylon Edwards and Tom VanHaaren (not rated yet).
5. The Road to Ann Arbor by Tom VanHaaren (3.84).
6. If These Walls Could Talk: Michigan Football Stories from Inside the Big House by Jon Falk and Dan Ewald (3.99).
7. Forty Years in the Big House: Michigan Tales from My Four Decades as a Wolverine by Jon Falk and Dan Ewald (3.45).

BOOKS I HAVE YET TO READ (ranked in order of Goodreads.com ratings)

1. A Legacy of Champions: The Story of the Men Who Built University of Michigan Football by John U. Bacon and Bob Wojnowski (4.43).
2. Bo’s Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership by Bo Schembechler and John U. Bacon (4.40).
3. The Wolverines: A Story of Michigan Football by Will Perry (4.17).
4. Bo: Life, Laughs, and Lessons of a College Football Legend by Bo Schembechler and Mitch Albom (4.15).
5. War as They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and American in a Time of Unrest by Michael Rosenberg (4.08).
6. Michigan Man: Jim Harbaugh and the Rebirth of the Michigan Wolverines by Angelique Chengelis (3.96).
7. Bo’s Warriors: Bo Schembechler and the Transformation of Michigan Football by Frank Lieberman (3.50).
8. Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football by John U. Bacon (not rated yet).

Do you have any additions to make to the list?

Originally posted on December 31, 2018.

2019 Season Countdown: #6 Jon Runyan, Jr.

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Name: Jon Runyan, Jr.
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 321 lbs.
High school: Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph’s
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #75
Last year: I ranked Runyan #19 and said he would be the starting right tackle (LINK). He started thirteen games at left tackle.
TTB Rating: 73

Runyan had one of the more impressive debut seasons as a starter in recent memory. A career backup from 2015-2017 (except a start in the Outback Bowl), Runyan struggled in the 2018 season opener at left tackle and then cruised to being named the best offensive lineman on the team and a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the conference’s coaches. He was named the Offensive Line Player of the Week against both Wisconsin and Penn State, which were also the two games where Pro Football Focus named him to their All-Big Ten team for the week. Runyan has always been very athletic, but he finally seemed to gain the necessary weight and strength to hold up in 2018.

Runyan will get a chance to continue his ascent in 2019 under second-year offensive line coach Ed Warinner. Runyan isn’t a prototypical left tackle (listed at 6’5″, some have suggested he’s only 6’3″ or maybe 6’4″), but Warinner has done a good job throughout his career of taking some mismatched pieces and molding them into solid offensive lines. Runyan himself just has great feet, anchors well, and gets up to the second level; the guys who were going to give him trouble are the really long dudes who can get their hands on him first, and there aren’t a ton of those. Runyan should have another solid year.

Prediction: Starting left tackle

Nightly Roundup: August 24, 2019

So . . . ummm . . . Andrew Luck is retiring.

Filed to ESPN: Andrew Luck has informed the Colts he is retiring from the NFL, per source. There will be a press conference Sunday to make it official, but Luck is mentally worn down, and now checking out.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2019

More bad news coming for #Michigan: According to a source, Jim Harbaugh is being blamed for Andrew Luck's denied application for immediate Medicare eligibility.

— Touch the Banner (@TouchTheBanner) August 25, 2019

Kwity Paye doesn’t think leadership will be an issue (LINK).

Rashan Gary left the game with an injury (LINK).

It’s going to be very interesting to see how Brandon Peters does as the starter for Illinois. He went from #4 at Michigan to #1 at Illinois in one off-season.

2019 Season Countdown: #7 Nico Collins

Name: Nico Collins
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 222 lbs.
High school: Birmingham (AL) Clay-Chalkville
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Collins #34 and said he would be a backup wide receiver with 15 catches for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He started eleven games and made 38 catches for 632 yards and 6 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 85

Collins had a huge breakout season in 2018. Coming out of a spring where Tarik Black was reported to be the most outstanding receiver on the team, I expected Collins to take a back seat to Black and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Instead, Collins turned out to be a huge factor in the passing game. He was #1 on the team in receiving yards (632), #2 in receptions (38), #2 in receiving touchdowns (6), and #1 in yards per catch (16.6) out of players who caught 10+ passes.

Collins isn’t a big catch-and-run guy, but he’s a downfield threat because he has decent straight-line speed and great size to box out defensive backs. He’s Devin Funchess without the drops and with a better work ethic. Buzz about Black has fizzled since his latest broken foot, but some have been suggesting that Collins has been the best player on the team during spring and fall camp. I expect him to continue to ascend and get more of a chance to show what he can do in Michigan’s new offense.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 60 catches for 990 yards and 10 touchdowns