Tag: Chris Bryant

Spring Practice Preview: Offense

It’s time to see what the Inkster product can do leading Michigan’s football team.

QUARTERBACK
Redshirt junior Devin Gardner is the clear front-runner for the quarterback job.  After Denard Robinson got hurt against Nebraska, Gardner started the next five games, going 75/126 for 1,219 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.  Michigan appears to have a “franchise” type quarterback, but what will Michigan’s offense look like with him fully entrenched at the position?  Gardner is better from under center than Robinson ever was, so the I-formation stuff should be more prevalent.  He can still run the shotgun passing stuff, but he’s not a downhill runner in the same way that allowed Robinson to run for 1,000+ yards the past few seasons.
Others to watch: The only other scholarship quarterback on the roster for the spring is redshirt sophomore Russell Bellomy.

RUNNING BACK
With Fitzgerald Toussaint injured, Vincent Smith off to his post-college career, and Derrick Green not arriving until summer, the pickings will be slim this spring.  This should be Michigan fans’ first chance to see redshirt freshman Drake Johnson, who earned some praise from Brady Hoke around bowl time.  He has good size and speed, but that doesn’t always translate to success.  Junior Thomas Rawls (57 carries, 242 yards, 4 touchdowns) and redshirt sophomore Justice Hayes (18 carries, 83 yards, 1 touchdown) earned some carries, but neither one did much with his opportunities.
Others to watch: Sophomore Dennis Norfleet has moved back to running back after a short stint at corner for the Outback Bowl.  Sophomore Sione Houma and redshirt sophomore Joey Kerridge will fight for the fullback spot.

WIDE RECEIVER
In the five games that Gardner started at quarterback, fifth year senior Jeremy Gallon had 31 receptions for 511 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He looks to be the top receiver in 2013, but there’s plenty of room for others to emerge.  Two other seniors return in Drew Dileo (22 catches, 331 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Jeremy Jackson (4 catches, 31 yards), the former of which is a jack-of-all-trades, the latter a lumbering possession receiver.  Then there’s sophomore Amara Darboh, who played but was never targeted, and redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson.  Since Dileo appears to be nothing more than a complementary receiver, it would be good for Gardner and the Michigan offense to find another reliable target between Darboh and Chesson.
Others to watch: Fifth year senior walk-on Joe Reynolds (3 catches, 22 yards) worked his way into the rotation last season and has decent quickness.

TIGHT END
Sophomore Devin Funchess (15 catches, 234 yards, 5 touchdowns) should have playing time locked up at the U-back position.  Fellow sophomore A.J. Williams is a mammoth tight end who’s more of a blocker.  The wild card in the mix is freshman Jake Butt, who enrolled early and is physically developed enough to play as a freshman.  Williams isn’t much of a target downfield, so if Gardner can work out some chemistry with Butt in the spring (and summer), Michigan should have a nice 1-2 punch of receiving tight ends between Funchess and Butt.
Others to watch: Redshirt junior Jordan Paskorz has played in just one game (on special teams against UMass) during his three seasons, and the rest of the guys on the roster are young-ish walk-ons with little experience; the best of those is redshirt junior Dylan Esterline.

OFFENSIVE LINE
The two sure starters are the bookend, fifth-year senior tackles Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield.  Between those two will be any combination of about a dozen other players, because the three interior starters graduated.  Redshirt freshman all-everything guard Kyle Kalis will probably step in at one guard spot.  That leaves the other two spots up for grabs between redshirt sophomore Jack Miller, redshirt junior walk-on Joey Burzynski, redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant, and redshirt freshman Ben Braden; the former two will probably vie for the center spot, while the latter two will fight for the right guard position.  None of them have played extensively, and if either Bryant or Braden starts the season, it will be his first ever game experience.  In the long term, Braden will probably end up at right tackle, so you could see Schofield and Braden flip if the coaches aren’t confident in Braden’s ability to pull.
Others to watch: Redshirt freshman Erik Magnuson will have every chance to succeed Lewan at left tackle, and classmate Blake Bars has practiced at both center and guard.  Both appear to be at least a year away from playing significant time.  True freshman Kyle Bosch has apparently impressed people with his size and work in the weight room as an early enrollee, but he’s very young; if the coaches wouldn’t play Kalis as a freshman, they probably won’t play Bosch, either, unless injuries occur.  But it will still be interesting to see how Bosch fares in the glorified practice.

2012 Season Countdown: #44 Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant

Name: Chris Bryant
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 341 lbs.
High school: Chicago (IL) Simeon
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #58
Last year: I said Bryant would redshirt.  He redshirted.

Bryant showed up on campus at 341 lbs., and that’s simply too big, especially if you’re only 6’4″.  He was bound to redshirt because of the depth on the offensive line, anyway, but showing up that heavy didn’t help matters.  Despite the extra weight, he impressed a lot of people in practices with his run blocking abilities.  The buzz from practice was that if he got hold of a defensive lineman, the defensive lineman was lost.  Unfortunately, Bryant didn’t pass block much in high school, so he needs some work in that area.

Because of his shortcomings in pass blocking and some footwork issues, Bryant lingers as the backup right guard behind Patrick Omameh.  While the left guard spot is open, that battle seems to be between walk-on Joey Burzynski and fifth year senior Elliott Mealer.  Coach Hoke mentioned in the spring that he likes to get offensive linemen comfortable on one side of the line before flipping them back and forth, and with Bryant’s road grading abilities, right guard seems like a good spot for Bryant at this juncture.  Hopefully Omameh stays healthy and Bryant can spend another year as an apprentice before battling for one of the guard spots in 2013.

Prediction: Backup right guard

Poll Results: Who will be Michigan’s starting left guard?

Fifth year senior offensive lineman Elliott Mealer

This comes on the heels of Rocko Khoury’s departure, who was presumed to be in the running to play center.  Now that it seems Ricky Barnum is destined to be the starting center this fall, that leaves an opening at left guard.  So I posed the question (for a second time): Who will be Michigan’s starting left guard against Alabama?

Chris Bryant: 58%
Bryant is only a redshirt freshman but has earned praise from coaches and practice observers alike.  So far in spring practices, it has been reported that Bryant is playing behind Patrick Omameh at right guard.  This could be to give Omameh some competition, but Bryant has always seemed like more of a strongside guard to me.  When a kid is 6’4″, 341 lbs., the coaches probably want him to do more bulldozing and less pulling.

Kyle Kalis: 16%
I still have doubts that a true freshman will start the first game of the season.  Kalis is good, but he won’t get to campus until June.

Patrick Omameh: 12%
Omameh has been the starting right guard for parts or all of the last three seasons.  I’m not sure why he would flip to the left side at this point, although I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.  If the other guard isn’t adept at pulling, Omameh (who isn’t great at pulling, either) might be an upgrade in that department.

Elliott Mealer: 11%
At least in the early going of spring, Mealer seems to be the frontrunner for the left guard position.  The fifth year senior has been running with the first team, and his only serious competition would seem to be Bryant. 

Other: 1%
It was recently reported that redshirt freshman walk-on Graham Glasgow has been the #2 left guard in spring ball, but keep in mind that a couple walk-ons are bound to be on the second team due to a lack of depth.  Without Khoury, David Molk, and Mark Huyge (all of them graduated) and without the four freshman linemen on campus, numbers dictate walk-ons will get a chance to see some time.  The only “backup” scholarship players available are Bryant and redshirt freshman center Jack Miller.

Poll Results: Who will be Michigan’s starting left guard?

Redshirt freshman Chris Bryant might be the front-runner for the LG job

Last week I asked the question, “Who will be Michigan’s starting left guard against Alabama?”

This poll is a little obsolete now that it has been announced Rocko Khoury will not return.  Barnum, the leading vote receiver in this poll, is now the front-runner for the center position.  So guess what?  There’s a new poll about the position on the left sidebar.  But here’s how much things can change with the loss of one player:

Ricky Barnum: 29%
The fifth year senior is a 6’3″, 292 lb. guard/center has been about as injury prone as a football player can be throughout his career.  He has appeared in only nine career games and started three (at left guard) in 2011.  The coaches have praised his ability to get out and run, which seems to indicate that he should stay at guard, since centers don’t run very much.  However, insider indications suggest that the coaches want him to win the starting job at center and will give him the first shot to do so. [EDIT: The previous sentence is clearly obsolete now.]

Chris Bryant: 18% (tie)
Bryant is just a redshirt freshman going into 2012, but coaches are reportedly enamored with his abilities, especially as a run blocker.  He appears to be the reason the coaches want Barnum to win the center job, so they can plug Bryant in at left guard.  He was listed at 6’4″ and 341 lbs. as a true freshman, but I would expect him to be a little lighter entering the upcoming season.

Kyle Kalis: 18% (tie)
Going even younger, Kalis is an incoming freshman.  He stands 6’5″ and 305 lbs., which gives him adequate size (Barnum and right guard Patrick Omameh were both less than 300 lbs.).  Kalis is the highest rated offensive line recruit in the freshman class and the odds-on favorite as the most likely of the freshmen to play in the upcoming season.  Due to a lack of linemen in recent classes, at least one true freshman is almost guaranteed to be on the two-deep, unless a walk-on emerges.

Patrick Omameh: 18% (1 fewer vote than the two above players)
Omameh, a redshirt senior, has started for all or parts of the last three seasons at right guard.  It strikes me as surprising that people think he will move to the left guard position, but I guess anything is possible.  Omameh is a 6’4″, 299-pounder who struggled early last season, but seemed to improve late.

Michael Schofield: 13%
Schofield is listed as an offensive tackle, but he started nine games in 2011 as a replacement for the injured Barnum.  With few true threats to replace the departed Mark Huyge at right tackle, it seems unlikely that Schofield will stick at left guard unless there’s a major rejiggering along the offensive line like, say, Omameh to right tackle.  While Kalis and incoming freshman Ben Braden are both expected to begin their careers at right tackle, they seem like long shots to start from Day 1.  At 6’7″ and a listed 299 lbs. (although I have heard Schofield is a bit heavier now), he seems a little tall to remain at guard.

Other: 0% (2 votes)
I would be interested to know which player(s) were being considered with these two votes.

Freshman Numbers Revealed

A poster over at Rivals posted the following jersey numbers for the incoming freshmen.  I’m not sure how accurate they are, but here’s what he gave:

3 Russell Bellomy
5 Justice Hayes
18 Blake Countess
20 Tamani Carter
21 Raymon Taylor
24 Delonte Holowell
35 Greg Brown
38 Thomas Rawls
40 Antonio Poole
44 Desmond Morgan
45 Matt Wile
52 Kellen Jones
57 Frank Clark
58 Chris Bryant
79 Tony Posada
82 Chris Barnett
92 Keith Heitzman
95 Chris Rock
97 Brennen Beyer

Sorry, I did not get Russell Bellomy (EDIT: Bellomy is #3.  Thanks, readers!) or Jack Miller.