Redshirt junior offensive lineman Graham Glasgow, who started all 13 games in 2013, failed to meet “team expectations” and has been suspended for spring football and the season opener against Appalachian State. This is unfortunate for Glasgow himself, but also for the team, since he appeared to be the one sure starter on an offensive line in flux. During the spring up until this point, Glasgow had been playing center, guard, and tackle, and he would almost certainly have started at either center or guard in the fall.
The other options at center are these:
- Redshirt freshman Patrick Kugler: The 6’5″, 295 lb. son of a former NFL offensive line coach (and current college head coach), Kugler was born and bred to be a lineman. Unfortunately, he’s young and coming off shoulder surgery.
- Redshirt junior Jack Miller: At 6’4″ and 297 lbs., Miller technically has the size to be an effective center, but he got blown off the ball too often last year when he began the year as Michigan’s starting center. He was sent to the bench by Glasgow, never to return, even when Glasgow had serious issues snapping the ball in his first few weeks. Miller has also been playing some left guard this spring.
- Redshirt senior Joe Burzynski: The 6’1″, 288 lb. Burzynski is a little undersized and has never played regularly at the college level after walking on to the program a few years ago. He has mostly been a backup guard and got a brief chance to play significant time last year before tearing his ACL against Indiana. He has still not returned to full practices and may not be a full go until August.
- Redshirt sophomore Blake Bars: The 6’5″, 290 lb. Bars has been practicing at tackle quite a bit this spring with the depth so poor at that position, but he has been a guard for most of his time on campus. He has snapped the ball a little bit during his time in Ann Arbor, but this would be sort of an emergency move.
- Sophomore Kyle Bosch: In what would be another desperation move, Bosch came to Michigan prepared to play some center if necessary. The 6’5″, 301 lb. Bosch has not practiced at center at all (as far as I know) and is likely to start or at least push for a starting job at guard.
If I had to make a guess right now, I would tentatively say that I expect Kugler to be the starter against Appalachian State. Miller has already had a chance to show what he can do, and we’ve seen that he has struggled. The more important point there is that the coaches did not give him another chance to get on the field, which suggests to me that they were very unhappy with what they saw.