Tag: Ryan Hayes

2020 Season Countdown: #18 Ryan Hayes

Name: Ryan Hayes
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 302 lbs.
High school: Traverse City (MI) West
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked Hayes #77 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He started two games and played in twelve games.
TTB Rating: 84

Hayes was forced into action a little early last year. He was expected to be the #4 tackle going into the season, with Jon Runyan, Jr. entrenched on the left side and Jalen Mayfield/Andrew Stueber battling for a starting gig on the right side. Then Stueber tore his ACL, giving Mayfield the right tackle job by default. And then Runyan was working through an injury to begin the year.

So Hayes went from the #4 tackle to starting the opener in pretty short order. He did about as well as expected, showing some nice athleticism while also looking lost at times. It was good for him to get his feet wet, but it was also nice when Runyan returned to take over the role for the remainder of the year.

This year with Runyan gone and Stueber looking like a starter at guard, Hayes seems pretty solidly locked in to the left tackle position. Mayfield is further along in his development, but offensive line coach Ed Warinner said there were no plans to move Mayfield over to protect the blind side. That indicates that there’s confidence in Hayes’s ability, and he’s also put on some weight, jumping up to 302 pounds on the fall roster. I expect some growing pains as a first-year full-time starter, but overall, I think Hayes should be a pretty good player by the time the season wraps.

Prediction: Starting left tackle

The Fence the Mitten Project: Offensive Line

Continuing the project of what the team would have looked like in 2019 if the Wolverines kept every in-state top-25 kid in the maize and blue. I have already covered QB (LINK), RB (LINK), WR (LINK), and TE (LINK).

Change is Coming: Offense

Every year the new season brings changes big and small. It seems that the 2020 season will bring some pretty significant changes to what we see on the field at Michigan, from players to coaches. Here’s a look at the expected changes and what we might see in 2020.

The impact is rated as being positive (+), negative (-), or neutral (=).

Out: QB Shea Patterson
In: Dylan McCaffrey/Joe Milton
Patterson was just the third quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, but many weren’t happy with his performance. Redshirt junior McCaffrey and redshirt sophomore Joe Milton will battle it out, and the belief (on my end) is that the loser of that battle will not finish out his career at Michigan. McCaffrey is the better overall player – both passing and running – but a concussion and a collarbone injury have ended his previous two seasons.
Impact: =

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 24, Army 21

Phew. I saw people mentioning the 2007 Appalachian State game on Twitter. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about the 2013 game against Akron. As the game went along, I felt like Michigan was going to pull it out with a goal line stand or just an outstanding play by the defense. Not because they’re great, but because they’re better than Army. In that 2013 Akron game, Jarrod Wilson ended the game with an interception. In the 2019 Army version, it was Kwity Paye with a sack and a fumble.

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 40, Middle Tennessee 21

There’s a lot that we could get into with the new offense, so I think it might be best to just go position-by-position on that side of the ball.

The two-quarterback thing needs to be nixed. Jim Harbaugh and Josh Gattis are probably trying to make Dylan McCaffrey happy by putting him on the field with Shea Patterson, but it’s a bad move. The offense isn’t in sync when both are on the field. Whoever’s behind center is late getting the play off, and then they threw an inside screen to McCaffrey, who was immediately swarmed under by big guys. Why put your lanky backup QB in a situation where he catches a ball three yards away from 250+ pound defensive linemen and linebackers?

Hit the jump for more.