Tag: Steve Schilling

NFL Draft Preview: Michigan-style

Jonas Mouton (#8) should be one of just two Michigan players drafted this weekend

The NFL Draft has always been a fun time for me, because I would always sit around and wait for the next Michigan player’s name to get called.  Between watching for a Michigan player to get drafted and waiting for the Lions to pick, one Saturday in April was perhaps the most exciting day of the football off-season.  But Michigan’s production of NFL players has waned in recent years.

Ever since six players were taken in the 2008 draft – four in the first three rounds – the Wolverines have only been able to muster five total draft picks in 2009 (4th round: Terrance Taylor; 6th: Morgan Trent) and 2010 (1st: Brandon Graham; 5th: Zoltan Mesko; 7th: Steve Brown).  That’s an average draft position of the 4.6th round.

By contrast, 60 players were taken from 1995-2007, an average of 4.62 per year.  On average, those players were drafted in the 3.68th round.  Not only has the number of Michigan draftees been lower in the past couple seasons, but they’re getting picked lower, too.

That average draft position might rise slightly this year, but there will probably only be two Wolverines chosen this coming weekend:


Jonas Mouton – Linebacker
Mouton measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’1″ and 239 lbs.  I think he could play a couple positions, either as a weak inside linebacker in a 3-4 or as a weakside outside linebacker in a 4-3.  He’s pretty solid in coverage and changes direction well (video here, senior profile here).
Projection: 5th round to the Patriots


Steve Schilling – Offensive guard
Schilling measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’5″, 304 lbs.  He had a pretty good Combine performance, but nothing stellar.  He played a lot of offensive tackle at Michigan, but I think he’s strictly a guard at the next level.  Four years of starting experience should help him (senior profile here).
Projection: 4th round to the Browns


Undrafted: DT Greg Banks, OT Perry Dorrestein, LB Obi Ezeh, OG John Ferrara, LB Kevin Leach, FB/LB Mark Moundros, DE/DT Adam Patterson, CB James Rogers, DT Renaldo Sagesse, TE Martell Webb


I do think there is a remote chance that two other players get drafted late – Obi Ezeh and Martell Webb.  Ezeh was, for all intents and purposes, a four-year starter at middle linebacker.  That might be worth something to a team late in the draft.  And Webb turned into a very good blocker.  If a team is looking for a cheap blocking tight end in the 7th round, they could do worse than picking a 6’4″, 268-pounder with decent athleticism.

Steve Schilling, #52

2010 Countdown: #12 Steve Schilling

HIGH SCHOOL
Schilling was a 5-star recruit to both Rivals and Scout and the equivalent of a 4-star player (the #106 overall player) to ESPN.  He played offensive tackle in a Wing-T offense at Bellevue High School in the state of Washington, but Rivals ranked him as the #2 offensive guard in the country.  I had just started paying attention to recruiting in the summer of 2006 (which was a few months after National Signing Day), but looking back at his high school film, it seems obvious that Schilling should have been headed for the guard position.

COLLEGE
Schilling had illness (mononucleosis) and injury (shoulder) problems in 2006 and did not play as a freshman.  Most freshman linemen redshirt – although classmate Justin Boren played a little bit – but Schilling missed a lot of time that he could have spent conditioning and lifting.  He was essentially a true freshman in 2007, but started most of the season at right tackle, anyway.  It was a bit of a revolving door on the right side of the line that season, when five players made starts at right guard and two made starts at right tackle.  Schilling himself moved inside to right guard when projected starter Alex Mitchell was injured and/or disappeared.  (It’s rumored that Mitchell actually quit the team, but was talked into rejoining the squad to bolster the offensive line later in the season.)  Schilling was overpowered repeatedly, especially against Ohio State.  He remained at right tackle through the abysmal 2008 season when the entire offensive line struggled to adjust to Rich Rodriguez’s new blocking schemes.  By the time Schilling became a redshirt junior in 2009, the coaching staff had moved him to left guard, where he started all twelve games.  He looked much more comfortable inside and earned All-Big Ten honorable mention.  That led into a 2010 in which a Schilling-led offensive line paved the way for 3,101 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns.  Michigan’s quarterbacks were sacked only 11 times on the year.  Schilling started all 13 games and grew into a very good zone-blocking offensive guard by the end of his career.

STATS
49 career starts (25 at left guard, 22 at right tackle, 2 at right guard)

AWARDS
Team captain in 2010 . . . Three-time Hugh R. Rader, Jr. Award winner (2008, 2009, 2010), which is given to team’s best offensive lineman . . . All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2009 and 2010 . . . Freshman All-America in 2007

SUMMARY
I feel a little bit sorry for Schilling, although I probably shouldn’t feel too sorry for a four-year starter at Michigan who will at least get a shot at an NFL career.  He was pressed into action way too early – at a position that didn’t maximize his talents – and I think his development was stunted because of that.  The kid spent three years (well, more like two) playing tackle because it fit the team’s needs, and that’s admirable.  But it was pretty clear early in his career that he had a better future at guard.  He didn’t have the foot speed and balance to play tackle, and his burly body screams “offensive guard.”  I’m not sure that there was necessarily a better option, because other potential tackles were Mark Ortmann, Perry Dorrestein, and Mark Huyge, all of whom were also quite young in 2007 and 2008.  Coaches Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez were probably doing the best they could with the talent available, but it’s a bit of an indictment of Carr’s recruiting that so few options were available.  Anyway, Schilling moved inside as a redshirt junior, and things improved significantly afterward.  He wasn’t a bone-crushing mauler, but I saw successful runs behind the left guard and, as a senior, I saw Schilling latching onto inside linebackers more frequently.  While not a superstar, Schilling is an overall success story for Lloyd Carr, Rich Rodriguez, and Rodriguez’s offensive line coach Greg Frey.

PROJECTION
Schilling has been projected in various spots for the NFL Draft coming up in late April.  He’s generally considered to be one of the top ten offensive guards for the 2011 draft class.  Despite playing tackle for a few years, he doesn’t seem to have much position flexibility.  At 6’4 1/8″, his arm length is only a reported 32.75″, which is two to four inches shorter than most tackles in the draft.  He will probably need to add some weight to his 308 lb. frame unless he ends up with a zone blocking squad.  But overall, Schilling could have a solid future as an NFL offensive lineman.  He should be drafted in the middle rounds (3rd to 5th), and I could see him having a decade-long career as a solid backup or nondescript starter.

2010 Countdown: #12 Stephen Schilling

Name: Stephen Schilling
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 308 lbs.
High school: Bellevue High School in Bellevue, WA
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #52
Last year: I ranked Schilling #6. He started all 12 games at left guard, making All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and sharing the team’s offensive lineman of the year award with Mark Ortmann.

Schilling was a very highly touted recruit from the Pacific Northwest in 2006. Early in his career, he had issues with mononucleosis and a shoulder injury that prevented him from working out for much of his first year in college. Regardless, he became a starter at right tackle in 2007. Suspect in pass protection, Schilling played a bit at right guard in 2008 and moved inside full-time in 2009, starting every game at left guard. He has started every game over the past three seasons except for the 2008 contest against Ohio State, and begins 2010 with 36 career starts.

The Wolverines will be counting on Schilling’s leadership and run blocking in 2010. With a solid season, Schilling could squeeze into the middle rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft. He has good size and he’s a solid 308 lbs. He lacks the lateral quickness and balance to play tackle in the NFL, but he could project at guard for an NFL team. With his experience and talent, Schilling could be ranked higher. However, the depth on Michigan’s offensive line diminishes his importance somewhat. There are capable backups on the team in the form of Elliott Mealer, Ricky Barnum, and John Ferrara. Hopefully, though, Schilling is making his 49th career start sometime around New Year’s Day 2011.

Prediction for 2010: Starting left guard; All-Big Ten second team

Apparently, the populace thinks I’m underrating Schilling here. He was tied for the sixth-leading vote-getter, behind Cameron Gordon (28%), Ryan Van Bergen (21%), Jonas Mouton (19%), J.T. Floyd (12%), and Troy Woolfolk (5%). Remember that I finished this list prior to Woolfolk’s injury and will not be recalibrating his placement on the list, so take that into consideration before you vote.

2010 Countdown: #61 Quinton Washington

Name: Quinton Washington
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 307 lbs.
High school: Timberland High School in St. Stephen, SC
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked him #80 and said he’d redshirt. He redshirted.

Washington is a mammoth offensive guard, weighing more than all but two of his teammates – nose tackle Will Campbell (324 lbs.) and fellow guard Elliott Mealer (310). As evidence that Rich Rodriguez is embracing larger offensive linemen, there are now five 300-pounders; there were only two in 2009. With several guards ahead of him on the depth chart last season, Washington’s services weren’t needed . . .

. . . and they probably won’t be needed again this year. David Moosman was the only guard to graduate in 2009. Steve Schilling returns at left guard, and last year’s part-time starters at right guard (Patrick Omameh and Mark Huyge) also return. Mealer, Ricky Barnum, and part-time 2008 starter John Ferrara also return. There have also been reports from practice that Washington has been developing slowly. That’s not a concern at this point, considering that he’s only one year removed from high school. But Michigan fans shouldn’t be expecting to see Washington on the field much this season. Perhaps he can push for the guard position that Schilling will be vacating after this season.