LaDarius Henderson opens up on Zak Zinter, how Michigan handled his injury

Zak Zinter won’t suit up for the Rose Bowl, but his presence will be felt. In the third quarter of Michigan’s 30-24 win over Ohio State, Zinter broke his leg. The injury obviously eliminated the first-team All-American from playing in the College Football Playoff.

Michigan is only using the setback as motivation. In a conversation with On3’s Andy Staples, Michigan offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson revealed how Zinter’s injury impacted the Ohio State game.

“I’m not gonna discredit our captain and our All-American. You never want to lose a guy like Zak Zinter. I believe he’s the best guard in the country,” Henderson said. “That’s just a credit to our offense and the way we practice and our next man up mentality. The emotions were so high. We were like, ‘We got to get this done for him. The rest of that game was for Zak Zinter.”

Michigan didn’t stop there. The team dominated Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, securing the program’s third-straight conference title. Despite undergoing surgery only a week earlier, Zinter was in attendance for the victory.

In fact, the highly-touted NFL prospect accepted the team’s championship trophy. He earned the special moment. The 6-6, 322-pounder appeared in 45 games with 42 starts during his four years at Michigan, boosting the Wolverines win the coveted Joe Moore Award for the nation’s top offensive line in both 2021 and 2022.

This season, Zinter became Michigan’s first unanimous first-team All-American on the offensive line since left tackle Jake Long in 2007. Although Zinter’s injury leaves a major hole Michigan’s armor upfront, the team has no shortage of players hoping to fill his spot.

Who can fill in for Zak Zinter?

Michigan likely has a trio of linemen who are vying to fill in for Zinter, including Karsen Barnhart, who started at right tackle most of the season. When asked about the shuffle going on up front recently, Michigan offensive coordinator and line coach Sherrone Moore expressed confidence but demurred on providing specifics.

“We’ve done different things but feel good about where we’re at. Not going to speak to who’s doing what, but we’re excited about where we’re at,” Moore said on Monday.

Along with Barnhart, Michigan is likely to use one of Trente Jones or Myles Hinton, both of whom are primarily tackles. Jones has been the Wolverines’ sixth offensive lineman for most of the year, checking in when the Michigan offense goes into jumbo sets. Hinton, who transferred in from Stanford, competed for one of the starting tackle spots in the fall before slotting in as a backup tackle.