Michigan center position is currently a two-man race
INDIANAPOLIS —The Michigan offensive line has what Jim Harbaugh called “10 starters” for five positions heading into fall camp next week. The Wolverines being practice Aug. 2 with a similar wealth of talent at man positions, the coach said from Big Ten Media Day in Indianapolis, with many positions to be settled in camp … or beyond.
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Like the Michigan quarterback competition last year between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy, Harbaugh noted, sometimes it’s just too close to call in practice. That one worked itself out in the first three games of the season a year ago, and he expects some of the tighter battles this year to go the same way. Center is one of them, where two have emerged from the pack.
“I think you have two starting centers. You have Drake [Nugent] and you have [Greg] Crippen, Crippen and Drake,” Harbaugh said. “Both are we think starting caliber. We think they’re both All-Big Ten caliber, possibly even All-American caliber. There’s an example of who’s going to start? We’re going to start the best player. How will you know who the best player is? They play the best.
“I see that at tackle, too. [Veterans] Karsen Barnhart, Trente Jones, [transfers] Myles Hinton and LaDarius Henderson. There’s four — four starting tackles. You know a starting tackle when you see one. That’s also going to have to play out.”
Michigan junior Raheem Anderson was a surprising omission, though he plays guard, as well. He’ll likely continue to work in the middle while also vying for time at backup guard behind Trevor Keegan, Zak Zinter, and Giovanni El-Hadi.
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But what’s true entering fall doesn’t always play out that way in camp. Harbaugh envisions some of these battles — offensive line, cornerback, and rush end — potentially playing out over the course of a few games, like the quarterbacks last year.
“It was just too close to call in the practice environment. There’s no question practice predicts game performance, but nothing predicts game performance like game performance,” Harbaugh said. “I just felt the fairest thing to do was it needed to go into overtime, into the season.
“… Any position including the quarterback, nobody really owns the position. If you really looked at it, they’re leasing, at best. That’s something I understood as a player and most everybody knows. And leasing would be a month. You’ve got four games. If you don’t do well for four games, somebody else is possibly sitting there that could pay more rent.”
That’s what it comes down to, Harbaugh noted, and why every position at Michigan is open.
“It’s very highlighted at quarterback, but really, that is the nature of football,” Harbaugh said. “The beauty of football that you don’t own a position. You’ve got to earn it. You’ve got to pay the rent every game.”
