Why Phil Steele rated Michigan offensive line college football's best once again

Look inside the Michigan Wolverines football locker room, and you’ll see an enormous statue made for massive men, the offensive line. The Joe Moore Award trophy — which the Wolverines earned for having the nation’s best line in 2021 — is on display in the center of Michigan’s state-of-the-art weight room (which also happens to be the largest in the country), showing just how important the position group is to the Maize and Blue.

While the Wolverines lost two starters — center Andrew Vastardis and right tackle Andrew Stueber (seventh round to the New England Patriots) — the group up front, led by position coach and co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, is expected to play at a similar level.

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It could be even better, too, some believe. There’s never been a back-to-back winner for the Joe Moore Award, but Michigan has its sight sets on repeating. Adding Virginia graduate transfer Olusegun Oluwatimi — a 2021 Rimington Award finalist and second-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America — was a coup. Two adequate candidates, seniors Trente Jones and Karsen Barnhart, are battling at right tackle, and three starters remain in graduate left tackle Ryan Hayes, senior left guard Trevor Keegan and junior right guard Zak Zinter.

National college football expert Phil Steele is on the Joe Moore Award committee, part of the group that voted Michigan’s line No. 1 last season. In his annual preseason magazine, he projected the Maize and Blue to have the best group of men in the trenches again.

“As a member of the Joe Moore Award committee, we broke down the film of all the offensive lines last year and basically all the offensive lines [that were finalists] last year were fairly even,” Steele told TheWolverine.com. “They all had good days, they all had bad days. You look at the Michigan game against Georgia [a 33-11 loss in the Orange Bowl], it was not a great day for the offensive line.

“But overall, Michigan did have the best offensive line in the country last year, and they lose a couple of good guys like Vastardis and Stueber. But bringing in Oluwatimi from Virginia is a big-time plus. This guy might be the best center in college football. Add him to what they have back with Zinter, Keegan and Hayes, you already have a highly-productive offensive line, plenty of good recruits across the board and a lot of returning starters.”

Last season, Michigan led the country with just 34 tackles for loss allowed and ranked tied for fifth with 14 sacks yielded.

Steele recognizes how tough it is to sustain that level of success up front. But he couldn’t quite find another offensive line that he expects to be better than the Wolverines this fall.

“Overall, when I was stacking up the offensive lines, comparing them one against another, I couldn’t find anyone to top Michigan again this year, so I have them right back at No. 1, even though they won the Joe Moore Award last year and it’s tough to repeat,” Steele said.

Phil Steele breaks down Michigan running backs

Having a strong running game helps make the offensive line look good, too, of course. Last season, 825 of Hassan Haskins‘ 1,327 rushing yards came after contact, with the physical runner often getting more yards than the play was blocked for.

Haskins is off to the NFL, and junior Blake Corum and sophomore Donovan Edwards will lead Michigan’s run game. Corum rushed for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns despite missing two full games with an injury and playing at less than 100 percent in the final three contests, and Edwards churned out 174 yards and three scores.

The Wolverines averaged 214.4 rushing yards per game last season, their most since 2011 and the 15th-best mark in the nation. Corum and Edwards are one of the top duos in the Big Ten and the country, but Steele doesn’t believe they’ll be able to live up to what the 2021 Michigan team did on the ground.

“They could come very close, productivity-wise,” Steele noted. “I mean, Corum would’ve been a 1,000-yard rusher last year had he stayed healthy. Of course, Haskins was the guy that powered through the middle of the line. While he only averaged 4.9 yards per carry, he got tough yards and he was always falling forward. That’s what I loved about him. Haskins is going to be missed. Tennessee picked him in the fourth round for a reason. 

“Donovan Edwards is a guy that may be 20 pounds lighter, and he’s got more speed. He’s not going to be expected to do the same between the tackles, but I think the Corum-Edwards combination will come close to last year. I don’t think they’ll match last year. Having basically two 1,000-yard rushers is pretty tough to do, but I do think it’s a very good running back unit that will come close to last year’s numbers.”

Michigan has searched for a third running back this offseason, knowing depth is key. Corum and Edwards are known more for their speed and shiftiness than their power — though both are strong — so the Wolverines have experimented in a few different ways in an attempt to find a power back. Junior linebacker Kalel Mullings, a high school running back, took reps on offense during the spring, and at 6-0, 220 pounds, sophomore Tavierre Dunlap is an option to get yards between the tackles.

“Corum is big,” Steele pointed out. “At 5-8, 200, he’s built like a fireplug. He can go ahead and get in there and make some of those tough yards.

“But Dunlap is a possibility. I thought he looked good at the spring game. He brings 220 pounds to it. And [freshman CJ] Stokes is a good, physical back. He’s only 190, but when you look at him, he’s muscled up, and he’s also fast.

“It’s tough replacing a guy like Haskins and what he did on the inside. But I think Michigan will do just fine in the run game.”