Michigan football has a problem: More than 5 worthy starters on offensive line
The Michigan football team rediscovered a problem as it thrashed Nebraska 45-7 in its Big Ten road opener.
It has a ton of depth on the offensive line. Perhaps maybe too much.
One would be hard pressed to find a football coach in America who will complain about depth. But Jim Harbaugh, Sherrone Moore and the entire U-M staff are well aware there are more starting-caliber players than there are spots on their line.
That was the primary reason the unit took the position battle beyond fall camp, as it spent the first month of the season ping-ponging Karsen Barnhart between left and right tackle and working in Arizona State transfer LaDarius Henderson on the left side and Stanford transfer Myles Hinton on the right, searching of its "best five."
SMASH: Michigan football doesn't care whether you think it's good. It just wins.
Turns out, U-M learned it's at its best when everybody gets to chip in, as Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska, showed.
"We do a thing with the defensive line called a rally group," Harbaugh said Monday. "Haven't done anything quite like that on the offensive line, but in spots, perhaps. Rally guy goes in and he's fresh and he's good. Can we use that to our advantage? I think we really have to explore that with Trente (Jones). Myles (Hinton) will be the same."
From the way Harbaugh sounded, Henderson on the left side and Barnhart on the right is the starting unit going forward. However, it seems like U-M could rotate offensive linemen in and out, not just mid-game, but mid-drive, besides the times it goes with run-heavy personnel packages.
The "rally group" is the next wave of linemen ready to relieve the group ahead of it at anytime to give the starters a breather.
The term became popular in in Ann Arbor with the arrival of defensive line coach Mike Elston's in 2022 after he spent more than a decade in Notre Dame. One of the standouts on his unit, Braiden McGregor, is a big proponent of the idea.
"I think its just good as a team, you want to play your best ball at the end of the year and getting there healthy is one of the big things, so being able to have a rally group definitely helps," McGregor said Monday. "And I think it drives us more, keeps us fresh. Mentally fresh, physically, and just kind of more motivation.
"You’re out there to make a play, because you only get so manny until someone’s coming in to try and make plays too."
MY AP BALLOT: The case for No. 1 spot? Michigan football has as strong an argument as any
Rotating offensive linemen isn't seen often at any level of football for a number of reasons:
1. The position is not as tiring, play for play, as the defensive line;
2. It can, at times, derail momentum on a drive;
3. Most teams don't have the talent or depth to do it.
"I mean, we haven't done it a ton ourselves," explained right guard Zak Zinter. "But we have so many reps with each other throughout camp and the spring where one guy, whether he goes down, or someone else is in there playing, we all mesh really well together. So I don't think it'll be a huge issue."
Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Drake Nugent are mainstays on the interior, but with Hinton sitting out Saturday's game as he continues to "work through" a left knee ailment, Harbaugh was reminded of one of the big bodies on the outside beyond the two transfers on the outside.
"Trente Jones, played really — we gotta get Trente in the game more," Harbaugh said, cutting himself off mid-sentence. "He's such a good player. So athletic. We might have to start playing a bit of a rotation. And our guys are unselfish enough to do it. But it's a real strength for us."
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him @realtonygarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Michigan football is balancing playing time for offensive line
