The following is an exclusive excerpt from the 2020 edition of The Wolverine's annual Michigan football preview magazine. The 160-page issue can be ordered for a limited time with FREE first-class shipping by clicking here, or you can order a digital copy for just $5!

Last year at this time, Michigan’s right tackle position was a huge question mark. Youngsters Andrew Stueber and Jalen Mayfield were battling for the right to start alongside four veterans with NFL aspirations, and many watching from afar figured it would be the weak link up front no matter who won the job.

Football, though, is as unpredictable as May weather in Michigan. Stueber tore his ACL late in fall camp, essentially opening the door for Mayfield and making it a one-man competition. To his credit, the then-redshirt freshman continued to work as though he were auditioning.

When veteran left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. was sidelined with a back injury early on, Mayfield found himself as part of a first-year starting tackle tandem with redshirt freshman Ryan Hayes manning the left side for the first two games.

It was “only” Middle Tennessee State in the opener, but the butterflies were churning.

“There were definitely some nerves,” Mayfield recalled with a chuckle.

It was his first start, after all, and he had received just 37 snaps of collegiate experience while redshirting his first year on campus. Unsurprisingly, it would be several weeks before the game really slowed down for him.

When it did, his game — and his confidence — took a huge leap.

“I think the game that really solidified me as getting comfortable with the offense was Penn State,” he recalled of the 28-21 loss in Happy Valley Oct. 19. “We had played well, but I was still second guessing myself a lot, questioning what I was supposed to do, how I was going to get it down.

“At Penn State, I cut everything out of my mind and just played football.”

That was the turning point for Mayfield, and subsequently the entire offense. Senior quarterback Shea Patterson started to get comfortable himself, and the line was outstanding from left to right while the Wolverines ripped off four straight blowout wins.

It started a week later against Notre Dame, a 45-14 thrashing in which one of the lasting memories was Mayfield bulldozing a defender into the end zone from a few yards out to help pave the way for freshman running back Zach Charbonnet’s touchdown.

Mayfield jumped from the scrum, threw a fist in the air and let out a scream that could be heard through the thunderous rain echoing through the Michigan Stadium bleachers all the way to row 91.

The redshirt freshman hadn’t completely arrived, but he was well on his way.

The beginning of it all, though, was bittersweet. Mayfield and Stueber went back and forth through spring and fall in a too-close-to-call competition that would have given the 2000 Presidential Election a run for its money on the nail-biter scale. One week, offensive line coach Ed Warinner would say Stueber had made a move; the next, Mayfield had edged ahead.

What kept Mayfield going through the battle was the thought of another year without football. He’d played both ways for years at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central, barely missing a play. He played mostly spectator in 2018 as a true freshman, appearing in only three games, not unusual for a lineman but still discouraging.

“It was really hard having to sit on the sideline every game. It really makes you think about football and if it’s for you,” Mayfield admitted. “But I think it pushed me even harder to work on my craft, both during the season and in the offseason, to become the player I am today.

“It’s definitely a challenge when you’re not playing, but if you can get through it you realize your time is soon to be coming.”

It helped to have supportive teammates as well. In Runyan and fellow starters Ben Bredeson, Cesar Ruiz and Michael Onwenu, Mayfield found four big brothers who pushed him to keep going.

“It’s unbelievable the character in those guys, the hard-working mentality they brought every day, the joy they have for the game,” he said. “It really rubs off on you, especially when you’re playing next to them.

“They really made it fun to play. If you’d get beat on one play, they’d tell you not to hang your head and move on to the next play. There was always stuff you could work on, but they were always there to have your back.”

They put their trust and belief in him, even when he was having trouble believing in himself. They were even more encouraging when Stueber went down with his injury, a blow not only to the team’s depth but also its psyche.

That allowed Mayfield to put his head down and work even harder.

“That competition definitely brought out a lot of competitiveness not only between us two, but as an offense as a whole,” he recalled. “Everybody on offense gets after it in practice. I think the battle Andrew and I were going through really just kind of signified how tight knit a group we had. There was competition all over the field for playing time, and I think that’s what fueled us to have a pretty good year on the offensive side.

“But it was really hard. You never want to see anybody get injured, especially when you’re in a competition. Andrew is a good friend of mine. It really made me realize anything can happen at any point, and I really felt bad for Stueb.”

Mayfield realized it was his time and he had play well enough to “make him happy and proud of me.”

“After he got hurt, I really put that on my shoulders and tried to do it for both of us the whole season,” he added.

Should Stueber come back strong — and by all accounts he’s on pace to return at 100 percent when fall camp starts — the duo could be on the field not only at the same time, but next to one another. Stueber is one of the favorites to capture the right guard position, and Mayfield plans to stay at right tackle after flirting with the idea of moving to the left side.

Warinner didn’t have spring ball to experiment with lineups, so it will be a crash course for many when they return this fall. He should have close to a sure thing on one end of the line, though, and a leader in Mayfield.

“It’s just about trying not to mix too much up,” Mayfield said. “We’ll have a whole new line, and I know Ryan is comfortable on the left side, where he played early on. It’s best for both of us, so I didn’t want to mess anything up.

“[Warinner] will get the best out of us. He really challenges you. You may not like it sometimes, may think he’s hard on you, but he really does push you and he wants you to be great.”

Warinner had developed an outstanding young right tackle by the end of last year. When it started to click, Mayfield just got better and better. With his athleticism, drive and intelligence, his ceiling appears to be extremely high.

“It was just not second-guessing myself on the field,” Mayfield said. “Trusting in everything I was taught and went over for the week.

“I found myself second-guessing myself early in the season, thinking a little too much and not going out and playing. Once I got it out of my head like I did later in the season, it really picked up.”

***

To read the rest of the story, where Mayfield talks about shutting down Ohio State star and eventual No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick Chase Young, being ranked by several major draft experts as a future first-rounder and see former All-American Jon Jansen's thoughts on Mayfield, buy your football preview magazine here!

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett

• Like us on Facebook