Ed Warinner Lays Out Michigan's OL Depth Chart Ahead Of Padded Practices

Michigan Wolverines football is 25 days away from kicking off the 2020 season at Minnesota, and the depth chart is becoming more and more clear along the offensive line.

Position coach Ed Warinner provided updates, as it stands right now, on which players are ahead and which are contending for starting jobs, while appearing on the 'Inside Michigan Football' radio show with host and former Wolverines' All-American Jon Jansen.

It's important to note that the Wolverines have not yet held padded practices, something that is especially important for the trenches.

"Some guys have an inside track a little bit, but we haven’t put the pads on yet, so it all separates itself," Warinner said. "As we all now, there’s the helmets and shorts warriors, and then when the shoulder pads come on, the men come out. So we’ll find out where we stand as we go through some padded practices."

Michigan expects to begin padded practices "Wednesday or Thursday," per head coach Jim Harbaugh.

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Here's what Warinner shared regarding each offensive line position:

The return of redshirt sophomore Jalen Mayfield, who previously declared for the NFL Draft and signed with an agent, is massive for Michigan. Mayfield is the only returning starter from 2019 on a talented, but largely inexperienced line.

Warinner is working hard on getting the right tackle back up to speed, after he departed the team back in August following the Big Ten's postponement of the season.

"The last time Jalen Mayfield had pads on was January 1st," Warinner said. "I’ll make this statement: Don’t swing a golf club for 10 months, don’t swing a baseball bat live on a 90 MPH fastball for 10 months, don’t shoot a three-point shot for 10 months, and see how you do. It takes some time. It’s going to take some time to get back to where we’re at.

"What does Jalen need to do? We gotta get him in playing shape right now because he’s been away for a while. We’ve got to continue to develop his hands. He started playing better when he used his hands very effectively within the rules. He had really good pass sets at the end of the year, so we gotta get him back in that groove."

Redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes, who started two games last season, has the inside track on winning the job at left tackle, Warinner revealed. But the Wolverines have plenty of depth at the position.

"When we’ve been practicing, he’s been running at left tackle in the first group. Now with the addition of Jalen back and how well [redshirt freshman] Karsen [Barnhart] has been playing at tackle, and [redshirt junior] Joel Honigford has been playing at tackle. [Redshirt freshman] Trente Jones has been playing well there. So we have some more bodies there now, we have some more depth. I would say Ryan’s in the lead right now, but the way Karsen’s been coming on, he was playing right tackle, now with Jalen back in the mix, now we have some solid depth there."

Again, nothing is set in stone, and the competition rages on.

"It’ll be interesting to see, because my goal is to put the five best linemen on the field, so we’ll see how that all plays out," Warinner said. "But Karsen’s doing a great job, too. I feel really good now that we have some tackle depth. We won’t be thin there."

As The Wolverine's Chris Balas has reported, fifth-year senior Andrew Vastardis has separated himself at center and as a leader on the offensive line.

Warinner slotted Vastardis as the current starter, but noted he is very pleased with the two backing him up — true freshman Reece Atteberry and redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter.

"Right now, the guy leading inside is Andrew Vastardis. He is a fifth-year senior, a great young man, headed to medical school after this year. I’m so glad we’re playing, because I didn’t want him to have to sit and have to delay admission to medical school.

"We have a young freshman come in Reece Atteberry, and he’s running in there with the second group. Zach Carpenter was with us last year, redshirted, and was the scout team player of the year last year on offense.

"So those three guys are in a dog fight in there at center. And for whatever reason, Andrew is performing the best right now, and he’s the leader of our group. He has this natural leadership ability and has kind of taken to that."

It appears the light has gone on for redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga at left guard, while fellow redshirt junior Andrew Stueber, who is coming off an ACL injury that held him out for the entire 2019 season, has slid down to right guard and is excelling.

"The great thing is, depth brings competition," Warinner said. "So competing at the left guard position right now — Chuck Filiaga, who’s a senior — is competing with [redshirt freshman] Trevor Keegan ... a big, strong, athletic guy.

"At the right guard position, Andrew Stueber is healthy, he looks good. We moved him inside with the depth we have at tackle. Again, for him, he’s been over a year without shoulder pads on. The last time he had shoulder pads on was 12, 13 months ago. He’s doing well at right guard, but [redshirt freshman] Nolan Rumler is battling with him. And then we brought in a freshman there, Zak Zinter, and Zak is a really good, talented freshman. So there’s three guys in there battling at that right guard spot, and all of them have great attributes.

"Right now, Stueber is a little bit ahead. He’s the senior, he’s been around, so probably comfort, confidence, familiarity that seniors tend to have, puts him a little bit ahead. But Nolan is challenging and Zinter is definitely challenging."

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