Michigan Football: Michael Onwenu Will Continue To Play Both Ways

Michigan freshman offensive/defensive lineman Michael Onwenu will apparently remain both an offensive and defensive player for the foreseeable future.

At 6-3, 375 pounds, Onwenu is hard to miss on a football field, especially when he never leaves the field. He dominated up front on offense in Saturday’s 78-0 Michigan win over Rutgers, and he also played several snaps at nose tackle.

He was also getting winded, head coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday.

“It’s pretty impressive, there’s no doubt about it,” Harbaugh told reporters Monday night of Onwenu’s play, noting his frosh has practiced at both. “We have not had him go back and forth during the week or during the same practice session. He spent three weeks on offense, and then it was like three weeks on defense. Then we brought him back to offense this week. It’s been that two to three weeks on one side and then back to the other side.

“He’s retained everything nicely. He’s very bright. He had a good game.”

Onwenu will play one position full time, Harbaugh said, and see spot duty at another. Which is which has yet to be determined.

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided yet,” Harbaugh said. “He’s good at both. Asking him, which I have, he likes defensive line better. It’s still determining what his best position will be for his future, and an NFL future. That will probably be the thing that swings it.

“Whichever way he goes, I think he’ll be a one-side-of-the-ball player. Say he’s a guard … then he’ll also be a goal line short-yardage defensive lineman his whole career. Or if he’s a defensive tackle, then he’ll be a short-yardage goal-line offensive lineman for the rest of his college career, and I bet his pro career, too.

“It will surface which side of the ball is his absolute best for his future, but I’ll bet you a chocolate milkshake that both on the college and pro level he’ll be a package guy on the other side of the ball. He’s just what you’re looking for as a nose tackle or a defensive tackle and he’s just what you’re looking for as a guard.”

Harbaugh is also fine with his current weight.

“It will get better,” Harbaugh said. “Just look at fat as the enemy of speed. He’s still got some of that, you hate to call it baby fat, but a little bit of that. He hasn’t done all of his growing yet … his maturing. He’s always going to be really big. At some point he’ll be 350 and cut out of granite. Where he is now … he has speed, he has explosion. He has the ability to play low and fast. He’s really natural at both, really good at both.”

Michigan’s offensive coordinator and line coach Tim Drevno has been blown away by Onwenu’s ability.

“He’s a football player,” Drevno said. “He’s a big, physical guy that can really hold the point on defense and he does a good job on the offensive side of the ball. You don’t see guys who can do that very often. He’s a football player and can really understand things … is very serious about it and really wants to be good at it.”