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Michigan right guard Ben Bredeson is one of three linemen who appear to have jobs locked up on the offensive line. The rest are still competing, but things are starting to take shape, the sophomore said Friday.

Senior Mason Cole has the left tackle spot nailed odwn, and fifth-year senior Pat Kugler seems to be the man at center.

“Mason is absolutely our leader, has been there, started every game since he’s been in college,” Bredeson said. “We follow him. He’s doing really good. Kugler, he’s doing really well, has made a lot of strides since spring picking blitzes up and making adjustments. I feel like it’s one thing we’ve really improved on this fall and grown together with.”

The right side is up for grabs, he added. There’s competition at both right guard and right tackle.

“There’s a term Coach [Harbaugh] likes to use; guys are separating,” he said. “There’s definitely separation happening. Guys have made a lot of progress, and there are guys that still need to figure it out and get their game up and catch up.

“[Redshirt freshman] Nolan Ulizio and [redshirt sophomore] Jon Runyan have done great. Nolan’s been working really hard this fall, really had a great, great camp. He’s doing well. Juwann [Bushell-Beatty] is doing well. He’s been very good.”

Bredeson has had a very good camp, by all accounts, and is playing great ball. He’s played three or four different positions this fall, experimenting with different combinations.

He was also victimized by a freshman during a drill, a video that made it to twitter. He took it in stride like a leader would.

“It happens,” he said. “He’s a big, strong kid. We’re glad to have him on our team. Yeah, he got me. It’s just part of the game. You get beat once in a while.

“We trade shots every day. We’re taking a lot of reps against each other. I win some; he wins some. We go back and forth.”

But the game continues to slow down for him, he said, and it comes with experience.

“Game snaps. I learned tempo, how things go, and you’re able to anticipate the way linebackers and defensive linemen are going to move,” he said. “You start picking up on things, little cues. It helps knowing pre-snap where everybody should be going, and it helps the whole game slow down from there.”

NOTES

• Bredeson has gotten better going against a pair of five stars in Solomon and Rashan Gary.

“They’re two different players. Rashan is more of the edge guy, Aubrey’s a big load in the middle. Two different styles” he said. “They are both big, powerful humans, so you can tell when you’re hitting them.”

Going against them and last year’s offensive line has made him a much better player, he said.

“They were one of the best, if not the best in the Big Ten,” he said. “Going against them last year the [Chris] Wormleys, Taco [Charltons] of the world … you get out to the field and there aren’t a lot of people like that. He’s a big dude. I don’t know if I ever touched his chest during practice.

“Going against him and [Bryan] Mone in the middle, Rashan on the edge … it’s essentially a game every day in practice.”

• This year’s line is much more athletic, Bredeson said.

“We’ve definitely gotten more athletic, are moving a lot better,” he said. “It’s the nature of things, the way guys are this year, all in shape. It helped make a more athletic unit.”

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