Published Apr 14, 2020
Michigan Offensive Line Recruiting Thriving Under Ed Warinner
Clayton Sayfie  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
Twitter
@CSayf23

Michigan Wolverines football continues to rack up top offensive line talent on the recruiting trail, with the latest addition being Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech four-star center Raheem Anderson, who announced his commitment Sunday.

Anderson — the No. 139 player in the country according to Rivals.com — is the third offensive lineman to commit to the Wolverines in the class of 2021, joining Sterling Heights (Mich.) Stevenson four-star tackle Giovanni El-Hadi, the No. 49 player nationally and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star guard Greg Crippen, who is rated as the No. 129 prospect in the country.

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Since the hiring of offensive line coach Ed Warinner before the 2018 season, the Wolverines have enjoyed high levels of success on the trail with offensive linemen.

In Warinner's first class (2019), U-M reeled in six linemen, Karsen Barnhart, Zach Carpenter, Trente Jones, Trevor Keegan, Nolan Rumler and Jack Stewart. Although four-stars Rumler and Jones were committed to U-M before Warinner took over his current role, Warinner helped secure their letters of intent on signing day.

In his second class and first full cycle (2020), Warinner helped bring in three to the position group in Reece Atteberry, Jeffrey Persi and Zak Zinter.

The average star rating for the 10 offensive linemen that have committed to U-M since Warinner has been the offensive line coach is 3.70 (2019 until the 2021 up to this point ). Factoring in Rumler and Jones — which brings the total up to 12 players — U-M has a star average of 3.75, which is the highest mark in the Big Ten during that span. In the four recruiting classes prior under head coach Jim Harbaugh (2015-2018), the Wolverines' offensive linemen boasted an average star rating of 3.36.

U-M is still looking to improve on what is already shaping up to be a stellar class, one that currently resides at No. 6 in the nation by Rivals.com. Warinner and U-M has its sights set on Winnetka (Ill.) New Trier four-star tackle David Davidkov and Clarkston (Mich.) four-star offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, among other prospects.

In the two years under Warinner, his offensive line groups have also thrived on the field. The Wolverines boasted four two-time All-Big Ten performers along the offensive line in 2018 and 2019 in Ben Bredeson, Cesar Ruiz, Jon Runyan and Mike Onwenu, while then-redshirt freshman Jalen Mayfield earned an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2019.

Big Ten Offensive Line Recruiting — Average Star Rating Since 2019
TeamAverage Star Rating

Michigan

3.75

Penn State

3.70

Ohio State

3.58

Nebraska

3.40

Wisconsin

3.38

Michigan State

3.25

Iowa

3.13

Indiana

2.82

Northwestern

2.75

Purdue

2.75

Minnesota

2.71

Maryland

2.67

Rutgers

2.50

Illinois

2.40

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