Position Breakdown: Offensive Line

For our Position Breakdown series, we are going to take a look at each position group for Michigan Football with spring practices nearing a close.

How does the current depth chart shake out?
What are the storylines or things you should be watching heading into the summer and eventually of course the season?
What's the X factor, whether it's a player, coach, or situation that could change the way the group looks?

Let's talk about the men up front.

Michigan's offensive line has won the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's best offensive line, for two consecutive seasons. This year's group, might be the best yet.

Starters Trevor Keegan, Zak Zinter, Karsen Barnhart, and Trente Jones all return from last year's roster. Jeffrey Persi and Giovanni El-Hadi had their first career starts last season. Michigan will have nine players with career starts with the additions of Drake Nugent, Myles Hinton, and LaDarius Henderson who is expected to join the team in the fall.

Michigan will be comfortable with any of the offensive linemen in the two-deep starting, and there is likely another 4-6 linemen pushing as well. Who eventually becomes the starting five may not be settled until games begin, but there are some obvious leaders and competitions.

Keegan and Zinter are sure to hold down their guard spots for the third straight season, but El-Hadi will be considered a starter by this coaching staff, he's that good. Right now, Karsen Barnhart is the favorite to start at left tackle, but he will be pushed by LaDarius Henderson once he arrives. If Henderson were to win a tackle job, I could see either player move to right tackle. For now, I have Trente Jones penciled in the starting spot he won last offseason. Jones was trending in the right direction and progressing well last season before, and injury derailed his 2022 season and allowed Barnhart to take over the job. At center, another transfer, Drake Nugent, is the favorite to win the starting job but Greg Crippen and Raheem Anderson have been performing well in spring practices.

With spring wrapping up, my X factor is the linemen who hasn't yet joined the team, LaDarius Henderson. When Henderson first committed to Michigan, transferring from Arizona State, the word from Michigan was they liked him at tackle. Henderson started his career at left tackle, but most recently played left guard. With Keegan and Zinter back, Henderson's path to starting is at the blind side.

Not being able to join the team for spring practice obviously puts him at a massive disadvantage. Barnhart, Jones, and Persi have all been with the program for years and have starts as Wolverines. Henderson is very athletic for an offensive lineman, and he has the length to play left tackle. If he is able to push for a starting job, it just makes the depth of this group even more impressive.

So much of a successful offensive line depends on cohesiveness, and how a group works together. Part of why Olu Oluwatimi was able to be so good for Michigan was the way the line clicked together from the start of spring practice. There's a chance Michigan may rotate guys early in the season, trying to find not only its five best offensive linemen, but its most cohesive group of 5. Henderson getting a late start won't help, but no one is going to win a job by default this year, and if he is able to beat out the players already on roster it would just raise the ceiling of this group even higher.

---

Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards

Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer

Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @lucasreimink, @JaredHalus

Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube

Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram