Sherrone Moore: This Michigan Wolverines Football Lineman ‘Can Be Dominant’
Michigan Wolverines football offensive line coach/co-coordinator Sherrone Moore has more depth up front than most in the Big Ten, if not the country. Freshman Zak Zinter is expected to be the stud up front, but another lineman has emerged with the potential to be ‘dominant’ … and this one is a surprise.
Redshirt junior left guard Chuck Filiaga struggled last year in his six games as a starter, inconsistent at best, overmatched at times at worst. He was an afterthought to most until he changed his body this summer and returned in the fall with a purpose.
Now 6-6, 337 pounds, the former Texan is still battling for the left guard spot, and it’s a real fight with redshirt freshman Trevor Keegan.
“He has had his best camp,” offensive line coach Sherrone Moore told former Michigan All-American lineman Jon Jansen Monday night on the weekly radio show. “He had his best summer and has had his best training camp. He’s to the point where you’re like, ‘okay — this guy has got a chance to be dominant.’
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“He’s finally taken that step. I’m really proud of the work he’s put in physically and mentally to get himself to where he is right now.”
Moore wouldn’t say whether Filiaga would start, but Keegan appears to be the guy for the opener, according to practice observers. He’ll likely see some action, however, one of at least eight still in the mix.
Moore currently has 22 linemen in his room. Paring it to a handful of starters hasn’t been easy.
“It’s been a positive challenge because we’ve got a lot of depth,” Moore insisted.” We probably have more depth than we’ve had here for a while. Guys are fighting every day. It’s open competition.
“I think we have a good idea who those first five are, but then we’ve got two or three that just keep sneaking along and playing well. That’s given us a chance to have a lot of depth so guys can take spells, and to have a great season.”
The starting tackles are set with redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes on the left and redshirt junior Andrew Stueber on the right side. Both have had great camps, and Moore credited the Wolverines’ defensive ends and pass rushers for helping their development.
“Watching those guys vs. our defensive ends and outside linebackers, the people we have to go against … just watching the progression from a mental standpoint and confidence standpoint, that’s been huge for me to watch,” he continued. “Fundamentally, just getting better at the little things, which people overlook sometimes — proper sets, angles, hand placement, pad level. Doing those things on a consistent basis has really been great for us.
“They’ve developed certain tools they didn’t have before; being able to use different things that we’ve tried to manipulate for them and help them. Especially against guys like Aidan [Hutchinson], [David] Ojabo … you can’t use the same set all the time. You’ve got to change it up."
When you’ve got to block Aidan Hutchinson every day, he added, that gives a player a lot of confidence in what he can do when he has success against him.
"Of course, he’s won his battles, because he is a great player," he said. "But they have a different pass rush, so we’ve got to have a different set. We use different things to help us. Just watching them be consistent on a daily basis has really been good for us.”
Both did their part, too, to add strength, weight gain and speed in the offseason, but the most improvement came in their knowledge of the playbook and carrying over from spring to summer.
“That eliminates all the doubt and hesitation you have, especially as a young player,” Moore said. “Trying to figure out what’s going to go on, how to adjust to different things … it’s really just helped them play a lot faster and play with a little more intensity. It’s been great for us.”
Overall, he said, the line is peaking at the right time.
“Today we had a crisp, Monday practice, as good a practice as we’ve had all camp,” Moore said. “You can feel like they are on a low boil right now, ready to go and unleash on somebody else.”
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