STrib: Why Connor Mayes is playing guard, and what that says about the Gophers O-line

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Joe:

Here’s how the lines looked the first week of camp:

FIRST GROUP: LT Ben Lauer, LG Zac Epping, C Tommy Olson, RG Foster Bush, RT Josh Campion

SECOND GROUP: LT Joe Bjorklund/Marek Lenkiewicz, LG Isaac Hayes, C Brian Bobek, RG Luke McAvoy/Jon Christenson, RT Jonah Pirsig

THIRD GROUP: LT Luke Rasmussen/Alex Mayes, LG Jared Weyler, C Matt Leidner, RG Connor Mayes, RT Chad Fahning

Matt Limegrover, who serves as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, had several reasons for putting Mayes at guard.

“It’s all about your opportunities and getting a chance to get closer to the field,” Limegrover said. “The one thing about it is Tommy Olson, since he came in [when Christenson broke his leg last November] has done a really good job [at center]. And then behind him, Brian Bobek is really pushing Tommy.

“So you’ve got great competition there, and to be honest with you, playing center as a freshman is a tough deal. Playing guard takes a little bit of that pressure off,” Limegrover said. “We figured that would help him, and it would be an early conduit to get to the field."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/270479551.html

Go Gophers!!
 


Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Translation: Holy $h!t we're deep at O-line
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we are going to be deep for a few years as well

My hope is that we can get up on some teams and let our 2nd line and 3rd lines get playing time instead of waiting for injuries to happen lets get playing time for guys early in the season
 

Connor Mayes isn't going to see the field this season anyway, barring an epic rash of injuries. That's not an indictment of his ability, but just the fact that he has a lot of quality upperclassmen in front of him. Like Limegrover said the other day - they played Tommy Olson in 2011 because they had to, not because they wanted to. They won't have to play Mayes this year, and so they won't. I fully expect him to kick ass on the scout team this fall and be right in the mix to start at C in 2015.
 

Michigan's OL depth
zero seniors and two juniors

Connor Mayes would definitely play this year if he was a Wolverine.

I looked at the depth chart as a whole and I went "Wow! The Gophers are bigger than they are!" The significance is if you look at pictures from the 2011 disaster, it looked like a high school team playing a pro team.
 


Honestly, if the second team was the starters and none of the first team was even on the roster, I would still feel pretty good about the line. My biggest concern would be depth. The fact that those guys on the second line are depth guys at this point bodes well for this team.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Honestly, if the second team was the starters and none of the first team was even on the roster, I would still feel pretty good about the line. My biggest concern would be depth. The fact that those guys on the second line are depth guys at this point bodes well for this team.
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As far as run blocking goes, I agree. But as Limegrover said yesterday we struggle in pass blocking and with Mitch's tendency to hold the ball too long, that is a problem.
 





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