Myles Hinton confident in Michigan offensive line talent amid turnover

Because offensive line units are so dependent on chemistry, even a change in one of the five linemen from year to year can shake things up. Losing two or three has the potential to be catastrophic. Losing all five starters and a rotational piece? That’s an entirely clean slate.

The Michigan football team faces that clean slate this season, after its top six linemen from 2023 moved on to the NFL. And while they still face the challenges of coming together as a unit, the Wolverines feel they have the requisite talent available to build a strong o-line. 

“I feel like the ones and twos last year could have played and started at any school in the country,” graduate offensive lineman Myles Hinton said Sunday. “So I feel like there’s still that skill level there.”

Skill level is far from everything when it comes to playing offensive line, though. Linemen need to have a sixth sense about where their teammates are. They need to be able to pick up their linemates’ missed blocks and communicate enough to protect the quarterback while keeping the offense moving forward. More than anything else, building that level of trust among each other takes time. 

While Michigan’s linemen may have the requisite skill level, they don’t quite have that time together yet in game situations. Hinton played the most of any of this upcoming season’s probable starters for the Wolverines last year, with 13 appearances but just five starts in the trenches to his name. Fellow graduate offensive lineman Josh Priebe started every game at right guard last year, but for Northwestern

“Last year, the group they had, they’d played together for a long time,” Hinton said. “So they had that mesh. It’s all about this year, just kind of finding our groove in the o-line. It’s not really about o-line skills out there, It’s just about, ‘OK, how can these five guys work together to mesh and be a unit?’ ”

Meshing takes plenty of effort, both on and off the field. So much of offensive line play comes down to communication, and Hinton acknowledges that off-field friendships make that communication easier. He thinks the unit is doing well in that regard, that “the whole entire room can chat with anybody.”

Changing position coaches also adds a new wrinkle to a new-look unit finding its footing. With former offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore promoted to head honcho, last year’s tight ends coach, Grant Newsome, has taken over the role in his stead. While Newsome is just as widely praised as Moore is throughout the building, life under his tutelage is still different than it was under Moore’s. 

“Coach Newsome gives you a lot more in depth each play,” Hinton said. “Like when he coaches a play, it’s from a whole play standpoint. Coach Moore does that as well, but Coach Newsome, he’s so smart. He knows how the whole entire thing works, and when he explains it, it just all makes sense.”

As Michigan’s o-line continues to work on meshing, Newsome’s insights will be key. His whole-play perspective can help each individual lineman find his own place within what the rest of the line is doing. While each player may bring the skill to play his own position, his knowledge will be crucial in taking five individually talented players and turning them into a talented, cohesive unit.

With a new position coach and all five starting roles open, it’s back to the drawing board for the Wolverines’ offensive line room. If Hinton is correct, Michigan already has the necessary variables when it comes to skill. Now, it just comes down to meshing them together to create a formula for success. 

The post Myles Hinton confident in Michigan offensive line talent amid turnover appeared first on The Michigan Daily.


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