Recapping 2012 Commit Ben Braden

The last man up front we are recapping is Offensive Linemen Ben Braden hailing from Rockford, MI.  This kid is a load at 6'6" and around 320 pounds and he's nobody to mess with.  He is pretty versatile as well, splitting his time at offensive tackle and defensive end.  Not the highest ranked guy in the world, but one of those mid-level guys that with some great coaching can turn into a player that will carry the line, team, and program into the future.

First thing that jumps out at me about Ben is that he's a big kid.  He's over 6'5" tall and he's got long arms to go along with his 320 pounds.  Ben has good speed and quickness and does a great job getting into defenders. He's one of those kids with great athleticism and superior strength.  Ben might not play time at left tackle at Michigan in the future, but he could be a formidable right tackle for the team.  I would say that he's better in run-blocking, but is coming into his own as a pass blocker and will definitely improve as he gets more experience.  With his size and strength, it's hard to keep a kid like this on the sideline so he has the chance to play early depending on how good he does in fall camp and beyond.  Michigan isn't the deepest at offensive line, so anything is possible.  If Ben is able to improve his skills as a pass blocker, he could turn out to be one of the good ones and definitely has a legitimate shot at early playing time.

2012 Positional Breakdown: Offensive Line

This is the position that should strike fear into everybody.  Opponents should fear it because of the strength and experience of Michigan's starters and Michigan fans should fear it because of the severe lack of depth the team will be facing for the next few years.  This is certainly not the most flashy, interesting, or complex position on the roster, but it is one that could radically change the direction of the season.  Odds are that it will be solid and lead one of the Big Ten's best rushing attacks, but if bad things start happening, Michigan could be in deep trouble.

LT - Taylor Lewan (Redshirt Junior)
The anchor of Michigan's 2012 line.  Lewan has been a force at Michigan since he arrived on campus and he is set for an even better year this season.  Projections already have him going as a Top 15 NFL Draft pick and he's been listed to preseason All-Big Ten teams.  Can he live up to the hype?  Well, he's been great so far and has outperformed expectations in every season.  If there is a player outside of Denard that I would bet on having a good year in 2012, it's Taylor Lewan.

Recapping 2012 Commit Kyle Kalis

Moving right along with the offensive line, we have Kyle Kalis.  Kyle created quite the storm when he pledged his allegiance to Michigan as he was a verbal to Ohio State and Jim Tressel.  However, he opened his recruitment after Tressel's scandal. Kyle decided to make the trip to Ann Arbor and he pulled the trigger.  Kyle is a monster and was definitely a huge pick up for the 2012 class.  He's one of the top linemen in the country and definitely has the size and the ability to come in and play right away as a freshman.  The four linemen commits that Michigan got in 2012 are all good, but Kyle is definitely the best in my opinion.  Kyle is also another one of those great Ohio players that Michigan has poached and is from Lakewood, Ohio. He's one of my favorite recruits because he has said that he called Coach Hoke from the 50 yard line in the Big House and pledged his commitment to Michigan.  He really spurned a lot of Ohio people with his switch and brings a lot of talent to Michigan.

Like I said, Kyle is definitely the most college ready offensive lineman in the 2012 class and he could definitely see some immediate playing time.  At 6'5" and over 300 lbs, he already has the body to do so and his skills are ridiculous.  I've seen comparisons to Joe Thomas and we all know how good he turned out to be.  Kalis has a great chance to get on the field as a guard next season and it will be interesting to see if or when he wins a starting position.  The biggest parts of his game are his tremendous size, run blocking, footwork, and his mean streak.  In this way, he's pretty similar to Lewan.  Taylor Lewan struggled with extreme aggression issues in his younger years at Michigan and it will definitely be interesting to see whether Kalis will take a similar trend.  Hopefully not.  Either way, even if he does commit a few pointless penalties, his positives probably strongly outweigh his negatives, which is good news for Michigan.

Recapping 2012 Commit Erik Magnuson

Rolling along with the offensive line commits for 2012 we reach another highly touted guy in Erik Magnuson out of Carlsbad, California.  Erik is another bigger game who comes with a lot of hype to Ann Arbor's campus in 2012.  An Army All-American in his own right, he's obviously in the upper echelant of talent in the 2012 recruiting class.  Hoke and company had said that they were going to definitely get into an offensive line haul and here's another big time guy that's a part of that.  Michigan quarterbacks have to be looking forward to the next few years with guys like Erik in the trenches.

Erik has good size and because of his height, he has the potential to be an elite offensive lineman and offensive tackle.  He's known for his run blocking and has decent pass protection, but that's definitely his area of weakness.  I watched some of his film and I tend to agree.  I'm not saying that he's a bad pass blocker by any means, but he's definitely weaker there.  However, he has plenty of time for improvement.  Something I did notice about Erik is that he doesn't quit on plays and is always going through the whistle, which I think is important.  Shows that he's a good intense guy and that's the type of player you like to see on the field.  Most of the sites have him listed around 275 pounds and with the pro-style coming back into play in Ann Arbor, he will want and need to bulk up a little more before he becomes a key player in Michigan's offense.

Recapping 2012 Commit Blake Bars

Now we get into the big guys up front.  Blake Bars was actually the fourth offensive line commitment for the 2012 class, but the first one in our recap.  Big Blake Bars from Nashville, Tennessee.  Offensive line is one of those positions that you need to recruit year in and year out because depth is always crucial when you factor in things such as injury and players either graduating or moving on to the NFL.  Michigan has a bit of inexperience on the line, especially with Rimington Award winner David Molk moving on to the San Diego Chargers.  Replacing players like Molk both in 2012 and beyond will be one of the big factors impacting Michigan's competitiveness and Bars is one of four commitments that will help solidify the future.

Blake has great size at 6'5" and around 275 pounds.  He will definitely have to put on some weight if he hopes to play serious time in the next few seasons, but he should have plenty of time.  Very rarely do we see true freshman see time. It happens on rare occasions as it might with fellow 2012 commit Kyle Kalis, but Bars does not appear college ready enough for it to happen.  Not only does he have the size issue, but his technique is probably not that solid yet.  He has talked about working on his footwork, but he has some stiff competition, if he wanted to play in 2012.

Ty Isaac Chooses USC

Photo Credit: ESPN

The Ty Isaac decision has finally come and gone, and Michigan fans have been left with the short end of the stick.  By all markers, Michigan's 2013 recruiting class has been superb.  They currently have 18 commitments in a class that will likely size up to be around 23 recruits and the class has been ranked #1 by numerous scouting services.  However, Michigan has struck out with several big recruits as of late and many fans are feeling disappointed.

By all marks, Isaac was a special type of recruit that could change the entire dynamic of a team.  Scout has him ranked as the #1 running back in the country and as a 5* player.  Rivals has him a bit lower as the #2 running back in the country and a 4*, but will likely be upgraded to a 5* in the near future.  I don't think I need to explain how impressive it is to be either the #1 or #2 running back in any recruiting class.  He is literally a one in a million type of player.

By all reports, Michigan had been in his consideration for a while, but he ultimately decided to commit to USC today.  There's no doubt that USC is going to be getting a great player.  Did he make the right decision?  I really can't say.  I don't know the future, and we have no idea how Michigan and USC's teams will look like when he arrives on campus and when he leaves USC.  The main question should revolve around the impact on Michigan's recruiting class and for the team's future.  Is this something that's going to hurt this class and the team?

There's no doubt that losing out on the #1 or #2 recruit for any position is not a good thing.  However, I really don't think this is something that's going to do a lot of damage long-term.  Why do I believe this?  Take a look at defending Big Ten Champion Wisconsin.  Montee Ball has had amazing success at the running back position and is one of the major reasons why Wisconsin has been so successful as of late.  However, if you asked an NFL scout about Wisconsin's strengths, he probably wouldn't describe Wisconsin's running backs as their strongest position.  Instead, he would probably describe the offensive linemen.

Wisconsin's high-powered offense has been built on elite offensive linemen that have been able to allow the running backs to have great success.  Of course, Ball and Wisconsin's former running backs are talented, but let's be honest.  If there's a huge gaping hole in the defense, most running backs are probably going to do pretty well.  Running backs can have a big impact on a team, but the most important part of running success is the role of offensive linemen.  No matter how good a running back is individually, they are not likely do well without at least a decent offensive line.

Michigan has been recruiting an elite offensive line for the future.  Just look at the 2012 and 2013 Michigan commitments.  Michigan had 4 offensive line commits in 2012, and currently has 5 offensive line commits for the 2013 class.  However, these aren't just random commits.  Almost every one of these commits are elite linemen that can make an enormous impact for Michigan.  Just take a look at 2012 commit Kyle Kalis and 2013 commit Chris Fox.  Rivals has both of these guys as #4 in the country for their positions.

Unless something dramatic happens, Michigan is going to have a very elite offensive line in the near future.  This is important because of what I described above in the case of Wisconsin.  Having an elite running back like Isaac would have certainly helped Michigan's running game, but with these type of elite linemen headed to campus, I really don't think the running game is going to need too much help. 

Just take a look at Michigan's 2012 and 2013 running back commitments.  Michigan currently has four commitments between the two classes and is still in position to land some other elite recruits in 2013.  Along with this, Michigan should have solid running back depth between Fitz Toussaint and Thomas Rawls for at least the next few years.  That means some of these 2012 and 2013 commits will have some time to bulk up and get adjusted to college play.

As I said earlier, losing out on Ty Isaac is never going to be a positive for Michigan, but this currently isn't something that's going to severely hurt this team's chances long-term.  With Michigan's elite incoming offensive linemen and running back depth, I just don't see this as being something that really impacts this team, even in the future in a very significant way.  It is without a doubt a set-back for Michigan's recruiting, but not something that's going to cripple Michigan by any means.  The team's still in very good shape based on Hoke's incredible recruiting.

Michigan Signees and Targets Receive Prestigious Ohio Award

The Buckeye Blue Chip Award is a prestigious award given to 20 of the top Ohio high school seniors and 10 of the top Ohio underclassmen. It is selected by the Touchdown Club of Columbus. The 2011 recipient list includes Michigan 2013 targets and also 2012 commits. Quite an impressive list, actually! 

2012 Signees:

1. OL Kyle Kalis

2. DE Tom Strobel

3. DE Chris Wormley

2013 Commits/Recruits:

1. S Dymonte Thomas (Commit)

2. TE Jake Butt

3. DE Taco Charlton

4. LB Ben Gedeon

5. DT Billy Price

This is a pretty long list and quite impressive as this award is awarded only to Ohio athletes. Michigan has a legitimate shot at all of the 2013 recruits on this list.

Past Michigan athletes who have won this award include DE Jibreel Black, RB Fitzgerald Toussaint, TE Kevin Koger, TE Brandom Moore, and WR Mario Manningham.