2011 Countdown: #20 Mark Huyge

Mark Huyge (#72)

Name: Mark Huyge
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 306 lbs.
High school: Catholic Central High School in Wyoming, MI
Positon: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #72
Last year: I ranked Huyge #24 and said he would be the starting right tackle.  He started 3 games at left tackle and 4 games at right tackle.

Huyge has bounced around the offensive line in his career, starting games at both tackle positions as well as right guard.  Coming out of high school, he wasn't expected to be a huge contributor, and he has probably exceeded expectations by starting 16 games in his career before his senior season even begins.  However, he has probably been the least effective member of the front line.  Sometimes I even forget that he's out there . . . which probably isn't a bad thing.  To be blunt he wasn't a Rich Rodriguez type of lineman.  Huyge was recruited by Lloyd Carr the year before Carr left, and I doubt that Rodriguez would have pursued him, since he's not very athletic and he's not from Florida.  But the kid has played well enough to be forgettable, so hooray for him.

Going into the 2011 season, Huyge is once again in an offense where his movement skills will not be as big of a liability.  The 2010 team seemed to lean on the left side of the line, probably because future star Taylor Lewan was at left tackle and NFL draft pick Steve Schilling was at left guard.  The team got solid production by running away from the combination of Huyge/Dorrestein at right tackle, and the offense obviously did well. But now that Huyge's most important assignment will be to down block a defensive tackle rather than reach block a defensive end, his size and strength ought to once again become an asset.  Michigan ought to be able to run the power (and the bootleg off of it) without having to avoid the right side of the line, which will be huge for the right-handed Denard Robinson.  Huyge won't be a first day pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, but he should once again be a forgettable starter in the shadows of Lewan and center David Molk.

Prediction: Starting right tackle