Michael Schofield, #75

Michael Schofield celebrates with quarterback Devin Gardner in 2011

HIGH SCHOOL
Schofield attended Orland Park (IL) Sandburg and picked Michigan over Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Notre Dame, and Purdue in June of 2008. As a member of the 2009 recruiting class, he was a Rivals 4-star, the #18 offensive tackle, and the #221 player overall.

COLLEGE
Schofield redshirted as a freshman in 2009 and then played mainly on field goal/extra point protection as a redshirt freshman in 2010. His big break came in 2011 when injuries put him in a position to start ten games at left guard. Despite being relatively tall for an offensive guard, he did a solid enough job for some to believe he should have remained on the interior. Regardless, the graduation of Mark Huyge paved the way for Schofield to bounce out to right tackle, where he would start for the final two seasons of his college career.

CAREER STATISTICS
52 games played
36 starts (26 at right tackle, 10 at left guard)

AWARDS
None

SUMMARY
Schofield came into college as a fairly well regarded prospect, and he leaves college in roughly the same position. A high school hurdler, he surprised some with his ability to pull when he got on the field as a redshirt sophomore. The coaches deemed him the sixth best lineman on the team, so when Ricky Barnum got hurt, they prepped him in short order to play guard, which he pulled off smoothly. Over the last two seasons, Schofield was quietly consistent. Other than listing the starting lineups, broadcasters rarely mentioned his name - very few penalties, few whiffed blocks, few sacks allowed. In much the same way that Huyge before him held down the job with consistency, Schofield stayed off the radar.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . playing for Michigan? I can't really say much else about him. Linemen who aren't spectacularly good or spectacularly terrible tend to fade into the ether, and years down the road, he will be the answer to the trivia question "Who wore #75 for Michigan from 2009-2013?" Only the hardcore fans will be able to answer.

PROJECTION
Here's an excerpt from my NFL Combine Results post:

Schofield measured in at 6'6" and 301 lbs. with an arm length of 34" and a hand width of 9 5/8". He was 6th in his position group with a 5.01 time in the forty. He was #11 in the 20-yard shuttle with a 4.57 time, and he was #13 in the three-cone drill with a time of 7.62. He also had a 24" vertical and a 93" broad jump. NFL.com pegs Schofield as a 5.2, which suggests he'll be a backup player.

Those are pretty impressive measurables for a guy who didn't spend any time in the spotlight and never earned any accolades in college. Recently, I have seen projections that have Schofield being drafted in the 4th round. I would be surprised if he were not selected in next weekend's draft, but the slot is in question. One would expect flashes of dominance from a player projected to go in the top few rounds of the draft, but Schofield rarely looked like a punishing blocker. That suggests to me that he might struggle at the next level with the bigger and faster defensive linemen.