Name: Zak Zinter
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 322 lbs.
High school: North Andover (MA) Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #65
Last year: I ranked Zinter #7 and said he would be the starting right guard. He started all fourteen games.
TTB Rating: 76
Zinter is yet another lineman, just like Trevor Keegan, who had an outstanding season in 2022. Zinter was a First Team All-Big Ten player who could have gone to the NFL after the year. He had a great year overall, but he especially earned some acclaim for some of his blocking against Ohio State, launching Donovan Edwards for a couple 75+ yard touchdown runs on the way to the 45-23 win.
There's no reason to expect anything less from Zinter in 2023. He's still entrenched as the starter at right guard. Michigan is so deep on the offensive line that the Wolverines should be able to manage an injury or two during the year. Of course, we hope everyone stays healthy, but those big guys are hitting and getting rolled on nearly every single play. Luckily, for Michigan's sake, there are guys like Giovanni El-Hadi, Raheem Anderson, and others who would be starting on a lot of Big Ten teams but are backups in Ann Arbor. Depth is not quite so available at other positions, which is why a potential All-American is ranked at #10.
Prediction: Starting right guard
I expected a Captain and 1-2Rd Draft pick to be higher, but our depth is historically good
ReplyDeleteBy the way, two Guards & a RB as Captains ... Harball baby!
Harbaugh, like Bo, knows that offenses win and lose on the lines. The dream of the Stanford OL that we had in 2015 is now realized. It just took some time to get there. Many lost faith along the way.
DeleteYes sir, our identity is clear - no disagreement on that!
DeleteParaphrasing Seth from Mgoblog - Zinter is our most explosive offense player because when we have big plays on the ground they tend to come off his dominant blocks.
ReplyDeleteThere's no player on offense (besides McCarthy) that our offense would be more affected by missing, even with El Hadi as an excellent backup. Even more true if you think we're a run first run often offense because Zinter, while a good pass blocker, turely shines on running plays.
Last year Thunder said Michigan cannot beat OSU without Corum.
DeleteThis year I will say that Michigan cannot beat OSU without Zinter.
One more argument (admittedly a soft one, given the immense OL depth) for placing Zinter a little higher is that Reece Atteberry moved to the DL. Incidentally, I think that move bodes particularly well for Raheem Anderson next year. Since Anderson looked very good in the spring and then we only heard about Nugent/Crippen regarding the competition at center, my working theory is that Anderson will have the inside track for RG next year, with Crippen at center (barring elite transfers).
ReplyDeleteAgree. They clearly like Anderson and Crippen, both. Anderson looks bigger than Crippen so maybe a better fit for OG. Either could work at OC/OG. No matter how you slice it the potential grouping of El-Hadi / Crippen / Anderson inside could be fierce. Exceptionally strong for a 3 newbie starters in 2024. Typically that would be a big cause for concern but for us it might be a manageable dropoff.
Delete*Though technically Nugent has a 6th year available to him after COVID 2020 and Red Shirt 2019)
Would be interested to hear the rationale for having Zinter only one spot above Keegan. I'm certainly not an OL guru so I always figured that Zinter was a higher level of player (All American level vs. All Big Ten).
ReplyDelete