Perry Dorrestein, #79

Perry Dorrestein

2010 Countdown: #25 Perry Dorrestein

HIGH SCHOOL
Dorrestein played high school ball at Plainfield Central High School in Illinois.  He was a 3-star prospect and the #43 offensive tackle to Rivals back in 2006.  Scout ranked him as the #81 offensive lineman and a 3-star prospect.  He committed to Michigan on December 4, 2005, over offers from Duke, Illinois, Iowa State, Nebraska, and Northwestern.

COLLEGE
Dorrestein redshirted during his first season on campus.  He played sparingly in four games as a redshirt freshman in 2007, backing up starting tackles Jake Long and Steve Schilling.  In the merry-go-round that was the 2008 offensive line, Dorrestein started 3 games at left tackle, 1 game at right tackle, and sat out 4 games completely with no explanation, mostly watching Mark Ortmann and Schilling.  By the 2009 season, Schilling had moved to left guard and the right tackle job was a battle between Dorrestein and Mark Huyge.  Huyge began the season as the starter, but was eventually replaced by Dorrestein, who started 8 of the last 9 games on the right side.  As a fifth year senior in 2010, Dorrestein had solidified his position as a starting tackle.  He started 9 games at right tackle and 1 on the left, missing 2 games mid-season with a knee injury.

CAREER STATS
31 games played, 22 starts at offensive tackle

SUMMARY
As you can tell from the 2010 Countdown linked above, I was never really a fan of Dorrestein's ability.  He wasn't athletic enough to be a left tackle, he was too tall and lacking the athleticism to play guard effectively, and he was just a so-so right tackle.  His 3-star ranking by both major recruiting services was pretty accurate.  However, I was pleasantly surprised with Dorrestein's play in 2010.  He wasn't an obvious weakness for a line that paved the way for one of the nation's best rushing attacks, and the offensive line allowed very few sacks overall.  He still lacked the ability to get movement on opposing linemen consistently, but I thought Michigan's offense tended to be a little left-handed in the running game, using the left side combo of Taylor Lewan and Steve Schilling to gain most of its rushing yardage.  That was probably a smart move on the part of Rich Rodriguez, but Dorrestein played solidly for a productive unit.

PROJECTION
Dorrestein was not selected in the 2011 NFL Draft, and frankly, I would be surprised if he latched on with an NFL team, even in a practice squad capacity.

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