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| Blake Bars |
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 281 lbs.
High school: Nashville (TN) Montgomery Bell
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #62
Last year: I ranked Bars #76 and said he would be a third string guard. He did not see game action.
Well, Bars is moving up in the world - he went from #77 in 2013 to #76 in 2014, and now he's all the way up to #68 in the countdown. I said last year that Bars would be a third-stringer, and that held true. He did not play at all despite the early blowout against Appalachian State when it seemed like everyone got in the game.
It's Bars's fourth year on campus, and he's still listed at 281 lbs. That's not a good number for an offensive lineman in the Big Ten. So far he has only played in one game, that coming during the 2013 season. While he has taken snaps in practice at almost every position across the offensive line, including center, there are other backups ahead of him at each position: center (Patrick Kugler), guard (David Dawson), and tackle (Logan Tuley-Tillman). Unless injuries devastate the offensive line, Bars probably won't be anything more than a mop-up guy.
Prediction: Backup offensive guard
Not every OL recruit, even if highly ranked pans out. Rodriguez 'hit' at a high rate, but under Carr it was only about 60% of recruits that turned into serviceable-or-better starters.
ReplyDeleteGood spot here for Bars, who is unlikely to play (though with the new staff you never know...), but may be called upon if several injuries hit the OL. I do think Newsome is more likely to start than Bars, if it comes to that, but Bars is more likely to play some garbage time minutes to keep Newsome red-shirted.
>> "It's Bars's fourth year on campus, and he's still listed at 281 lbs."
ReplyDeleteWhen that happens, is that typically a motivation problem or a genetic problem?
I would think there's a point beyond which the body just won't *naturally* put on more muscle. But maybe it is possible to bulk up more, but it requires a *lot* of work and careful watching of diet to do it, and maybe some don't have the drive to go to that level. I don't really know.
(Yeah, enhancement drugs could be used, but let's take that topic off the table here.)
Personally, I tend to lean toward a motivation problem. Aside from diseases and such, adding weight/strength is largely a mathematical function. The more you eat, the more you gain. The more you lift, the more you gain. Obviously, there's a science to it and you don't want to overtrain your muscles and get injured, but he should have been able to gain enough weight by now to be a viable candidate.
DeleteOur OL recruits seem to have an awful lot of trouble adding weight and strength, compared to those at other schools or even to other positions on this team. Why is an ongojng mystery. You can't build a championship level O-line with guys between 280 and 300 lbs these days.
ReplyDeleteHoke liked his WRs big, his LBs heavy, his safeties tall, and his OL lean.
DeleteNot sure that's true about the OL. Early in Hoke's tenure, Sam Webb said Hoke pointed out Braden to him and said "that's what they're supposed to look like." Braden, of course, is enormous, and has been since he set foot on campus. That presumably meant that he wanted a bigger OL than he inherited.
DeleteNow, why they didn't build one, I'll never understand. I know that weight isn't everything--Oregon's OL averaged 292. But if you aren't trying to beat people with tempo...or with alignment...or with the threat of the deep ball, how do you expect to run with a slightly undersized line?
Right, Anonymous. Hoke's offensive style seemed to demand big linemen, but he never got there. It was always odd that Michigan didn't have guys playing at 310-320 lbs. with the style of football they played. In contrast, Rich Rodriguez came in and demanded that the OL play lighter, but they needed to be in shape, and he put together pretty good offensive lines, especially for working with a lot of spare parts the first couple years.
DeleteI think/hope that Harbaugh will have his guys playing a little heavier this year than Hoke did for the past four seasons.
Hoke can say whatever he wants to -- he didn't recruit big linemen.
DeleteHe's not coming back in 2016.
ReplyDeleteI see Bars, richardson, Strobel, and Gant as 4 guys clearly not returning for a 5th year.
DeleteI wonder if Bars is one of the guys that's on his way out now.
ReplyDelete