Michigan football is sending all six of its starting offensive linemen from the 2023 season to the NFL, but Both coaches and players have emphasized that the program shouldn’t skip a beat this autumn.
Trente Jones, who started the final three games of U-M’s bid for a national championship at right tackle after spending much of the season as the sixth offensive lineman, is the most recent to make that claim. Speaking on Friday at Michigan’s Pro Day, Jones claimed that the Wolverines are ready for greater success in the trenches this fall due to a mix of coaching and players.
“I think the offensive line will be equally excellent, if not more so,” stated Jones, who was a part of the 2021 and 2022 Joe Moore Award-winning lines.
The NFL hopeful supported his claim with praise for Grant Newsome, U-M’s new offensive line coach. Newsome played offensive line at Michigan and has been with the program in a coaching capacity — first as a student assistant, then graduate assistant, now full-time — since 2018.
“Probably the smartest person I know. Knows the game of football better than anyone else I know,” Jones said. “I think he was a 4.0 student, too, so he’s just super knowledgeable of the game. He takes it very seriously. Maybe almost too seriously sometimes.
“He doesn’t take himself too seriously, though. He takes knowing the little details and making sure that you’re doing it right. Great guy.”
And personnel-wise, Jones said the Wolverines had “another five, six, seven guys” who could have been starters in 2023.
“It’s going to be a great group with Gio, we got Priebe, got Crippen, got Gentry, Persi, Myles — y’all know that one, big guy,” Jones said. “Gonna be a great group.”
What happened to Michigan’s super jumbo formation?
Before the 2023 season, Michigan’s linemen drew up a package they hoped then-OC Sherrone Moore might install. The way they envisioned it: 10 OL plus a running back. Snap it to Blake Corum or Donovan Edwards, and let him hit one of the numerous gaps.
Though they frequently lined up in jumbo formations and famously completed a victory against Penn State with 32 consecutive run plays, Michigan never actually ran that play.
“I was really disappointed that it wouldn’t work out,” Jones chuckled before providing yet another suggestion as to how it might have appeared:
“If we were going to play, I thought Orji would start at quarterback. Three offensive lineman, Myles, Gio, and me. We were able to have nine [linemen]. However, I don’t believe 10 would have been allowed. Being without a running back might be risky.
“Quarterback, nine offensive linemen, and the running back. Absolutely feasible the previous year. I’ll have to find out who the No. 8 or 9 man is this year. However, they undoubtedly have seven men who can play ball outside.
