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The last few years, my Six From Saturday notes have been included at the bottom of my MMQB column on Monday mornings. This year, they’ll be published as a separate post each week. Here are my thoughts on this weekend’s college action, geared mostly toward what should be of interest to NFL fans.
1) A lot will be made of the coach and quarterback and running back, and all of that, after Michigan’s 45–23 win over Ohio State, and rightfully so. But being in the stadium Saturday, one thing that seemed obvious was that the Wolverines are really built around their physical, grinding offensive line. And the amazing thing is that it’s actually not the result of roping in a bunch of five-star recruits. They have a sixth-year center, a fifth-year left tackle, a fourth-year left guard and right tackle, and a third-year right guard, all of whom came into this season with at least a full season’s worth of starts under their belts. And it’s worked to their advantage, for the most part, that there are good but maybe not great NFL prospects in the group. One veteran evaluator told me Sunday that the left tackle, Ryan Hayes, is probably an early–Day 3 pick, and opinions vary on center Olu Oluwatimi, with the likelihood being he’s a Day 3 pick, too. What that’s done is keep the guys in school and allow for continued development, and the result is the sort of identity Jim Harbaugh’s hung his hat on when he’s been at his best at Stanford, with the 49ers and earlier in his time at Michigan. And that identity travels, is all-weather and took out a team full of second- and third-year guys who’ll wind up being top-100 picks (with a host of future first-rounders).
