Tag: Zak Zinter

True freshman offensive lineman impressing his Michigan teammates

The first year offensive lineman could be poised for an early impact, despite that being a rare occurrence for his position.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When it comes to first-year players that are anticipated to make an instant impact, offensive linemen often get left out in the dust.

There’s generally a good reason for that. Linemen on offense tend to be the biggest and strongest players on the team, but they also have a level of precision they have to reach before they can contend with the faster, more explosive defensive linemen, who are putting every move at their disposal to get to the quarterback.

But what if one lineman could see playing time in year one for Michigan football? After all, Zak Zinter — the former four-start from the prestigious Massachusetts-based Buckingham Browne & Nichols School already has the idea size, despite being a true freshman.

Zinter reported to campus at 300-pounds in December, but is already up to 334, making him the third-biggest lineman behind Chuck Filiaga and Andrew Stueber. At a towering 6-foot-6, he already has optimal size to be a contributor on the offensive line, but much of it will come down to how much he’s been able to learn the offense as well as offensive line technique.

His O-line counterpart Andrew Stueber has been impressed with Zinter thus far, saying that while he has the physical attributes, his desire to learn has been nothing short of impressive.

“Zak is doing really good things,” Stueber said. “He’s been bouncing around (between) guard and tackle – we don’t know exactly where we’re gonna put him yet. But he’s doing really great things. He’s come in, he’s a big, strong kid. And he’s really quick to learn, too. I love teaching him things, because he’ll pick them up right away.”

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Stueber also said that the competition is still brewing among the offensive linemen, and that Zinter has been one of the players getting some run with the ones — along with seven others.

Though it’s still unlikely that Zinter will supplant a veteran to earn a starting role, that he’s in that competition is a feat unto itself.

Although he’s not one who will make personnel decisions — that’s obviously up to the coaches — Stueber is curious to see if he gets some early play.

“I can’t wait to see where he contributes,” Stueber said. “He’s been showing great things on and off film, in the weight room, with a great attitude and everything. I can’t wait to see how he contributes, whether that’s gonna be in the three or twos, if we’re gonna redshirt him this year. But he’s doing great things and see how he progresses.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there actually aren’t redshirt rules this year, as the 2020 season won’t count against NCAA players’ proverbial ticking clock.

With that in mind, don’t be surprised if Zinter does get a chance to showcase his ability, especially if Michigan has a game in hand.

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How Michigan’s early-enrollees have fared during changes due to coronavirus

How the Wolverines offensive coordinator sees Michigan’s offensive early-enrollees getting along despite the drastic changes due to COVID-19

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Something of a casualty this offseason has been those who have enrolled early.

With the novel coronavirus changing the way the world operates, the expectation was that those who had come to Ann Arbor early would have a jump on the process, getting all 15 spring practices as well as participating in the annual spring game.

However, now those players are just like anyone else, holed up due to the current ‘stay at home’ efforts. That, though, doesn’t mean there haven’t been benefits afforded to those who did arrive at Michigan a good 6-7 months early.

Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis appeared this weekend on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen, and explained what those who did forgo their final semester of high school to come to Ann Arbor have experienced, and why they still are somewhat ahead of the curve when it comes to the football program — as compared to those who won’t arrive until presumably June or July.

“I think the benefit for the early-enrollee guys is they were able to get with Coach Herbert and really get the culture and the way we do things down,” Gattis said. “They got a number of good morning workouts in before they were – obviously before we were (set) to start spring ball. They really understood, okay, how do we really want to do things. How do the upperclassmen do it? And I’ll tell you what: that’s a really impressive group of young guys. How well they work, how well they pay attention. How well they pay attention to the details. There’s some impressive guys in that group. That was the biggest thing offensively for us.”

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On offense, there’s but two players who came early — offensive tackle Zak Zinter and running back Blake Corum.

Both got a little time in already, with three practices as the team readied itself to play Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. However, particularly with Corum, there were strong anticipations about getting him ready to play in year one, despite an already loaded running backs room.

Still, Zach Charbonnet, who ended up starting in his first year last fall, was somewhat similarly in the same boat, as he recovered from an injury that prohibited him from taking part in spring practices. Thus, Corum could still find himself ready to go.

Part of why is the leadership that other former early-enrollees have exhibited. They’ve helped those along the way to help make sure they’re fully acclimated, despite the curveball that the pandemic has thrown the country as well as the football program.

That said, Gattis feels that with the different pace of things at the moment, it’s also allowed the two first-year players to understand the concepts of the college game a little bit better than had they gone though the alternative ‘normal.’

“We only had two early-enrollees,” Gattis said. “We had Zak and we had Blake. Both of those guys have done a really good job of keeping up to task. Our veteran players have also done a really good job of bringing those guys along. We make sure we check in on those guys. I think it helps with a number of mid-years we had last year. A guy like Cade (McNamara) has been really good with taking those mid-year guys in. Ben Mason has done a really good job of taking those mid-year guys in. We’ve had some guys that have been assigned to bring those guys along, making sure we’re able to get those guys adjusted. I think from the strength and the workout standpoint, they’ve done a really good job. But this was their first install. Now they’re going through their first football install truly with it being remote. So we just gotta make sure – I think the way we’re going about it in going about it a little bit slower with one a week has really helped those guys really understand.”

To some degree, the players have been quite innovative with keeping in check with their new workout regimens during what should have been spring ball.

For instance, Corum posted a video of one of his workouts, and it certainly highlights what kind of shape he’s in.

As of right now, the Big Ten extended all organized team activities to be on continued hiatus until June 1.

Michigan commits, signees make push for Donovan Edwards

With one major target off the board at RB in 2021, several prospective Wolverines took to Twitter to thy and lure a 4-star in-state tailback

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When Hopewell (VA) five-star RB TreVeyon Henderson committed to Ohio State without having ever visited Columbus, nearly all of Michigan’s hopes at tailback suddenly rest on an in-state talent in West Bloomfield (MI) four-star Donovan Edwards.

It seemed as if the Wolverines were trailing for the star player in Oakland County, with the Buckeyes, Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma all in full-pursuit. However, reports indicate that Michigan has made a big push, including one from The Wolverine’s EJ Holland, who published a story on Friday about the maize and blue pursuit of Edwards.

Many of those already committed or even signed to Michigan took that as an opportunity to let Edwards know just how much he’s wanted in Ann Arbor, including commits J.J. McCarthy and Giovanni El-Hadi as well as signees Zak Zinter, AJ Henning, Kalel Mullings and Braiden McGregor.

Check out their pitches to Edwards below:

 

 

 

Signed: Zak Zinter

Everything you need to know about new Wolverines signee Zak Zinter.

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Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 3 389 #18 OG #4
Rivals 4 148 #16 OT #3
ESPN 4 – #14 OG #2
247Sports Composite 4 273 #11 OG #3

Vitals

Hometown North Andover (MA) Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Projected Position Offensive Line
Height 6-foot-6
Weight 300-pounds

Recruitment

Long looked at as a Michigan – Notre Dame battle, Zinter was a frequent visitor to both schools.

It felt like he was leaning towards the Fighting Irish, but Don Brown and Ed Warinner’s persistence paid off, as Zinter pledged to Michigan on May 16. However, he still did take an official to South Bend in June, but remained solid to the class.

Readiness Level

Definite redshirt in 2020. Could become a contributor or starter anywhere between years 2-4, depending on the matriculation of the depth ahead of him.

Early Enrollee?

Yes

Notes (via MGoBlue.com)

Prep
• Attended Buckingham Browne and Nichols School (2020) coached by Mike Willey
• Set to graduate Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in December and enroll at the University of Michigan in January 2020
• Team Captain as a senior in 2019
• Attended St. Joe’s Prep for the first two years of his high school career, where he made the Principal’s List each semester, before transferring to BB&N
• As a junior, led the team to an 8-1 record and title game appearances in the Independent School League (ISL) and New England championships
• Helped his team win the Kevin Driscoll Bowl to close out the 2018 season (NEPSAC Bowl Champions)

Key Statistics
• Three-year starter along the offensive line, with one year at St. Joe’s Prep and two at BB&N
• ISL Shot Put State Champion and NEPSAC New England State Shot Put Champion as a junior
• Holds the BB&N school record in the shot put
• Won the MIAA Division I shot put twice (freshman and sophomore years) and the discus state titles as sophomore

Honors and Rankings
• 247Sports Composite ranking of four stars, the 273rd player nationally, the 11th-best guard in the country and the No. 3 player in the state of Massachusetts
• Three-star prospect according to 247Sports, the No. 389 player nationally, the 18th-best guard and the No. 3 player in Massachusetts
• Ranked a four-star prospect by ESPN, the No. 14 player at his position and second-best in Massachusetts
• Rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals, the No. 149 player in the nation, No. 16 at guard and No. 3 in Massachusetts
• PrepStar Magazine Top 150 Dream Team member; rated as the top prospect in Massachusetts, the 17th-best offensive tackle in the country and the nation’s 123rd overall recruit
• Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic athlete in football and track and field
• USA Today All-Massachusetts (2018) and Super 26 All-State Team (2019)
• Two-time Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association All-State (2018-19); only underclassman on 2018 team
• Two-time All-New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC), earning the honor as a junior and senior
• 2019 NEPSAC All-New England Lineman of the Year
• 2019 Buckingham Browne & Nichols High School MVP and Lineman of the Year as a senior
• Two-time All-ISL (2018-19) and two-time ISL Healey Lineman of the Year (2018-19)

Personal
• Zak Lyle Zinter was born April 17, 2001
• Son of Paul and Tiffany Zinter
• Family grew up in Port St. Lucie, Florida, until Zak was in middle school

Film

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