Michigan Wolverines: Rebuilding the Defense — Final Thoughts
Jul 28, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Michigan Wolverines linebacker Jake Ryan addresses the media during the Big Ten football media day at Hilton Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Posted at 4:45am — 8/22/2014
Michigan Wolverines: Rebuilding the Defense — Final Thoughts
Defense:
There is depth; there are still some question marks. There may be a reliance on coaching decisions and a collective effort versus the big play guys. There are certainly some big plays coming and the likely contributors are Ryan and Clark. But nowhere in the rules of the game does it say the other defenders cannot rise up to the top shelf and be big time contributors. This rarely happens over night or by accident.
The strong side defensive end situation is a little tentative and the defensive backs are still unproven. There are enough young hogs on the interior defensive line showing well enough that common sense dictates at least one will rise to a reasonable level, perhaps more.
Having six guys that are good enough to play linebacker in the Big Ten is nice. The youngsters Lewis and Stribling have a chance to contribute on the edge. If not Taylor and Countess will need to play more than predicted. Both of Michigan’s safeties, Wilson and Thomas, safeties need to need to master the defensive scheme to make quick progress., but there is plenty of high hope. It is a shame Hill got busted up, this will set him back a month or more. If both Countess and Peppers
play the nickel, this position could be considered athletic if nothing else.
Defensive line: seven and a half footballs
Linebackers: eight and a half footballs
Defensive backs: seven footballs
Defense overall: eight footballs
Special teams:
The biggest question is how accurate can Wile become? He is the first Michigan kicker in years that can hit from beyond 50 yards. The punting should be no problem assuming the new long snapper with the somewhat long name (Sypniewski) lives up to his reputation.
I can see no way Peppers does not get at least one of the return assignments. Each guy on the return team should be able to see that if they do their job, Peppers will get the ball into space and make for some celebration. Kickoff coverage has been suspect for several years and that should not be tolerated. There needs to be pride and intense work; there is sufficient talent to field good special teams.
Special teams: seven to eight footballs, Wile and the coverage team will determine the final result.
Total team: Seven and a half footballs- eight if the team improves through the year and does not regress.
National title: 9.5 footballs top five teams 9.0 footballs
League Champion: 8.5 to 9.0 footballs
Top twenty type:: 8.0 footballs
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu
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