Michigan Football: 5 predictions for the Wolverines defense in 2019

Run defense will be good, not great

While the Michigan defense won’t experience a huge drop off in production, the run defense won’t be as good as it was in 2018 and, to be honest, that might not be a bad thing.

The Wolverines definitely want to keep stopping the run as a focus, but at times, it seems Michigan football devotes too many resources to stopping the run and pressuring the quarterback.

Don Brown loves to attack the line of scrimmage with blitzes and pressure packages but after the defense got exposed by Florida and Ohio State, Michigan may need to get away from all the man-to-man defense.

More zone and more defensive backs could hurt the run defense some, however, the loss of Winovich, Gary and Bush will hurt more. Daxton Hill could help limit some of the big plays and Hutchinson will do a nice job setting the edge, but Michigan will still take a step back, although it should be one of the better run defenses in the Big Ten.