Michigan Football: Untested corner depth now takes center stage
By Nick Popio
With the opt out of Ambry Thomas now official, a critical spot opens up for Michigan football to start on the other side of Vincent Gray.
Michigan football has a large void to fill as their number one cornerback coming into 2020 campaign is moving on without them.
Ambry Thomas is playing it safe with his previous health concerns and sitting out this fall season to get prepared for the pros. It puts the secondary in a bind, but the mentality of next man up has already been put in place.
Vincent Gray takes the helm as Michigan football’s top returning cornerback on the depth chart with Thomas gone. He was the third corner in the lineup for most of last season behind Thomas and LaVert Hill. He saw action in all 13 ball games, but it will still be a lot to ask of someone to make the leap to cover the opposing team’s top receiver game in and game out.
Dax Hill has garnered some attention to replace Thomas at corner as well. He earned minutes all over the defensive backfield and showed flashes from time to time.
Could Daxton Hill be a solution at corner?
The five-star recruit possesses all the tools that any coach in the country relishes to showcase on a weekly basis. If coach Harbaugh decides to go that route, then that leaves a hole at safety which is Hill’s natural position.
Brad Hawkins is the veteran presence that could cover wideouts when needed too in certain formations. It might also mean that one of the newly minted freshman would have to fill in right away.
Its not an ideal situation for Don Brown’s group especially with a porous track record in matchups against elite opponents, but that is how the cards are currently being dealt for the Wolverine defense this year.
The name that keeps popping up in discussions as a starter with Gray is DJ Turner. He’s a guy who contributed sparingly on special teams throughout 2019.
Practice time will be crucial for him over the next month as he gets set to be counted on in real contests like he never will in practices. He’ll earn his stripes in the way he responds to how he performs when facing some of the best offenses in the Big Ten.
I could understand if Ambry Thomas doesn’t come back given his health issues in the past. No reason to jeopardize his NFL future. There’s no reason in my mind that Nico shouldn’t come back. He would only help himself in doing so imo especially with Moore and Bateman returning.
— Garbo (@Garbo824) September 27, 2020
The rest of the defense will need to be do their respective part to help the newcomers mesh in. For Don Brown’s unit to rank in the top 10 again, the run defense should be the initial priority, however the pass defense has to get better when battling teams like Penn State, Wisconsin and most notably the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ranking the difficult of U-M's opponents. dark. Next
That’s going to be the true test to see if Michigan can win the conference and advance to the playoffs in 2020.