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5 Michigan Football players ready to take a big leap on defense

By Chris Peterson

Michigan defensive ends Mike Morris (90) and Aidan Hutchinson celebrate the sack on Northwestern quarterback Ryan Hilinski during the first half on Saturday, Oct.23, 2021, at Michigan Stadium.Mich Nw
Michigan defensive ends Mike Morris (90) and Aidan Hutchinson celebrate the sack on Northwestern quarterback Ryan Hilinski during the first half on Saturday, Oct.23, 2021, at Michigan Stadium.Mich Nw /
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Syndication: Detroit Free Press
Syndication: Detroit Free Press /

Jaylen Harrell

Losing Ojabo and Hutchinson is going to be tough to overcome and the pass rush isn’t going to be as good in 2022. It’s just not.

I love Morris and think he’s going to be an impactful player on defense. Another guy I’m really high on heading into this season is Jaylen Harrell.

Harrell really came on down the stretch for the Wolverines. He was very solid setting the edge and made tackles for loss against Ohio State and Iowa. He actually had four tackles, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hurry in the Big Ten championship game.

Harrell seems tailor-made to start in Ojabo’s old spot — and Ojabo didn’t even start all the time. Michigan has two inside linebackers, three defensive linemen, an outside linebacker, and an EDGE.

At least that’s how Michigan starts most of the time. Harrell is perfect for the outside linebacker role and he’s a guy who is going to get 4-5 sacks in addition to making a bunch of plays on the edge.

As I said, the pass rush won’t be as good as 2021 which was one of the best seasons ever for Michigan in terms of sacks. But 2022 won’t be as big a dropoff as people think and Harrell is one reason for that.

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