Michigan Football really needs Braiden McGregor to emerge in 2022
Michigan football needs new pass rush threats to emerge in the 2022 season and Braiden McGregor is an ideal candidate to do just that.
When Braiden McGregor committed to the Michigan football team back in the 2020 recruiting class, it was hard not to be excited.
The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder out of Port Huron, seemed like the perfect Wolverine. He was the second-ranked player in the state and the fifth-ranked player as a strongside defensive end.
His scouting report from 247 sports compared him to Ryan Kerrigan, the former Purdue pass rusher who went in the first round, and McGregor was given a second-round projection.
Unfortunately, McGregor hurt his knee during his senior season and since then, it’s been a battle to get back to 100 percent.
Last season, he started to make some strides and played in four games, making four tackles and one tackle for loss.
With Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo now in the NFL and Michigan football looking for pass rush help, McGregor is a great option to step into that role and flashed this spring.
The junior was one of the guys to step forward and so far and it sounds like he’s continued to build on that in fall camp.
Can McGregor win a starting job?
We all know that Mike Morris is going to be one of the stars of this defense. He can move around, but I’d expect him to be one of the EDGE defenders, at least in the base alignment.
To be fair, we don’t really know what Michigan football’s base defense will be, but Morris is going to be one of the EDGE guys. He might bump inside from time to time.
Yet, the other starting job is still up for grabs. Taylor Upshaw is one of the candidates and so is Jaylen Harrell, who played well, especially against the run, and can do more as a pass rusher.
Freshman Derrick Moore is another pass rusher to watch, as well as the new five-star addition, Eyabi Anoma. But don’t be surprised if McGregor emerges this fall as a legitimate pass-rush threat.
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The Michigan native has always had the ability. Now that he’s healthy and there’s an Aidan-Hutchinson-sized hole in the defense, McGregor, who is nearly the mirror image of Hutchinson in size and even hair color, could be one of the answers to Michigan’s pass rush question in 2022. It feels like time for him to justify that recruiting ranking.