Michigan Football: Comparing the 2021 defense to the 2022 version

Last year’s defense showcased the blueprint of how Jim Harbaugh’s unit wants to perform, so how does this season’s group stack up in retrospect?

It all started with the hiring of Mike MacDonald from the Ravens staff to replace a past-his-prime Don Brown. MacDonald took the task and ran with it. He instituted mostly a 4-2-5 scheme, with a dash of the basic 4-3 mixed in there. From week one against Western Michigan and on the defense feasted on opposing quarterbacks.

The pass rush was nearly unblockable and the focal point of the attack. It helped immensely that Michigan football had its best talent on that side of the ball in a long period of time.

Every line of the faction was littered with NFL-caliber prospects. The 2022 rendition might not be exactly identical, but the building blocks are there to be just as stingy.

Jesse Minter takes over the reins and is left with plenty of proven pieces who have seen loads of action in the winged helmets before. Up front, Mazi Smith looks ready to lead the gang with his impressive stature. He’s number one on Bruce Feldman’s freak list for a reason. He can bench 325 pounds, not 225, like nothing.

Here’s a comparison of this year’s Michigan football defense compared to last year and we start with the front seven.