daniel joseph

Previously: The Offense

Resources: My charting, PSU game notes, PSU roster, CFBstats, Last Year

I remember a game I FFFF'd one year for Michigan State against PSU, and I got furious at one point because the usual suspects were taking cheap shots at the PSU NT's knees, and finally knocked the guy out of the game. Part of that was this occurred right after Robert Windsor had a string of great pass rushes on a series of all long downs. I don't remember the exact series but it went something like false start-sack-throwaway-defensive penalty-sack-sack-give up and punt, and Windsor had gone OFF. The next series the cheap shots started, and Windsor left the game, and from there he developed a reputation as a guy who screams upfield every play, damn the consequences, and is utter hell on bad OLs. State's certainly was.

Maybe he's still that guy? I dunno. But I have a theory that defensive tackle play in this day and age is to defense what quarterback play is to offense, i.e. of outsized importance. If you want a good example of this, pull up any Clemson, Bama, or Ohio State game in the last five years. Or Mo Hurst highlights. Or for a more recent demonstration, the last quarter of Penn State, when I couldn't tell if anyone else was any good because the poor quarterback had only half a second to fling the ball out of the backfield before #54 was in his chest.

The film: Penn State at Iowa last week.

Personnel: My diagram:

PDF Version, full-size version (or click on the image)

Hope you print this one out because hooo boy are there a lot of guys to remember. A lot of them have site tags if you want to torture yourself with when Michigan tried to recruit them (or didn't).

The front seven are all returning starters or heavy rotation players replacing nominal ones. NT Robert Windsor (+27/-0) we'll discuss later, and I'm sure you're familiar with WDE Yetur Gross-Matos (+13/-3 against Alaric Jackson) by now. SDE Shaka Toney (+9/-6) is a pass rush sort who split time last year with the more stalwart Shareef Miller. Toney avoided a pretty clear targeting penalty late in the Iowa game that should had him pulled for the first half of ours—thanks John O'Neill. DT Antonio Shelton (+7/-3) is the guy I liked better than Windsor last year because he's more responsible. He's ceding a lot of snaps to the backups, mostly Fred Hansard (+3/-3), a very large top-250 type, and 2018 top-100 DT PJ Mustipher (did not chart).

The rotating cast of pass rushing backup ends starts with Toney's new platoonmate, Jayson Oweh (+3/-4), the #76 composite recruit last year, who did some work inside on Tristan Wirfs, and an equal amount of freshman errors in edge protection. Shane Simmons (+3/-0) was a fringe five-star back in 2016, and is only just now starting to pay that off. Daniel Joseph (+1/-0) was in the same class, just outside the top 250. They can also throw the linebacker depth chart on the edge. I mention them all because Gross-Matos limped off at the end of this game.

Linebacker recruiting clearly benefitted from going through the early part of 2016 without any. They still have some familiar faces. SAM Cam Brown (+4/-0 run, +2/-3 coverage) is the same weird, tall, anti-tight end specialist. WILL Micah Parsons (+6/-2 run, +3/-7 coverage) was last year's #5 overall player to the 24/7 composite, and the #2 prospect at weakside end. His athleticism is still well above that of a typical linebacker, but his coverage remains very much "this guy is an elite defensive end prospect"-ish, mostly because he tends to get mesmerized by the backfield and doesn't get enough depth. His slow reads don't matter as much in the run game because he accelerates like a running back. Between Brown and Parsons starts the same walk-on they put out there against us in '16, MLB Jan Johnson (+2/-0 run, DNC in coverage), who's fine, but now just technically the starter. Most of his minutes have gone to Ellis Brooks (+3/-0 run, +0/-1 coverage), a 4-star in 2017, and Jesse Luketa (+1/-1 run, +2/-2 coverage), a top-250 guy last year. Brown comes off the field often for a nickel safety, and Parsons doesn't leave it, but they'll find a few snaps here and there for #18 overall true freshman Brandon Smith (+0/-3 run, DNC coverage), who's not quite ready.

[After THE JUMP: And they all have stars]

Sound Mind, Bad Posture

Harbaugh demonstrates my "big recruiting weekend" resting position. [Bill Rapai/MGoBlog]

There's no way I'm getting this post up today unless I go rapid-fire and skip any commentary. If you've got questions you'd like answered, I'm planning a recruiting mailbag this week, so either email me or tweet me (use the hashtag #mgomailbag, please) your questions.

First, the essentials: If you missed it, Michigan added commitments from FL CB Antwaine Richardson and FL DE/TE Rashad Weaver over the weekend. They could be close to more: safeties Devin Gil and Josh Metellus, who visited campus along with linebacker teammate Devin Bush Jr., decommitted from Miami (YTM) and Georgia Southern, respectively, while they were in Ann Arbor.

Michigan had a ton of weekend visitors due to the nearby Sound Mind Sound Body camp. Reactions ahoy.

Top-100 KS DE Xavier Kelly had "a great visit," per 247's Steve Wiltfong ($). He has a who's-who list of offers and claims no favorites at the moment.

Top-100 FL WR Binjimen Victor stopped by campus after SMSB, and he's now considering the Wolverines, per TMI's Brice Marich ($):

“I’m pretty interested now in Michigan," said Victor. "I’m wide open for everybody, so I’m just giving everybody a chance and see what they've got. I canceled my top four and basically I am wide open to everybody. I’m just opening up to everybody and giving everybody a chance. I want to see what schools bring to the table and basically show me what they got. (Michigan) brought it to the table, so I like them.”

Florida (the presumed leader), LSU, Ohio State, and Tennessee were Victor's top four heading into last week.

Top-50 FL CB Trayvon Mullen told Marich that Michigan is "in it with me and I'm interested," and mentioned a desire to come back to campus ($). He'll be a tough pull from the usual SEC/ACC suspects.

Three-star CN TE/WR Chase Claypool got a lot of attention from the coaches at SMSB after visiting campus earlier in the week. He told TMI's Josh Newkirk that Michigan is now in his top three with Oregon and Washington ($). Notably, that list only includes schools he's visited, so it's subject to change, but it sounds like M made a significant move for him this week.

Another tight end possibility, three-star Sean McKeon, put Michigan in his top group along with Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, and Virginia after his visit, per Marich ($). McKeon plans to decide at the end of this month.

In the 2017 class, four-star Cass Tech S Jaylen Kelly-Powell named Michigan his leader following the weekend, per 247's Steve Lorenz. Lorenz also reports($) that Michigan and Michigan State are the two schools out in front for four-star 2017 OLSM WR KJ Hamler.

Four-star 2017 MD DE Josh Kaindoh added an offer shortly after visiting campus this weekend, per The Wolverine's Brandon Brown.

The top-ranked 2017 quarterback in the country, Hunter Johnson, was on campus this weekend, per 247's Steve Wiltfong ($). Other campus visitors included four-star 2016 IL DE Daniel Joseph, four-star 2017 GA CB Jamyest Williams, four-star 2017 Detroit King CB Ambry Thomas, and five-star 2017 Cass Tech WR Donovan Peoples-Jones.

Michigan even extended another 2018 offer, this one to Oak Park OG Marquan McCall, per Wiltfong. McCall is teammates with 2017 four-star OT JaRaymond Hall. Michigan looks to be in very good shape with both of them.

[Take a deep breath, then hit THE JUMP.]

More On Weekend Commitments

The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan caught up with Antwaine Richardson to talk about his commitment and what he'll bring to the table ($):

"I'm a 6-0, 170-pound cornerback," he said. "I love pressing, I'm aggressive, love to tackle. I can jump up for the ball and catch it. I don't like nobody to catch the ball on me. Basically you're going to get a lockdown corner. Now, since Michigan plays a shuffle technique [in the defensive backfield], I would love to improve that. I'm good at it right now, but I want to be great at it. I would love to improve that.

"The camp was good. I came in their competing. During the drills, when we did the shuttle drill, we were going against the DB group, and nobody could [beat] me out there in the shuttle drill. Working hard throughout every drill, I was asking questions, and once it came to position drills, I did good too."

Over on Scout, Corey Bender posted an article on Rashad Weaver with an evaluation tacked on the end:

Weaver is a big-bodied athlete with the makings of an impressive strong-side defensive end. He shows good change of direction for a player of his stature, and does a good job of disengaging off blocks and making a play on the football as well. The defensive lineman simply reads and attacks.

Weaver has a frame that should be able to pack on an additional 20-30 pounds without hindering much of his athleticism in the trenches. He's a kid who's still fairly under the radar after surfacing earlier this offseason, but you can expect that to change.

He's a high-character and coachable kid that the Wolverines loved a few weeks back at their satellite camp in Davie, Florida. Weaver is just scratching the surface of his potential with his best football yet to come.

Weaver really looks like a 3-4 end, and that should prove valuable in DJ Durkin's defense.

Meanwhile, Michael Onwenu once again was a standout at a camp featuring lots of talent. This time, he came in fifth on Rivals' list of the top SMSB offensive performers ($):

The 6-foot-4, 368-pound Onwenu had an outstanding performance at the Five-Star Challenge last week, and he carried that momentum into the Sound Mind Sound Body Camp. After having competed against the best defensive linemen in the country out in Baltimore, Onwenu was easily able to dispatch all comers on Friday, displaying outstanding power and very good feet. 

With all these solid camp performances, Onwenu is a good bet to move up the rankings.

More Offers, Visits, Etc.

Michigan appears to be open to taking a second 2016 quarterback after offering three-star CA ATH Victor Viramontes, who earned a lofty comparison from Harbaugh:

Newest #Michigan offerree Victor Viramontes said Harbaugh saw him throw and reminded him of Colin Kap http://t.co/Cajhc8e0x4 @TremendousUM

— Justin Hopkins (@JHopkins247) June 12, 2015

The Wolverines also offered 2017 top-100 ATH Bruce Jordan-Swilling, per 247's Sonny Shipp.

After working with M's coaches at the Dallas satellite camp, four-star OLB Jeffrey McCullough told Sam Webb that the Wolverines "will be there to the end" of his recruitment ($).

Three-star NC WDE Jimmie Taylor told Scout's Michael Clark that Michigan is one of four schools standing out to him, and he'll visit campus on Thursday ($).

Top-100 2017 WR Tarik Black will be on campus Friday, per Tarik Black.

Four-star 2017 FL WR Daquon Green, who added a Michigan offer after the South Florida satellite camp, also attended SMSB and told Rivals that Michigan, Ohio State, and Florida comprise his early top three ($). Green plans to visit Ann Arbor in either June or July.