linebackers

In yesterday's defensive UFR I noted the hesitant LBs were a disappointing development. I wanted to get into why I put it on them, and how I thought they changed things up later on to put the onus on the DTs.

We're starting with two plays in a row on Maryland's first drive that could have been emphatic stuffs (or more) versus Inside Zone. We're on the snap after Michigan was going to get off the field but for Jaylen Harrell getting a piece of Tagovailoa's facemask. It's tremendous bad luck, that (a difference of 3.41 expected points), and the defense could really use an emphatic win on the next down. Instead we get this:

It's just five yards on a first down RPO, but might have been so much more.

[After THE JUMP: GO!]

Previously: Offense, Defensive Line, Hello posts for WDE/SAM Kechaun Bennett, SAM/WLB/MLB Tyler McLaurin, MLB/Viper Junior Colson, MLB/WLB Jaydon Hood, and WLB/FB Casey Phinney.

Michigan's mostly set at linebacker, with four or five commits already in the class depending on where you put recent commit Kechaun Bennett (he's here for now but headed for DE). Many of the guys in this class are like that. A brief overview of all of Michigan's positions on the spectrum between pure defensive lineman and pure defensive back can be found at post's end. 

The fellas again:

Icon	Name	Meaning
	Sad Josh	The genre of player with unrequited interest in Michigan. Unlikely to receive offers; most will eventually fade off the list and go to Duke or Michigan State or something.
	Nefarious Eduardo	Player is a longshot. Either they've declared someone else a leader publicly or popular opinion holds that they're likely to go to another school.
	Data	Either no opinion or Michigan is one of a fairly even group of chasing schools. Players in this category maintain no leader or change their leader frequently. The default category for players that we don't know much about yet.
	Happy Teeth	Players who have Michigan in a small leading group or have Michigan as a tenuous favorite. Should be regarded as a good shot, not a slam dunk.
	Mr. Blue	Player is either a verbal or is expected to be one sooner or later. Players with this designation are 65%+ to be Michigan commits.

To to the dudes!

SAM/WDE/Edge

Commit
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Kechaun Bennett	CT	****	Michigan		Hello. Discussed on pod.
Tyler McLaurin	IL	***.5	Michigan		Hello
Targets
Player	State	Stars	Schools	Y/N	Previously
Darryl Peterson	OH	***	Wis leads Michigan, WVU, Bama, PSU
James Wilborn Jr.	CT	***	BC, Michigan, ND

Needs: Major. Josh Uche left for the NFL and none of the explicitly DE prospects Michigan has a good chance of landing seem like impact edge rushers. The guy on the roster getting talked up like he'll take on the role is Luigi Vilain, who's two injured season and another season of not playing away from the last time he was generating hype on the field.

Commits: Michigan recently picked up CT 4* DE Kechaun Bennett, who's already 6'4"/220, and who we believe will ultimately grow into a hand-in-the-dirt guy. That Hello ran too late to catch an excellent piece by MnB's Jonathan Simmons where he breaks down some plays from Bennett's film.

Don Brown is transitioning into a positionless scheme where standard positions are gone and everyone falls along a spectrum.

…

As mentioned above, Bennett is still pretty lanky. He does have room to pack on 30 to 40 pounds, which would put him around Josh Uche territory and a little lighter than Kwity Paye. The best thing about Bennett’s frame is that he is all limbs. His arms are really long, which is essential for pass rushers to keep separation from blockers.

This play from his highlight reel (no full games available) displays the advantage of his arm length well. Bennett shoves the tackle back, extending his arms out to keep him at bay, then swipes over the top to disengage and gets to the quarterback.

Given the state of the class it's reasonable to assume Michigan plans to use Tyler McLaurin like Noah Furbush. That role leans more coverage, with some pass rush and lots of taking on lead blockers. Since his commitment McLaurin went on EJ Holland's podcast and described himself as really fast downhill player who excels against TEs and H-backs. He didn't talk specifically about how he'll be used except the coaches love his length and want to see what he looks like after weight training. Allen Trieu also caught up with McLaurin and talked at length about how his recruitment played out.

Prospects: I wrote this section before the flood of commitments so might as well keep it, but for the record I think Bennett's pledge rules out anyone else.

It's hard to see them giving up on 3* DE/OLB Darryl Peterson however. EJ Holland confirmed that getting Ohioans Markus Allen and Rod Moore helps put Michigan back in the race for Peterson, an Akron (Archbishop Hoban) prospect the staff thinks was critically underrated by the sites. Unfortunately Wisconsin has been making Peterson a priority too. He's visited there multiple times, and talked to the UW 247 guy Evan Flood about committing the same day as friend/IA 4* LB TJ Bollers, a heavy Wisconsin lean. Flood thinks if the pair aren't Wisconsin's next OLB duo it's because they're Alabama's($). Peterson still plans to visit Michigan in late June if possible. Former teammate Nolan Rumler might be of assistance.

Last is James Wilborn Jr., a Connecticut prospect who rose into various top-250s after strong camps at ND and PSU last summer($), and fell back to obscure 3* over the winter. He loves Don Brown, but pursuit from all the big schools seems to have dried up.

[After THE JUMP: Things that didn't make it into recent Hellos, who plays what position, Seth adds a Viper to the board just because].

Our ongoing series covering Michigan's 2010s. Previously: Our Favorite Blocks, QBs, RBs, and WRs, TEs, FBs, and OL, Defensive Line, The 2000s.

Methodology: The staff decided these together and split the writeups. Considering individual years but a player can only be nominated once. Because of the various iterations of defense over the decade we decided on three types: two interior linebackers who could play MLB or WLB, a DE-ish rush specialist like a 3-3-5 Quick, 4-3 Under SAM, or Don Brown's Uche position, and a hybrid safety, considering the guys who played Spur (2010), Nickel (2014-'15), or Viper (2016-'19).

INTERIOR LINEBACKER: Devin Bush Jr. (2018)

Picking a year for Bush is difficult because he is one of those players who burst onto the scene fully formed. His first game as a starter came against Florida, which is a delightful team to debut against when you are a rabid squirrel man.

His numbers were actually better in 2017, his sophomore year, but a large portion of that dropoff was a shift in defensive scheme that forced him to drop into anti-slant zones. He did this with aplomb because he did everything with aplomb. Another chunk of it was the existence of Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary, particularly the former.

Bush got picked 10th overall after 2018 so we'll go with that season. He was the same guy both years he started.

That was the fastest linebacker in the country. You could occasionally get Bush to take a false step; often it didn't matter. Attempting to edge him was a recipe for second and eight…

…if you were lucky.

Bush rewrote the UFR record book for a linebacker because he was a true triple threat LB, able to blitz, play the run, and cover. Not bad for a guy whom Florida State offered a couple of weeks before his commitment.

-Brian

[After THE JUMP: This is MGoBlog, what did you think we were going to carp about?]