phil paea

No complaints. [Patrick Barron]

Michigan is losing a defensive tackle, but I don't think anyone (genuine) is going to make more out of this one than respect for a guy who stuck it out much longer than most guys would. As first reported by the Detroit News, bench defensive tackle Phillip Paea has entered his name in the transfer portal. He’ll be a grad transfer with two years (his fifth and sixth) to play.

Paea had been off the radar for a long time. Recruited as an athlete whose ceiling was probably much higher at guard, Paea nevertheless bounced wherever the team needed him. He moved from offensive line to tackle in spring of 2018 and got some mention from Greg Mattison as “Little Phillip” before switching back to guard. The last few seasons he again provided depth at defensive tackle, a position in need of bodies since Mo Hurst’s graduation.

But even as things grew dire at his position, Paea couldn’t crack the two-deep. When walk-on Jess Speight moved from offensive line and immediately passed the Berrien Springs native, the writing was on the wall. Freshman Mazi Smith taking his #58 a couple of years ago was a deeper indignity. Paea quietly switched to #92.

Paea got no further up the depth chart this spring. Wherever he goes, they’ll at the very least be getting a consummate team guy, and carry the well-wishes of a lot of friends in Ann Arbor.

There is no content after the jump.

[Bryan Fuller]

Previously: The Story. Podcast 12.4A, 12.4B, 12.4C. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Offensive Tackle. Defensive End.

  Depth Chart
ANCHOR Yr. NOSE TACKLE Yr. 3-TECH Yr. WEAK DE Yr.
Kwity Paye Sr. Donovan Jeter Jr.* Carlo Kemp Sr.* Aidan Hutchinson Jr.
Taylor Upshaw So.* Jess Speight Jr.* Chris Hinton Fr.* Luiji Vilain So.*
Gabe Newburg Fr.* Mazi Smith Fr.* Julius Welschof So.* David Ojabo Fr.*

This was a disaster zone last year that saw two different converted offensive players start games. One, Ben Mason, was a 270-pound former fullback. The other, Jess Speight, flipped from offensive line the week before fall practice started. Michigan had one functional Big Ten DT, Carlo Kemp, and survived because the defensive ends were bailing water out of the boat almost as fast as the DTs could shove it in. Don Brown used a variant of the word desperate to describe the situation:

Last year when we counted on playing a lot more of our three-down package stuff, which we desperately needed to, doing it with the abilities of Uche and a lack of total depth numbers at the defensive line.

Of course, "survived" is a relative term. Wisconsin rushed for 359 yards at 6.3 an attempt. Ohio State went for 264 on 5.3 YPC. Alabama forgot to run for a half and still put up 153 yards at 5.1 YPC. A better way to put it may be "did not survive."

A year later everyone's back and older and better shaped. It sound like they have three-ish functional defensive tackles:

“Between (Carlo Kemp), Hinton and Jeter, we feel really good about our inside three,” he said.

Maybe it'll be enough? Relatively?

[After THE JUMP: somebody step up or the pumpkin gets it]

dwumfour embodies the dwumfour zeitgeist [Bryan Fuller]

Previously: Podcast 11.0A, Podcast 11.0B, Podcast 11.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Offensive Tackle. Interior OL. Defensive End.

  Depth Chart
ANCHOR Yr. NOSE TACKLE Yr. 3-TECH Yr. WEAK DE Yr.
Aidan Hutchinson So. Carlo Kemp Sr. Mike Dwumfour Jr.* Kwity Paye Jr.
Paye Jr. Donovan Jeter So.* Chris Hinton Fr. Mike Danna Sr.*
Julius Welschof Fr.* Mazi Smith Fr. Ben Mason Jr.* Josh Uche Jr.

Over the past decade Michigan has been blessed with defensive tackles who tackle. DTs don't have to tackle to be good; DTs who do have a ton of tackles are always good. And Michigan had some dudes. Willie Henry as a junior: 34 tackles. Ryan Glasgow as a senior: 42 tackles. Mo Hurst: an astounding 61. Add in a swing guy like Chris Wormley, who started about half his career games at DT and had 43 and 40 tackles as an upperclassman and you've got the vast majority of DT snaps at Michigan since 2013. Not coincidentally, all of those guys are in the NFL.

Last year every single Michigan defensive tackle (Carlo Kemp, Mike Dwumfour, Bryan Mone, Lawrence Marshall, and Aubrey Solomon) combined to register 43 tackles. 9.5 of these were behind the line of scrimmage. Two games into the season the comedown was obvious:

You know I am sensitive to the performances of Michigan's DTs.

But!

Both Kemp and Mone are both Regular-Ass DTs. Set absurd Mo Hurst goals aside. Let's focus on Ryan Glasgow. Neither guy is anywhere near Glasgow as a penetrator, disruptor, or pass-rusher. Both guys are pushing the pocket and whooping up on single blocking in the run game against poor competition. This is a good base to operate from. But they've still got to establish themselves as top end run defenders against Big Ten competition. And the bit where you fall over backwards in the chair seems permanently out of the question. Which is mostly fine.

[Narrator: It was not fine.]

[After THE JUMP: can someone go from guy to dude?]

in which Items are Gleaned from an unpadded practice 

Ben VanSumeren

Ben VanSumeren is the only scholarship back not injured right now and this is fine.

what if you gathered up the pieces of Darth Maul into three BIO-VIALS and then raised them as your children for years and years and then they were huge