2014 Defensive Unit.
BC - Peppers/Taylor
FC- Countess
FS- Wilson
SS-??...Peppers
MLB- Morgan/McCray
OLB- Jake F'ing Ryan
OLB- James Ross
WDE- Taco
SDE- Frank Clark
DT- Poggi/Henry
NT- Pee Wee
As upset as I have been about the last 2 years of Michigan football....there is so much promise in the above starting 11 and still talent to spare in the 2 deep. Michigan needs to simply kick it into gear and let these last two years motivate the 2014 squad to get this program back where it belongs. To hell with feeling sorry for ourselves. There is enough in Ann Arbor right now to win with iF coached up. This defense could be lights out. We do need 2 additional corners to step up...maybe Ross Douglas or T rich will answer the bell. I like Beyer and Ojemudia also. Bottom line is....2014 could be a damn uprising if we get some passion about ourselves and maximize what is on our roster.
[ED:BISB - edited for formatting, and only for formatting. The rest remains decidedly not mine.]
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
weren't they zone blitzing a lot when mattison first got to um? dont remember seeing that this year
January 2nd, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^
And effectively...
There were times where even Mike Martin was dropping back 10-15 yards down field.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
I agree - We had no playmakers on the interior of the Dline (or Oline) - it seemed like we were playing 4 DE's every down.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
It doesn't matter who is on the field if the defensive coordinator doesn't change the scheme. All year Mattison rushed four undersized defensive lineman against 5 offensive lineman and usually a RB to help out as well. Four against six isn't likely to allow pressure very often. The Michigan DB's lined up 10-15 yards away from the WR's so when a safety blitz actually worked (not very often) the QB had a easy throw. The linebackers were slow and horrible at helping out on pass coverage. The safety's were playing out of position and were faked easily. I thought the defense was a big disapointment.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
I'll be really dissapointed if Peppers isn't on the field for every defensive snap.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^
...to be disappointed.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
I don't see F. Clark starting at SDE, although on certain plays he could slide inside while Taco/Mario tak the WDE spot, but only in certain packages.
His strong point is rushing the QB and he's better suited for WDE and not stuck in the inside. Beyer, with some additional weight, may be able to be a Roh-esque SDE and help in the middle while Clark/Taco/Mario rotate
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
WDE
1. Frank Clark (Sr.)
2. Mario Ojemudia (Jr.)
3. Taco Charlton (So.)
rs: Lawrence Marshall (Fr.)
NG
1. Ondre Pipkins (Jr.)
2. Richard Ash (RS Sr.)
3. Bryan Mone (Fr.)
rs: Brady Pallante (Fr.)
DT
1. Willie Henry (RS So.)
2. Maurice Hurst Jr. (RS Fr.) / Henry Poggi (RS Fr.)
4. Tom Strobel (RS So.) / Matt Godin (RS So.)
SDE
1. Brennen Beyer (Sr.)
2. Chris Wormley (RS So.)
3. Keith Heitzman (RS Jr.)
4. Matt Godin (RS So.) / Tom Strobel (RS So.)
WLB
1. James Ross (Jr.)
2. Ben Gedeon (So.)
3. Royce Jenkins-Stone (Jr.)
rs: Jared Wangler (Fr.)
MLB
1. Desmond Morgan (Sr.)
2. Joe Bolden (Jr.)
3. Michael Ferns (Fr.) / Michael McCray (RS Fr.)
SLB
1. Jake Ryan (RS Sr.)
2. Brennen Beyer (Sr.)
3. Allen Gant (RS So.)
rs: Chase Winovich (Fr.)
rs: Noah Furbush (Fr.)
WCB
1. Blake Countess (RS Jr.)
2. Jourdan Lewis (So.)
3. Delonte Hollowell (Sr.)
4. Terry Richardson (Jr.)
SCB
1. Raymon Taylor (Sr.)
2. Channing Stribling (So.) / Jabrill Peppers (Fr.)
4. Reon Dawson (RS Fr.)
5. Ross Douglas (RS Fr.)
rs: Brandon Watson (Fr.)
NB
1. Jabrill Peppers (Fr.)
2. Jourdan Lewis (So.)
3. Delonte Hollowell (Sr.)
FS
1. Jarrod Wilson (Jr.)
2. Jeremy Clark (RS So.)
SS
1. Dymonte Thomas (So.)
2. Delano Hill (So.)
3. Josh Furman (RS Sr.)
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^
It's usually brought up (status of potential 5th year guys) as soon as I post these things...so I figured I'd ask ahead of time.
I'll keep my thoughts on Furman to myself. But I hope everyone realizes that Ash could be our starting NG going into the summer because of Pipkins' injury.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
Henry's got enough size/strength to play NT. If Pipkins isn't ready to go, I think Henry is the NT with Wormley at the 3T to start the year. I see Hurst and Pipkins backing up at both positions and pushing to start as the year moves along.
January 2nd, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
Looking at this, it seems crazy to me that guys like Bolden and Ross will already be Juniors next year...it seems like a couple days ago we were going over their potential in their recruiting profiles.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^
I'm not sure how the starting lineup will turn out but I do know at this point all I want to see is a more aggressive defense.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
I remember how Ty Law and Charles Woodson played as true frosh. Both were pretty good but not dominant. I get this feeling from the responses people are expecting All America performances from Peppers beginning in September. Even phenoms take a little bit of time. I still remember Woodson dropping that interception in 95 that would have beaten MSU. He also got picked on in that 4th quarter comeback. And this is a guy you could argue is the greatest Michigan defensive player of all time. Freshmen are freshmen.
What also bothers me is I am seeing threads of "if this guy and that guy and that guy does not get hurt the world is perfect. The reality of football is you will have attrition. Only a few lucky teams can depend on no on being hurt, thus the focus on the two deep projections.
The other item to be aware of is the 2013 schedule faced very few good offenses and a lot of bad offenses. We played ND, Nebraska, and Minn minus their projected starters. A number of other teams like Akron, UCONN, and NW were just plain bad. If we had played a Big12 schedule there would have been a few more bombs. So you have to look at the absolute talent of the team were playing and just conclude everything is great because we handled a patsy.
My take is the run defense was pretty decent. However, the pass rush needs to step up. I do not see where it is going to come from as no one really stepped up. To see improvement someone who did not get significant playing time is going to have to step up. The good thing is DE is a position where you can see great immediate production.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^
Our lines are a mess. We will be better if we can straighten out the DLine. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to Q Washington this year. Was he even out there? It seems like he regressed or was he simply not on the field? We need to have some beef up frong. Mone and Malik (if we can somehow pull the rabbit out of the hat) must provide some help.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:43 AM ^
Improving the offensive and defensive line play must be a priority. Everything will fall into place once these two areas are improved.
Also, there is a physical level of play that needs to be taken up. This difference between MSU's bowl game and Michigan's was night and day.
January 2nd, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
He was a total Non-playmaker. He just took up space. Sorry to be harsh, but he won't even be close to a NFL player
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
The DL is the key next year. There's no shortage of young talent there, but it needs to be properly developed and coached or we're in for a very similar result next year.