The pads are on, we have final decisions from 2/3 opt-outs, and there are a few canisters of hype to unload, but we have to lead off with some incredible news:

Don Brown says two of the most improved players along the defensive line have been Julius Welschof and Taylor Upshaw. Says Upshaw has gotten a lot bigger. "Taylor, he didn't even have a butt a year ago. Now he's got a butt."

— Orion Sang (@orion_sang) September 30, 2020

We stopped sending people to pressers recently which is a shame because there was nobody there to ask the obvious follow-up questions. Rest assured, audience, we know this is important to you and we will get answers. About butts.

GUYS AVAILABLE/UNDISCUSSED: Over the course of camp the coaches have been mentioning players they're "just getting back," or who "weren't available for a time." Other names we expected to be in the mix are being left out of rundowns. Historically when a coach isn't saying a player's name it's a bad sign. In some cases it might be. But keep in mind there might be another reason this year a player might not be with the team for 14 days, a reason that they don't want to say out loud. I emphasize this is NOT from any insider information.There are many reasons other than the 2020 reason for players to be sidelined—after so much time off it would be weird if there weren't a few strains—and coaches are loathe to share those. The point is it's more foolish to speculate on absences this fall.

Quarterback

Always two there are. [Patrick Barron]

What we want to hear: A definitive reason McCaffrey is leaving.

What we're hearing: The quarterback battle is dead, long live the quarterback battle. We've spent the last two podcasts talking past each other about whether that's a good Milton thing or scary thing. Balas posted something in a recent ITF($) that's nearly word for word what an insider emailed me:

First off, the Joe Milton hype is now off the charts. Yes, he's dropping dimes on the long ball. And yes, he's made huge strides.
No, he isn't perfect, and people shouldn't expect him to be. He'll still miss the occasional crossing pattern, etc. But he has made huge strides, and he's got the confidence and leadership that make his teammates around him trust him and want to win for him.

The next step in the program's playbook is to pump up Cade McNamara as the new McCaffrey. And so:

"He’s made as many big-time throws as Joe," Gattis said. "Probably about the same number. There's some 'wow' plays." …

"I think Cade will appreciate this: the first four days that we came back, Cade was in a little bit of a funk," Gattis said. "He was more so in freshman mode where he was used to being on the scout team last year, not necessarily getting a lot of the full-speed reps. It took him about four or five days and then literally about day five, I saw him make a throw in practice and when he hit it, he kinda nodded his head three times like he was playing a song in his head.

"And ever since then he’s been on fire."

Harbaugh's line was "Put a talented guy out there and see how it goes," on Jansen's podcast. He also said "We're testing negative and staying positive" which would make a good bumper sticker. Don Brown has been less diplomatic:

“Great leader,” Brown said. “Here’s what I’ll tell you about Joe Milton: Joe and I have a great relationship. Joe will come into my office and ask me about coverage. … He’s reaching out, he’s trying to get better every day, he’s trying to be smarter with concept.”

“He’s another one of those infectious guys, got a smile on his face all the time,” Brown said. “Ready to go to work. And I have never seen a young man with a stronger arm than this guy. He can let it rip.”

Gattis seems to be feeling the Milton Experience:

"When we see a ball travel like that, 70 yards, it’s very hard to track a ball that long and still get pinpoint accuracy on each one of the throws," Gattis said. "I’ve got to the point now where I’ve told the receivers 'don’t stop running.'"

Ronnie Bell, who spent the offseason training with Milton, is also feeling it:

I talked about it with one of the guys about a week ago, and this is the best I’ve ever seen Joe. … he’s just lights out right now. It’s just very exciting to play alongside him.

What it means: Joe Milton is the quarterback, was probably looking good enough that McCaffrey bolted. The other quarterback, who isn't a true freshman late low-3* pickup because their QB of the class medically retired, is the other quarterback, and an offseason always needs two.

You Might Remember This Position Group from Such Former Seasons As: 2012 after Denard got injured. Do you remember Devin Gardner running around lost in the backfield as Wildcats swarmed around him, then he somehow got the ball out? Do you remember that pinpoint bomb to Jeremy Gallon against Minnesota? Do you remember how if anything happened to Gardner it was Russell Bellomy and air? Do you remember that at the end of all of that the numbers were actually pretty incredible? Strap in.

Depth Chart: 1. Milton, 2. McNamara

[After THE JUMP: Introducing the Michigan Secondary Panicometer. It is pronounced like thermometer]

Running Back

It gets better. [Barron]

What we want to hear: Charbonnet was banged up last year and that's the only reason we didn't see the running parts that made him an almost-5-star. Blake Corum is frickin sweet. Chris Evans is running receiver-like routes and is going to be a big part of the offense. Hassan Haskins has to be held back because he tramples people; they've been working on screens to get him loose against the little people.

Gattis acknowledging he has a fullback and that this is a perfectly acceptable thing to have in 2020.

What we're hearing: Gattis made it sound like Charbonnet healthy is their #1 back:

"I think Zach is playing at such a high level, it’s great to see Zach playing out there being who he is," Gattis said. "I think everyone knows, Zach is tough. He battled through some injuries in high school and he came in a little banged up, needed to get cleaned up. He battled through a number of different injuries last year. To see a guy that is a true freshman battle through adversity and injuries and still play the full season says a lot. He’s been able to spend this offseason focusing on his body. First and foremost, he’s as chiseled as can be. He takes such great care of his body and it’s really impressive. He’s always in the weight room.

Harbaugh thinks the running back room is the deepest on the team and seemed pretty excited to Blake Corum on Jansen's podcast, then immediately went to Lucas Andrighetto. Harbaugh mentioned in his presser that they like throwing to Hassan Haskins—that's not a typo. That, for you millennials, is what Balas is talking about in his ITF($):

We do know fifth-year senior Chris Evans has been outstanding in what they've asked them to do, as has Zach Charbonnet. And frosh Blake Corum has "ridiculous feet." Hassan Haskins will have a role, and they'll do some two-back stuff with him. For the old-timers, he could have a Che Foster-type role in some games.

Lorenz pointed out on their podcast that this staff cares a lot about pass protection, specifically taking contact, probably because things took a downturn in that department between the graduation of De'Veon Smith and Charbonnet's debut.

What it means: It's too deep of a room to figure out how it shakes out except everyone has something of a role. Haskins being involved in the passing game is a good thing; I know you think of scatbacks in that role but that's because you didn't watch enough 1990s football with rumblin' fullbacks catching the ball out of the backfield. Also Haskins was not much of a pass protector last year so might as well throw over the blitzers.

I think they like this group enough in fact that they're going to play a lot more two-back sets.

YMRTPGFSFSA: 2009…where are you going get back here the backs were fine, remember? They also used a lot of two-back shotgun sets with a thunder and lightning on the field. Minor (RAGE!) had 5.2 YPC on just under 100 carries, Carlos Brown was at 5.9 on 81 carries, Vincent Smith and Michael Shaw and Mike Cox combined for another 100 carries and 5.5 YPC.

Depth Chart: 1. Evans/Charbonnet, 2. Corum/Haskins

Wide Receiver & Tight End & Ben Mason

It's Sweetness Week. [Bryan Fuller]

What we want to hear: Nico got his copy of Hail to the Victors and realized he too doesn't want to go through another fall without 500 balls thrown to Nico. Barring that, how about something on Cornelius Johnson?

What we're hearing: We're still waiting on Nico's official decision but it's notable that Mayfield and the other opt-ins announced have been back at school while Nico hasn't; Sam seems less than optimistic($). The 247 guys say this is the fastest group of Michigan receivers in history on their 5Q5A podcast bit this week.

Bell was asked who's standing out and for the first time we got something that's not about the speed of the freshmen:

As for guys to be able to make a jump, definitely C.J. – Cornelius Johnson and Mikey Sainristil – both of those guys have been just dominant this offseason and this little preseason we’ve been taking care of.

The Sainristil talk was echoed by insiders in an ITF($), though of course Ronnie Bell is the first guy mentioned.

Rivals' Austin Fox and Clayton Safie are skeptical of the recent talk that Sainristil is the #2 receiver after Bell, or at least that he will be at the end of the year.

We did finally get some tight end talk (Tend Talk?) from the Josh Gattis presser and Sherrone Moore's appearance on the Jansen pod. It's what you expected: Eubanks is a leader, and the youngsters are picking things up:

“It’s 100 times better,” he told the show. “It’s understanding what they’re doing, but they’re also understanding the why. They also understand if the defense does this, we can do this. They can tell us what the plays are, which is the next step.”

Also All is heading in the correct direction, and apparently knows what that is:

“Erick All is a kid that the ceiling, I don’t know what it is, but it’s huge for him,” Moore said. “He’s going to be an exciting player to watch over the next years here. His real hang-up, when he first got here, he was a little light. He’s up to about 245 right now and he runs like a deer. He gets the playbook. Last year left was right, right was left."

Luke Schoonmaker also went on Jansen's pod to say he's up to 254 pounds and confirmed Ben Mason has a job to do:

“Ben is a true leader on the team. He’s played all these different positions and he’s been an impact leader not only for our room but for the team. He understands everything that we do. He’s got a total understanding what his role will be and what we’ll do.”

What it means: Ball's in the air, Nico. Re: Mason, it's "FULLBACK." His role is fullback. Why are we…? Bah!

YMRTPGFSFSA: If Nico does come back, it's 2004, with Collins in the Braylon role, Bell playing Jason Avant (except Ronnie gets a step where Jason didn't need one), and then a hold-your-breath Breaston in Giles Jackson, plus some fancy slot stuff with Sainrisitl instead of Jermaine Gonzalez. Sans Nico, it's 2005, which was Avant and Breaston with a breakout freshman Mario Manningham, plus some Carl Tabb and Antonio Bass. Both seasons had a not-quite-a-TE deep threat in Tim Massaquoi, who was recruited as a jumbo receiver and grew into an okay blocker and good outlet.

Depth Chart (Z/X/H): 1. Bell, 2. Johnson/Sainristil/Jackson, 3. Wilson/Henning. TE is Eubanks, All, Schoonmaker and all three will play a lot.

Offensive Line

I'll take it. [Bryan Fuller]

What we want to hear: Embarrassment of riches, Mayfield's going to be an All-American, guys coming up being favorably compared to the departed.

What we're hearing: There was a Stueber media availability today and it seems we're down to seven guys...

Andrew Stueber said himself, Jalen Mayfield, Karsen Barnhart, Andrew Vastardis, Chuck Filiaga, Trente Jones and Ryan Hayes have been among the players working with the first-team OL

— Aria Gerson (@aria_gerson) October 1, 2020

That goes up to eight when Zach Carpenter is included, but everyone this week agrees Andrew Vastardis is happening—before he starts med school—and Warinner said on Jansen's podcast that Reece Atteberry is in the second unit, though Carpenter, who was scout team player of the year last year, is still "in a dogfight" with them. Harbaugh said Vastardis has "emerged as a leader this year" and "plays like a starter." They also had Vastardis come on Jansen's podcast last week.

Harbaugh also brought up Ryan Hayes at left tackle and Andrew Stueber at right guard doing well. Mayfield is going to have his job back from Karsen Barnhart, who's going to have to fight for left guard. The sixth guy Harbaugh mentioned was Chuck Filiaga, who had "a tremendous fall camp," is looking strong and more athletic.

Via Ed Warinner prior to the Mayfield announcement the battle at left guard was Filiaga and Keegan, right guard was Andrew Stueber, who was moved inside because of their depth at tackle, and Nolan Rumler was battling with him along with Zak Zinter with a slight edge to Rumler because he's been around. He then said Stueber is ahead but "Nolan's challenging and Zinter's definitely challenging." 247's Brice Marich heard Zinter "could be better than Ben Bredeson" ($) which tells you how they think about him.

Warinner came on the same podcast, confirmed Jalen Mayfield's back in the fold, and was quoting PFF stats re: Onwenu. Stueber came on too and made it sound like the delay in the season might have helped him get back closer to 100% from his rehab. Because they haven't played in 10 months it's going to take some time to get Jalen back where he was—his improvement at the end of the year was in hand use and pass sets. Ryan Hayes (solid technique, very good athlete) is in the lead but the way Karsen's been coming on there's some depth at tackle, and Trente Jones and Joel Honigford have been very solid.

Another thing from Warinner: they have their rooms split up so if there's a COVID outbreak in one room they feel like they have a starting group in the other room. They're mixed between guys on the first and second team. They're also "double-wrapping" their masks.

I have a question in with a source regarding which room everybody's in.

What it means: It seems they have seven guys they want on the field and don't quite know where to put them now. They had their configuration without Mayfield but now have to decide if they want Barnhart backing up Mayfield so he can start next year, or throw him into that left guard battle. My guess is the latter, but if they lose a tackle they'll play Barnhart there and draw in Filiaga/Keegan.

Zach Carpenter going from presumptive starter to behind a true freshman is probably an availability issue since his name wasn't mentioned much until this week. I do believe they love Vastardis, and center's a position where you play the guy who knows what he's doing.

YMRTPGFSFSA: 2001. This was the o-line after THAT line, and saw a smooth transition from Hutchinson/Backus to the Daves era. Their one returning starter, Jonathan Goodwin, was at guard but had the NFL potential of Mayfield. Ryan Hayes is as ready as Tony Pape. Andrew Stueber is your solid and somewhat experienced Dave Petruziello. They have this versatile redshirt freshman David Baas-like kid they want somewhere in Karsen Barnhart. And the center battle played out the same way: the 2001 previews all talked about young Dave Pearson but in fall camp they went with a 5th year guy, Kurt Anderson, at center because a new line needed a leader who knew the offense really well.

The other thing about the 2001 line was they had some freshmen in Adam Stenavich, Matt Lentz, and Leo Henige who were already impressing.

Depth chart: 1. Hayes/Barnhart/Vastardis/Stueber/Mayfield, 2. Jones/Filiaga/Carpenter/Keegan/[Barnhart]

Defensive Line

my god [Barron]

What we want to hear: My six-year-old has questions about the butt. I also have questions about butt.

What we're hearing:

Based PURELY on Don Brown's press conference answers, here's Michigan's defensive depth chart pic.twitter.com/0TcWwyulGD

— Zach Shaw (@_ZachShaw) September 30, 2020

The quote about butts mentioned Julius Welschof as the other DL who's come along. He didn't say where, but I assume it's at Anchor since suddenly be-butted Taylor Upshaw appears to be at WDE not anchor:

“Upshaw was just a skinny guy, banged around but could run,” Brown said. “Now he's much bigger, much more equipped to play the open side defensive end position, but he can still flat out run. Those things, plus being in the system a year (have helped).”

On the inside, we have had our first Donovan Jeter dude day after a Don Brown presser that shoveled another layer of Jeter love on the wreckage of last year's mountain:

Donovan Jeter is playing better than I ever anticipated he could play. He has exceeded all expectations, and he and Carlo Kemp have given us solid play inside.

He continued into the depth, acknowledging last year was popsicle sticks:

You know, Jessie Speight is doing a really good job. But those guys in that grouping have made significant improvements. We're probably 8-9 deep there. 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.

…

Oh, and Christopher Hinton's playing great! That's the guy I got left out. Sometimes I hate doing this because you leave a guy out.

Indeed, there hasn't been much talk of Mazi Smith. Brown did say Carlo Kemp is moving back to 3-tech, which a) is a relief, and b) a rebuke of a presser around this far from kickoff last year when Brown said he put Kemp at nose and fwoosh [airplane takes off sign].

What it means:  Re: Mazi, I have no insider info, but if you're making odds I'd rank the odds of Sam writing something cagey that allays fears without saying why Mazi's not around higher than portal news. Portal news would be very bad IMO.

YMRTPGFSFSA: 1994. Sorry to go back a ways, but that team had 6'2"/269 Tony Henderson trying to play nose guard, flanked by two excellent tackles in Trent Zenkewicz and Jason Horn, and flashes from 5* true sophomore Will Carr that suggested he was going to be a star one day, but wasn't quite ready to be on the field every down. To this they added a rotation of young guys like Glen Steele and OLBs Trevor Pryce and Matt Dyson and Kerwin Waldroup. It mostly worked because they had two star ILBs in Jarrett Irons and Steve Morrison to make them right. But when they came up against a line full of massive future pros like Penn State or Wisconsin or Ohio State they just got pushed around too much in the middle.

Depth chart: DE: Hutchinson/Paye always on the field, with Kwity at End when both are, and Upshaw/Vilain/Ojabo coming in at End. DT: Kemp at Tackle, Jeter or Hinton at Nose, and Jeter also the backup for Kemp.

Linebacker

Let's hear it anyway. [Barron]

What we want to hear: Well that was downright Devin Bush-like.

What we're hearing: I know it feels like Cam McGrone and Josh Ross are already established but it's nice to hear Don Brown confirm Ross is back to being the WILL he was two years ago (thinks Josh Ross has been playing his best football), and Cam's made that leap from freshman who flashes but makes mistakes to every-down star:

He's kind of picked up where he left off. We're very happy with his performance. He's really learned the defense. He really knows what we're doing, and knows what everyone else is doing as well.

So back to the backups, where there's been no tiring of praise for Nikhai Hill-Green, this time from the two inside starters Josh Ross and Cam McGrone, who were made available to the media last week. WILL #1 Ross on the guy who appears to be #2:

“[Hill-Green]’s a great, great guy. Great player. Still learning, but one thing I can say about him is he’s very instinctive. He’s very smart and he’s gonna be a good player for Michigan in the future for sure. He’s a great dude.”

MIKE #1 McGrone (emphasis mine):

[H]e’s progressed the fastest in terms of the mental aspect of being a linebacker," …"His keys, his reads, his assignments. He’s definitely faster than I was and that really impressed me. And there’s been times when he’s been X-ing me out on the field and sometimes he makes the call before I do – and that really excites me for the future as a linebacker here at Michigan."

They also echoed earlier sentiments re: Ben VanSumeren, who brings a fullback mentality to the SAM job. Brown said BVS runs a 4.6 and it is translating to the field. As for Viper, WolverineWire's Isaiah Hole caught up recently with Barrett and transcribed Brown, who makes it sound like Solomon's coming:

I would say there’s a pretty good battle going on at the VIPER position between Michael Barrett and Anthony Solomon. We feel good about both of those guys’s ability. Their ability to run, cover, straight-line blitz. But we also have Mohan – who has his nickname ‘Apache’ – and he’s really got great straight-line pressure ability, and has a knack for it as well. Those three guys for sure.

Don Brown's presser made it sound like Kalel Mullings is starting to have his light go on, which is good news because he can flat-out fly. Brown also mentioned Cornell Wheeler is finally back with the team after being unavailable. However Brown then mentioned two walk-ons—seniors Adam Shibley and Adam Fakih—before getting to Mullings and Hill-Green.

Osman Savage was the odd man out and entered the transfer portal last night. Charles Thomas hasn't been brought up.

What it means: Nobody's really worried about linebacker; Savage looks like a very early depth chart transfer, a la Drew Singleton, that is more a signal he doesn't want to battle the next Cam McGrone for a job. I do get some willies from the Hill-Green talk because coaches tend to fall in love with Devin Gils and Joe Boldens when there are perfectly good Josh Rosses and Ben Gedeons sitting around. But don't take me seriously; talk about a true freshman this year is a good thing.

It does sound like Barrett should take Solomon seriously now. That's a change, and one I take as a good sign for Solomon.

YMRTPGFSFSA: 2017. This was Devin Bush's sophomore effort, with Mike McCray at WILL and Noah Furbush coming in at SAM when they needed one. It was great, and portended even greater things for 2018.

It could also be 1998, when they had Ian Gold and Sam Sword and Dhani Jones, and returned Clint Copenhaver and Anthony Jordan at SAM but also had a freak freshman in Victor Hobson they couldn't wait to play, and the coaches were talking about Eric Brackins for some reason when they had a perfectly good Larry Foote…sorry sorry I'll stop.

Depth Chart: 1. McGrone/Ross/Barrett or Solomon, 2. Mullings/Hill-Green

Secondary

Yes, we know they're ready for Michigan State, but what about real offenses? [Fuller]

What we want to hear: DJ Turner II is stepping up at cornerback and they are really liking—say—Gemon Green.

What we're hearing: WolverineWire's Isaiah Hole has been talking to Ambry Thomas and was one of the first to confirm the heart-sinking news that he's not playing.

Brown layed out the depth chart thusly:

On the back end, Brad Hawkins is Brad Hawkins and plays really well. Daxton Hill is Daxton Hill; we think he has high high ceiling, has not reached that ceiling in terms of potential turned into every-down performance, but he is certainly going in the right direction. Sammy Faustin has improved dramatically. At the corner position Gemon Green also joins DJ Turner and Jalen Perry as high-level players.

We've still got some question to answer, to be honest with you. [Competition is good] and we still have some significant practice time in front of us before we make any decisions.

Hole thinks that means Perry is ahead of Gemon, or was.

So the hype guy lately is Sammy Faustin, who was a guy again, along with Hunter Reynolds. On their podcast Steve Lorenz noted Faustin…

"is a player we know wasn't going to be a Year 1 or even Year 2 guy, so if he's ready to step up that could be a recruiting win for Don Brown, since this is when that was supposed to happen."

Cornerback depth being what it is, we shouldn't be surprised that Michigan's looking to bring Daxton Hill down to slot corner in nickel situations if a safety is better than their third corner. That seems to now be the plan($) said Sam Webb last week, and confirmed by Don Brown yesterday. Except it sounds more serious than that:

Last season, Daxton Hill played primarily at safety. Now, according to The Michigan Insider's Sam Webb($), it appears Hill is in line for a position switch to corner. While that move might not be permanent, it's a testament to Hill's coverage abilities and being versatile. U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh discussed Hill's move and the impact it would make on the defense at this present moment.

“Nothing is definite,” Harbaugh exclusively told The Michigan Insider. “Dax is really talented, versatile, and can play safety, nickel and corner, and has. We are really anticipating great things from him this season, and it could be from any of those spots.”

It will surprise nobody that the coaches were trying hard to bring back Ambry Thomas, and that a lot of people Ambry talks to, including Jansen, came off as very optimistic before that was shut down. 

Sam keeps saying Makari Paige is standing out, but believes Faustin would be the guy if Dax is indeed a cornerback.

As was previously reported, Faustin has already earned Don Brown’s dude of the day twice this fall. That comes on the heels of talk last year by now departed coaches of coverage potential on par with that of Brad Hawkins. There had even talk of moving Faustin to corner. At the same time there areas where the need for improvement was highlighted too. The most notable of which was the need for him to gain a firmer grasp of the defense. It appears he has done that.

On Paige:

“This guy is a safety all the way, tremendous length,” Brown said. “I’d conservatively say he is 6-2. I think he is taller than that. He really plays well over the slot. We have a number of guys playing pretty well over the slot, and they get tested by our receivers every day … you hate to draw too many conclusions …”

Prior to this Sam Webb hazarded a depth chart that has Gray at one spot and DJ Turner/Gemon Green battling for the other. Turner was leading for the nickel spot, followed by the two freshmen. Ronnie Bell talked up a guy who used to be in his room:

I think all the corners have been playing really well. One though who was playing receiver last year, George (Johnson). George is now at DB, and I think he's been doing really good, especially considering he didn't play at DB until this year. He was at receiver all last year. So considering it's his first time at DB, I think he's been doing really well.

And Don Brown mentioned Eamonn Dennis in his presser: "can really fly and run." He also mentioned their man free (Cover 1) tendency was a bit excessive:

“Obviously, it’s very true (we play man), but … everybody thinks we are a man free team dominantly, and with that being said, we were 62nd out of 65 power five teams in RPOs we saw,” Brown said. “The reason for that is because of the man free ability.

“But we can also show you man free and show other things. To say we haven't expanded that would be a lie. We’ve definitely expanded the package, which we do every year. We feel like we're in a good place right now with our coverage disguise and flexibility and number of concepts we play … I feel strong about abilities there, but coverage flexibility is a big deal ... disguise is important as we move forward.”

As for safety, Lorenz confirmed Jordan Morant is back($) but firmly behind the other two freshmen who've been here due to injuries.

What it means: I'm sorry to do this everybody but it is now time to pull out the…

WE ARE AT ELEVATED

The Michigan Secondary Panicometer recognizes there are degrees of terrifying secondary offseasons. Zones:

• SWEET: PFF is making numerous graphics to show how insanely good Michigan's returning players were last year. You may laugh about anything up to Ohio State.
• MOSTLY SAFE: You are marked Jarrod Wilson. Bad things probably won't happen to you unless you're playing Ohio State, but you are advised to watch for slot fades anyway.
• ELEVATED RISK: Certain positions are may not be able to cover Notre Dame slots or Penn State tight ends without help. Might be able to get by anyways. Use caution.
• NEVER FORGET: What seams?

You could spin this as Sammy Faustin and Makari Paige are playing well enough that the coaches would rather get one of them on the field than DJ Turner, Jalen Perry, Andre Seldon, or anybody else. But one of our strongest metrics is when they're talking about everybody—and now literally every cornerback on the roster has been mentioned—they have nobody. An even stronger metric is position-switches, with the nature of the switch suggesting the nature of the problems. In this case they're moving a future NFL safety who's only a true sophomore, and that has to mean they think they need more options at cornerback than what's in front of them. At best this is a pandemic reason.

The coaches are spinning it as wanting to have options, which is understandable when COVID could wipe out your position group, and more understandable when COVID could wipe out one of the one or two cornerbacks you trust to have out there. You can't spin this as good. They couldn't get Ambry Thomas back and they know they can't keep up playing man to man, is how it reads to me.

We are going to Elevated. Try to avoid any Minnesotas.

/Big Ten schedules Minnesota for Game 1

/Rashod Bateman returns

erd f;lqweuf;idsajufkadjs;kjdsafasdflslsd;fdfljl;adj

YMRTPGFSFSA: No no no it's not any of the NEVER FORGET years, but it does start to feel like my early college years, when Woodson left early but they still had Marcus Ray and a five-star in Tommy Hendricks at safety, a solid but exploitable veteran cornerback in Andre Weathers, a hyped but not at all viable cornerback in James Whitley, and a reliable but also very small true freshman in Todd Howard they could turn to. When Ray got hurt they played DeWayne Patmon, who was alright and is our Sammy Faustin comp.

Depth Chart: 1. Hawkins/Dax/Gray/can we clone Dax, 2. Faustin/Paige/Turner/Seldon, 3. Green, Green-Warren

Special Teams/COVID/Etc.

Longsnapper Camaran Cheeseman opted out of the season. Last year's backup was grad transfer Trey Harper, who's also gone. Hopefully someone has levers.

The Big Ten has announced their deal for rapid surveillance testing. Other than hockey definitively being included the big news from that release is there's a limit how many people a team can claim:

Iowa’s team physician, Dr. Andy Peterson, confirmed to HawkeyeReport, that the Big Ten is capping daily antigen tests at 170 per team and that programs cannot purchase extra tests. The 170 includes all personnel, including managers and trainers, who come in contact with players.

— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) October 1, 2020

Michigan currently has 134 players on their roster, and last I counted their staff list is around 50, so some walk-ons are going to have to be left out. Certain programs that pride themselves on letting every teenager in 400 miles walk onto their program are in worse shape.

The testing cap at 170 has implications for Nebraska, which lists a Big Ten-high 154 players on its roster. The Huskers must likely now reduce their roster size. By how much remains unclear. Iowa, for instance, will count 46 non-players among its 170, according to HawkeyeReport.

— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) October 1, 2020

Wow.

Finally a thank you to reader Gulogull37, who took notes on Don Brown's presser, and put them on the board with some analysis.