Previously on The Enemy, Ranked: Quarterback, Running Back, Receiver, OL, DL, Linebacker

We have made it to the last The Enemy piece, featuring the secondary. The secondary comprises cornerback and safety, but does not include hybrid space players, which we included in our preceding piece on linebackers. Some teams roll with five DB's, others with four, so the charts will vary based on which team I'm talking about. As a general trend for this piece that will be reiterated the farther we go down the list, the P5 teams who appear on Michigan's schedule this season have good secondaries. While I was generally unimpressed by the DL's and even some of the LB groups, the secondaries make up for that, with the number of just solid secondaries running 10 deep on Michigan's schedule. That's going to be a challenge. Let's get started with the kings at the top, Indiana: 

1. Indiana

It says a lot about how good Indiana's secondary was last season that they could lose Jahmar Johnson, a 1st team All-B1G safety, in the offseason, and still manage to stay #1 on this list. The strength of IU's secondary is the corners, a pair of studs in Jaylin Williams and Tiawan Mullen, both of whom were starred on last season's FFFF. Mullen is a legit superstar who should be a damn near lock to be 1st team All-B1G this season, while Williams was 2nd team last season and should be a favorite to be right there yet again. Reese Taylor is an experienced veteran who figures to be the nickel corner on this defense, which is a fine option to have. At safety there's going to be some drop off in losing Johnson, but Devon Matthews is still around, 3rd team All-B1G last season, even if the reality of his play may be a bit worse than that distinction. 

Raheem Layne returning from injury is the favorite to replace Johnson at the free safety position and given that safety is a position where you like to have some players who know the scheme and their way around the field, it's nice to have a pair of seniors lining up there. As a four or five man unit, Indiana's secondary is great, and no other team on Michigan's schedule comes close to having the lockdown corner tandem of IU, and that's before you get to the veteran safeties. The Hoosiers took #1 on our list by a healthy margin. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: A different surprising team checks in at #4 this time]

Tariq Castro-Fields (#5), pictured here in 2019, is still around [Patrick Barron]

2. Penn State

PSU is another team, like IU, who loses a valuable piece in the offseason (Lamont Wade), yet still retains a very high spot on the list. For the Nittany Lions, it's all about secondary depth. They have a two-deep where nearly everyone could feasibly play and be solid, and that's in addition to having quality options at the top. Jaquan Brisker headlines the unit, a likely All-B1G player this season who PFF absolutely loves, a sound tackler and good in coverage. Losing Wade hurts, but they have a replacement option to feel decent about in Ji'Ayir Brown, a converted corner who marinated last season after being a JuCo transfer. Even if he slips up, there are other options: Keaton Ellis is another converted corner who has talent and Jon Sutherland has been around forever and knows the defense well. The chance PSU gets at least another quality safety out of that crop seems high. 

At corner we find this article's entrant in the Perry Ellis Hall of Fame of staying in college forever with Tariq Castro-Fields. Fields was an impact freshman back when Brandon Peters was starting at QB for Michigan and is still around, slowed down by injuries over his collegiate career but a very good corner when healthy. Opposite him is Joey Porter Jr., who was a coaches 3rd team All-B1G selection last season, a fine player who will only get better with age (currently only a RS So). The third corner option is probably Johnny Dixon, a transfer from South Carolina who should be decent, though Dequan Hardy is a possibility. Just for kicks, let's throw in young Kalen King as another demonstration of how deep PSU's secondary room is. So many quality players and though they don't have the high end star talent of IU, who edged them out, their proven depth is the best in the B1G and they still have legit impact players as starters, which lands the Nittany Lions at #2. 

Trent McDuffie is very good at his job student athletics [Joe Nicholson/USA Today]

3. Washington

The Huskies play with 5 DB's and have had great secondaries for 5 years running now. The great Chris Pedersen era defenses were built on terrific secondary play and that hasn't really changed since his retirement. Trent McDuffie is the next in a long line of shutdown corners, 2nd team All-PAC this season and he has a 100% chance of being starred on this fall's FFFF. The guy is a monster. Kyler Gordon is another returning starter at outside corner, and he's also good. Washington lost an NFL guy at nickel but bring in an undersized corner from Oklahoma in Brendan Radley-Hiles and he's the favorite to start. Should be fine.

Safety may not be as strong as it has been in the past, but those troubles are all relative for a team that returns 3.5 of 5 starters off a pass defense that allowed just 117 passing yards per game last season. The roles are shuffling a bit, as Kamren Fabiculanan, who was expected to be the backup nickel, is listed on the depth chart as the starting safety, while Dominique Hampton, the expected starting safety, is listed as the backup nickel. The story of fall camp was the emergence of Julius Irvin (not Dr. J), who is listed as the other starting safety in his fourth year in the program. He's a bit of a mystery, but the good news is that they have plenty of experienced safety depth if needed. Asa Turner is a tall and skinny veteran with starting experience. Cameron Williams was great in 2019 and could be an option, while Alex Cook (this one, we are told, doesn't live in a castle) started some last season and is also there on the two-deep. No real known stars at safety but also plenty of options for solid depth, which is likely to produce at least a couple decent starters. And when you combine that with two strong corners and an elite program track record for a team that put up terrific stats last season, you get the #3 secondary on this list. 

4. Maryland 

Whoa! This is the highest that Maryland has appeared in any article and while we have not been terribly kind to their defense so far, the secondary is clearly a strength of the team. I'm making a bit of a leap in terms of betting on upside with the Terps, but I love Nick Cross. One of the best recruits Maryland has ever gotten, he's begun to round into the high-end player you'd expect from someone with his talent, a heat-seeking missile at the strong safety position and I see him making the jump to legit All-B1G this season. Another guy who looks to be set to make a big time jump is Tarheeb Still, who made The Athletic's Freshman All-American team last season after a terrific true freshman campaign that makes him appear to be a budding star in the conference. There is a tandem at the other corner spot, with nominal returning starter Deonte Banks and short veteran Jakorian Bennett both likely to see the field. They're fine. Isaiah Hazel is likely the starter at nickel corner. The free safety spot is held by Jordan Mosley, a converted LB with some coverage issues, but the talented Osita Smith is an option there as well. 

Last season Maryland allowed 200 passing yards per game, ranking 25th in the FBS and a full 100+ better than Ohio State. And two of their best contributors are young players set to get a lot better. That's why the Terps are #4 on this list. If Still and Cross make that next step, this group could be downright nasty. 

5. Wisconsin

Wisconsin is pretty much what happens when you have no stars in your secondary but rather just extremely experienced veteran starters who are competent and get their jobs done. The Badgers allowed only 218 passing yards per game last season, 31st in the FBS, and return 3/4 starters. Faion Hicks and Caesar Williams are a pair of corners who have been around forever but they both take care of business. Not Mullen or McDuffie caliber, but just rock solid corners who know how to play, and Caesar Williams could be an All-B1G guy this season. Alexander Smith, not to be confused with the NFL QB, is the favorite to be the 3rd corner on this defense.

At safety, Wisconsin underwent some offseason turnover, but they return Scott Nelson, also extremely experienced, as well as Collin Wilder, who's made 3 starts in Madison, in addition to plenty of game experience back in Houston when he played for the Cougars. Much like at corner, these two will probably be fine. This group is nothing to rave about, and my descriptions may seem underwhelming given the lack of award selections, but it's hard to argue with the results and the amount of miles this secondary has already played, which portend positive results for 2021. 

Sevyn Banks needs to improve and lift OSU's secondary up with him [Lettermen Row]

6. Ohio State

Lost in the shuffle of last season's COVID craziness and Ohio State rolling easily to another B1G title was that if you pulled back the curtain and really studied the stats or the game tape, you'd notice that OSU's secondary was ... kinda bad last year. Its run defense was suffocating like usual, but they allowed over 300 passing yards per game, one of the worst marks in the FBS last season and the only three good QB's they saw a year ago (Penix, Lawrence, and Jones) all hung 400+ yards on OSU's defense. The OSU coaching staff noticed, and reshuffled the bodies in the press box in the offseason to try and get back to what is normally an absolutely elite secondary. Few schools have pumped out better corners and safeties in the last decade than the Buckeyes and so a quick return to greatness could easily be around the corner. But I'm not giving them that benefit of the doubt yet, especially when the personnel is mostly the same and the only one to earn postseason honors (Shaun Wade) is now gone. 

The returning names include Sevyn Banks and Josh Proctor, both of whom have reasons for optimism (Banks could well be a first rounder next spring) but were frequent culprits when the Buckeyes surrendered the big plays that really hurt them last season. Neither made All-B1G teams last year. Marcus Williamson is an undersized and very old corner who holds down another starting job, as OSU plays with three corners and one safety + the "Bullet" that we included in the LB article. The last corner job should go to Cameron Brown, who didn't play last season after a solid 2019 campaign and could be a breath of fresh air for the unit. The depth behind the starters is generally unproven (outside of Marcus Hooker who we know is Not Good), but of course, supremely talented. The optimistic case is that this is Ohio State- the B1G's DB U. They will find a way to put a really good secondary on the field because it's what they normally do (well, except for last year) and the talent there. The pessimistic case is "replay last season without Shaun Wade". The tension between those two cases are why they land at #6. 

7. Northwestern

Last season Northwestern had a phenomenal secondary, with stars at both corner and safety. That's still true for the latter, but no longer the former. They lost CB Greg Newsome II to the NFL (first rounder!) but retain Brandon Joseph, who was a First Team All-American after he picked off six passes last season and he did it as a redshirt freshman. Regression seems possible in terms of his INT totals, but his age should allow him to improve overall by continuing to master the finer points of the game. Joseph is very, very good. The rest of this positional group is pretty unproven. Filling in at corner for a pair of departing starters (Newsome and Cameron Ruiz) are Cam Mitchell and AJ Hampton. Hampton started three games last season and should be alright, while Mitchell has also played some. They'll probably be fine. Rod Heard will also get on the field for some snaps, while Trent Carrington will play nickel. The experienced Bryce Jackson was listed as the starter opposite Joseph at safety, while the younger Coco Azema will also see the field. Overall, the Wildcats sport a secondary with one star player who lifts them up and overall they should be a pretty good unit, but just not quite up to the caliber of the teams above them on this list. 

Cam Taylor-Britt's return stabilizes Nebraska at #8 [Justin Wan/Journal Star]

8. Nebraska 

You can tell that Michigan's schedule is loaded with great secondaries when you notice that Nebraska, who I think has a good secondary, is #8 on the list... and we haven't even gotten to MSU yet either. A lot like Northwestern, the Huskers ride a star in their secondary, although not quite the talent level of Brandon Joseph. Still, Cam Taylor-Britt chose to spurn the NFL and return to Lincoln, which was very good news for Huskers fans because the 2nd team All-B1G corner is a very good player and an important rock in the secondary. The other corner spot is vacant after DiCaprio Bootle exited, but they've got options, the young and lanky corner Quinton Newsome is probably the favorite, but JuCo guy Nadab Joseph is in the mix, as is fellow youngster Braxton Clark. At safety, a pair of super seniors decided to come back for their sixth years in Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke, giving the Huskers a very high floor in the secondary. There's a ton of experience here and an impact player at the top of the group in Taylor-Britt. The secondary should be the strength of Nebraska's defense, but despite that they still somehow wind up at #8. 

9. Michigan State

MSU is #9 on this list and much like Nebraska, I think they have a pretty solid secondary. They just rank 9th because again, Michigan's schedule is loaded with good secondaries. The Spartans lost CB Shakur Brown to the draft but otherwise they return do-everything nickel Michael Dowell and the adequate Kalon Gervin as two of their three corners (MSU plays with 5 DB's). The job of replacing Brown seems to be going to Ronald Williams, an intriguing transfer who dominated in JuCo, transferred to 'Bama last season and then had injury issues and got buried on the embarrassment of riches that is the Crimson Tide depth chart. Mel Tucker brings him to East Lansing and I think that's a good get. The best player in the secondary, though, is SS Xavier Henderson, a multi-year starter who brings with him a lot of experience and quality play. Free Safety is held by Angelo Grose, who moved from corner to this position. 

Really, there's no weak point here and while they don't have a true star, at least 3 of 5 starters should be good. And again, no one who will obviously be cyan'd on a future FFFF chart. This is a rock solid group, yet they wind up at #9. Oh well. 

Rutgers has a good corner! [247Sports]

10. Rutgers

Our final piece of evidence on how stacked the B1G secondaries are this season: Rutgers is last among P5 secondaries on Michigan's schedule, yet they boast a consensus All-B1G corner. That would be Tre Avery, who was 3rd team last season and is the best player on this unit. Avery Young is the FS who moved from corner last season and is one of two other returning starters alongside fellow safety Christian Izien, who did rack up four INT's last season but wasn't without his coverage issues. Max Melton seems to have been supplanted on the depth chart by UNC Transfer Patrice Rene, a player for whom my initial reaction upon reading his name was "this dude's gotta be from Quebec" (verdict: hometown is Ottawa). Rene should be a servicable option (though he is injured for week one) and the theme of this secondary is "fine". Nothing spectacular, but a lot of experience given that they have all four starters from last season back and added a 6th year guy in Rene. Rutgers wasn't a dominant pass defense by any means last season but they also didn't get caved in and should be marginally better this season. No major sore spots, and it's just unfair that they have to wind up 10th on the list. 

11. Northern Illinois 

While the P5 secondaries on Michigan's schedule are stacked, the MAC secondaries are... not. There are some things to like about NIU's secondary, including returning CB starter Jordan Gandy, 2nd team All-MAC last season. Gandy led the Huskies in tackles last season, something you absolutely never want to say about a cornerback. That's more about the rest of the defense's issues than it is about Gandy, though. Dillon Thomas cedes a huge cushion to the opposition yet is still miles better than the maligned Myles McGee (pun intended). The CB depth gets pretty bad pretty fast.

At safety they do have some solid pieces, Devin Lafayette was 3rd team All-MAC as a true freshman(!), while Jordan Hansen is learning the position and has tons of upside. This group is seriously inexperienced, but that's part of the reason for optimism relative to Western. While both NIU and WMU allowed about the same number of passing yards last season, NIU did it without a good (for MAC standards) DL to help rush the passer and also returns more pieces, all of whom are relatively young and from whom we should expect improvement. That leaves NIU at #11, but still well behind the P5 schools. 

12. Western Michigan 

The good news about WMU's secondary? It returns Bricen Garner at strong safety, who was 1st team All-MAC. The bad news? It's the clear weakspot on the defense, with CB in particular being really rough last season, and one of the players with the best shot of rectifying that, Patrick Lupro, is out for the season. In his absence, Pitt transfer Therran Coleman will give it a shot at starting corner opposite Keith Jones. Converted WR DaShon Bussell is in the mix too, and trying to solve the CB problem will likely amount to throwing bodies at the issue and seeing what sticks. Safeties are better, with Garner pulling his weight and then some, and AJ Thomas was solid in coverage last season and has considerable experience. Still, it's hard not to feel decently down about this group even within MAC confines, and we explained why NIU slots ahead of them in the preceding paragraph, so the only possible spot for the Broncos is the cellar. 

Brad Hawkins getting more INT's will help Michigan's secondary ranking [Bryan Fuller]

Where would Michigan slot in? 

The Wolverines have a fascinating secondary group that has some real areas for optimism and also real areas of concern. The safeties have a shot to be dynamite, between Dax Hill maybe having that breakout season and Brad Hawkins being a steady veteran presence. I'm pretty high on Gemon Green so long as he actually knows what he's doing the whole year this season, but it's hard not to still feel terrified about #2 corner. The reports about DJ Turner displacing Vince Gray are good to hear, but his scouting report as a prospect never really impressed me and we've seen little from him on the field. Based on what happened last season, though, the bar is low. The possibility of moving Dax around and using either Makari Paige or RJ Moten is enticing and could lift the secondary up. There is a world in which Michigan's secondary claws closer to the 4-5 range on this list, but I think they start out in the 8-9 range, next to teams like Nebraska and MSU who on the whole have solid groups, although ones with areas for optimism and pessimism, just like Michigan. 

The Enemy, Wrapped:

At last we have made it to the end of The Enemy. Here I have summarized the rankings from my previous pieces so you can graphically see which teams are good at what and wow they grade out on average. To address the initial surprise, yes, PSU did grade out as slightly better on average than Ohio State, but no, I don't think for a minute that Penn State is better than Ohio State. As useful as ranking teams based on their positional groups is, teams are not simply the average of those rankings. Some teams will be better than the sum of their parts and other teams will not be. Ohio State's edge at QB over PSU and Sean Clifford is enough for me to clearly deem the Buckeyes the best team in the conference because that position is more important and has a greater effect on the football game than other positions. 

Moreover, you have to consider how these teams match up. Ohio State's weakness is in their back 7 (especially the secondary), but how many teams on this list have the ability to actually exploit the weakness? Given that Graham Mertz, who was firmly a game manager last season, checked in at #4 on this list, the answer is not many/maybe not any. Indiana stands out as one that can (as they did last year), but do they have the defense to keep the Buckeyes in check, and can they keep Penix upright with that wobbly OL and his history of injury? Color me doubtful. Despite the average score, OSU is obviously the most difficult team on Michigan's schedule. 

As for the rest of the teams, there seems to be a pretty clear set of tiers of opponents:

1. OSU
2. Wisconsin/PSU
3. IU/Washington
4. Maryland/MSU/Northwestern
5. Nebraska/Rutgers
6. WMU and then NIU 

How Michigan does against tiers 3 and 4 will probably determine the feel of the season— and the future of Jim Harbaugh's tenure in Ann Arbor.