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 7:27 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
seriously, this needs 1,000,000 up votes.
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
Thats what I had been thinking today. I think our CBs, safeties, and LBs are plenty good enough to win a B1G Championship but we got absolutely no pressure with 4 this year which killed us.
Next season will be won and lost in the trenches. I think literally every position outside of the OL and DL are solid. If we can improve on both lines, we'll be a great team. If we continue to flounder, hello 7-5
January 2nd, 2014 at 7:40 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 7:48 AM ^
I agree on all spots, but it will be hard to keep stribling off the field - he's the only one of the CBs that can play bump-and-run (except maybe Peppers).
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
...excitement. The flashes he has shown are impressive. He single handedly could have changed a couple games this past season with a few tweaks here and there. Oh well...here's to spring.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
RT struggled all year. He gave up a lot of cushion at the LOS and would still get beat down field. He has shown flashes, but still has to improve. I think Stribling can be good, but he needs to learn how to play the ball once it is in the air. Coverage skills were promising.
January 2nd, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
I'm not sure if giving up cushion is really his fault. What if the play/scheme calls for him playing off the LOS?
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:37 AM ^
I forgot about Delano Hill at SS too.
Add him to the mix.
January 2nd, 2014 at 7:41 AM ^
to steal a section from Touchthebanner.com, Guys I'd like to see less of on defense, Keith Heitzman. The guys who really need to step up is our middle linebackers and Defensive ends.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:02 AM ^
You sure he's the cause of Michigan's defensive failings? Really?
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^
YOU DO NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO USE THIS. YOU NOW OWE ME TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^
No I think Black was a large part of the problem but he is graduating
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:14 AM ^
have stole it but you forgot to steal the thought process behind it. Or, mabye there was none to steal?
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:05 AM ^
The only way I think our defensive isn't one of the top 2 in the conference next year would be due to mass injuries.
Any questions about Mattison after A. OSU ran over Michigan just like they ran over everyone (including MSU to the tune of 6.8 yards per carry) B. A bowl game no one cared about (which is why I don't hold Michigan's poor offensive performance against Borges in this one)...well, they are foolish in my opinion.
The defense was fine all year. Let's exclude the bowl game for a second. Breaking it down, Michigan's defense had 4 games you'd call bad all season.
Penn State: They gave up 43 points. The offense scored 40! How could this be explained away? Well, for starters, 9 points came in OT (one after the defense forced a turnover). A further 14 came on drives started inside the redzone due to turnovers. The defense also scored a touchdown and created 4 turnovers and allowed less than 400 yards.
Akron: Allowed a lot of yards but only 17 points. By no means good, but with an average Big Ten offense, this game ends up something like 42-17.
Indiana: The one true bomb. They were worse than anyone against IU.
OSU: Another bomb, but explainable. James Ross was lost a week earlier. Jarrod Wilson being out meant Josh Furman* was in and burned on the early touchdown. And, as I mentioned, OSU was unstoppable on the ground no matter who you were (look how easily they ran over MSU. By comparison, 1970s juggernaut Stanford looked completely mortal).
If you take into account they lost Pipkins for the year, Jake Ryan wasn't 100% and they were still decent up until the last two weeks...yeah, I'm okay going into next year. I think we saw the bottom for Michigan's defense under Mattison and that low point was a B/B-.
Now who comes back? Hey, it looks pretty good!
Seniors: Ryan, Morgan, Clark, Beyer, Taylor.
Juniors: Pipkins (hopefully), Ojemudia, Bolden, Ross, RJS, Countess, Wilson
Sophomores: Gedeon, Lewis, Stribling, Thomas, Henry, Wormley, Charlton (plus who knows about guys like Strobel and Godin)
Freshmen: Peppers
For me, the biggest keys are Pipkins and Ryan staying healthy. If that happens, I think we have the best defense we've seen under Hoke.
*That is actually my biggest concern: Why was Furman playing before the OSU game? I have to believe that Wilson was hurt, otherwise its just a massive blunder by Mattison/Hoke.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:07 AM ^
Freshmen: Peppers
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:37 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
On paper I think the big questions were generating a pass rush and figuring out the secondary.
Next year, there will be the same questions but much more competition. I'm still rather worried about pass rush beyond JMFR.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:54 AM ^
Everyone knew that the defense involved a bunch of young players with limited experience.
Looks good on paper when Michigan is actually starting seniors on defense again. You know, like your beloved Sparty defense.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:07 AM ^
Clark becoming a monster; the entire LB core coming back (before injury to Ryan), DL was going to be great because it did not lose any elite player; the only question was about the back 4 because we were not sure if Blake would be back at full strenght and we were losing Jordan.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:30 AM ^
Clark hype is fact.
LB core was still young ( so just b/c coming back didn't make them more mature as players)
JMFR injury was a big issue and he was not fully recovered, obviously, through the end of the season
How was the DL going to be great because Michigan didn't lose any elite players? What elite players could have been lost? People were hoping for contributions from true freshman Ondre Pipkins (who did so until injury)
Blake did return and was solid.
Kovacs loss, like that of RVB and VanBergen in previous years (you know, senior leadership and experience) remains a problem.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
You were responding to the statement: "We forget all the hype about Clark becoming a monster"
If you're saying that Clark had a decent season and was a major contributor to the 2013 defense, that's a fact.
If you're asserting that the pre-season hype about Clark having a "monster" season is a fact, let's look at some real facts.
According to the official UM stats, Clark had 4.5 sacks for 26 yds and 12 TFLs for 38 yards.
According to the official stats on the Big 10 site, the leader in sacks was Randy Gregory (NEB) with 10.5, with Spence and Bennet from OSU following at 8 and 7 respectively. For some reason Clark isn't listed for sacks, but he should be since several guys have 4.5 or 4. Regardless, Clark would be bringing up the end of the list. Certainly not bad, but not among the conference elite.
In TFLs, the conference leader is Shazier with 22.5 for 77 yards, with Gregory and Morris Iowa next with 17 TFLs for 101 and 61 yds respectively. Clark is down in the bottom half of the list. Again, not bad at all, but not among the conference elite.
OK, so lets see where Clark's "monster" season of 4.5 sacks for 26 yds and 12 TFLs for 38 yards measures up to the best in UM history.
According to the official UM record book, the leader in TFLs for a season is Crable with 28.5 in 2006; the lowest number on the list is 15, recorded by Morton, Thompson, Steele, and Crable in '75, 80, 82, 96, respectively.
For TFL yardage, the leader is 131 by Woodley in '06; the lowest on the list is 84 yds by Messner in '87.
For sacks, the leaders are Bowens and Woodley with 12 in '96 and '06; the lowest number on the list is 7.5 by Crable in 2007.
For sack yardage, the record is 119 by Woodley in 2006; the lowest number on the list is 57 yds by Woodley in 2005.
Just to state the obvious, from the standpoint of measuring the most notable statistical contributions by defensive linemen, Frank Clark's 2013 season doesn't come close to getting into the Michigan record book, which seems odd for a "monster" season.
I am not criticizing Clark's contributions during the season; from a statistical standpoint, he is among the leaders on the 2013 team. However, when comparing his 2013 numbers both to the best in the conference and to the best in UM history, asserting that he had a "monster" season is ridiculous.
Unless, that is, your definition of "monster" is "among the leaders on the defensive squad that gave up the most points—349—of any non-RR team in UM history."
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
He conceded that Clark had been (over)hyped and then disputed the rest of the post he was replying to.
January 2nd, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
MSU had a great defense two years ago when they were relying on sophomores like Bullough, Dennard, Allen, Lewis and Gholston. They had a great defense last year too when those guys were juniors.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
January 4th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
we have the talent but can we get them coached up.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:35 AM ^
Why no mention of him? I could see him part of the two deep at safety.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^
I don't think Richardson will be the guy that steps up. That is just my opinion though. Luckily there is a ton of good young players back there.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:46 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:41 AM ^
Diddo on all the coaching stuff. Everybody is squaking about how talented this team could be with their massive potential and what not. But, bottom line is the coaching. I firmly believe DRob was one of those few amazing athletes that only comes around once in a blue moon, but look how his numbers dropped off with a little thing like a coaching change. I hated RR just as much as the next dude and was glad to see him go, but you have to admit the effect coaching has on the players.
Thus, it's the ceiling of this coaching staff that will determine the ceiling of these talented players.
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:58 AM ^
I went to the Dolphins-Jets game this past Sunday and sat behind the Dolphins bench. I think the 2014 defense would be awesome if we could just get this guy back...
January 2nd, 2014 at 8:57 AM ^
And I think he'll get snaps, especially later in the season, but I think people are way too happy with just sticking him in the line up. He still has a lot to learn as far as technique and schemes, and only so much can be done with natural talent.
I love his upside and the player I think he'll become, but immediately starting at SS or CB? That's less than optimal and Michigan doesn't require it at this point. If it's by the end of the season, fine, but if it's at the start of the season then I think that doesn't exactly bode well for the secondary as a whole.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:26 AM ^
The default is probably what they did with Dymonte at the beginning of the season - inserting him at NB early and often to see what havoc he can impose in the blitz and pass coverage.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^
I don't think it's about being "optimal." Peppers is immediately one of your best four defensive backs. Does he fit at SS? Maybe not, because he might not have the mental side down. Does he fit at field corner? Maybe. Does he fit at nickel corner? Maybe. But no matter how you slice it, he's better than Jourdan Lewis, Channing Stribling, and perhaps others right off the bat.
I've mentioned this before, but the returning guys who have to be on the field are Wilson, Countess, and Taylor (in my opinion). Not necessarily because they're all great athletes, but because of their experience. Slot them in wherever you want.
Now you're looking at spots 4 and 5. Peppers either needs to be on the field 100% of the time, or he needs to be the nickel guy getting about 50% of the snaps. There's no way you keep him on the sideline for someone like Stribling, Lewis, Hollowell, etc.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
Which is why I think you put him at NB from day one, let him master that spot. We play enough nickel anyway that it's almost a full-time position.
Let him back Taylor up and maybe by midseason he replaces Taylor opposite Countess (best case). Worst case, you have 3 solid starters at FCB, BCB and NB.
I don't even fool around with Peppers at safety this year. You have 4 guys in Wilson, Thomas, Hill and Clark that should be able to rotate in those 2 positions.
Stribling, Lewis, etc. all provide depth at CB and special teams help.
For what it's worth, I'd almost RATHER Peppers play NB and some offense than have a full-time defense role. I said that 6 months ago and people acted like it would be impossible to learn 15-20 plays and 4-5 formations on offense. Thank God Myles Jack dispelled that notion.
Let athletes be athletes. No one is asking for him to be Woodson and corner and Sanders at RB from Day 1.
January 3rd, 2014 at 1:40 AM ^
But I believe he's a lot farther away from his ceiling than those guys, and his floor is considerably lower. My feeling is that if Peppers does see the field, it will be a good thing because he will have beaten out slightly less talented options with vastly more relevant experience and training. Conversely, if he doesn't, it's because those less-talented-but-more-skilled options will have beaten him out.
January 3rd, 2014 at 4:52 AM ^
Slightly less tallented? Peppers' floor is higher than most of those guys' ceilings.
January 3rd, 2014 at 8:50 PM ^
January 3rd, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
You mean the Charles Woodson who had 55 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 4 pass breakups as a true freshman? He was worse than Countess/Taylor/Wilson/Lewis/Stribling?
Hmmm...okay...well, it's clear you have no idea what you're talking about. So thanks for letting us know.
January 3rd, 2014 at 9:59 PM ^
Freshman Charles Woodson definitely deserved one of those "Magnus Pink Slips." Not Good Enough.
January 6th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
Is that if an opposing team rolls out, say, a Tyler Lockett, Michigan will have someone athletic enough to go one-on-one if that is obviously what the opponent is trying to do. He may have plenty to learn scheme-wise, but he seems like the guy that, from day one, you can give a specific task and he could be an instant upgrade.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
I'm all for Peppers playing early and often. It will only help him down the stretch in conference play. There's no substitute for game experience, imo.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:03 AM ^
I have to ask why he is up there on your list.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:13 AM ^
I hope McCray is a very good player, but I was very impressed with Gedeon out of all the young LBs
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:32 AM ^
I would love to have G-Mat go from a "bend but don't break" philosophy to an "impose our will - attacking" philosophy! Don't hover in a gap to react to what the offense is doing. Push through the gaps and make the offense adjust on every play. Move the line of scrimmage!
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
College QBs are not Pro's and most can be rattled with intense pressure. Even the great Peyton Manning struggles at times when he is faced with a lot of pressure. The question is how do you create that pressure. MSU does it with a combination of the DLine and constant blitzing. They do quite a bit of blitzing through the A gaps by the LBs. They also press at the line of scrimmage and do not give up inside position and do not give up any short passes. That is how Championships are won. It has been demonstrated time and time again that defense wins Championships. Michigan did it in 97, OSU did it against Miami and MSU did it against the B1G and Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
If we get back to running a dominating defense, we will be in the mix. Until the defense is fixed it won't happen. The defense had more than 4 bad games if you look at what actually took place during the games not just overall stats.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
We didn't disguise anything, we just sat back with that stupid ass "give us a place to stand" philosophy.
I'm guessing it is because we lost Kovacs and he didn't trust anyone, but I'd rather give up 1 big play and create 2 than sit back and be bled to death.
Mattison has to attack more and DISGUISE more. If you don't want to blitz...that's fine. But show a 7-man rush and then drop 4 guys into coverage.
Confusion can be an extra defender. RPS the shit outta them!
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^
The inability to make adjustments is infuriating.
RE blitzing...if your front four cannot generate any pressure, you need to blitz, even if you don't "trust" your LB's or CB's. If you give a QB all day to throw, you leave your (and especially our) secondary hanging out to dry. Hoping for more pressure next season but the Bowl game just added more questions to the defense