I believe this is Julius Welschof

Submitted by ldevon1 on June 30th, 2021 at 2:35 PM

I'm not 100% sure, but if it is, what position will he be playing, and will these numbers translate on the field?

https://twitter.com/BCollierPPI/status/1410278207572434950?s=19

 

chunkums

June 30th, 2021 at 2:56 PM ^

Back when he committed, Brian quoted Barton Simmons on his outstanding athleticism in his Hello post. He was just raw and undersized. Now he's an appropriate size to play end in the new scheme. 

Welschof hails from Germany and he's on a summer vacation of sorts. He's been hitting the camp circuit hard, making stops at Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and others and he's been turning heads. The German native is raw but freakishly athletic. At that size he clocked a 4.73 40 at Ohio State and has gone as fast as 4.5 back home with fresh legs. He's got great bend and flexibility. He's got a long, powerful frame.

His unique athleticism can be traced back to his first sport of downhill skiing. His ability as a freestyle mogul skier has developed his hip and ankle flexibility, his bend, coordination and body control. His backward flips on skis offers some additional flair.

OldSchoolWolverine

June 30th, 2021 at 2:44 PM ^

Lets hope this translates to the field.  These projects that Harbaugh is undertaking, some will pan out big, and fingers crossed this is one of them, because we sure need him.

Gentleman Squirrels

June 30th, 2021 at 2:46 PM ^

He's most likely playing DT off the edge (5 Tech). For his length and weight, a change to 3-4 could actually be a really big boon since it'll allow him to get after the QB from the edges. I always thought he would have been better off losing some weight and playing as a DE in a 4-3 since he has a ton of length and speed. 

chunkums

June 30th, 2021 at 2:46 PM ^

Several of Don Brown's build-a-DTs should be DT-sized for the first time this year. Guys like Welschof were forced into action before they were ready. Mike Morris is another. Both of these guys should be sized appropriately to play one of the jumbo DE positions in the new scheme.

Gobgoblue

June 30th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^

Based on nothing but this tweet, I would guess that down lineman 5 tech in the new defense that is bigger than a traditional DE, but is on the "end."

Ezekiels Creatures

June 30th, 2021 at 3:45 PM ^

Alabama runs a 3-4 too. And their DEs are definitely bigger than the traditional DE.  They don't have the tradutional arsenal of DE moves too. Thats one rsason Walter Nolen is so valuable. He can play nose. But also at End. He has an amazingly quick spin move. I just heard a couple days ago he might play End at Alabama if he goes there. Michigan Ends probably won't have to play like Chase Winovich in this 3-4. There will be EDGE rushurs outside them at times.

Whatever the case, just win!

JonnyHintz

June 30th, 2021 at 5:38 PM ^

Another way to look at it, is take a 4-3 defense and take your WDE and stand him up. There’s your traditional 3-4. Chase would have been an OLB in the new defense whereas a Rashan Gary would be an ideal end. 
 

Just how multiple Michigan intends to be and how that affects the personnel remains to be seen, but the SDE/DT tweeners are your ideal 3-4 ends with a nose in between them. Then Uche/Winovich types at OLB that can rush the passer but are big enough to take on blockers as well. 
 

Someone like Nolen who is big enough for nose but athletic enough to play End is just an incredibly valuable piece no matter what scheme you’re running. 

Ezekiels Creatures

June 30th, 2021 at 11:52 PM ^

He is incredibly valuable. But from what I just found out last week, he's very likely going Alabama, and maybe Florida, and for some outside chance, Georgia. Michigan is not even being listed by some insiders anymore..... dang.

Don

June 30th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^

He redshirted in 2018, saw very limited action in '19, and played all six games last year so he's got two more seasons of eligibility left.

jg2112

June 30th, 2021 at 3:58 PM ^

My guess - he'll be a better NFL player than a Michigan player. 

It won't matter how good he is if the defensive backs can't cover.

leftrare

June 30th, 2021 at 4:16 PM ^

But can he get low?  Reminds me of a DL with about the same dimensions from the latter years of the Carr era, Pat Massey, who I want to say was the first guy Brian referred to as being "put on roller skates".

OTOH, he could be more Wormley or Taco than Massey.

chunkums

June 30th, 2021 at 4:52 PM ^

Honestly, I think our personnel look pretty solid for the DL in this new scheme. I guessed the position with some of these guys based on their most recent weights, but here's my best guess:

Nose: Mazi, Jeter, Whittley, Stewart, Hinton, Speight

Jumbo DE/DT: Hinton, Welschof, Morris, Speight, Stewart, Iwunnah, Giudice, Jenkins, Benny

Rush OLB: Hutch, Upshaw, Newburg, McGregor, Ojabo, Rooks

I'm more worried about the inside linebacker positions. 

 

blue in dc

July 1st, 2021 at 1:31 PM ^

This is the most clearly laid out articulation of what a path to an improved defensive line might look like (this refers to chunkums original post - not my elaboration).

Rush OLB: Hutch, Upshaw, Newburg, McGregor, Ojabo, Rooks - Hutch should obviously be a huge strength, Upshaw has shown he can be a more than capable backup and it will be exciting to see what McGregor can do.   It is easy to feel good about the starter, the likely backups and our ability to replace a likely first rounder next year.

Jumbo DE/DT: Hinton, Welschof, Morris, Speight, Stewart, Iwunnah, Giudice, Jenkins, Benny - this is where this thread has made me more optimistic.   I think Hinton is our best chance at having another plus player on the line.   We will need someone else to step up as a starter, but maybe either Welschof or Morris can fill this role.  While there are many other names on the list, it is not clear who is ready to contend for role of key reserve.   This does start to highlight some of the weaknesses of the line.   We may be able to pit together a solid set of starters here, but as soon as you get to the two deep, things start to become scary.  If either Welscof or Morris is not ready for key roles, it feels like our next options are likely to be a step down.

Nose: Mazi, Jeter, Whittley, Stewart, Hinton, Speight - this is where I see the biggest weakness.  Jeter was adequate, but hardly overwhelming and Mazi was unable to unseat him.    He is a year older and it is reasonable to expect improvement, but even significant improvement from a guy who has 1 unassisted tackle and 2 assisted tackles in two years does not necessarily equate to being an upper tier big ten player or even a solid one.  Whitley has a long road just to return to the player he was two years ago,   If one of these players can turn into a solid big ten player, I think the ceiling for this defense goes way up.

MGoStrength

June 30th, 2021 at 5:02 PM ^

Dude is a beast.  Once he refines his technique you'd think he'd make a great 3-4 DE in the Wormley mold.

RAH

June 30th, 2021 at 11:42 PM ^

I always hope the players from other countries do well. I still harbor a faint hope that American football will catch on (at least a bot) with the rest of the world.