Serious Football Defense Question
Something that I’ve noticed for the past couple years is the lack of rotation on defense. Not just early on, but the starters playing almost the whole way through games even when the rout is on.
This makes me wonder if there is really that much lack of depth/confidence in anyone past the backups or if Don Brown uses that time to further iron out the kinks? Is this why we got boat raced by tOSU the past couple years because the starters got gassed late in the first half and there was no one with experience to spell them?
I just thought it was weird to see walk on players go on the field for the offense and, say, Devin Bush (last year) or Khaleke (both years) are still making plays for the defense.
December 5th, 2019 at 4:56 PM ^
I’m not referring to game on the line time, I’m talking about garbage time. When games are well past competitive you still see a lot of defensive starters on the field instead of depth players. I am not knocking Don Brown for this I just wanted to know if there was a reason for it (working on kinks) or if the depth was just nonexistent or not good enough.
December 5th, 2019 at 4:49 PM ^
all these questions are so stupid, the defense has no elite DT's and no depth, its pretty plain and simple, too many recruit whiffs and attrition. Best hope is for mazi smith and chris hinton to become stars next year. Staff needs to get their shit together and start recruiting better, and that starts with the OL and DL. that's what wins game
December 5th, 2019 at 5:01 PM ^
I was not referring to the line specifically in fact when there it rotation in garbage time it’s usually on the line the most. I was asking about why with 2 minutes left in a blowout Bush, Ambry, Khaleke, and other starters would still be on the field. I legitimately was curious if there is a specific reason for this or our depth is just that lacking.
December 5th, 2019 at 5:42 PM ^
Depth. Mattison shit the bed in recruiting and left the DL cupboard bare.
December 5th, 2019 at 5:47 PM ^
It's bothered me, too. It seems like Michigan keeps their starters in way longer than necessary (not that it's unique to Michigan) This of course exposes the starters to a greater chance of injury and fails to develop depth and experience. Doesn't have to mean putting in the whole second team, but rotating in backups earlier could help down the road.