GhostofJermain…

April 3rd, 2017 at 4:09 PM ^

Will win the Big Ten and be competing for a Natty IMO.  If teams fear our back end and LB's as much as they fear our front 4 it's going to be hard to move the ball on us.  Khaleke, Josh, David and Tyree could be better than the seniors this year when it's all said and done.  David is an all Big Ten caliber player, the other 3 I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  In DON BROWN I trust, and this dude post has me hype on a Monday, GO BLUE!

StephenRKass

April 3rd, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^

I disagree . . . our offense has to come up to speed. In particular:

  1. OL. This has been the main weakness of the team for years. And last year was no exception. Once Ohio State figured out that Speight couldn't throw downfield, we were toast. I mean, the OL was challenged already, but with Speight compromised, they just loaded up on the line, kind of like in many High School games and youth leagues. 
  2. Speight. And the QB's behind him. Speight is fine, if healthy. But he has to stay healthy. And who is behind him? Has Peters passed O'Korn?
  3. RB and WR corps. Our RB's have been ok, but not lighting the world on fire. And our WR group is pretty young. I remember that it took quite a while for Darboh and Chesson to learn the ropes. Don't know how quickly the incoming Freshmen receivers will gel. Even beyond the RB and WR groups, we have changes with TE.

I think the defense did more than enough to beat Iowa, OSU, and even FSU. The offense is where we lost those games, especially OSU.

SF Wolverine

April 3rd, 2017 at 4:38 PM ^

what everyone says about the OL is correct, but I think JH & Co will get the job done on the offensive side.  D-Line might be better (though less deep) than last year, so the keys will be the LB corps and the d-backfield.  Be nice to see a really strong group of LBs next year; been a damn long time.  We'll miss Japbril, but if the d-backfirled can come even close to last year, might be another really dominant defensive unit. 

Blue in Denver

April 3rd, 2017 at 7:42 PM ^

You can't go from all seniors, all multi-year starters to a first year starters, 3 are 2nd year players without stepping back.  

By the end of the season they'll likely be fine (though I doubt better than that).  Early in the season will be a little rough.

This doesn't even take into account the fact that there are basically no backup safeties.

MichiganTeacher

April 3rd, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^

I would go so far as to say it was obvious that the offense was the weaker of the two units last year. Everything from the scoreboard to the draft boards shows that.

BlueinOK

April 3rd, 2017 at 4:59 PM ^

If these guys step up along with the CBs, the defense should be still playing at a high level. Brown is the guy to just reload and keep it going. 

maize-blue

April 4th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^

I think he is on pace to play/contribute this season because his injury occured fairly early. I think he'll probably redshirt though, just because of the depth. I think Singleton is going to be a Dude for sure.