2015 Season Countdown: #14 Mario Ojemudia

Mario Ojemudia

Name: Mario Ojemudia
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 252 lbs.
High school: Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison
Position: Defensive end
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #53
Last year: I ranked Ojemudia #33 and said he would be a backup weakside end with 30 tackles and 3 sacks. He started three games and made 32 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 1 pass breakup.

The main beneficiary of Frank Clark’s late-season dismissal from the team, Ojemudia put up decent stats for a backup defensive end. His season included 2 sacks against Northwestern, 5 tackles against Maryland, and 2.5 tackles for loss against Utah. He had some big moments. The problem has been that he seems to disappear for stretches of time. He can also get swallowed up a little bit in the run game, because his size is more like that of a stout middle linebacker.

This season Ojemudia is Michigan’s leading returning sack artist with 6 career quarterback takedowns. He would seem likely to start at the Buck position, which is an outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid. We did not see him play in the spring game due to injury, but he is reportedly healthy and ready to go. Reports out of summer camp have him receiving a challenge from Royce Jenkins-Stone – who has finally bulked up as a senior and seems to have a fire lit under him – and redshirt freshman Lawrence Marshall, who has packed on 15 lbs. in the off-season to get up to 255 lbs. I thought Jenkins-Stone looked okay in the spring game against the run, but Ojemudia is the more versatile guy who can get a pass rush going. Even if there’s a lot of rotation, I think Ojemudia is the most proven pass rusher on the field and needs to play on passing downs to give the Wolverines some semblance of an outside rush.

Prediction: Starting Buck linebacker; 45 tackles, 5 sacks

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