Matt Godin
Name: Matt Godin
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 294 lbs.
High school: Novi (MI) Catholic Central
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #99
Last year: I ranked Godin #36 and said he would be a backup defensive tackle (LINK). He started four games and made 17 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 0.5 sacks.
Godin has quietly turned into a solid player for Michigan. He began last season as the starting defensive tackle before an injury began to hamper him, at which point he was displaced as a starter by Chris Wormley. Godin’s technique was an issue earlier in his career, but he has learned to stay lower and to use his length as an advantage against offensive linemen. It’s tough for most 6’6″ guys to be effective defensive tackles, but he has learned to make it work. When Godin came back from injury, he was less effective, though that may have been partially due to the increasingly difficult opponents Michigan faced later in the year.
Entering his final season, Godin looks like the forgotten man up front. There’s hype about Rashan Gary, Chris Wormley, Maurice Hurst, Jr., Ryan Glasgow, Taco Charlton, Bryan Mone, and even Chase Winovich. But not so much Godin. He can play a couple spots on the line – strongside end or 3-tech – though he lacks the suddenness to be a full-time defensive end. I would expect Godin to be a backup this year now that Chris Wormley seems to have found his stride, and Hurst may be fighting for snaps at 3-tech, too. It’s a deep defensive line group, and that should be the strength of the entire team this season. If Michigan doesn’t get solid play up front, that’s going to make it difficult on the relatively inexperienced linebackers.
Prediction: Backup defensive tackle
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Have to complement you for seeing past the hype and putting Godin this high. I think the majority fans see him as all but expendable but I agree that he’ll remain a key rotation player, valuable contributor, and overall high quality player. Coaches playing him on last year’s excellent line, even with Henry, Wormly, Hurst, and Charlton all available for DT or SDE snaps, should say all that needs to be said.
I think his injury was understated both in severity and impact to the team. He seemed to come back too early because of the Glasgow injury and wasn’t ready. He was back to himself by Florida but struggled badly against Indiana (first game back from injury). I don’t remember him making much impact against OSU but will be interested to read what Brian Cook says about him in that game.
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I tend to agree, this is high, I know that D-line sees a lot of rotation, but to me Godin is the #3 3-tech, behind Wormley and Hurst. I definitely see Godin getting snaps, this year, but to me he is looking somewhere like d-lineman #9 or #10, I’d probably have him ranked in the 40’s.
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Is he behind Hurst? Last year Godin got a lot more snaps when he was healthy. Godin was also arguably more impressive in the Florida game and spring.
Hurst is younger but his weaknesses were exposed last year.
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Godin is absolutely less important than Hurst. Hurst is a nice talent who is drawing interest from NFL scouts. Just because Hurst is not built to handle 65 snaps a game at NT does not mean he is not good. He is a penetrating 3 tech who needs to be used that way.
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Nobody is saying Hurst is not good. Nor is anyone arguing Godin is a better NFL prospect.
But unless you think the coaches are idiots, the logical explanation for all the snaps that Godin got last year (over Hurst) was that he was the better player.
That could change this year – I don’t think anyone would be too surprised, but both players are veterans and more often than not people don’t leapfrog each other this late in the game.
Godin was splitting snaps almost equally with Henry and Wormley last year before his injury. Both are NFL players. Hurst doesn’t have the injury excuse that Godin has for Indiana/OSU. Godin returned healthy for Florida and suddenly the DL looked alright again. Maybe it’s just a coincidence…
Hurst gained weight and may be an NT exclusively for all we know, though I wouldn’t bet on it. This staff, quite clearly, values the flexibility of guys like Charlton (WDE/SDE), Wormely & Godin (SDE/DT) and Hurst (DT/NT).
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Snapcount against Wisconsin:
Godin 27, Hurst 24, Gary 13, Mone (first game back from injury) 7
All those guys are behind the top trio of Wormley, Glasgow, Charlton.
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Haha, you’re like my ex-wife: always diggin up old stuff!
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Part of the fun of the countdown is looking back and seeing how wrong we were. Makes you stronger.
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I don’t pay too much attention to the countdown rankings, but this one jumps out as too high to me. He is reportedly a 3rd stringer entering camp, and I thought he took a pretty big step back last year, injury notwithstanding. He was pretty much put on skates game after game as a 3 tech last year, and he is not a legit DE. There are a lot of guys listed below in the countdown who would be more sorely missed, especially considering there are multiple, superior DL ahead of him.
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Who is reporting that? Do you mean speculating?
Which game/games was Godin “on skates”? Do you mean when he returned from injury against Indiana?
I think the only part of your comment I agree with is the first 6 words.
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