2017 Season Countdown: #5A Bryan Mone
Name: Bryan Mone
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 330 lbs.
High school: Salt Lake City (UT) Highland
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #90
Last year: I ranked Mone #15 and said he would be a backup nose tackle with 25 tackles and 3 sacks. He made 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: 88
Just prior to the 2015 season, Michigan’s coaching staff did a ranking of their own players, and Mone was considered to be the #3 guy on the whole team. That was a team that included two All-Americans in Jabrill Peppers and Jourdan Lewis, not to mention a whole host of other NFL talent. Then Mone broke his leg, and Michigan took a big hit to its defensive line depth.
In the summer of 2016, word came that Mone was in the best physical condition of his life, and there were videos posted of him on social media running around like a 330 lb. guy shouldn’t be able to do. He responded with a ho-hum football season. Maybe the injury was still bothering him during the year.
Now it’s the summer of 2017, and the past two seasons of hype have dimmed my hopes for him. I would love to be wrong, but I no longer have hopes or expectations that Mone can be a Dude for Don Brown. I’m simply hoping for a year of health and competence. Much of the nose tackle depth has dissipated from the past two years, and now Mone is expected to start. If injuries or fatigue get to him, the Wolverines will have to play unproven freshman Aubrey Solomon or unproven sophomore Michael Dwumfour; or they will have to move Maurice Hurst, Jr. back over from the 3-tech position, hurting depth there. It is imperative that Mone stays healthy this season, because while there is a lot of talent on the defensive line, there aren’t many guys who can replicate the stellar play of Ryan Glasgow. Hopefully Mone can at least command some double-teams while incrementally increasing his playmaking production.
Prediction: Starting nose tackle; 20 tackles, 1 sack