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Blake Bars, Ex-Wolverine

Blake Bars

Offensive lineman Blake Bars has left the football program, reportedly to begin concentrating on his law degree. He would have been a fifth year senior for the upcoming season.

Bars committed to Michigan in June 2011 (LINK), and it seems very weird to me that I’m linking posts to my old-fashioned website from five years ago. Time flies. Anyway, he initially said that he was being recruited as a left tackle, which I thought might have been a bit of hogwash at the time. It turns out that he never sniffed the two-deep at left tackle. I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 71, but that dropped to a 62 once the 2012 recruiting class wrapped (LINK).

Hit the jump for more on Bars’s departure.

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Spring Football Preview: Defensive Tackles and Defensive Ends

Bryan Mone (#90)

Projected DT starters: Fifth-year senior Ryan Glasgow was one of Michigan’s best starting defenders last season, and you could tell how much the defense missed him when he missed the end of the season with a pectoral injury. He finished the season with 25 tackles, 5 TFLs, and 1 sack in nine games at the nose tackle position. He is very strong, fairly quick off the ball, and uses excellent technique. Last year’s backup nose tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr. was pressed into a lot of playing time at the nose because of injuries, but his size makes him more of a 3-technique in an ideal world. Assuming Glasgow and Bryan Mone return healthy at NT, redshirt junior Hurst (35 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3 sacks) should slide over to 3-tech and use his quickness there.

Hit the jump for the rest of the defensive line preview.

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What is IMG Academy and why should I care?

I originally started writing this post in August 2015, but then my own football practices and Michigan’s impending season tore me away from its completion. Six months later, now is a good time to complete it since the Wolverines are practicing at the facilities this week to open spring ball.

Last summer I was cruising Twitter when I saw a Tweet announcing that Camden (NJ) Camden lineman Cesar Ruiz, the #1 center in the country, planned to transfer to Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy. I have seen plenty of announcements over the past few years that players were transferring to IMG Academy, but this one piqued my attention. Ruiz was a 2017 prospect who happened to be the teammate of 2016 wide receiver Brad Hawkins, Jr. and defensive end Ron Johnson, Jr., both of whom committed to and signed with Michigan. Ruiz visited Ann Arbor with them last summer and was offered, and the Wolverines were thought to be in the driver’s seat. Everything seemed to be moving along nicely for Michigan.

Then Ruiz headed to Florida for his junior season of football, and his recruitment might have begun to trend downward for the Wolverines: Despite offers to several current and former IMG Academy players, none has ever committed to Michigan.

Hit the jump for more on IMG Academy and Michigan’s involvement at the school.

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Projected 2016 Spring Depth Chart: Defense

Jabrill Peppers

On Tuesday of last week, I posted a projected depth chart for the offense (LINK). Today I’ll take a look at the defense, which is expected to be a 4-3 with a defensive back-type player inhabiting the strongside linebacker-type role in some packages. With position previews forthcoming, I didn’t bother to elaborate on depth. Michigan is bringing in some early-impact guys on defense who should be the two-deep by the fall, but the roster is limited this spring since 22 of the incoming freshmen aren’t enrolled yet.

SDE: Chris Wormley (RS Sr.), Matt Godin (RS Sr.)

DT: Maurice Hurst Jr. (RS Jr.), Brady Pallante (RS So.)

NT: Ryan Glasgow (RS Sr.), Bryan Mone (RS So.)

WDE: Taco Charlton (Sr.), Shelton Johnson (RS Fr.), Lawrence Marshall (RS So.)

*SAM: Jabrill Peppers (RS So.), Chase Winovich (RS So.), Carlo Kemp (Fr.)

MIKE: Ben Gedeon (Sr.), Mike McCray II (RS Jr.), Reuben Jones (RS Fr.)

WILL: Noah Furbush (RS So.), Devin Bush Jr. (Fr.), Jared Wangler (RS So.)

CB: Jourdan Lewis (Sr.), Keith Washington (RS Fr.), Freddy Canteen (RS So.), Reon Dawson (RS Jr.)

CB: Jeremy Clark (RS Sr.), Channing Stribling (Sr.), Brandon Watson (RS So.)

FS: Dymonte Thomas (Sr.), Tyree Kinnel (So.)

SS: Delano Hill (Sr.), Jordan Glasgow (RS Fr.)

*Dependent on defensive package

What I’ve Been Reading

If you would like to support the blog and/or the Chad Tough Foundation, remember that this month, 50% of the revenue from Amazon purchases through TTB will be given to Chad Tough. You may also donate directly to Chad Tough by following this link (LINK).

Raylan by Elmore Leonard. Raylan was commissioned after the Justified series started airing on television, so the ideas in this book aren’t very fresh. If you have watched the series, you know pretty much exactly what goes down in the book. There are some minor changes, but it was kind of like reading the TV script. I still enjoyed it because Raylan is a fun character, and so are his backwoods Kentucky friends and enemies. But don’t expect any new shenanigans for Raylan Givens.

Hit the jump for more of what I’ve been reading.

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