Noah Furbush
Yesterday, I posted my thoughts on Saturday’s practice regarding injuries, offense, and a few walk-ons to watch (LINK). Today I’ll address what I saw from the defense.
DEFENSIVE END
Depth: Chris Wormley, Taco Charlton, Chase Winovich, Lawrence Marshall, Reuben Jones, Carlo Kemp
Scoop: Wormley spent some time both outside and inside, and we already know what to expect from him. In fact, a lot of the starters seemed to be going about 90%, because going 100% would just be unfair. The defensive line was handling the offensive front pretty well. Charlton is a physical freak, and it looked like he spent some time at both Anchor (strongside end) and weakside end. Winovich was my surprise of the day, because he definitely looked like he belonged on the field. In fact, he was working so hard coming off the edge that a bit of a brawl started when Kyle Kalis chucked him to the ground after a play. Winovich uses good leverage and can bend well, and I think he’s going to see some time. Marshall didn’t do anything special, and I think he needs to add weight and become a strongside end; he just doesn’t have the quickness or instincts to be an edge rusher, in my opinion. Jones looked decent and competitive, but I think he’s probably another year or two away. Kemp has moved from linebacker – where he was a poor fit, in my opinion – to defensive end. In fact, both Jones and Kemp were working at linebacker in Florida, but neither one worked with the linebackers on Saturday. Shelton Johnson is nursing an injury and did not practice. Maurice Hurst, Jr. had an ankle injury that was making him gimpy, and he was playing some Anchor at times but was ineffective (more due to injury than a lack of ability).
Hit the jump for the rest of the defense.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Depth: Bryan Mone, Matt Godin, Maurice Hurst Jr., Brady Pallante, Garrett Miller
Scoop: Mone is huge but out of shape. He really seemed to be struggling with the four-hour practice, which is understandable after missing so much time with his broken leg. Godin looked pretty effective at defensive tackle. Hurst and Wormley were playing inside and outside, but as mentioned above, Hurst didn’t have much to give with a bum ankle. Pallante was the #2 nose tackle most of the day and didn’t do much. The defensive line is so banged up, really, that Miller got a few snaps; I don’t think he’s in danger of pushing for playing time. Ryan Glasgow was doing some non-contact drills early, but then he was running steps, presumably because he’s still recovering from the pectoral injury he suffered last season.
LINEBACKER
Depth: SAM (Jabrill Peppers, Noah Furbush, Jack Dunaway), MIKE (Ben Gedeon, Michael Wroblewski), WILL (Mike McCray, Devin Bush Jr.)
Scoop: Reinforcements are hopefully coming in the fall from freshmen like Joshua Uche and Khaleke Hudson, because the position is pretty thin right now. Peppers was first in drills with the SAM linebackers, who are being coached by Chris Partridge. He lines up in a 9-technique at the line of scrimmage, bumps out into the slot to cover the flat, etc. Furbush is a bigger body and looks the part of a SAM linebacker, but he didn’t make many plays. He’s probably a little more athletic than Brennen Beyer, but the same type of player out there. You’ll probably see him more against run-oriented teams or on running downs, whereas Peppers is more of the spread/pass defender. Dunaway got reps in drills, but not during team situations. Meanwhile, Don Brown has the inside linebackers. The two starting inside linebackers (Gedeon, McCray) looked good stuffing the run and in coverage of the underneath zones. I was skeptical, but I think those two might be a step up from the departed inside linebackers. Wroblewski looks out of place and is listed as a defensive end on the roster, and he seems more like a placeholder. Bush looked pretty good aside from the 75-yard TD he allowed on the amazing catch by Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. He was making tackles to support the run off the edge, chased down Joe Hewlett when he broke outside for a decent run, etc. Bush doesn’t look out of place, and I think he’ll play this fall. Even on the TD allowed, he had great coverage and just lost out on a great throw and catch. I do not remember seeing Jared Wangler out there unless he was wearing a different number.
CORNERBACK
Depth: Jourdan Lewis, Channing Stribling, Jeremy Clark, Brandon Watson, Keith Washington
Scoop: Lewis had a good day other than getting beaten for a 25-yard TD on an O’Korn-to-Darboh throw. Stribling was the other corner running with the first team. He had a couple more “almost” plays where he just wasn’t quick enough to get his hands on the ball; my thoughts on Stribling are probably pretty well understood by this point. Insiders at Rivals and 247 say he has maybe been the best defensive player out there this spring, but he wasn’t on this day. He also got beaten cleanly by Grant Perry on a play action post route that was good for a TD from about 45 yards out, and Stribling was trailing Perry by about 3 yards when he caught the ball. Clark was running with the twos, and didn’t do anything noteworthy; however, he did win sprints in his group by a significant margin, and his group included Jabrill Peppers. Watson and Washington didn’t do much good or bad.
SAFETY
Depth: Dymonte Thomas, Delano Hill, Jabrill Peppers, Tyree Kinnel, A.J. Pearson, Jordan Glasgow
Scoop: Thomas and Hill are pretty strongly entrenched, and Peppers was playing some safety at times with the first group. Kinnel was the next safety in and had a pick-six against O’Korn where he jumped a short out route by a tight end. Pearson and Glasgow aren’t bad for being walk-ons, and they’re guys who could probably play against the UNLVs and Miami-OHs of the world without being huge liabilities. Hill seemed to go to the sideline for long stretches, so maybe he’s nursing an injury or maybe the coaches wanted a longer look at Kinnel.
SPECIALISTS
Just a few random notes:
- Punt returners were Jabrill Peppers, Amara Darboh, Drake Harris, and walk-on Austin Brenner. Darboh has the best hands of the bunch.
- Kickoff returners were mainly Jourdan Lewis and Channing Stribling.
- I didn’t watch the punters much, but Kenny Allen seems to have the job locked up unless Quinn Nordin comes in this summer and takes it away.
- Allen looks like the best kicker, too, even though he had some misses. I don’t think I saw Andrew David make a single field goal.
- Garrett Moores – a walk-on QB – looks like he’ll be the holder this season. He was the only one working at holder, and that was the only position he was playing. He and Allen spent a lot of time talking about the placement of the hold.
- Chris Partridge is the special teams coach. Jay Harbaugh seems like the #2 guy, but Partridge is clearly in charge of specials.
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Thanks for another great write up Thunder. Someday we’ll find a DE who doesn’t lack the “quickness or instincts to be an edge rusher.” Someday…
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I think Michigan may have that in Jones and Kemp, they just need to get college ready. We may also see more pressure from the hybrid DE/LB types like Winovich and Uche.
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Agreed. Plus if Brown is that good he can make the pieces that he has work.
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I sure hope that day comes soon. It seems like it has been a while since Michigan had a guy who could really threaten off the edge on a regular basis, rather than being a bull rusher or an effort guy.
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It seems like that’s what they want to. Given how many rush WDE/OLB types they’ve taken in recruiting lately it’s a priority.
The DL flexibility they seem to be fostering will allow the team to cope if a true rush end doesn’t pop. If one does, they can still play their best personnel. Hurst can play NT or DT. Wormley and Godin SDE or DT. Charlton SDE or WDE. There are countless personnel configurations Michigan can deploy and that’s before you add in Rashan Gary.
At this point, given what we’ve heard, I sort of expect Wormley to spend more time at DT than DE. That would free up SDE for Gary, Charlton, and others.
Having two elite veterans in Glasgow and Wormley means so much to the rest of the DL.
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A question that plays off yesterday’s discussion about having deep TE talent and how that can be used …
We see a lot of talk on the defensive side of the ball for “hybrid” players — guys that play a little DL along with LB, or LB that has DB assignments, etc.
Is there a similar trend going on over on the offensive side? Meaning … are we seeing a move towards a hybrid skill set … RBs that are also good receivers, TEs that can line up wide in a more traditional WR role, etc.? I realize the rules of the game limit the offensive players more (particularly what OL can do). But I’m just wondering if the game is starting to go more and more to a flexible model, on both defense and offense.
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I think it’s less a case of “starting to” and more a case of “have been”.
RBs have been getting smaller and catching more passes – a trend that’s been happening for about 20 years now, if not 30. Bill Walsh’s influence is huge here.
I think it’s also fair to say that we are seeing more TEs who are pass-catchers first and blockers second. But that’s also a well-established trend. I think this is less about X-Os and more about the popularity of football putting drawing a bigger recruiting pool of talent coming in different shapes and sizes.
Traditional WR (at least the 90’s prototype of 6’2/210 pound guys) have been less common for a while now, and we continue to see that trend expanding as well. These days you see more Devin Funchess/Eric Ebron types and more 6′ or less WR than ever.
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Agree the move to flexible/hybrid is not necessarily new … I’m just struck of late how I see/hear the concept being used more lately. It got me thinking about the evolution of the game — massive TEs that assume a WR-like role (Funchess, then Butt, and now Wheatley); the move to taller safeties and CBs; the move to less bulky LBs. The common denominator seems to be athleticism, which involves speed but is not exclusively speed.
With respect to the TE situation — wrong thread, I know — it seems there’s the potential for a temporary differential in favor of Michigan. How do you cover a Wheatley Jr.? The defense will have to evolve to larger, quicker players.
The line seems to project to more and more athletic players doing more and more hybrid and mixed things. I wonder how far the line can go?
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I will also say that I think it’s partially about parity. The traditionally powerful teams always got the big guys who could also run. Then some smaller teams (West Virginia, Baylor, etc.) got the idea that they could find success with different types of players, such as slot receiver/running back types, because they couldn’t recruit the 6’3″, 215 lb. receivers who ran 4.5 forties. They found success, and that success has trickled upward. Trends usually go from the lower levels to the upper levels (Glenville State revolutionized today’s game, for example), and that’s partly where all these tiny slot guys come from that used to be cornerbacks, punt returners, or third down backs.
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Totally agree that the less prestigious schools were forced to innovate, and that unwillingness to innovate has held back some programs. I think that what some smaller/less prestigious schools have done over the last 10-15 years has opened up everyone’s eyes though.
Look at Harbaugh, who is old-school FB/TE power-run loving as it gets, AND coaching at a powerhouse that can recruit whatever it wants. He’s grabbing a bunch of short fast WRs in the 2016 class, including guys stolen away from Oregon (McDoom, Crawford) as well as Johnson and Evans. It’s no longer an innovation, it’s the mainstream.
Yes, some of that is a roster deficiency inherited from Hoke (who was more old-school in his thinking) but it’s good to see that Harbaugh is more flexible and modern in his talent acquisition.
I’m not sure hybrid is the right word for what we are talking about here. To have a 6’7/280 pound TE is nothing new, but Michigan has the ability to recruit kids who are that size AND can run like a deer. That’s just talent. If your blocking TE has that talent, you throw to him more.
Funchess was a bit of a hybrid (because he actually played two positions) but that was more about Michigan/Hoke/Borges thinking inflexibly about size prototypes than about Funchess’ skillset. He’s a WR in a TE’s body, who never developed blocking skills. He should have just played WR all along.
Clearly Michigan is now searching for a range of body types in it’s TEs but it’s probably worth thinking of TE as two positions. To use Mgoblog’s parlance, one is more blocky than catchy and vice versa.
The biggest candidate for a ‘hybrid’ on the Michigan roster right now is Khalid Hill. It’s going to be interesting to see how Michigan uses him. He’s short for a TE but big/tall for a FB. That sounds like an H-back, but Michigan may use him for much more.
Whatever the record is for receptions by a FB…Hill may break it.
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I believe the record for single-season receptions by a fullback was Aaron Shea with 38 in 1999. I doubt Hill tops that.
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Good reference. That’s a nice target for Hill to aspire to. I remember Shea as more of a TE/H-back but apparently he got a bunch of carries too so I’m perhaps I’m misremembering how much of a FB he really was.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/aaron-shea-1.html
30+ catches is a lofty aspiration. Probably won’t happen this season, but perhaps by next year. I bet Hill tops Shea’s junior year of 14 catches though. 15-20’s not an unreasonable guess for a guy with 8 catches in 10 games as a mostly backup TE, now that he is (perhaps) poised to be a starter.
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Thanks again for the great content. Insert qualifiers about one practice being just one practice, but here’s some reactions to your reactions (along with other buzz).
Good news:
ILB: Of course hearing good things is expected, but when you DON’T hear them it’s time to worry. Not the case at LB, with Gedeon, McCray, and Bush all drawing some praise. Won’t be a strength area for Michigan, but all we need here is reliability. I don’t know if I feel good about our 280 pound backup TE beating one of our top ILBs on a 75 yard touchdown, but it would be foolish to make a big deal about one play.
DT: Nice to hear that this was a team strength area (as expected), but even without Glasgow, Gary, and with Hurst banged up. Best group in the country IMO if you count the SDE/DT types like Godin and Wormley.
CB: The Stribling buzz has been strong from everywhere else all spring. Even got the DUDE honor from Brown, which may or may not mean anything but it’s one piece of supporting evidence. The doubts here raise the question of confirmation bias, or maybe it was just a bad practice IDK. Regardless, the fact that Stribling appears to be stepping ahead of Clark seems like a good thing, given how solid Clark was last year. Then again, there’s also some buzz that Washington may be pushing Clark a bit, so may it’s just him being off his game too. Sounds like Watson is fading, which will make contributions from freshman even more important for 2017 prep.
Status quo:
OLB: Peppers is Peppers, but the depth chart is still a question mark. It was reassuring to hear that Furbush looked OK.
WDE: Charlton sounds like he’s making the transition to WDE pretty well, but I am worried that nobody else (e.g., Marshall) is making a run at pushing Charlton for playing time, at least in pass-rush situations. At least Winovich is getting praise and emerging as the #2 option. No surprise that Jones is back here, but I did think the LB experiment would last longer. I’m starting to wonder if Gary won’t end up getting snaps here given all the depth at the other positions. J U M B O – L I N E!
Bad News:
S: Nothing against Glasgow or Pearson, but when you hear about walk-ons in spring that’s good news maybe 1 times out of 10. Need a youngster to step up here. It doesn’t sound like Kinnel is getting a lot of competition from anybody else. Glad we have Peppers for insurance.
Still feels like we’re on track to have an elite D if the ILBs can keep it together.
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The Wheatley TD was with very good coverage from Bush, and there wasn’t much that Bush could have done about it except try a little harder to make the tackle at the end. I guess the only thing that might be concerning is that the 5’11”-ish Bush could be a liability against 6’7″ tight ends in pass coverage, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
I didn’t see Washington do much of anything noteworthy, but maybe he’s pushing Clark in the coaches’ eyes. However, MGoBlog’s recap included pictures of Stribling being beaten for two long completions and a comment about “almost” making a play. I’m not into making stuff up. If you need visual evidence, here are the links:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mgoblog/26054868965/in/datetaken-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mgoblog/25988541101/in/datetaken-public/
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Lewis gets beat sometimes too. I appreciate that you have a different take and I didn’t watch the practice at all – I’m just pointing out that Stribling’s been almost universally praised all spring.
Who knows, maybe all the Stribling-praise and his seeming to take back the starting job from Clark is all just a motivational ploy to get Clark to reach his full potential.
Honestly, I don’t care that much. I’m really glad we have 3 CBs we can throw out there at any time. It’s an immense luxury. I’m downright giddy about this defense.
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I did mention that Stribling has been praised all spring. Some said he was the best defensive player on the team. But that just didn’t seem to be the case on Saturday. I can understand getting beaten by Darboh (which Lewis did) because he’s a fifth year senior who’s pretty good. But Stribling got beaten deep by Grant Perry – a nondescript sophomore 3-star slot receiver – and Ahmir Mitchell, who should still be in high school.
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Stribling is a cross between Deon Sanders and Richard Sherman – that’s just the facts.
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Touche.
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Special Teams:
I’m worried about this with the coaching change.
I know Allen had a good year at PK but I still don’t feel 100% confident about this, and wish we had more backup options.
I like to see our CBs returning kicks because Peppers has enough on his plate. Would also love for Harris or a freshman WR to emerge. Always nice if you don’t have to use a starter here.
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