Tag: Michael Barrett

2023 Season Countdown: #24 Michael Barrett

Name: Michael Barrett
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 239 lbs.
High school: Valdosta (GA) Lowndes
Position: Linebacker
Class: Sixth year senior
Jersey number: #23
Last year: I ranked Barrett #28 and said he would be a backup inside linebacker (LINK). He started thirteen games and made 72 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 2 interceptions (returned for 52 yards and 1 touchdown), and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: 82

Barrett has been around for five years already, going into year six. And you would be hard pressed to find a Michigan player who has had a more versatile career for the Wolverines. Barrett has spent at least a little bit of time at running back, slot receiver, safety/linebacker hybrid, inside linebacker, kickoff returner, and upback on the punt team, just to name a few. He has notched a passing attempt (1), rushing attempts (2), kickoff returns (4), tackles (143), sacks (5.5), interceptions (2), a defensive touchdown (1), and even an uncredited lateral that turned into a kickoff return touchdown for A.J. Henning against Maryland in 2021.

In fact, it would be easier to say what he hasn’t done: he has zero punt attempts, field goal attempts, extra points attempts, or receptions.

So even though Michigan has a potential early NFL draft entrant at inside linebacker (Junior Colson) and the #4 transfer recruit in the country (Ernest Hausmann), it’s hard for me to think Barrett won’t be starting for Michigan in his sixth and final year. Barrett doesn’t wow too often – though there was that highlight reel hit on Minnesota QB Tanner Morgan in 2020 – but he’s such a good all-around athlete and utility man that it’s great to have him around. As a coaching staff, it has to be nice to know that he can be asked to do various things on defense and special teams and perform all those tasks admirably. Durability used to be a concern, but he’s up to 239 pounds (from 233 last year) and generally holds up pretty well. This should be another solid year for the Georgia native.

P.S. Have I mentioned before that I like former high school quarterbacks?

Prediction: Starting inside linebacker and special teamer; 60 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception

2022 All-Big Ten Teams

The Big Ten released its all-conference teams over the past couple days, and here’s a look at the honorees for Michigan:

FIRST TEAM
RB Blake Corum (Coaches, Media)
C Olu Oluwatimi (Coaches)
OG Trevor Keegan (Coaches)
OG Zak Zinter (Coaches, Media)
DL Mike Morris (Coaches, Media)
DL Mazi Smith (Coaches, Media)

SECOND TEAM
QB J.J. McCarthy (Media)
OT Ryan Hayes (Coaches)
LB Junior Colson (Coaches)
DB D.J. Turner II (Coaches)

THIRD TEAM
WR Ronnie Bell (Coaches, Media)
TE Luke Schoonmaker (Coaches)
LB Mike Barrett (Coaches)

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jim Harbaugh
RUNNING BACK OF THE YEAR: Blake Corum
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Mike Morris
KICKER OF THE YEAR: Jake Moody

2022 Season Countdown: #28 Michael Barrett

Name: Michael Barrett
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 233 lbs.
High school: Valdosta (GA) Lowndes
Position: Linebacker
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #23
Last year: I ranked Barrett #20 and said he would be a starting inside linebacker (LINK). He made 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup while starting one game.
TTB Rating: 82

Barrett is a former high school quarterback, and I love me some quarterbacks. It just seems like when you’re a Division I-caliber athlete with the smarts and leadership to play quarterback, you’re likely to figure it out at the next level. But the switch from defensive coordinator Don Brown to Mike Macdonald didn’t bode well for the former hybrid linebacker/safety, and now the move to Jesse Minter doesn’t seem any better, since he coaches the same system as Macdonald.

Michigan will probably play more of a true nickel safety rather than a linebacker, and anyway, Barrett has added six pounds since last year and is playing more inside linebacker. He appears to be the #3 guy at inside linebacker behind Junior Colson and Nikhai Hill-Green. I would expect him to play special teams, too, where he has been valuable over the past few years.

Prediction: Backup inside linebacker, special teamer

3 Position Changes to Consider

With spring practice starting next week, I think it’s time to look at what position changes might occur to benefit the team. With a lot of pieces remaining the same on offense and a similar scheme on defense, we generally know what type of systems we’ll see on each side. It’s more of a question about which players might slide around a little bit to fill some holes.

Mike Barrett (RS Sr.): OLB —> ILB
Barrett is a former starting Viper in 2020 under former defensive coordinator Don Brown, but that spot was largely eliminated early in 2021 when Michigan played Daxton Hill at the slot corner position. Barrett didn’t play much early in 2021 until defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was forced to make some adjustments. He started just one game last year and made 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup on the year. Now with middle linebacker Josh Ross headed to the NFL, Michigan loses a leader in the middle but returns a freshman All-American in Junior Colson at the other inside linebacker spot. While Nikhai Hill-Green also returns, I think Barrett and Colson are the two most productive linebackers; Hill-Green played okay but his youth showed with some missed reads and false steps. Plus if Barrett is going to have a minuscule role, I’m not sure he can be convinced to stick around for a fifth year. I think Barrett is enough of a well rounded athlete that he’s worth keeping around, and his speed and athleticism could be a plus if the defensive linemen and the scheme can keep him clean.

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 29, Indiana 7

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Eat your vitamins. My biggest takeaway from this game is that Michigan needs to get healthy. Going into the game, Michigan was missing RB Donovan Edwards and TE Erick All. And here are the players who got injured during the game: QB Cade McNamara (lower body), RB Blake Corum (lower leg), CB Gemon Green (shoulder), WR Andrel Anthony (unknown). Luckily, the Wolverines had a big enough advantage in this game that it ended up not affecting the outcome, but the toughest stretch of the schedule is coming up, with Penn State next week and Ohio State in three weeks.

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