LB/Safety Brandon Smith will likely transfer from Michigan, according to MGoBlog.

Cue up your angriest/most emo music (my personal choice right now is John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band — scream therapy helps): MGoBlog is reporting that LB/safety Brandon Smith has received his transfer papers and is looking for another football program. In a bubble, this move isn’t a disaster — Smith has yet show the ability that made him a four-star safety in 2006, and bounced between positions a couple times in 2009. However, coupled with Michigan’s razor-thin depth at both linebacker and safety, as well as the news that Donovan Warren will likely transfer, this is simply not good for the Wolverines.

Warren’s near-imminent departure for the NFL leaves Michigan in a real bind at defensive back — the safeties desperately need help, but moving Troy Woolfolk back there would leave two huge holes to fill at cornerback. At this point, I fully expect Woolfolk to start alongside J.T. Floyd or one of the true freshmen (with Cullen Christian being the highest-rated commit so far and the most likely to contribute when he steps on campus), while Justin Turner will likely get a chance to start at safety across from, well, someone. It may be early to give up on Mike Williams, another former four-star safety who has only had one year of starting experience, but his dismal 2009 performance makes it tough for me to get my hopes up about him. I think Michigan fans can all agree that starting Jordan Kovacs puts severe limitations on how good the defense can be — if the defense has any chance of being better, there needs to be a scholarship player at each safety spot. That leaves Vlad Emilien and possibly Thomas Gordon competing for starting roles.

It is very, very early to take a stab at the starting defensive backfield for next year, but if I had to wager a guess, I’d say it will be Woolfolk (CB), Christian (CB), Turner (S), and Emilien (S) — that’s a senior, a true freshman, a redshirt freshman, and Emilien, whose eligibility is listed as either redshirt freshman or sophomore (he did get some playing time on special teams, but I’m not sure if it was enough to burn his redshirt) depending on where you look. Either way, that’s a very inexperienced secondary, and one that is missing the elite talent (Warren) that it had in 2009.

So, brace yourselves: the 2010 defense is as frightening (for Michigan fans) on paper as the 2009 D was, and Michigan will almost certainly be relying on freshmen to hold the secondary together. I don’t think much of this is his fault, but Rich Rodriguez is going to have a hell of an uphill climb to hold on to his job. Ugh.

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• Farewell, Donovan Warren
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