Please don't change your mind. Please.

Yesterday I took my (very) early look at the 2010 offense. Today, we take a look at the dark side of the moon defense, which should return nine starters from a unit that, well, stunk in 2009. [Note: I will be referring to players by what class they will be in for 2010. For example, Donovan Warren will be referred to as a senior.]

Defensive End: Might as well get this out of the way — Brandon Graham will be sorely missed, no matter how good his replacements are. It’s tough to replace 10.5 sacks and 26 tackles for loss with three guys (which may be what Michigan tries to do), let alone expecting just one player to step and come close to replicating that type of production. Michigan does return starter Ryan Van Bergen, who put up a solid season and could slide over into Graham’s vacated spot. He’s got the size to hold down the strong side of the line, and his five sacks show he has the ability to get to the quarterback. The other DE spot is very much up for grabs — Greg Banks and Adam Patterson are both redshirt seniors who have failed to make much of an impact in their four years in the program, while redshirt freshman Anthony LaLota was an Army All-American who could vault ahead of both seniors based on his prodigious talent. Incoming freshman Ken Wilkins has the frame to be a DE down the road, but at 6-4, 244, he’ll probably take a redshirt year. The hybrid LB/DE spot has a lot fewer questions, as Craig Roh came in the fall and locked down the starting role as a true freshman. If he adds some bulk, he could become a real force as a pass-rusher and speedy playmaker on the edge. Junior Brandon Herron will return as his backup, and incoming freshman Jordan Paskorz will provide depth, although he will likely redshirt as well given the returning players at the positon.

Defensive Tackle: There’s a lot of promise at DT for the Wolverines, with talented junior Mike Martin returning along with senior Renaldo Sagesse and sophomore (and former five-star recruit) Will Campbell. Martin struggled a bit as he adapted to playing the nose tackle in Greg Robinson’s hybrid defense, but was still one of the Wolverines’ most consistent performers on defense. Both Sagesse and Campbell showed solid improvement as the season wore on, and should get solid playing time in 2010. One possibility that has been thrown around by Michigan fans is for Martin to slide over to Van Bergen’s position, with Van Bergen taking Graham’s DE spot and Sagesse or Campbell taking over at nose tackle. If Sagesse or Campbell can hold their ground at nose tackle, I like this possibility, as it frees up Martin to be more of a threat to penetrate into the backfield (something he did with regularity as a freshman) and gives Michigan more size up front to stop the running game. We’ll have to wait until the spring, at the earliest, to see if this is an option. Michigan has also secured a commitment from DT Terry Talbott, but at 6-4, 255, he’ll probably take a redshirt year to add some weight before he sees the field.

Linebacker: If it wasn’t for the safeties, no position group would scare me as much as the linebackers (and it’s pretty close, anyway). Stevie Brown, who turned into Michigan’s most consistent linebacker in 2009, is gone from the weakside spot, leaving seniors Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton as the Wolverines’ returning starters. Ezeh and Mouton both took steps back this fall, struggling to the point of being benched multiple times in the latter half of the season. The Wolverines will need to see more aggressiveness from Ezeh, more discipline from Mouton, and a better understanding of Robinson’s schemes from both if the defense is going to improve substantially next year. Both will face competition, as redshirt junior (and former walk-on) Kevin Leach and juniors J.B. Fitzgerald and Kenny Demens all saw the field last season. Fitzgerald, a former four-star recruit, has the best change to take one of the middle linebacker spots, but don’t sleep on Demens, who saw limited action but is an athletic freak who could emerge as an upperclassman. The competition is even more open for Brown’s old spot, with sophomore Brandin Hawthorne and redshirt freshmen Isaiah Bell and Mike Jones all in the mix, potentially joined by redshirt sophomore Brandon Smith, who bounced between linebacker and safety but looks more promising (in my opinion) as a linebacker candidate. The bad news for Michigan is this position group played very poorly in 2009, and loses their best player. The good news is that there are a lot of talented players vying for just three spots. Hopefully some spirited competition, as well as a year of experience under Robinson, will fuel some better play in 2010.

Cornerback: Despite losing Boubacar Cissoko, and having a revolving door at the second cornerback spot all season, this group actually looks like it will have a lot of depth next season. Senior Donovan Warren has said that he will return next season (he will ask the NFL about his draft status, but unless he gets told he’ll be a first-rounder, he’ll likely be back), giving Michigan a lock-down cornerback on one side of the field. The status of the other corner spot will be determined by senior Troy Woolfolk, and specifically whether he’ll stay at corner or return to safety. If he does stay at corner, he’ll be the man opposite Warren, and his solid performance in 2009 — despite being moved from safety mid-season — gives Michigan a chance to have two very dependable cornerbacks in 2010. Redshirt sophomore J.T. Floyd will be back, and should provide depth or potentially start if Woolfolk is a safety, and sophomore Teric Jones should improve with a full year at cornerback under his belt. Redshirt freshman Justin Turner is the big wild card here — the highly-touted prospect was being hailed as the next great Wolverine corner before academic issues forced a redshirt. He could see the field — and start — at either corner or safety, depending on need and his ability to adapt to the college game. Michigan also has commitments from three cornerback prospects — Courtney Avery, Terrence Talbott, and Adrian Witty (who qualified after sitting out last season and enroll in January) — and are the favorites for Rivals100 prospect Cullen Christian (who will announce his decision tonight) and three-star Tony Grimes. Senior James Rodgers, who has bounced around between receiver and defensive back his whole career, will also provide depth. That’s a lot of bodies at corner, so we could (and probably will) see at least one player switch over to safety. It feels strange to say this, but I’m actually confident that the cornerbacks will be a strong point of the defense in 2010.

Safety: Oh, boy. This position was a total disaster in 2009, with Michigan trying everything from a freshman walk-on (Jordan Kovacs) to a safety-turned-linebacker-turned-safety (Brandon Smith) to just playing Donovan Warren in a deep half from the cornerback position. Michigan does return both starters, Kovacs and Mike Williams, but neither player’s job is remotely safe. Redshirt freshman Vladimir Emilien will have a shot at the starting job, and Woolfolk would be almost guaranteed a spot if he moved over. Justin Turner is also a possibility, as well as Brandon Smith and J.T. Floyd, and even redshirt freshman Thomas Gordon and walk-ons Floyd Simmons and Jared Van Slyke. In fact, you may have a shot as well. It’s that open. I’d be crazy to even begin to guess who will be playing safety when Michigan opens against UConn next fall, so the conjecture ends here. This position group could be anything from the unmitigated disaster it was in 2009 to passably competent, and anywhere in between.

Outlook: Well, the defense certainly can’t be worse than this year’s. Losing Graham will hurt tremendously, but expected improvement across the board for the rest of the defense should mean that this team will be better in 2010. How much better will depend on a wild variety of factors, especially the personnel at linebacker and in the secondary — it’s far too early to guess, and as we found out this year, even the best guesses can be horribly, horribly wrong. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Similar Posts:

• Michigan’s Team of the Decade: Defensive Ends
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• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• Recruiting Update: Part II (Rounding Out the Class)
• Michigan’s Team of the Decade: Defense

The crowd came decked out in maize, and the block M looked great.

I just finished re-watching the whole game, and have a few thoughts:

• The defense did not get enough pressure on Jimmy Clausen, but I don’t think you can blame Brandon Graham for that. When there was pressure on Clausen, chances were BG was involved. After a third quarter pressure on Clausen that forced a throw away, Graham can be seen on the sidelines yelling: “They don’t want to f— with me.” No, they don’t, BG. I doubt there’s a player in the country more deserving of a sack right now than #55.
• I could not have been more wrong about Greg Mathews: the guy really came to play, and he was busting his ass on every snap. His first-quarter one-handed catch was tremendous, he came up with several clutch grabs (including the winning touchdown, of course), and if you want to question his effort, take one more look at Forcier’s interception. Mathews goes from being the targeted wideout to chasing down Kyle McCarthy 20 yards downfield and making a very solid effort to strip the ball.
• Speaking of outside receivers, how about Darryl Stonum? There’s another guy who put it all on the line, and he did it all Saturday: The electrifying kickoff return, four big catches for 54 yards, and batting Forcier’s pooch punt to make sure it didn’t go into the end zone. Stonum really showed his athleticism off on the kickoff return TD; not a lot of guys could make a cut like that and get back to full speed in a split second. This might be the game people look back on as Stonum’s coming out party.
• The crowd was a huge factor. By my count, Clausen used three timeouts with the play clock nearing zero (including ND’s second timeout of the second half with 13:04 left in the fourth quarter) and was guilty of two delay of games as a direct result of the noise level. It was LOUD.
• The tackling is much-improved from where it was last year. Despite Notre Dame gashing Michigan with the run and the pass, when Wolverine defenders got their hands on Irish players, they tended to go down. There were only a couple critical missed tackles (Boubacar Cissoko’s missed tackle on Golden Tate’s late TD comes to mind), and there were several tough takedowns in the open field that saved big gains or scores.
• Two guys on offense really stood out to me for their receiving and blocking: Kevin Koger and Martavious Odoms. Koger had a crushing block on Brandon Minor’s run down to the one-yard line in the third quarter (where Michigan’s drive eventually stalled), make a great play hauling in a touchdown pass, and was wide open when Forcier missed him on third down late in the fourth quarter. Odoms had two critical catches on the final drive, and looked good blocking downfield.
• Stevie Brown sure has been a pleasant surprise, hasn’t he? Brown helped cause the fumble by Jonas Grey that really swung momentum back to Michigan after Olesnavage missed the short field goal, and his speed is really a factor on defense now that he doesn’t have to keep the entire offense in front of him.
• Finally, nothing summed up the Charlie Weis era at Notre Dame better than this: after the game, as the officials were running up the tunnel, Weis tried to chase them down to start complaining about the clock. He made it three steps before giving up, then pointed towards the tunnel and sent a couple assistants scurrying after the officials. I don’t even need to crack a joke after that.

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Can Darryl Stonum realize his potential in 2009?

Fall practice begins today (actually, it began about an hour-and-a-half ago), and there are a ton of unanswered questions when it comes to the Michigan football team. Here are five things I’m keeping a close eye on as fall practice progresses:

1. The quarterback situation — Well, duh. All eyes will be on Tate Forcier as practice begins, and they should be: he holds the key to Michigan’s success this season. However, I’m just as interested in the backup quarterback situation. If Denard Robinson comes in and establishes himself as the backup, I’ll be pleased. If Nick Sheridan still holds the backup spot when fall practice ends, I’ll be very concerned. It’s as simple as that. Also, we’ll see how many specific packages (if any) are designed specifically for Robinson.
2. Which receivers emerge? — Besides Greg Mathews and Martavious Odoms, there really isn’t a receiver on the roster who is guaranteed anything in terms of playing time, and even those two will have to battle for their starting spots. Will Junior Hemingway bounce back from a season lost to injury and illness? Who, out of Hemingway, Darryl Stonum, LaTerryal Savoy, and Je’Ron Stokes, will step up and take the second starting spot on the outside? Can Terrence Robinson or Jeremy Gallon make an immediate impact in the slot? Hopefully, all these questions will be answered by the time Michigan takes the field on Sept. 5.
3. The safeties — The scariest position group on the team right now (for Michigan fans) is at safety, where currently a true freshman (Vlad Emilien) and a converted corner (Troy Woolfolk) are slated to start. No matter what, the Wolverines will have two first-time starters in the last line of defense. If the news out of fall is anything but great regarding the safety play, there is much reason for consternation about the defense.
4. Impact freshmen — I’ve already mentioned Stokes, Gallon, and Emilien as freshmen who could contribute immediately. Will Campbell will almost certainly see significant playing time at the thin defensive tackle spot. Tailback Vincent Smith had a very strong spring and is vying for playing time in a crowded backfield. Will players like Craig Roh (quick), Fitzgerald Toussaint (tailback), or Justin Turner (DB, assuming he qualifies) push for playing time as well?
5. Stevie Brown — The much-maligned safety is now at the spinner (LB/S hybrid) position, and could be the key to a successful defense. Fans could not be pleased with his performance in the spring game, as he was undressed by David Cone, of all people, giving up a 40-yard run to a quarterback whose 40 time is on the wrong side of five seconds. Will this be the season he finally stops giving up big plays and performs at the high level he was expected to play at two years ago?

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Booker T. Washington (Miami) RB Eduardo Clements has named Michigan as his leader.

Football:

• Did Cane visit today turn Clements? ($) — CaneSport.com — Eduardo Clements, a Rivals250 running back from Miami, named Michigan as his leader after a visit to Miami. This is great news, as it is rare that recruits leave a visit and move a different team up to the top of their list. Hopefully Michigan can get him up for a visit soon, although he states that he wants to wait until after his season to make a college choice.
• Flowers knows two visits he plans to take ($) — TheWolverine.com — Michigan and Notre Dame are the two teams in line to get official visits from Millennium (Arizona) ATH Marquis Flowers, the No. 86 overall player in the Rivals100. Flowers is 6-3, 195, so I’d have to assume that he is being recruited as a receiver, although his numbers suggest he plays running back and defensive back in high school.
• The Golden Decade: The All-Decade Team — CBSSports.com — Jake Long is your Wolverine representative on the all-decade squad. Also, the Tebow hype continues, as he’s picked over Vince Young and Matt Leinart for the first team. Personally, I’d go with VY, simply for his performance in the BCS title game.
• New Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson wants ‘the best tackling team in America’ — AnnArbor.com — Interesting that Stevie Brown is the main player interviewed for this piece. Hopefully pursuit angles will be a major sticking point, considering Brown says that Robinson is so detail-oriented that he stresses correct shin angles for a tackler.
• Wolverines football: key issues — Detroit News — Angelique Chengelis looks at the hot-button issues heading into today’s first fall practice. Is “everything” too broad?

Basketball:

• Robert Traylor wants to finish his rocky career the right way — Detroit Free Press — A great article by Michael Rosenberg on Traylor, who has gone through more than most people can possibly imagine during his life. I gained a ton of respect for the man after reading this piece. Highly recommended reading.

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Football:

• Miller is moving to Michigan this week — The Wolverine — Miller, who had originally planned to attend Ann Arbor Huron, will come play for the good guys at Ann Arbor Pioneer (I’m biased here, as a proud Pioneer alum). This sets up a very interesting matchup in week one between Miller’s Pioneers and Devin Gardner’s Inkster squad.
• U-M’s Stevie Brown out to prove himself — whatever the position — Detroit News — For the first time in his career, there isn’t a ton of hype around Brown coming out of Spring ball. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles playing the safety/linebacker hybrid spot.
• Hard to get excited about UConn for University of Michigan’s 2010 season opener — AnnArbor.com — I haven’t thrown my two cents in on this, so here goes: I have no idea why it took the athletic department this long to get around to scheduling an opponent, and given the lack of options (almost every BCS team had their schedule set) it’s tough to complain about playing UConn. No, I’m not really excited about it, but you play the hand you’re dealt, and Michigan didn’t have a lot of choices at the time they tried to schedule the game.
• Big Ten Media Days, The Take Away on Michigan Football: Part V — Rich Rodriguez — Maize n Brew — No wonder it took so long for Dave to put this one together — he churns out a TON of content from RichRod’s appearance at the Big Ten Media Days. I can’t even begin to summarize, so just head over and enjoy.

Basketball:

• Michigan basketball to play Creighton in first round of Old Spice Classic — AnnArbor.com — Again with the headlines. Further details: Michigan will play the winner/loser of the Xavier-Marquette game. Creighton should be a tough matchup, with the Jays returning seven of their top eight scorers from a team that went 27-8 in 2008-09.
• Dick Vitale: Preseason Top 40 — ESPN.com — Dickie V has Michigan at No. 11 in his preseason rankings. I’m getting a little worried about all the hype … Michigan basketball has trained me to prepare myself for a letdown far in advance. However, I trust John Beilein to both handle the hype and live up to it.

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Zoltan Mesko was nearly a Buckeye, which would have robbed Michigan of a great punter and equally-great T-shirts.

Football:

• How Ohio State missed out on Zoltan Mesko — AnnArbor.com — If you’re going to be late to the party, Ohio State, you might as well not show up at all. Also, great quote from Zoltan: “They had about 300 kickers at their camp and Michigan had a smaller camp, so when Michigan noticed me, they offered me and I was like, ‘How can I refuse?’ Greatest combination of national exposure as a football program and academically. That’s what did it for me.”
• Rich Rodriguez: Denard Robinson will get plenty of reps, compete for starting job — AnnArbor.com — With all the Forcier hype (and I admit, I’ve gotten a bit caught up in that myself) people forget about the other four-star dual threat quarterback who will take the field in the fall. Rodriguez states that Robinson will only see snaps at quarterback, and not at any other position.
• Don’t call him Red Foxx — MVictors — Is Jamie Foxx Michigan’s next celebrity fan? Rich Rodriguez spoke with him for over an hour while in Chicago for Media Day.
• Big Ten Media Days, The Take Away on Michigan Football: Part I (Mark Ortmann), Part II (Stevie Brown) — Maize n Brew — Maize n Brew was in attendance at the Big Ten Media Days, and sat down with Ortmann, Brown, Mesko, and Rodriguez. The first two parts of Maize n Brew Dave’s summary are up, and are well worth checking out.
• Gardner shines over fellow Michigan QBs at Elite 11 event — USA Today — Rivals.com’s Greg Ladky with some more effusive praise for 2010 commit Devin Gardner. Money quote from Rivals.com’s Barry Every:  “His combination of size, athleticism [and] arm strength stood out,” Every said. “More importantly, he really took to the coaching. You can tell he is striving to be the best. He is getting the type of coaching at that event that he will get at the college level, and he responded really well.
  “The comparisons to Vince Young and Terrelle Pyror [sic] are legit. He throws the ball better than them at the same stage. Camp instructor Matt James told me the three dual-threat quarterbacks at the event, Garnder, Bolden and Barry Brunetti, are the best three they have ever had at the Elite 11.”
• Matt Millen believes in Rich Rod, will broadcast at U-M — Detroit Free Press — This is the most compelling argument for firing RichRod that I’ve ever seen. Also, as a Lions fan, seeing Millen’s face on TV makes me want to break something. Stick to cursing one team I love, please. Michigan never did anything to you.
• Pair of Michigan commits are ‘100%’ with their pledges — Detroit Free Press — The Wolverine’s Josh Helmholdt reports that RB/Slot Tony Drake and LB Antonio Kinard are both firm in their commitments to Michigan, which is nice to hear after last year’s decommit-fest.
• Blame it on Per-per-per-per-per-personnel — Every Day Should Be Saturday — Pure comedic brilliance on the part of Orson Swindle/Spencer Hall and LSUFreek. Worth a click just for the animated gif, and the song is hilarious, even if it’s a little painful for a Michigan fan: “Blame it on Navarre/Blame it on the Henne/Blame it on the qb who run a six-fiddy”. Genius.
• Disproving Economic Armageddon Via Stubhub — The Sporting Blog — I had to see the picture evidence to believe it: $9,000 for a 47th-row corner seat in Michigan Stadium … for the Delaware State game. I consider myself a diehard, and I wouldn’t even venture into triple digits for a 10th-row 50-yard-line ticket to that game.

Basketball:

• Bringing the Shooter’s Touch … Freshman Matt Vogrich — MGoBlue — The official website profiles incoming freshman Matt Vogrich, and says he is already getting tips from Stu Douglass and Zack Novak. It’s great to read that two sophomores who will be competing with Vogrich for playing time are still willing to help him out.

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Despite the commitment of Rivals three-star Stephen Hopkins, Josh Helmholdt thinks Michigan still has a need at running back.

Football:

• Premature Assessments: Michigan picks itself off the mat — Dr. Saturday — Matt Hinton previews the Michigan football season. His “non-binding forecast” puts the Wolverines at 7-5 with a .500 record in the Big Ten, something I’d happily accept. Also, you’ll probably recognize the YouTube video he embeds in his post…
• Defender at the Gate: Stevie Brown — Wolverine Liberation Army — WLA member cfaller96 declares this to be the year that Stevie Brown finally has a positive impact on the defense, thanks in no small part to Greg Robinson, his magnificent hair, and the spinner position. If you don’t love the WLA, I really don’t know what to tell you.
• Running back still a need for Michigan in the 2010 class — Detroit Free Press — The Wolverine’s Josh Helmholdt thinks Michigan needs to add at least one running back with the impeding departures of Minor, Brown, and Grady. With Austin White announcing on July 15, this may become a moot point in the very near future. Brennan Clay is still a longshot, even with his commitment to Oklahoma, and I would love to see him added to this class as well.
• Putting the ball into athletes’ hands — ESPN.com — Brian Bennett pens (keyboards?) a very interesting article on high school athletes’ use of social networking sites in their recruitment. One of the players highlighted is quarterback commit Devin Gardner, who maintains a Facebook page with updates and highlight videos and accepts fan friend requests. Very interesting read, although I find the whole business of “friending” potential players borderline creepy and a potential recruiting gray-area.
• 2009 Big Ten Preview: Minnesota — Varsity Blue — Tim looks at the Golden Gophers, one of only two Big Ten teams to fall to Michigan last year. Unfortunately, we don’t play them this year, but he still provides a good in-depth look at a team that potentially is on the rise in the conference.
• The Great Debate: The Iowa Hawkeyes — Maize n Brew — The Maize n Brew crew debates the merits of Iowa, who hosts Michigan for their homecoming game (a night game at that) this season. Personally, I think Iowa is overrated, but there are a lot of people who think traveling to Kinnick Stadium poses the toughest road test (or game, period) for Michigan this year.

Other Sports:

• Former Wolverine Zach Putnam sets his sights on the major leagues — Ann Arbor News — Putnam, who starred as a starting pitcher for Michigan (as well as my alma mater, Pioneer High School), is now moving up the minor league ranks as a reliever in the Cleveland Indians organization. He hopes to be on the big club by next September, and it would be great to see him achieve that goal.

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