The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 41 I wouldn't expect drastic changes to the Wolverines' offense under Lindsey. Having a trusted and experienced voice calling the offense can help take some of the offensive development off Moore's shoulders, while his track record suggests the Michigan attack should maintain its power rushing game to blend with some of Lindsey's spread passing concepts. Staples: Lindsey is there to run Sher- rone Moore's offense, so I don't think we'll see many twists relative to what Michi- gan has run the past few years. Lindsey the OC is historically run-heavy. His Troy teams tended to pass more when he was head coach, but as an OC he's always run more than he's thrown. Most years — Drake Maye's final year at North Carolina in 2023 is the notable exception — Lind- sey's offenses have run significantly more than they've thrown. I think he and Moore will mesh quite well philosophically. The heavy sets aren't going anywhere. What are your expectations for the defense after losing Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Will Johnson and Josaiah Stewart? Bender: The Wolverines sent nine de- fensive players to the NFL Draft the last two seasons. There are fewer first-round talents this year — though [graduate de- fensive tackle] Rayshaun Benny and [ju- nior cornerback] Jyaire Hill are among those that have first-round potential. It's a defense full of upperclassmen with a few potential breakout players — includ- ing [junior] Arkansas transfer TJ Metcalf, who had 57 tackles and 3 interceptions last season. The defense allowed 19.9 points per game last year — and that was with the 113th-ranked scoring offense. It's a top-15 unit with a chance to get back in the top 10. Fornelli: The silver lining of Will Johnson's injury last year was younger players got snaps and experience that will pay off in 2025. Still, you have to replace Will Johnson, and he was pretty good! As were Graham, Grant and Stewart. I don't know that you can throw new faces in there and expect things to pick up where they left off. Two of them were top-15 draft picks, and Johnson may have been as well if he didn't get hurt. I would expect we'll see [coordinator] Wink Martindale blitz more often in 2025 because of it. Lassan: I think the outlook for Michi- gan's defense in 2025 is similar to the '24 version. Despite losing key players, I ex- pect this unit to rank among the best in the Big Ten. With the personnel losses over the last two seasons, I think it's fair to assume this unit isn't as deep across the board. However, the personnel re- mains in place to thrive. The linebacker pairing of [seniors] Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham should be one of the best in the nation, and the line is stacked with talent on the interior and off the edge with [senior] Derrick Moore poised for a breakout year. The secondary is my biggest concern with [graduate] safety Rod Moore still on the mend from a knee injury suffered in '24 and with some of the play we saw last year at cornerback. But with a couple of portal additions, along with offseason development by some of the returning players, I don't think this group will be a major liability. Also, it certainly helps to have a solid front to prevent this unit from having to cover for an extended time. Losing Gra- ham, Grant, Johnson and Stewart hurts and takes away some of the star power from this group. But I'm expecting an- other reload in personnel and a standout defense to remain in Ann Arbor. Staples: I expect the defense to do ex- actly what it did when it lost [defensive end] Aidan Hutchinson and [defensive back] Daxton Hill or what it did when it lost [defensive tackle] Mazi Smith and [cornerback] DJ Turner. The Wolver- ines are at a point on that side of the ball where they just reload. We just saw what a Derrick Moore, TJ Guy and Rayshaun Benny-led line looks like against Alabama. Still looks pretty darn good. ❑ College Football Experts' 2025 Predictions Expert Michigan Record Big Ten Champion National Champs Breakout Team Bill Bender 9-3 Ohio State Texas Florida Tom Fornelli 9-3 Ohio State Texas Utah Steven Lassan 9-3 Penn State Texas Nebraska Andy Staples 9-3 Penn State Texas Utah Sherrone Moore's Michigan program is considered among the top tier of teams that should expect to qualify for the College Football Playoff in most seasons, especially with the bracket likely to expand to 16 teams in 2026. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL