The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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utilizing his speed to go around sophomore left tackle Mason Cole for one quarterback hurry while twice running a stunt to the inside, slip- ping past back-pedaling guards to break free on Malzone. On the three QB hurries, the senior forced two incompletions and an in- terception. 4. Redshirt junior left guard Ben Braden: The 6-6, 331-pounder started 12 games at right tackle for the Wol- verines in 2014 but was on the move this spring, sliding inside to left guard in attempt by offensive line coach Tim Drevno to put the best five on the field. Braden's Blue Team did not have much success running the football, with 20 yards on 27 carries (0.7 yards per rush), but on a makeshift offen- sive line that included only one other expected starter — fifth-year senior center Graham Glasgow — Braden was outstanding. He did not allow a sack or a tackle for loss among the two and eight, respectively, that the rest of his linemates surrendered. Braden was most often tasked with blocking sophomore nose tackle Bryan Mone, and the 6-4, 325-pounder had a quiet day, failing to record even a single quarterback hurry, stymied by Braden. 5. Junior quarterback Shane Morris: The completion percentage wasn't very good (45.8 percent on 11-of-24 passing), nor the pass efficiency rat- ing (98.50), but Morris took the clear lead in the battle for starting quar- terback with his spring-game per- formance, leading Team Blue to the only TD of the game when he threw a 14-yard sideline dart to redshirt sophomore wideout Jaron Dukes. Morris jockeyed early in the spring with redshirt freshman Wilton Spei- ght, and then held off a challenge from early enrollee Alex Malzone in the latter half of spring practices. He will next face off against grad trans- fer Jake Rudock and freshman Zach Gentry (with Malzone and Speight also in the mix). At times in the spring game, Mor- ris showed the maturity to eventu- ally be Michigan's starter against Utah Sept. 3, checking down to un- derneath receivers, throwing terrific deep balls and locating his best op- tions on crossing routes. However, he seems to know only one speed with his throws — fastball — leading to balls that bounce off receivers' hands (one that resulted in an interception). He was the best of the quarterbacks in the spring, but still far removed from the polished QB he will need to be in fall camp. 6. Redshirt freshman defensive back Jabrill Peppers: With the rosters un- evenly divided, Team Maize found itself with a glut of safeties but few covermen, so Peppers moved down to nickel back to line up opposite slot receivers. This configuration limited the op- portunity for Peppers to impact the greater majority of plays he would have at safety, but it reinforced coor- dinator D.J. Durkin's proclamation the 6-1, 205-pounder would play multiple secondary positions in 2015. Peppers would show his ability to contribute against the run with four tackles, including the first of