The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/614487
Best Player: NT Ryan Glasgow Most Improved: DE Taco Charlton Who To Watch In 2016: NT Bryan Mone Linebacker: C- Midterm Grade: A- Reason For The Grade: The mid- season grade of Michigan's line- backers was a bit of a mirage. The defensive line had been successful at creating chaos for opposing running games, occupying blockers that never reached the second-level linebackers and forcing tailbacks to bounce out- side where those backers were aided by redshirt freshman defensive back Jabrill Peppers and other safeties crashing the line of scrimmage. With the play of Ojemudia at the Buck/rush linebacker post, too, the unit looked like its experience — five of the six regulars were in their senior year — would continue to pay off for U-M. Michigan could never replace Ojemudia, however. Seniors Royce Jenkins-Stone and James Ross, who played the Buck, Mike and Sam po- sitions in the season's second half, combined for 7.5 tackles for loss in the Wolverines' final seven games while Ojemudia had six alone in the first five contests of the campaign. A far bigger issue, though, was the inside linebackers' ability to play the run. No spot defensively was ex- ploited more than the inside lineback- ers, who lacked the lateral speed to get to the edge when the line began to lose outside containment or the strength to fight off blocks when the front was unable to hold offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage. Seniors Joe Bolden and Desmond Morgan found themselves on the wrong end of too many rival high- lights, pushed out of the play on big gains, diving at legs as runners sprinted by, or worse yet, steamrolled by ball carriers that ran through the two like they were 180-pound light- weights. Michigan's linebackers were a season-long weakness, concealed by the defensive line until the last five weeks, and in that time, they proved overwhelmed by the task — their ear- lier efforts are all that keeps their final grade from a D or worse. Best Player: ILB Desmond Morgan Most Improved: OLB James Ross Who To Watch In 2016: Buck Shel- ton Johnson Secondary: B+ Midterm Grade: A Reason For The Grade: Michigan finished the regular season ranked first nationally in pass efficiency defense (94.98 rating) and yards al- lowed per attempt (5.4), and was third in passing yards allowed per game (158.8) and completion per- centage (48.0), but this unit also was far more productive in the first half of the season. Down the stretch, the Maize and Blue surrendered 328 passing yards to Michigan State and 317 yards to Minnesota, while Indiana kept U-M's defense off balance with 220 passing yards to complement its 307 rushing yards. Overall, the final six opponents Michigan faced had a 112.95 pass ef-