The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/653976
BY MICHAEL SPATH M ichigan saw nine starters leave after the 2015 sea- son through graduation or early departure, and the Wolverines must replace those efforts, most prominently at quar- terback with the loss of Jake Rudock (our in-depth breakdown of the bat- tle under center can be found in a separate feature on the quarterbacks). With two weeks of spring practice to evaluate, beginning with U-M's trip to Bradenton, Fla., Feb. 29-March 4, early leaders have emerged at a num- ber of the vacant positions. Here is what we know and what we're hearing. Linebackers Who Left — Joe Bolden, Desmond Morgan, James Ross, Royce Jenkins- Stone and Mario Ojemudia: While there are holes at other spots, no position was gutted quite like linebacker, which saw five seniors finish their careers in 2015. Combined, the five had 248 tackles last year, including 26 tackles for loss and seven sacks, accounting for 85.5 percent of the stops made by Michi- gan linebackers. New defensive coordinator Don Brown is bringing back a 4-3 align- ment — U-M started in a 3-4 base defense in 2015 — and the dearth of experience is troublesome. However, Brown runs a linebacker-friendly de- fense, and he's confident the group will produce. "It's aggressive in nature, so they'll do a lot of different stuff, but based on their learning curve, we'll adjust to them," he said. "We lost five se- niors, but I'm excited about the guys I have." Leading Contenders — Jabrill Pep- pers, Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray: That's right: Peppers. The 6-1, 208-pound redshirt sophomore is the talk of spring practice, lining up at strongside linebacker after playing safety and cornerback in 2015. "I just think we've got to give this guy a bunch of jobs," Brown said. "He's a dynamic athlete, so we'll keep him around the line of scrim- mage and let him do a bunch of stuff whether it's cover, whether it's in cer- tain personnel groups playing line- backer-type stuff. Our Sam is kind of a hybrid. "Last year 's Sam [at Boston Col- lege] had 7.5 sacks and 17 tackles for THE REPLACEMENTS Michigan Is Looking To Fill Vacancies After Nine Starters Moved On