The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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as criticize. "I just can tell he gets after it," senior defensive end Taco Charlton said. "I love it. He's going to get after the quar- terback. … That's what he does and what we want to do, so we're going to ride with him." It all starts up front, after all. Charl- ton and Wormley want to be the best end duo in the country, Charlton noted, and for him, that means getting to the quarterback. Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Mone was back to full health and is "a freak of nature," Wormley said, and he's not even guaranteed to start. Fifth-year senior nose tackle Ryan Glasgow is healing faster than expected after a chest injury sidelined him for the last part of the season a year ago, when he was one of the Big Ten's best while on the field. "The line makes our job so much easier," Gedeon said. "We've got a bunch of returning starters, and our interior defensive line is unbelievable. Our ends too, everyone's got experi- ence, so it makes our job that much easier. "The thing is, [our role] becomes a little simpler. It's more a 'react and go' type of defense. There aren't a lot of reads in there. You're going right away, and that makes it fun for us. We get to blitz a bit, too, so it's awesome; we love it." The safeties are doing much of the same things they did last year, Lewis added, so there's not a lot to learn. "It's been really smooth," he said. "It's been a good transition from last year to this year. It hasn't been as pain- ful as our first spring ball with a new defense. It's been really good in the first three days. "Coach Brown said last year was last year's defense. We've just got to come out and show that in 2016, we can do better. We can improve on what we did last year." That's always the plan, Lewis said, and Brown wouldn't disagree. ❏ Top Five Defensive Players In Michigan's Florida Practices CB Channing Stribling: The senior cornerback was on the ball all week and picked off at least one pass in each practice. He was the MVP after dominating in the team's first padded practice. "Channing Stribling was catching the ball, about had more receptions than any of our receivers, tight ends or backs had today," head coach Jim Harbaugh said. "I gave him the practice ball after practice, thought it was a heck of a per- formance by him." LB Jabrill Peppers: The redshirt sophomore moved to Sam linebacker and impressed throughout the week. "He plays at an athletic level that is so very, very high," Harbaugh said. "We saw what he could do last year in terms of picking up new positions. It's seamless for him. He's so very intelligent, so competitive. He's got it all … athletic ability