First and foremost, if I were a 2016 LB recruit, I would be beating a path to Ann Arbor to sign on with Michigan's defense. As we all know, if we are including the "Buck" LB position, Michigan will be losing all four starters (Bolden, Ross, Morgan, and Ojemudia), as well as a top back up in Jenkins-Stone. In addition, there are no "sure thing" backups: Gedeon is the only one who has received significant PT. McCray and Marshall have been reported as promising in practices, but, some incoming freshman recruits - Especially highly ranked ones like Caleb Kelly, Jeffrey McCullouch, Dontavious Jackson, Elysee Mbem-Bosse or Devin Bush- would be able to come in and compete for a starting spot immediately.
That said, while starting a true freshman is not ideal, I find no reason to worry at all based on the production, or lack thereof, of our LBs thus far this season. It has been interesting to see such dominant defensive performances over the last three weeks, with an absolute lack of dominant LB play. When I think about it, I can only remember some flashes from Morgan and Bolden, and one good game (BYU) by Ojemudia. Ross and Jenkins-Stone have been virtually invisible in the defense.
This is not to say that the LB play has been bad, but , with the stellar play of both the D line and the defensive backfield, the need for the "ten tackle a game linebacker" has been mitigated by D- coordinator D.J. Durkin's ingenious schemes: Generating pressure without a designated pass-rusher, and run-stuffing without stud LBs. The fact that the D has looked stellar without stellar LB play would seemingly bode well for a talented freshman to play, without the immense pressure of having to be an immediate star.
Michigan's D line will not only not lose any contributors, they will actually gain an experienced star level DT when Mone comes back. Only Jerrod Wilson and Wayne Lyons (unless Lewis decides to try to go pro early, which I doubt) depart from the secondary, so as long as the D continues to play well (maybe even improve
) I don't see how we don't garner a commitment from at least two of our big time LB prospects, seeing as how they could just fit right into the middle of an already great D with established and returning players.
That said, while starting a true freshman is not ideal, I find no reason to worry at all based on the production, or lack thereof, of our LBs thus far this season. It has been interesting to see such dominant defensive performances over the last three weeks, with an absolute lack of dominant LB play. When I think about it, I can only remember some flashes from Morgan and Bolden, and one good game (BYU) by Ojemudia. Ross and Jenkins-Stone have been virtually invisible in the defense.
This is not to say that the LB play has been bad, but , with the stellar play of both the D line and the defensive backfield, the need for the "ten tackle a game linebacker" has been mitigated by D- coordinator D.J. Durkin's ingenious schemes: Generating pressure without a designated pass-rusher, and run-stuffing without stud LBs. The fact that the D has looked stellar without stellar LB play would seemingly bode well for a talented freshman to play, without the immense pressure of having to be an immediate star.
Michigan's D line will not only not lose any contributors, they will actually gain an experienced star level DT when Mone comes back. Only Jerrod Wilson and Wayne Lyons (unless Lewis decides to try to go pro early, which I doubt) depart from the secondary, so as long as the D continues to play well (maybe even improve
) I don't see how we don't garner a commitment from at least two of our big time LB prospects, seeing as how they could just fit right into the middle of an already great D with established and returning players.
