antjuan simmons
Previously: Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver & Tight End, Offensive Line, Defensive Line
I'm bringing back this preview feature from before my time off; the exercise is to rank Michigan's opponents, as well as the Wolverines themselves, in each position group. This is particularly useful to do in a year when roster turnover and late-offseason changes (laaaaaaaaaaaaaate-offseason changes) are so prevalent; I'll do my best in these posts to highlight significant opt-outs, opt-ins, and the like.
Our long regional nightmare is over.
Tier I: You're Damn Right I'm Putting Another Michigan Picture Here
Josh Ross is back on the weak side, where he excelled in 2018 [Barron]
1. Michigan. Technically, Michigan replaces two of their three linebacker starters this year, but that's a bit misleading: Josh Ross returns from a year marred by injury, a move to middle linebacker that didn't take, and the emergence of Jordan Glasgow as a draftable weakside linebacker. He'll replace Glasgow at the WILL, where he started in 2018, tallying 61 tackles (five for loss) despite playing in a somewhat inexplicable platoon with Devin Gil—Ross was clearly the superior player. Back at his natural position, he could be an all-conference player.
The main attraction, of course, is MIKE Cam McGrone, who exploded onto the scene in his second year with impact and style reminiscent of Devin Bush. While McGrone can tighten up a few things, he was essentially a redshirt freshman last year, and he's already proven capable of swinging games by finishing plays in the backfield. If the defensive tackles can stand up to more double-teams—a big if, though one I'm cautiously optimistic about with Carlo Kemp moving to three-tech—then McGrone will be freed up even more, and he's got All-American potential if that happens.
There are a couple intriguing up-and-comers at VIPER, led by Michael Barrett, a former high school quarterback who's got the look of a versatile thumper; he may also be the primary long-term backup at either inside linebacker spot. If the defense needs more of a third safety, Anthony Solomon was praised as one of the best cover linebackers in his class, with the lack of a traditional positional projection holding back his rating—not a problem at Don Brown's hybrid spot. Ben VanSumeren is another former multi-position athlete who's received some offseason hype for his work at SAM, a position that could be of greater importance if DT is a worst-case scenario.
While there's not a ton of depth, I stress that less at linebacker than along the defensive line; there's far less rotation necessary at LB.
2. Ohio State. This wasn't a good unit in 2018. Freed of Greg Schiano's coaching in 2019, however, they were much better, and while WILL Malik Harrison is a major loss to the NFL, most everyone else is back. From my HTTV preview:
The linebacker level is the relative weakness on this defense. You already know the catch: they’re still plenty good and extremely talented. Redshirt senior Tuf Borland is being pushed by former top-50 recruit Teradja Mitchell in the middle; five-star senior Baron Browning gets to play the majority of snaps at his natural WILL position; senior Pete Werner displayed an impressive all-around game at their hybrid SAM position last year.
Browning*, a dangerous pass-rusher when playing on the edge instead of inside, and Mitchell are the two players who could take this unit from good to great. There's a healthy amount of depth. Michigan edges the Buckeyes out because McGrone looked like the best of the bench even though he got less help from his tackles.
*also the subject of one of the funnier high school highlights in recent memory
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the rankings.]
Previously: The Offense, MSU's defense last year. MSU's defense in 2017
Resources: My charting, MSU game notes, MSU roster, CFBstats
Michigan State runs a…
Match quarters defense.
Yes, which…
I'm having deja vu. Did you copy this lede from last year's article?
You were going to say "which brings the corners down to play tight man off the snap while the safeties have to cover for aggressive linebackers, who are squeezed on the inside because the defensive line can play spread out."
Right and that funnels everything back into the murdertackles and the murderbacker and you get Bullough'd by whichever Bullough or Bullough-like object they have now--what's his name, Bachie.
So about that.
The Film: Illinois, because this was the only game they've played since...
Personnel: My diagram:
PDF Version, full-size version (or click on the image)
...star MLB Joe Bachie was suspended for the rest of the season for getting caught taking PEDs. To replace him they moved hybrid WLB Antjuan Simmons (+13/-5 vs the run, +0/-3 coverage) inside, and brought in sophomore HSP Noah Harvey (+12.5/-1, +0/-5 cov) for the hybrid role. Since smallish SAM Tyriq Thompson (+9/-2, +1/-3 cov) played that role some last year, there's a lot of hybrid DNA on the field now and it shows. MSU linebacker is a playmaker position and all of these guys made them, if in different ways. Simmons is a Khaleke-type athlete who can rocket into gaps but gets ejected if he meets a blocker. The SAM job of Tyriq Thompson, who earned a lot of his stars by making a couple of checks that got one of his teammates in free when Illinois audibled, operates more like our idea of an MLB now with Bachie out so Simmons can be more seek-and-destroy. That's all they get from Harvey, who surprised me with his high grade mostly from rocketing out into space against the WR screen game (and one near game-winning bat-down). Harvey is the LB who becomes a pure pass rusher on their dime package, whence he made me wonder a few times if that was Willekes.
Speaking of HSP DNA, that job previously belonged to the older brother of SS David Dowell (+2/-2, +4/-5 cov). Andrew is gone and David is now a solid strong safety except when he has to cover deep, since his mind is very run/short pass-oriented. FS Xavier Henderson (+4/-7, +3/-3 cov) is a work in progress who'll probably be a good one in a year or two.
Both safeties got big coverage dings for abandoning their posts when poor third CB and jam specialist Shakur Brown (+2/-1, +10/-6), just returned from an injury hiatus, got singled up with Josh Imatorbhebhe, the Illini's 5-star USC transfer, on such plays you remember as The Hail Mary That Didn't Have to Hail TD at the end of the half and 4th & 16. Brown splits time with both Boundary CB Josh Butler (+2/-3 cov), the dude who interfered on the 4th down, and Field CB Josiah Scott (+1/-1, +4/-1 cov), a rootin'-tootin' hard-hitting 2nd team all-B1G candidate. DB Tre Person (+0/-2, +3/-3 cov), whom you might remember from such plays as the long DPJ touchdown or the mansome Nico Collins catch last year, is now their nickel, still about 160, and still slow. Backup safeties Michael Dowell (+1/-1, -3 cov) and Jacob Slade (-2 cov) came in for the slot safety dime role, blitzing half the time.
The defensive line are the same guys since what, 2017? We'll just cover the three stars in the dangerman section. The younger brother Jacub Panasiuk (+2.5/-2.5), well you remember him trying to break Ruiz's knees last year and you're right: you hope the powers that be keep Michigan's players safe because MSU is the program that won't. His backup Drew Beesley didn't get much time but little brother comes off the field for a linebacker on passing downs. We did get a steady rotation of their next generation of DTs. Very large blue chip NT Naquan Jones (+2/-2) is a Bryan Mone type. Freshman DT Jacob Slade (+1/-5) didn't stand out to me until I tallied up his score and realized what little running game Illinois got came by washing Slade out with doubles.
[After THE JUMP: fam.]
Apparently the Pac-12 championship is tonight. Is this new? Have I never watched the Pac-12 championship before? I'm very confused. I thought I'd tell you in case you are unprepared for a Friday game.
Anyway:
Woods re-affirms
AL S J'Marick Woods, a wobbler, ceases wobbling:
"It was really hard to make my final decision because I like Arkansas a lot, but I am picking Michigan," said Woods. "I just prayed about it and the Lord showed me signs. I feel good about my future as a Wolverine."
He's an early enrollee so this should be a definitive end to his recruitment. There are two visit weekends before the dead period and afterwards he'll be in Ann Arbor. Kind of get the feeling the Arkansas/Mississippi State dalliances were manufactured to provide his school with an excuse to do some hat stuff.
Keeping Woods is important with Michigan's need at safety and the lack of other names on the board at the spot; Scout makes him sound a lot like Jeremy Clark:
Woods is a defensive back with great length. He is lean and will need to add weight to his frame when he gets to the next level. He could get a look at cornerback, but he is likely a free safety in college. His length is an asset in coverage and recovery.
I'll take another Clark.
All hands to the tweet decryption stations
Michigan's coaches are on the road this week, visiting anyone and everyone they're still recruiting. CA OL Aaron Banks lives in El Cerrito, California, and this may or may not mean anything.
I have an emoji for this.
Possibilities:
- Harbaugh finally got his latte after like 15 minutes
- Clash of Royale Strike level up
- Banks is announcing for Michigan on the 9th.
- Harbaugh's making telescopes? And selling them for profit? I guess?
It's times like these I wish Michigan had a TOOT TOOT ALL IN FOR THE GOVERNOR wink wink commit thing, like many schools do. Just a few hours prior to the above tweet, Lorenz reported that Michigan had little idea what Banks would do. Reports that Banks was not a take appear to be incorrect.
FWIW, Brice Marich hears that the in-home with Banks "went excellent and was very informative too."
Dominate the hyphens
Michigan's quest to dominate the state of Hyphen continues unabated after their setback with Brelin Faison-Walden. Next up might be MI DE Deron Irving-Bey, who is set to announce at the Army game. With just two visit weekends left before the dead period and one official visit in the books, some tea-leaf reading is possible:
- His list of six is really a list of four. He's visited Tennessee, plans to visit Maryland this weekend, and has been on the MSU and UM campuses many times for unofficials. Syracuse and Cincinnati are window dressing.
- Webb reports that he'll take an official to Michigan for their huge December 9th weekend. That should be his last in person recruiting contact before his commitment, since the dead period starts the 12th. In a dead period you can only interact on the phone or by text.
While you can't entirely rule MSU out since he's familiar with the program, Michigan is perceived to lead and gets the last crack. Also he has a hyphen in his last name.
Linebacker board static
Sorry for leaving FL LB Jordan Anthony off the recruiting overview post on Wednesday. That was an oversight only; Michigan is still expected to get him. That does rather complicate things in the projected class, which had MS LB Willie Gay on it and then did not when I inserted Anthony.
Despite that omission, Gay remains very high on Michigan. Per Lorenz, Partridge stopped in on Tuesday and Gay said it went "better than I would have ever thought," which is kind of a weird statement and also very encouraging. This is still in "believe it when I see it" territory. If Gay schedules an unofficial back to Ann Arbor, then I will start thinking it's happening. I remember Fletcher Cox and will not discount Mississippi State for an instate kid, ever.
Meanwhile, MI LB Antjuan Simmons decommitted from Ohio State, making that one guy's article about Meyer's recruiting coup look a bit silly. Do not expect Michigan to get involved. Simmons still appears salty about Michigan's lack of enthusiasm early in the process. Even after he started looking around and must have had an inkling that he was not going to end up in Columbus, his twitter feed was... uh... aggressive about Michigan.
This is mostly disappointing because I wanted this screenshot to be a wall of block Ms:
Seven out of eight wouldn't be bad. Webb's hearing Arizona may be Simmons's landing spot, which would be something. Notre Dame is also a strong contender.
NJ LB Drew Singleton will be at The Big Recruiting Weekend.
Rutger is fine, it's just the S that makes it a problem
Webb reports that the parents of TN DT Rutger Reitmaier are in Michigan's corner, and with Oregon in flux they will have a great shot to flip him. Reitmaier's dad has been on campus more than some committed recruits:
The elder Reitmaier made his way to campus for a game weeks before his son came up for an official visit. It gave dad an opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with Harbaugh. They built on that when the entire Reitmaier family came up for Rutger's official visit a few weeks ago.
A recent OSU offer may be the main competition if Reitmaier follows through with a visit.
Why the Herbert wobble is a thing
“I want to play right away," he said when asked what he's looking for in a school.
“Miami says I can come in and play right away, Florida says that I can come in and play, and Michigan says that I have to come in and compete with [junior tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty] and probably another tackle [current Michigan commit Joel Honigford].”
It is unrealistic that Miami and Florida don't have guys at least on JBB's level. If Herbert's takeaway from those two competitors is "I should go to another school," that sounds like the kind of reason that's not the real reason. He's the only guy in the class I think is a serious threat to voluntarily decommit.
Edges of the board still active
Marich also reports that CT CB Brandon Sebastian plans a mid-January official and that AZ S Isaiah Pola-Mao has tentative plans to official at some point during that month as well. That's good timing for Michigan, as a lot of questions about who will and will not be in the class will be resolved by the time either guy gets around to making a decision.
Meanwhile, chaos at Oregon has seen a number of their top prospects decommit or Explore Their Options; delightfully named OL/DL Popo Aumavae is one of them. He's setting up a suite of visits and he'd like Michigan to be one of them.
Obligatory Najee Section
Tom Van Haaren puts a not-at-all-completely-arbitrary chance on CA RB Najee Harris flipping:
Committed to: Alabama
Chance he flips: 50 percent
Toughest competition: Michigan
!!!
I like that number. It is a high number. Lorenz reports Harris will follow through on his plan to visit Michigan for The Big Recruiting Weekend. Like Irving-Bey, that should be the last in-person crack anyone gets at him before he enrolls early. (Or commits, in Irving-Bey's case.)
Etc.
Matt Wenzel interviews MA RB commit AJ Dillon, who missed a chunk of his senior season with a broken leg. He's taking some visits but it doesn't seem like a serious situation:
Dillon, who said he would have considered enrolling early at Michigan but his school doesn't allow it, will take his first of five allotted official visits to Boston College this weekend and then go to Ann Arbor the following week. He's also considering visits to Nebraska and Iowa, but nothing is arranged yet and he's still firmly committed to Michigan, which he's been watching from afar all season.
"I was really impressed with them, they're still doing great."
A Notre Dame visit would be something to watch out for given Dillon's family ties; I doubt that Nebraska, BC, or Iowa have the recruiting mojo to flip Dillon without an external bombshell named Najee.
Happy trails to TX LB Baron Browning, who committed to OSU. GA WR Jeremiah Holloman isn't really a happy trails since Michigan hasn't been on his list since shortly after his decommit almost a year ago, but if you're curious he just committed to Georgia.
Keep an eye on the FAU job. Bruce Feldman reports that Mario Cristobal is a candidate; if he gets it that would greatly aid Michigan's chances with Alex Leatherwood.
Brandon Brown lists the various guys who plan to enroll early. I was not aware of a couple of these names. For the record: JaRaymond Hall, Donovan Jeter, Corey Malone-Hatcher, Ben Mason, Benjamin St-Juste, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, J'Marick Woods, Donovan-Peoples Jones, Ambry Thomas, Tarik Black, Cesar Ruiz, and Najee Harris all plan to enroll early. Michigan should have room since they'll have a ton of guys who want to get done with school this semester so they can prep for the NFL draft.
FWIW, Brown has also dropped a couple hints that Rivals will give Solomon a fifth star when their next re-rank comes out. That would be a second; Scout gave him one after the first few games this year, and reports that CT WR Tarik Black denied that he ever named Alabama his top school.
Jedd Fisch visited FL WR Mike Harley in-home. Harley is a WVU commit who's probably flipping somewhere; Michigan was involved just before he went off the board.
34