david long is also good

Cloning was the answer. [Bryan Fuller]

Our ongoing series covering Michigan's 2010s. Previously: Our Favorite Blocks, QBs, RBs, and WRs, TEs, FBs, and OL, Defensive Line, Linebacker, The 2000s.

Methodology: Going by individual years but only one per player can be nominated. We discussed them and decided together, then split the writeups. There will be a special teams and then we're taking requests on offbeat editions to fill the long offseason.

SAFETY: Jordan Kovacs (2011)

Blessed Order of St. Kovacs

Today, even after Michigan has exhausted the eligibility of an entire generation of Glasgows, we call the walk-ons who emerge into draftable players members of the "Blessed Order of St. Kovacs." Secondaries of the rest of the decade would be filled with top-100 types whose natural abilities contributed to top-five defenses. But to get there first Michigan had to survive Never Forget plus three years of Rich Rod and Tony Gibson.

In 2009 I made a sad depth chart to introduce a series—The Decimated Defense—about the recruiting and attrition that led us to the program's defensive back nadir. On said depth chart, all walk-ons, including a redshirt freshman student body one that then-DC Greg Robinson had recently mistook for Matt Cavanaugh, were represented by suicidal cats.

Corner Safety Safety Corner
NFL-ready junior guy (Donovan Warren)

(Jordan_Kovacs)

Current Infinite Safety Disaster, who is worse than the walk-on (Michael Williams) Legacy who is halfway decent and was our FS until a few weeks ago (Troy Woolfolk)
Dust mite true freshman who was a running back until a few weeks ago (Teric Jones)

(Floyd_Simmons)

True freshman recovering from knee surgery who can't be that great if he hasn't seen the field (Vladimir Emilien) Redshirt freshman with clear talent deficiency to be serviceable (JT Floyd)

Cats were all the rage on the internet back then, as was abject failure in Michigan's secondary. Many players who might have helped plug the holes abandoned Michigan. We even had a banner.

image

But then a funny thing happened that we did not expect. In 2011 Michigan was suddenly getting impact safety play from the unlikeliest of creatures: a Hobbit.

And then there's Kovacs. That is a record-shattering performance for a member of Michigan's secondary and it is absolutely deserved. Kovacs led the team in tackles, only half-missing a couple of those. He led ballcarriers into other defenders, which is why Western had to go on long marches—they couldn't bust it past Kovacs. He annihilated Carder on two sacks, one of which produced a game-sealing fumble. While Mattison got him those runs at the QB, his execution was flawless. On the first, he had the agility to slash back inside of Herron and the technique to put his helmet directly on the ball. And he added two PBUs for good measure.

His Kovacsian limitations made him not the guy you want carrying a future NFL slot receiver down the seam—particularly in 2012 when they slapped a Legends jersey on him to honor three historic linemen and Mattison tried to get away with some Ed Reed crap. But even in 2010 Kovacs thrived as a two-high box safety who could come down and play a Viper-like role, and in 2011's patchwork secondary those edge blitzes were a feature.

Also a feature: busts in the front seven that never, ever, ever, ever led to a gain of 40 yards. Remember this was a defense playing high-risk up front because the serviceable depth chart was guys Lloyd Carr recruited and Jake Ryan. After the afore mentioned WMU game Mattison was asked if having a guy like Kovacs allowed him to do more with the defense. Answer: "Well… he allows you to call it without wincing."

This was the Kovacs you had to be a bit of a wonk to fully appreciate, but over the course of 2011 the Kovacs who was ALWAYS THERE when that guy was supposed to arrive was the main thing giving viewers a sense of peace they hadn't felt since the days of…Jamar Adams? Marcus Ray? Tripp? When an option pitch went outside the last defender on the screen, it was Kovacs who appeared, already at top speed, at the perfect angle to end it at the sideline. When a linebacker went the wrong direction on a stretch run and you braced for a long chase, Kovacs came. He was our binky.

We could go with 2011 or 2012; we chose '11 only because there was more Alex Carder annihilation, and because that's the year, at the moment everything was about to fall apart, it didn't, because Kovacs was always there.

-Seth

[After THE JUMP: The Old, the Boring, and the Cat-like]

The perfect photo for this column
[Upchurch]

Early on in the fourth quarter, the game out of hand, Michigan Stadium’s ops people decided to go for the kill. Zombie Nation blasted from the speakers. The fans played along, mocking Penn State with its own chant.

The penultimate post of our annual Draft the Big Ten/all-conference four-deep series that had no draft. This episode it has no Brian either, since he's in season preview mode.

Previously:

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CORNERBACKS

Ace:

We done?

BiSB: But... uh...Yeah, we're done here.

Seth: By the way I did the Northwestern scouting and I do not think we need to worry about a Gaz from the Nobody Watches it Division.

Ace: Here’s another featuring the now-fourth cornerback.

Seth: There are no hoodies left at Wisconsin.

BiSB: The existence of Ojemudia (NTO) on that list does not give me great comfort.

Seth: Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson is in the NFL. Manny Rugamba transferred.

Ace: Did not expect him to the the first guy named after M’s guys.

BiSB: Do we even need to discuss Long and Hill? As in, is there a debate with them as #1 and #2 in some order?

Seth: I mean, is there anything but GOOD AT CORNERBACK that is in those numbers?

Ace: Arguably the best pair of corners in the country, Hill looks marginally better at the moment at playing the ball, both almost never get cleanly beat, uh… Thomas/Watson would probably be a top-three B1G corner pairing? Is that crazy to say?

Seth: Um, top four.

Ace: Fair.

BiSB: Long has a certain Nick Lidstrom thing where he is just always in the right spot.

image

You wanted ball. You do not get ball. [Patrick Barron]

Ace: STILL. I like how you invoked The Perfect Human.

Seth: Brian isn't here because he's in preview week mode but he would want us to mention Hill should play nickel.

Ace: I suspect we’ll see him slide inside a decent amount, especially against spread-y teams with a good slot.

Seth: GIPHY is picking for Brian.

/giphy what do we do about slot fades

Ace: Giphy had no idea how to handle that.

BiSB: Looks like Giphy likes Rutgers' nickel package?

slackbot: I think you mean Rutger

[After THE JUMP: slackbot thinks that a lot.]