jack sanborn

Previously: Wisconsin Offense 2021 

Welcome back to this week's edition of Fee Fi Fo Film. Yesterday we took a gander at Wisconsin's beleaguered offense and tried to dissect the problems and explain what has gone wrong. The feel of this post, looking at the Badger defense, will be quite different. Great defenses have been rolling out of Madison for a long time now, and this year doesn't look to be much different. They held PSU to 16 points, EMU to 7, and Notre Dame to 20 (Irish got 21 on special teams/defense). This is a very good unit and it will be leaned on heavily to beat Michigan. So what's it like? Well, as you'll see, much of the same. 

The Film: We're using the Penn State game for this, as we did for the offense. Penn State is a decent comparison for Michigan offensively, with their really good running back group similar to Michigan's, but PSU plays with more WR's and in a more spread manner, formation-wise, than Michigan does, which we'll highlight below. If you read the offensive piece, Wisconsin held the ball forever on offense, which limited Penn State to ~17 minutes time of possession and just a shade over 50 plays. It's not a ton of film, but there's plenty here to get an adequate feel for the Wisconsin defense, even if this may be a shorter article than normal. 

Personnel: The chart. 

Wisconsin looks like the Wisconsin defense that we know so well. They still run their 3-4, just with some new names and faces in the front seven and the same old faces in the secondary. The defensive line (the three down linemen) has changed around a bit since last year but is still pretty solid, with NT Keeanu Benton as the headliner in the middle, bookended by veteran Matt Henningsen on one side and Isaiah Mullens on the other side. The DL's objective is to eat up offensive linemen and open holes that their murderous LB corps can come screaming through to either stuff the run or sack the QB. Backups along the DL are not used heavily, but Bryson Williams is on the two-deep at NT and Rodas Johnson is the first off the bench at either DE spot. 

Those murderous LB's are 4/4 in receiving stars, which is not surprising given Wisconsin's track record at developing LB's. Their outside LB's often line up at the line of scrimmage as seen on Seth's diagram, and then they may rush or they may drop back into coverage. Nick Herbig is a fresh face opposite Noah Burks, who has paid his dues in the Wisconsin program, as the starting OLB's. Burks plays what Seth calls the "WATT" role, which is the pass-rushing OLB job, whereas Herbig plays the "SCHOBERT" role, which requires dropping into coverage more. Both guys can do both roles, but generally Burks rushes more than Herbig and Herbig drops into coverage more than Burks. The backups at that position include Spencer Lytle and CJ Goetz, but the two starters get the bulk of the work. 

The ILB's are a pair of studs, Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal. Unfortunately, Chenal tested positive for COVID-19 prior to week one, so he doesn't appear in any of the footage in this post, but he's a very good football player (you'll probably see that Saturday). Sanborn gets the shield as a borderline-All American and you'll hear plenty about him in this post. Both ILB's have to be able to cover and tackle, as a typical linebacker would, but they are also used heavily in rush packages, especially Sanborn. Mike Maskalunas is the third option at ILB to know about, and I saw quite a bit of him in the PSU game with Chenal out. 

The secondary is very veteran, with all four starters being at least fifth year players. Caesar Williams and Faion Hicks, the latter of whom played at Flanagan with Devin Bush and Josh Metellus, are the starting CB's. Scott Nelson and Collin Wilder are the two safeties, and both can come up into the box and run stuff, or play a deep safety role in Wisconsin's Cover 2 alignment. Dean Engram is the nickel that Wisconsin used a decent bit in this game, while John Torchio came on as a reserve safety in the PSU game too. Deonte Burton and Alexander Smith have also gotten snaps at corner. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: The LB's are gonna get ya]

Previously on The Enemy, Ranked: Quarterback, Running Back, Receiver, OL, DL

The Enemy series is beginning to near its conclusion, and today we pick up with the LB group. For this section, we had to again set some ground rules that will outline the piece. As a general rule, teams who employ a hybrid safety/LB saw that position included in this piece, including Indiana's "Husky", OSU's "Bullet", and Nebraska's hybrid space player. 3-4 OLB's who are edge rushers were included in the DL piece and are not featured here. With that in mind, let's dive in with #1 on our list and Wisconsin: 

1. Wisconsin 

Much the way that Wisconsin churns out terrific OL's like butter, they do the same at LB, running their patented 3-4. This year may well be a high tide in terms of great Wisconsin LB groups thanks to the return of every starter off last year's group. The unit starts with Jack Sanborn, the team's leading tackler each of the last two years and a likely lock for 1st team All-B1G. He's a classic do-it-all Wisconsin LB, who can run defend, cover, and blitz. Leo Chenal starts next to Sanborn on the inside and he's also really good, a more aggressive LB which can sometimes get him into trouble but it may well take him to the All-B1G team this season in the process. The OLB's have different responsibilities, with Nick Herbig being the one who has to drop into coverage more often. He had his lumps last season as a true freshman starter but he's undeniably talented: Herbig was a composite top 150 recruit out of Hawaii. I'm betting on big time improvement from him. Noah Burks is the OLB who gets to rush a bit more and the game tape tends to be more promising than the stats he's produced up to this point, but he's a two-year starter who's in his sixth year in the program. That's a lot of reason for optimism. 

The back-ups don't have as much to talk about, but they may well not be needed all that much. The starting four are going to play the vast majority of the snaps. Obviously injuries are a possibility, but this starting group will see the majority of the work, and if they're healthy, they'll be really, really good. Wisconsin was the clear #1 on our list. COVID may still be rattling our world, but Wisconsin having elite LB's suggests that Earth is still somewhat normal. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: You will never guess who's #3]

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.]