will johnson earns that 2

Offense was yesterday. That has an explainer for the faces.

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Defensive Line

Trying Etta at tackle is good for Etta, bad for the other tackles. [David Wilcomes] 

The question we're asking is: Got any depth?

But they're acting like it's: Do we need any?

What are we hearing? We don't need much talk about the starters except reminders that they're awesome. Jaydon Hood noted they keep terking his jerb.

There's times where I might have a gap, and they might wreck it. Sometimes it's fun. It really is. Just let them work. Either they're going to get it or I'm going to clean up after them.

Probably more fun in a game than when you're trying to win the third LB job. Speaking backups, Rayshaun Benny should be back by fall camp, says Lou Esposito. Trey Pierce, our other backup tackle, was seen on crutches. It doesn't sound too serious if you ask Espo.

He's done a great job. [Since] I got to come here, he's practiced a couple times, he got dinged up a little bit. He's come back and got dinged back up. But he's really progressing. I think the biggest thing for Trey was just realizing what he can do. … He's a sponge. He's been around almost two or three times a week with me one-on-one so he's done a great job. I expect him to have a good fall, and we need him to have a good fall. We've got to build that depth.

In their absence the third team DTs have been getting more run, and edge Enow Etta, listed at 6-4/292, has been asked to try playing inside. Etta needs time to adjust, says Espo:

He's a really, really good athlete. It's just that he has to learn. As you get closer to the ball, the hand combat becomes quicker. It gets on you faster. The further away from the ball, it kind of takes a little bit of time and you can use your athletic ability out there. I think the biggest thing with him is getting some of those inside reps has really helped him on the edge. Now when you put him on the edge, some of the weaknesses that he had he doesn't have anymore in the physicality part. He's been extremely physical all spring, and he's a big part of what we're gonna do moving forward.

An insider thought Etta's "a little too trim" for this. "He's got big legs. No butt though." The only other guy being mentioned by name is the only other scholarship guy recruited to play DT.

I think Ike (Iwunnah) has done a great job this spring for us. He's played a lot of snaps.

It seems they need someone for the Goode role, and are pursuing Kent State DT CJ West for the job. West put up an 85.9 (pro caliber) last year and an 80.1 in 2022. Kent State didn't really play anybody—their FBS non-conf games were UCF and Arkansas—last season but West started against Washington, Oklahoma, and Georgia in 2022, so he's show he can hold up against P5 talent. I'm guessing they don't get involved with back-in-the-portal-again MSU DT Simeon Barrow, nor TCU's Damonic Williams, but those familiar names could help to keep other teams away from West.

As for edge, TJ Guy's name was on the tip of various tongues at Pro Day, adding to a pile of people who see him as the next in line at the DE/LB spot. Esposito's presser was more getting-to-know-you stuff so there wasn't much more to add. An insider said Guy is making it hard to judge the right tackle race because there isn't a substantial drop-off when they get a break from Josiah Stewart.

What it means? It's nice to hear from Ike finally, but they're saying too little for it to sound like he's any more than a warm body at this point. The scholarship name nobody's mentioning is Alessandro Lorenzetti, a 2022 sleeper they bumped over from offensive line when they flipped Giudice to offense. He was always a project, but if it's not happening by spring of Year 3 it's probably not.

It's too bad none of the four DTs in this year's class were able to enroll early, because they'd be getting all sorts of playing time, and we'd have an idea which among them can play. That they've moved Etta doesn't mean much for Etta other than he was willing to do it. It does mean the depth isn't where they need it to be. You can have Grant/Graham soak up more usage, but we're probably looking at a freshman getting in the back end of the rotation, with any injuries graduating that freshman to the two-deep.

Depth Chart: Expecting Michigan to pick up someone in the portal but for now…

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[After THE JUMP: I cannot get insiders to talk about anything but Barham]

FORMATION NOTES: The UFR Glossary is here and you may want to brush up because DeBoer made me bring out rare formations like a true under-center Single-Wing, and weird notations like Z->Y means the WR and TE have switches spots. This is the Go Go setup (aka Single-Wing RB) that UNLV was running way back in September.

I put covered players in parentheses, but Washington also managed to get away with some illegal formations where nobody was covered, in which case I just put a question mark in there, e.g. Go Go Right (?).

"Hide H" was a trick where Rome Odunze hid out at tight end and got M to align in a mismatch. That's him trying not to be noticed as the H-back on the top of the formation (where all the Michigan players are pointing).

I'm using "Flex" for a TE split out wide for a 2x2 set. "Demi" means the TE isn't tight but neither is he in the slot (see #37 on the left). Also we were treated to a skycam version of this game, so I can provide a few canonical examples of terms we're often flinging around, and some new ones. Michigan in the above is in an G front, which means the nose is head up over the guard. Sometimes he was over the tackle, which I call Wide, where the DT is lined up over a tackle.

Letters or numbers (A, AA, 0) in the defensive front that means they've added LBs on the line of scrimmage in that alignment (A gap, both A gaps, head up on the center, etc). Another nuance I can capture with greater accuracy than usual is the difference between Kirby Smart's "Mint" front and a true 404 where the DL are heads up on the tackles—I think a lot of the Tites I charted this year were actually Mint. Michigan got creative too. This is "Crable":

I'll also try to note in the text when Michigan used sim pressures, since that's going to be relevant.

[After THE JUMP: Winning a natty.]

UFR GLOSSARY is here.

FORMATION NOTES: There's no way for me show them all. Here's Eagle Zero:

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Slight tightening of the rotations. Graham and Derrick Moore had the most snaps of the DL, with Jenkins, Grant, Stewart, Harrell out there about half the time, McGregor a bit less, a couple drives of Benny and Goode. LBs were mostly Colson and Barrett, with a dozen snaps for Hausmann in place of Colson and two disastrous snaps for Jimmy Rolder. Rod Moore went the whole way (no Sabb) with Paige giving a quarter of his snaps to Q-Jo. Will Johnson came off a snap after the one he overran Harrison; McBurrows got some nickel time before that, and M put Sainristil outside when Johnson went out.

VIDEO NOTES: In recent weeks Fox has been abusing YouTube's awful policies for copyright control to harass anyone with clips from the game without regard to Fair Use. The best you can do is dispute the claim and wait 7 days for them to even bother to check if they violated the law when they blindly issued a strike on your account, and then if Fox denies your dispute you have to escalate to the legal system. This is the plan, and we've been through it before, but it's not very conducive to visual aids in an article that comes out a few days after the game. I put some of the clips on Streamable and will move others over if Fox issues further strikes.

[After THE JUMP: The Greatest Game of Football Ever Played.]