Some Don Brown Quotes on the Defense
Credit: Chris Balas at Rivals:
“I’ve been doing this a long time. This might be one of the fastest, if not the fastest, groups I’ve ever been around. I’m pretty excited about it.”
“This Devin Bush Jr. is a special guy now,” Brown said of the junior.
“[Junior] Khaleke Hudson was playing at a tremendous level a year ago, and I think he’s a much better cover guy right now, playing at a much faster rate. "
“[Sophomore] Josh Ross is going to be a dude. He’s a very good player. [Redshirt freshman] Drew Singleton … very good player. [Fifth-year senior] Noah Furbush, he’s so far up from a year ago, we’re just very excited about where he is.”
“[Junior] Devin Gil is a dude now,” Brown continued. “If you said to me who has benefited the most from Ben Herbert, he has. He’s faster, bigger, he’s strong.'
"He, Josh Ross and Drew Singleton will be at WILL. Jordan Anthony and Devin Bush, we’ll be cross training one of those guys at MIKE and WILL and Cam McGrone will join us in June. That six there, that’s a pretty good group."
March 28th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
Who are you??
March 28th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
Thought you said you were on a bender.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengenace, in this life or the next...
-umbig11 probably
Unless he can be Batman. Because you should always be Batman.
Reminds me of the days of TomVH giving us amazing nuggets of information. Then ESPN had to scoop him up and pay him for his work. Don't turn to the dark side UMBig11!
March 28th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
he just makes the world a happier place. . .
he spews a lot of non sense
Can you imagine a Don Brown basketball defense?
There would be constant official's time-outs to mop the blood off the floor.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
Note to Coach Beilein: If you see Don Brown sniffing around Crisler, lock the doors and don't let him in. I wouldn't let him anywhere near Simpson. He might just talk him into it.
Although to be fair, Z would probably make a helluva cornerback.
I remember seeing some stat somewhere that Don Brown's defenses usually kick it up to an even higher level by his third year within the program. Given the kind of results he's produced in two years, I can't wait to see what he has in store for this season.
Losing Hurst and McCray will be tough for sure, but everyone else is coming back. A year older, a year stronger, a year faster. This defense will be elite for a third year in a row.
Losing McCray will definitely hurt from a leadership perspective, but I've been waiting to see Singleton/Ross out there because of their significantly higher athletic upside.
McCray would make a bad fill or 2 a game and run under some picks/get edged, and while I expect that same thing to happen with 1st time starters this year, I think their athleticism can cover it up better than McCray's experience could in some instances.
March 28th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
True. His lack of top-end speed was frustrating at times, but it'll be tough replacing the leadership of a fifth-year captain. But like you, I'm looking forward to seeing what Ross and Singleton can do. I remember one of them had a bad ACL tear their senior year in HS, but luckily they were going to redshirt last year anyway. Their upside should be through the roof if Brown can maximize it. And previous results from the last two years say he can.
I hope they're the speed demon, heat-seeking missles they were built up to be during their recruitment cycle. Not having a defense that could go sideline to sideline has been what's killed us against OSU for years.
Somehow Michigan covered up from some pretty big losses from the '16 team. I'll trust Brown can cover for the loss of McCray.
Losing Hurst hurts for sure, but I am very confident we will see an upgrade over McCray. His lack of speed was frustrating at times and it sounds like the current group will be an improvement in that regard.
We'll see an athletic upgrade over McCray immediately. But we'll also notice the leadership/experience downgrade just as quickly. It's hard to replace a 5th year senior captain without noticing a drop-off somewhere. But I do believe that the leadership element will be picked up somewhere else, and I expect these new guys to be able to understand thier early mistakes and correct them quickly.
Sounds like Hudson should do a decent job filling that void while the current crop of linebackers grow into their roles. FS a good spot to have your "quarterback" of the defense. Not any better than MLB, but not really worse either. I know he's not a fifth year senior, but I think he'll do a good job.
March 28th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
Yeah, it's not as though there aren't any candidates to pick up the leadership slack with McCray moving on. Winovich is a 5th-year guy. Kinnel is a senior. Talented juniors like Gary, Hill, and Bush could take on leadership roles. I don't think anybody is trying to diminish McCray's contribution in the leadership department when this kind of turnover is part and parcel of college sports.
March 28th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Agree. The defense returns everyone but Hurst and McCray. It's not like this is going to be a young, inexperienced team that needs an elder statesman. Like you said, it's not diminishing what McCray provided last year in that regard, it's just there's a lot of people who can step into that role.
I think our linebackers will be way better this year. as for the DL, it always seems like we lose someone whose production is impossible to replace, yet they somehow seem just as dominant. Time to reload, not rebuild! On to the next bullet in the chamber: Dwumfour.
Angelique had a similar article in the DetNews last night/this morning. Don Brown mentioned that he is happy that Lo Marshall is coming back. No mention about Watson though.
umbig11 had mentioned in another one of his posts yesterday that "Watson will play" even with all the Thomas hype. So I take that to mean he's coming back unless something unforseen happens between now and kickoff in South Bend.
and he played very well last year.
Are you suggeting Angelique might be umbig11? Hmmm....
March 28th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
March 28th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
Einhorn is Finkle! Finkle is Einhorn!
Covering TE's, but not covering the slot. Furbush at Viper in certain situations too.
Any chance you go by 'Angie' when not in MGoBlog uniform?
Looks like it's going to be an intense competition for that WILL spot. Also, it sounds like Bush is going to get pushed a little bit this off-season.
He said the sky is the limit for Solomon. He confirmed that Mone is in the best shape that he has been at UM. That is the second or third time he has put that out there about Mone. Dwumfour has improved, Marshall will contribute and he likes what Metellus has done in the off-season to get better.
Paea, Jeter or DIB?
March 28th, 2018 at 11:43 AM ^
Hey UMBig11, who is the player that was going to force everyone into depression for either being injured or leaving the program? You mentioned it being a 7 or an 8 on a scale of 10, with 10 being JFC, God hates Michigan.
and it isn't fair to the players. Let them work through their issues. Long way to go before now and fall camp.
OMG he said "Long"! Everyone freak out because our starting CB is certainly transferring!