Previously: Podcast 11.0A, Podcast 11.0B, Podcast 11.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Offensive Tackle. Interior OL. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker.

Depth Chart

Boundary Corner	Yr.	Field Corner	Yr.	Nickelback	Yr.
Ambry Thomas	Jr.	Lavert Hill	Sr.	Brad Hawkins	Jr.
Vincent Gray	Fr.*	Jaylen Kelly-Powell	Jr.	Jaylen Kelly-Powell	Jr.
Gemon Green	Fr.*	DJ Turner II	Fr.	Daxton Hill	Fr.

Michigan's corners were incredible and deep until Brandon Watson got a nuke dropped on him in the OSU game, and now everyone's freaking out that Ambry Thomas's injury means Michigan might not have a second corner, let alone the third you'd better have in the modern game.

The program's talking up Brad Hawkins as the nickel, a move that's addressed more thoroughly in the safeties post. In the corners post that speaks to a lack of depth with or without Thomas. Zordich hasn't bombed this unit, either. There's not a lot to be nervous about on this year's team. Cornerback is something to be nervous about.

But, hey, Lavert Hill!

CORNERBACK: OUT OF SIGHT

RATING: 3

Well, here's a picture of Lavert Hill:

it was the sort of pick six where you don't clip it for the DB [Patrick Barron]

Did you enjoy that? I hope you did, because that might be the last you see of him this season. Hill and David Long spent last season in excellent coverage that went untested because quarterbacks were on the ground or running away from someone terrifying or throwing it at Michigan's safeties. The number of outside WR targets in any particular game reached absurdly low levels even against teams with functional offenses, like Penn State:

Penn State receivers had three catches, total. Those were:

• A dig from Hamler on which he flipped Kinnel around.
• A slant to Dotson when Gil got out of position in zone.
• The fourth and two conversion prayer to Dotson on the sidelines.

Long and Hill were almost literally not challenged. This defense is such an outlier it's sometimes hard to get meaningful grades because teams just abandon the thought of using their outside WRs.

Even when everything went to hell against Ohio State, everything was going to hell in immediate proximity to Brandon Watson.

[After THE JUMP: question marks]

Now Long is in the NFL, Ambry Thomas is out for an unspecified length of time with ulcerative colitis, and the top-ranked guy from what was supposed to be the next generation just got a transfer waiver at Georgia Tech. Hill is going to be last by a mile on opponents' "throw at this guy" lists.

There was one exception to this dearth of targets, and it was the very beginning of the season. ND went after Hill repeatedly, getting one PBU, one completed fade, and one really open Y-cross that Wimbush whiffed on. That was cause for a little early consternation, and then almost literally nobody threw at Hill the rest of the year. He played every meaningful down. He had twelve tackles. Twelve. One of those was behind the LOS; his PBU:downfield tackle ratio was 5:11.

And half the time the opponent targeted Hill did it was a mistake, like Brian Lewerke nearly throwing a pick after reading man coverage on a Michigan trap:

#24 corner over slot

The only other post ND targets I clipped were a slant PBU against Indiana…

…a piece of what looked like pretty good coverage that got flagged, and a ball that zinged past a guy Hill was in good coverage on. His UFR charting was similarly bereft. His average score was 2-1=+1. And his sophomore season was little different:

Hill's stats are great and get better when you drill down. He played almost 90% of Michigan snaps and was only targeted 29 times. Michigan's other corners were targeted about 50% more frequently on a per-snap basis. On those 29 targets Hill gave up 12 catches, had 7 PBUs, and 2 interceptions. His havoc rate (PBUs + INTs / targets) of 26% is second-best amongst returning CBs.  The passer rating stat above doesn't quite cover it; Hill was also studiously avoided by the opposition. And no wonder:

Hill actually had to deal with way more targets last year. Yes, I am going to borrow a couple clips.

So we think Lavert Hill is really good. But there's an unusual amount of wobble in our evaluation of a guy who's entering his third year as a starter. NFL draft evaluations are all over the place, from Mel Kiper and Gil Brandt placing him in their top five senior CBs to serious-seeming evaluation sites saying he's a third day pick. Pro Football Focus also oscillated wildly. As a sophomore he had a spectacular 88 grade, which was tops amongst returning D-I cornerbacks. He didn't make PFF's top five Michigan defenders as a junior. (Ambry Thomas did, which is nonsense since he got about 20 snaps on D.)

Are we going to get any clarity on whether Hill is an All American or just an All Big Ten sort? Probably not. I mean, we have a fair bit of data already, most of it pointing to All American. We have a lot of circumstantial evidence that Big Ten offensive coordinators wanted no part of him. We just don't quite know, you know?

Hill will be avoided at all costs again this year and land on an All Big Ten team; a lack of stats will submarine greater recognition.

this minus 35 pounds would be bad [Bryan Fuller]

Michigan thought AMBRY THOMAS [recruiting profile] was going to slide in next to Hill as seamlessly as possible. Every Michigan fan's new least favorite disease, ulcerative colitis, has put the kibosh on that. Thomas reportedly dipped to 150 pounds at his nadir. For comparison, Ace weighs 150 pounds. Do you want to see Ace play football? Not unless you're a sadist.

Now back up to a reasonable playing weight of 185, Thomas is… doing stuff. Some stuff? Yep, definitely stuff. Practice? Well… sort of:

“Ambry has been back in meetings, position meetings,” Harbaugh said. “He is participating in portions of practice. And this week, in terms of whether he plays or or not, will be determined by him and the doctors.”

"He's back in meetings" is not particularly encouraging, but it seems like the worst timelines out there aren't all that bad. Lorenz says he's been hearing a bunch of different things "from being back for the season opener to sitting out 3 or 4 games." Webb ventured that the bye week—presumably the first one—is a "realistic expectation for his return to the two-deep." The two deep isn't starting; Thomas will have to work his way back in.

Thomas got locked behind Michigan's CB troika last year and was limited to garbage time. He had a nice interception against Rutger:

And a kind of chintzy PI call very late in the MSU game:

That kind of PI is fine. It doesn't get called all the time; you're step for step with the WR.

Michigan also used him on offense a tiny bit. He should have caught a bomb from McCaffrey late in the Nebraska game and got a jet sweep or two:

These events, along with his kick return touchdown against Notre Dame, confirm to us that Thomas is super fast. He wasn't able to prove much else last year. Neither did he generate much this spring. He and Gray were the starting corners with Hill out; press conference answers were limited to stuff like "Ambry is coming along" and "Ambry is a starting corner."

Last year Belleville head coach Jermain Crowell, who coached all of Michigan's recent instate star corners, compared Thomas to Hill and Jourdan Lewis:

“Lavert was faster than Jourdan and probably a little quicker than Jourdan, but Jourdan was a better playmaker. I think that [Thomas] has a combination of both. He’s almost just as fast if not a little faster than Lavert. He’s got JD’s type of playmaking ability. The sky is the limit for him.”

Thomas is another major X-factor. He could be anything from also Lavert Hill to a guy who doesn't get back until midseason and is clearly still suffering. Your guess is as good as anyone's.

Gray is probably best daring people to throw fades [Patrick Barron]

Until Thomas is healthy again redshirt freshman VINCENT GRAY [recruiting profile] is the undisputed second cornerback. Gray was a late flip from Mizzou in the 2018 cycle with middling rankings and not a lot of hype. But Gray did start generating talk last year, when nobody needed to say word one about him:

[Gray] “has been balling” and “has shown a willingness to hit.” ... has been getting run with the twos lately over his higher-rated freshman position-mates.

That's step one.

He started in the spring game, which is another positive. Unfortunately the play which stood out was Gray getting torched by now-Iowa receiver Oliver Martin:

Can't miss a jam and give up an inside release if you're a press corner. This space is high on Martin and his ability to do that to people, but… not great.

That's just one play, though, and takes through fall have been reasonably positive. Much of the praise was garnered in the spring, when Hill was out, and seem reasonably likely to be accurate. Lorenz's folk say they're "clear believers" in Gray; Hole says he "continue[s] to be told that he's cementing himself as a viable option." Brown:

"The general play – Vincent Gray is a player. So that’s a real positive."

And he was second to Jeter when Josh Uche was giving his breakout takes:

"Oh, Vincent Gray, I’m telling you. You know what, just watch. That’s all I’m going to say about Vincent Gray. He’s extremely special. I feel like he could be out of here in three years if he truly put his mind to it, and that’s just from my observations and from working out with him and pushing him to the next level."

And Zordich was all about his upside:

"You just watch him move, physically he has—he’s a very gifted guy, and you just watch his movements and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ Now he’s putting it all together with his play. It’s pretty impressive. I mean, the sky’s the limit for that kid.”

Sears Praise vibes are holding at 40%.

Gray is a legit 6'2" and projects well as a jam-you-to-the-boundary press corner, Martin notwithstanding. His coach:

"When we needed him he really stepped up and locked guys down. He brings a lot of talent when it comes to covering guys especially in man to man and that’s exactly what Michigan does and that’s what they were looking for. …

"He’s a legit 6-2, not a program 6-2 if you know the difference," Patritto said with a laugh. "He’s probably in the high 170s or around 180 but his waist is tiny, tiny — he’s one of those guys. …He’s got the kind of frame that he could be in the 190s and not lose any of his speed or agility. He’s a long legged guy with high hips and that’s what everyone wants in cornerbacks.

The issue that held his rankings down was his speed, which was clocked in the 4.7 range at an Opening regional. Gray said he hadn't run a 40 in a couple years. Maybe that's true.

Gray had a late surge of offers and interest and seemed like a good swing late; given the rest of this DB recruiting class Michigan has to be thankful they took it. Gray has not been seriously challenged; in this circumstance the lack of challengers is probably good. Michigan appears to be riding with this guy and not scrambling to replace him. It's still the least confidence a Michigan cornerback starter has generated in a minute. The press man version of Blake Countess was a very bad corner but he was coming off an All Big Ten season. It's best not to dwell.

Best case scenario for Gray is that he's Jeremy Clark, a jumbo corner who can line up on outside receivers and dare them to throw a fade over his long-ass arms. That's not even that far-fetched. But it might be a solution that doesn't work against upper-echelon WRs.

BACKUPS

I guess? [Patrick Barron]

The other half of Gray not fielding a serious challenger is an ominous feeling about available backups. The only guy with experience is JAYLEN KELLY-POWELL [recruiting profile], who moved to corner after a couple years of limbo bouncing between nickel and safety. "Safety moves to corner" is not a move that inspires confidence unless the guy in question is a giant fade-whacker like Clark; Kelly-Powell is not.

Practice hype for JKP is extant but this space is increasingly skeptical of it after the last couple years of talk. And even the hype has become a little circumspect. Isaiah Hole said he'd been told Kelly-Powell is "on a similar trajectory to Brandon Watson and that he’s really coming along now"; Lorenz says he's heard Kelly-Powell "has impressed early on" in fall camp" but didn't follow up with that as he did a number of other fall takes. Rivals, unusually, admitted he'd "gotten mixed reviews" and then said "Kelly-Powell is going to have to get some run at corner." That is exceptionally dark in the Eurovision Denmark-ass world of preseason practice reports. (SO BAD! GO HOME DENMARK!)

It's tough for this space to shake Kelly-Powell getting torched by yards on a slot fade against Wisconsin's AJ Taylor in 2017. That's the only slot fade that got to have run after the catch. The move to corner seems like a last ditch effort to get him to contribute, because nickel and safety aren't likely to happen.

Turner's gray knees are gonna mess with some heads this fall

To the inexperienced, then. This space thinks freshman DJ TURNER II [recruiting profile] is Michigan's best bet for a mid-season riser who alleviates some concern. He hasn't generated a ton of talk since arriving this fall; he has generated more than the rest of the backups despite not enrolling early. He's the subject of a insider showdown. Per Isaiah Hole's guy:

Turner ‘is raw,’ but seems to be coming along.

Per Sam Webb's guy:

They’ve been really impressed with DJ Turner. A very technically sound youngster that picks things up quick. Based on what I’ve heard in the last week or so I think he stands a good chance of winning the fourth corner spot.

Turner's recruitment was one of the weirdest of the cycle. He fielded a ton of big offers, several of which seemed committable. He posted the #20 SPARQ at the Opening, which of course has a big swath (about 80) of the top recruits in the country. He played at North Gwinnett, a power in Georgia's largest class, and IMG. And he went virtually unscouted and ended up ranked as a middling three star by the two sites that bother to explain themselves.

Michigan recruited him like he was their top option, and it didn't take long for Turner to come to the same conclusion. It was inevitable, really:

“He’s going to a school that will play press man at corner and calls on him to do that,” Burrell said. “DJ is going to a press-man school. It won’t be a zone team. He will go play for a program that presses you and gets right in their face with their corners on defense. Every play. Whoever shows him they will use him like that the best, that place is going to get him.”

He's got a crappy 40, which is a primary reason his rankings don't match his recruitment. If that's a fluke or Herbert can fix it he'll be a fixture, as early as this year.

For Green and Perry it's wait until next year [Bryan Fuller]

Redshirt freshman GEMON GREEN [recruiting profile] is the highest-rated guy left in his class after Myles Sims left. Early returns haven't been great. He was the guy getting posterized by Tarik Black in that spring game picture we've used a lot and practice takes have been tepid. Lorenz said he's a "possible fall riser" at the beginning of camp; Webb said that Gray's early ascendance "hasn't been a matter of athletic upside" and that it was more about picking up the system quickly.

It doesn't seem like Green has been a fall riser. The chatter gap between Green and Gray is large and getting larger daily.

Finally, freshman JALEN PERRY [recruiting profile] only draws mention in press conferences when literally everyone gets mentioned. He was a Georgia commit who likely got processed; his recruiting profile has a bunch of divergent takes about whether he can run. Despite enrolling early he's gotten zero insider talk. A redshirt is next.