Chait not a big fan of our inside linebackers

I think Brian's concern is less that Ezeh isn't Superman, and more that on plenty of plays, Ezeh appears to do very little after the snap other than wait for a blocker to come and hit him.  The plays he highlighed at the end of yesterday's UFR seem to bear that out.  Perhaps those plays aren't a fairly representative sample, but in those, Ezeh doesn't appear to be doing very much of anything. 

I'm certainly willing to defer to your judgment because you know far more about the intracacies of linebacker play than I do, but is that analysis incorrect?  As far as you can tell, is Ezeh doing what is asked of him in the current system?

At the same time though. When the coaches are benching him in favor of a converted Fullback, on top of the carousel that was last year at the position, there has to be something to what he is saying.

It's his inability to shed blocks and tackle effectively.  I mean, when MM had the RB stationary behind the LOS and Obi flew in and straight-up MISSED him... and then the guy slithers away for a 5 yard gain instead of a 3-yard loss?  That was painful to watch.  Most good ILBs are mean SOBs who love contact.  Mouton kinda fits that description.  Sorry, but OBi looks soft out there. No fire in his belly.

...but his assessment is pretty accurate: Ezeh is not a good Mike.  There is no way you can look objectively at the way he plays and conclude otherwise.

Ezeh is only good if the play is easy to read, such as on a traditional stretch play, and he only has to sprint inside-out and get to the ball; or when he's blitzing.  Great athlete, great guy, great person, not a great football player.  I'm good with that.

You've hit the nail on the head. 

Brian first of all has to realize that even Steve Sharik himself (the guy who knows more about defense than all of us put together and by a mile) has said it is IMPOSSIBLE to look at a video and PREDICT what each players assignment was and IF they fulfilled it or not. 

Please for the love of god read the previous paragraph again and internalize it before you follow like lemmings whatever Brian says in the UFR's. Brian is making a valiant attempt at reading the plays and judging performance, but it is an ART not a science.

Brian's analysis boiled down to this:

The MIKE is basically supposed to have his eyes simultaneously on all 11 players in offense, process infinite information (instantaneously of course) and move at the speed of light to the ball carrier , regardless of what his actual responsibility (given to him Gerg) is. All other players on defense are basically given a hole they just fill it, so they are flawless. 

I am not saying Ezeh did not made some mistakes, but the assumption/Brian's understanding of the defensie scheme really slants the number against the MIKE. 

As I said to the other guy, though, I'm not basing my opinion on Brian's UFR...I'll be the first to admit that I likely put too much blame on any MLB, just like a lot of people do with a QB, b/c I see the MLB as the natural leader of the defense (I'm not saying that I'm right to do that - I'm just saying I do it)...Anyway, I will certainly be rooting for Ezeh all season long. 

Sharik said your moms was fat.  He thinks he can take you

I don't think Brian expects Ezeh to be Superman.  Were Ezeh simply an average Big Ten linebacker, it would be a substantial help to Michigan's defense.  Regardless of what Ezeh's responsibilities are, there is little chance that his assignment is to allow offensive linemen to push him backwards into the secondary or to take a poor angle to the ball carrier and miss a tackle. 

The issues I see with Ezeh is that he very rarely stands a lineman up in the hole or sheds an approaching lineman's block.  This results in him being easily taken out of plays, Michigan having no presence left in the middle, and very little inside support for runs on the edge.  It kills our defense when our LB is not there to make plays on a somewhat consistent basis.

I certainly get the frustration with repetition, especially on board topics that boil down to "this guy sucks vs. no he doesn't," "Why isn't/is this guy redshirting," and "why isn't (insert first or second year guy) playing."