Offense was yesterday, but after I was finished I realized I forgot to give a depth chart status. Then I thought we could use the Don Brown Dude Code for depth charting. Then I repurposed the icons that Brian got from some internet Flash game during the blog's distant past.

Icon	Name	Meaning
	Rock Star	Player is an All-American/1st rounder/bends the game around him.
	Dude	Trusted good starter. Probably All-B10 or in the running.
	Guy	Playable B10-caliber guy, very fine in a rotation.
	Iffy	Probably don't want him playing extended snaps at this point.

Defense in General

The question we're asking is: Is Wink gonna blitz too much?

But they're acting like it's: What does "blitz too much" mean?

What are we hearing? First off I need to be going on about something again, because I was out of town last week and thus missed my chance to remark on Michigan's hiring of former WMU and Memphis line coach Lou Esposito. If the name sounds familiar to you (you're misremembering famous Canadian hockey players and) you remember this author's longstanding appreciation of Bronco linemen like Ali Fayad (DE on the top).

Fayad was the first but they kept coming. Ralph Holley. Braden Fiske. Andre Carter. Marshawn Kneeland. At one point while UFR'ing the offense versus WMU I decided to look up who was responsible for these guys, and have been hoping Michigan would have an opportunity to pluck Esposito ever since. Can he recruit? I dunno. But he can coach.

Michigan also made the addition of defensive analyst Lionel Stokes official, while Alejandro found Pernell McPhee enrolled as a grad student in the School of Social Work. Stokes was LaMar Morgan's guy at Louisiana and before that an FCS coordinator. McPhee is expected to be an analyst as well, but NCAA rules allow grad assistants to be on-field coaches for a couple of years so maybe he's gonna do that.

Staff set, let's turn back to a bullet defined the offense bits this week, which was the front seven is being rather harsh on the passing game. Henschke:($):

Wink’s pressures and blitzes “handled” the offense thoroughly. … The defense is always ahead of the offense early but the offense needs time to get rhythm and gel, a lot of early pressure by Wink doesn’t necessarily allow that but it’s good practice.

There's also this from Ernest Hausmann:

Jean-Mary is imploring the group to be more disruptive in the pass game.

Wink, while calling himself the system's OG, did little to suppress the talk that he represents a more basal, aggressive antecessor of the Mac-Minter defenses.

I am more aggressive than Jesse and the proof is in the pudding. So we’ll see how it works and if we can get to the quarterback rushing three, we will rush three. That’s the way football is. You just got to see how it changes because people are adjusted to us, too.

What it means? Dear only fanbase in football that wants to hear their DC talk about blitzing *less*: Jesse Minter was able to use a lot of sim pressures without committing that many rushers, but Wink's correct that opponents have this on tape and will adjust. If you want feints to keep working you have to punch too. The pressures will go up, but it'll be in the context of all the sim pressures that Minter was using, not the blitz-to-play-man that he ran in Baltimore with the league's most expensive secondary, or in New York with the league's worst starting field position. Chill. Not you Wink.

[After THE JUMP: Dudes, potential rock stars, and a big bummer.]

Podcast 15.0A, 15.0B, 15.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Offensive Tackle. Edge.

DEFENSIVE INTERIOR: MOES HURST?

RATING: 5

To review: this is sort of a 3-4 and sort of a 4-3 under and sort of your bog standard 4-2-5. The interior has three "starters" in that there are three distinct roles, but because it is 2023 there will be two DTs on the field on the large majority of standard downs. Realistically the two starters are Graham and Jenkins, with Grant and Benny backing them up. Grant will get bonus snaps on short yardage when Michigan runs a 5-2 out there.

That out of the way: hell yes. Michigan returns Kris Jenkins, who could have been a day two pick in last year's NFL draft if he left. Jenkins has beefed up again, after beefing up last year. Mason Graham, who lived up to every bit of hype this site could throw at him and then some, will enjoy a freshman to sophomore transition after already checking in as one of the league's best DTs as a true freshman.

Behind these two guaranteed stars are a 340 pound man-planet who made Bruce Feldman's Freaks list last year and a highly touted redshirt sophomore who graded out like Graham in UFR a year ago. This spot is incredibly deep all of a sudden thanks to Michigan's ability to scout up-and-comers.

END: POWERED BY TENDIES

[Barron]

When KRIS JENKINS arrived on campus he just needed to eat. He was listed at 239 by 247 and showed up at Michigan at 265. He then added no weight in his first year, alarmingly, before adding 20 pounds last year. He tweeted about it and all the Michigan fans did the little hands emoji at him. This year:

Ngl i got beefed pic.twitter.com/4wUwVYNZNv

— Kris Jenkins (@KrisJenkinsJr1) May 26, 2023

Maybe that's the wrong meat to reference though:

Nah cause they are soo good https://t.co/EF6PNzIXd7

— Kris Jenkins (@KrisJenkinsJr1) August 24, 2023

Someone get this man an NIL deal STAT.

[After THE JUMP: ye gods]

Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta, DE Josaiah Stewart (Tr), DT Brooks Bahr.

Chatsworth (Sierra Canyon), CA – 6'4"/260
		247: 6'4/260                         4.06*	4*, 90, NR overall #41 DL, #25 CA
		On3: 6'4/260                         3.83*	3*, 88, NR overall #66 DL, #57 CA
		Rivals: 6'4/260                         3.83*	3*, 5.7, NR overall #31 DT, #42 CA
		ESPN: 6'3/255                         3.98*	4*, 80, #65 West #25 DT, #37 CA
		Composite            3.89* / 3.93*	3*, #455/#407 Ovr #51/#46 DL, #36/#34 CA
		MGoAverage                         3.89*	3.5*, #460/789 Ovr #39/69 DTs since '90
		YMRMFSPA	Carlo Kemp
Other Suitors	Stanford decommit, USC-ish.
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello by yours truly.
Notes	NHS. Instagram.
Film:
Senior Highlights:Hudl. EJ Holland breakdown. HS feature.

So here's something we haven't seen much of in this class: A player who's played football for a long time, went to plenty of camps, got scouted a ton, and committed to Michigan on Signing Day. Cam Brandt was the penultimate commitment in the class. He is the second or third DT/DE tweener, depending on your projection for Etta, the third youngest member of the class, and the fourth alphabetically. If we were ordering these purely on the distance-from-the-ball spectrum, Brandt probably falls in between Etta and Bahr.

Like Nugent and Myles Hinton, Brandt was a gift from the implosion of David Shaw's Harbaugh successor program at Stanford. Michigan turned up its pursuit when they lost Collins Acheampong, who is an Edge. That's where Michigan plans to put Brandt too. But I don't think it's going to take much to tip this one into the DT bucket.

[After THE JUMP: An easy comp that's going to start an argument anyways.]