Many look at Michigan football and question what it lost on the defensive side of the ball. But the bigger question should center around what the Wolverines retained.
Yes, the maize and blue lost two first-round NFL draft picks at defensive tackle, a second-rounder in cornerback Will Johnson, and a third-round edge rusher in Josaiah Stewart. However, Michigan is still talented, and perhaps scary, on the defensive side of the ball, given who it still has.
We saw most of what’s expected to be the 2025 Michigan football defense in action in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama on Dec. 31, and that unit held the nation’s 22nd-ranked scoring offense to just 13 points (it averaged 33.8 points per game).
Returning talent
Though defensive coordinator Wink Martindale notes there isn’t any obvious first-rounders on this defense, it’s still a deep and talented group.
“I feel really good about our depth overall as a defense,” Martindale said before spring ball. “Do we have any bona fide first-round picks? I’m not sure. We’ll wait and see how this season goes. But I know we’ve got some next-day draft picks sitting there ready to go. Right now I can say that confidently with the guys that we have, and we have more depth, like I said, in every room.”
The defensive tackle depth is six-deep, edge rusher is four-deep, linebacker is probably about five-deep, safety is six-deep, and cornerback is four-deep at this juncture.
The one player who could be an obvious first-rounder
Despite what Martindale said, there’s one defensive player in Ann Arbor who could rise to the occasion.
A former four-star recruit, edge rusher Derrick Moore flipped from Oklahoma to Michigan late in the process. He’s gotten time on task since he was a freshman and he opted to come back for his senior year. His junior campaign was impressive, and the coaches…
Source link : https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/wolverines/football/2025/05/30/michigan-football-2025-defense-derrick-moore/83945295007/
Author :
Publish date : 2025-05-30 16:06:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
