Jesse Minter is a wizard. Michigan’s defensive coordinator seemed to improve week after week as the 2023 season went on and especially dominated after halftime. When the dust settled, Michigan obviously won the national championship and in doing so, finished with the No. 1 defense in the country. Yes, the Wolverines are losing key pieces from the unit like Kris Jenkins, Jaylen Harrell, Mike Barrett, Junior Colson and Mikey Sainristil to name a few, but the guys coming back, most notably Rod Moore and Makari Paige, should be good enough under Minter’s tutelage to do some real damage once again.
One thing that made the Michigan defense so dominant in 2023 was its depth. That does seem to be lacking heading into the 2024 season, but the starting 11 in a standard 4-3 or in a nickel package appears to be as good as any defense in the conference. Let’s take a look at how the defense might look as the Wolverines begin to defend their national title.
As was the case heading into the 2023 season, there is a question mark at the cornerback spot opposite Will Johnson. I fully expect that spot to be filled by a young cornerback like Jyaire Hill or DJ Waller, or a veteran guy who started to see the field a bit more last year, Ja’Den McBurrows. Of course, the transfer portal brought Josh Wallace to Ann Arbor ahead of the 2023 season and something similar could happen again heading into the fall.
Obviously this is a very basic 4-3 alignment, which Michigan does employ from time to time, but in 2023, the Wolverines utilized a nickel cornerback often because that guy was Mike Sainristil. If Minter wants to put a nickel out there, it could be Rod Moore, which would take one of the three linebackers off the field and likely bring Keon Sabb in to fill one of the standard safety positions.
Speaking of the linebackers, Michigan will be very strong there with Ernest Hausmann returning and Jimmy Rolder hopefully entering the 2024 campaign healthy. Throw in Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham and the trio is as solid as they come. All three are around 6-3, 235 pounds, so it’ll be interesting to see how they are each utilized.
Up front, the Wolverines are STRONG. Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant might make up the most impressive defensive tackle duo in the country and Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore both showed that they can make a ton of plays off the edge. Some of the younger, unproven guys will have to step up in order to provide depth behind the four starters but there are some intriguing dudes there.
In closing, Michigan could play a game tomorrow and the defense would be just fine. There’s an opening at cornerback, and depth will have to be developed, but overall the unit would be very solid at the top of the depth chart.
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