The Wolverine

May 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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42 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2018 his body. He's a very strong, very physical guy. "Let's make no mistake about it. When he's in there, he's in there to do one thing — knock back whoever he's against and play the run. When it's time to do the other things, we'll figure it out and get somebody else in for him." Fifth-year senior lineman Lawrence Marshall can also rotate in, along with junior Carlo Kemp, who has played on the exterior of the line in the past but has gotten snaps inside this spring. Gary loves the potential, both for the men up front and for the defense overall. "I feel like, as a defensive unit, we have that little swag- ger," Gary said. "It's like, 'Yeah, I know what you like to do, you know what I like to do, so let's go.' It's not oh, we're young, or we're scared. There's none of that. "We're ready to fly. We know what we like to do, and we know our expectations." LINEBACKERS Michigan's linebackers come in with no small amount of swagger themselves. Junior inside 'backer Devin Bush Jr. and ju- nior viper Khaleke Hudson teamed up for 185 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, 17 passes broken up and three interceptions a year ago. They both earned All-Big Ten rec- ognition, and served as key factors in keeping the Wolverines in games and among the national leaders in defense. Brown got a little emotional talking about Bush's dedication to the team, citing an unspecified family issue back home in Florida that the third- year Wolverine opted to deal with from afar to stay in spring ball. "Let me just say this," Brown of- fered. "This Devin Bush Jr. … spe- cial guy, now. That's all I'm going to say. There's a private story. This guy stayed with his team, and he could have easily checked out for three or four days. "Everybody would have under- stood, and he didn't. We're talking about a guy whose character is com- pletely off the charts." His ability, as Michigan's leading tackler in 2017, remains high on the charts as well. Teamed with Hudson, they're a strong duo. "This Khaleke Hudson was play- ing at a tremendous level a year ago," Brown said. "He's a much better cover guy right now. He's playing at a much faster rate. "He should go kiss [new strength and conditioning coach] Ben Herbert on the lips, because he's helped him tremendously." The question comes regarding who takes over for departed captain and linebacker Mike McCray. The answer will come out of an abundance of op- tions, Brown assured. Redshirt sophomore Devin Gil is a leading candidate to step in, after playing in 13 games a year ago and starting when McCray became ill near the start of last year's opener against Florida. "He's faster. He's bigger. He's stron- ger," Brown said of Gil. "And smarts was never an issue." But the competition runs deep. "This Josh Ross is going to be a dude," Brown said. "He's going to be a really good player. Drew Singleton will be a really good player. Noah Furbush, his arrow is so far up from a year ago. I'm just very excited about where he is." Ross is a sophomore who appeared in 13 games as a true freshman, mainly on special teams. Singleton is a redshirt freshman about whom glowing spring re- ports emerged. Furbush, of course, is a fifth-year senior who also plugs in at outside linebacker against beefier rushing attacks. Bush insists Michigan will be strong and deep in the linebacker ranks as well. "Those guys are doing a great job," he said. "They're playing fast out there and learning the playbook. All three of them have a good opportunity to hold that spot down, become a starter, become a backup. They've taken a big step." Junior Josh Uche is a very effective situational pass rusher while becoming a better over- all linebacker as well, while redshirt junior Jordan Glasgow is backing Hudson at viper. DEFENSIVE BACKS On paper, it's easy. Michigan re- turns all four starters from last sea- son, in junior cornerbacks Lavert Hill and David Long, along with senior Tyree Kinnel and junior Josh Me- tellus at safety. Those four — with plenty of help up front — allowed Michigan to lead the nation in average passing yards allowed in 2017, at 150.1 per game. Plug and play, right? It's never that simple, both because of injuries and others pushing for jobs. Hill sat out much of spring prac- tice due to an injury that still hadn't been fully diagnosed. It caused pain in the area of his hips and groin after long runs in coverage, noted corner- backs coach Mike Zordich. Zordich likes the Michigan's de- veloping depth, including fifth-year Junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr. — U-M's leading tackler with 102 stops in 2017 — drew raves from defensive coordinator Don Brown for his dedication to the team this spring. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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