Preview 2017: Linebacker

Previously:Podcast 9.0A. Podcast 9.0B. Podcast 9.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End And Friends. Offensive Line. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle.

next gen [Patrick Barron]

Michigan loses two of three starters from last year and has a couple of start-by-default replacements. Unlike the secondary, though, expectations are high for both newbies after veritable torrents of offseason hype. Michigan now has a linebacker corps that Doctor Blitz can do nefarious things with. Youth will lead to mistakes; Brown will solve his problems with aggression. As one does when one is Doctor Blitz.

VIPER: DOCTOR WHO JUST HIT ME WITH A TRUCK

Rating: 4.

Hudson is wha ah ah ah ah down with the sickness [Barron]

Yeah, Jabrill Peppers is gone. I'm not sweating it. I'm wearing a KHALEKE HUDSON [recruiting profile] fez, waving a Khaleke Hudson flag, and writing a PhD dissertation about Khaleke Hudson's senior highlight reel. Anyone who's read this site for a hot second knows its staff comprises the biggest Hudson fan group outside of his immediate family, and if he takes off like Michigan hopes he will they're going to have to really up their game at Christmas.

So far, so good as Hudson tries to redeem our unseemly enthusiasm. All the overheated rhetoric from his recruiting profile is on track, whether it was from an opposing coach…

"He is the best combination of strength, speed and burst I've seen in a long time," said Ruane. "Every tackle, run and block is violent with him. He will be playing on Sundays someday. And I'm happy he's graduating."

…or your author:

A multiple-position star who is seemingly designed by man and God to punish people … I mean, he's not Peppers. But other than not being Peppers, he's basically Peppers.

The people saying these things are now his coaches and teammates, and that's one step closer to realizing his potential. Chris Partridge:

Khaleke Hudson and the skills that he brings to that position?

“Violence. Aggression. Hammerhead. He’s a guy that just loves contact. I think that people feed off that, too. He’s becoming very well rounded as a player so he’s going to be very enjoyable to watch.”

Don Brown:

“Well, I love him. He’s a very physical guy. His learning at that position has been outstanding and he’s competing at a high level. … Some guys’ arrow is flat, some guys’ arrow is down -- his arrow is constantly going up.”

Brown doesn't just rattle off praise for everyone—see the CB spot. If he's a Hudson believer that's meaningful.

Hudson got his first action on Michigan's punt block, where he was sufficiently explosive and physical to drive through shield blocking and return two to sender. But he was clearly behind Metellus, who was getting more garbage time snaps and got the call when Peppers was unavailable for the bowl game. That's likely because Metellus picked up the defense faster. Don Brown calls him a "savant"; meanwhile a couple of insider reports I got asserted that Hudson was a bit slow to grasp Brown's intricate defense.

Spring, and a definitive move to viper, has cleared Hudson for liftoff. He says he's got the defense down now:

"I feel like I know it really well now," Hudson said. "I still go back and forth with Josh. We both get reps at viper, but I feel like it's starting to be a good position for me."

Reports started reaching our ears about Hudson's tendency to pound people who ventured into his area and the "spectacular, freaky plays" he was making. Partridge again:

"He’s very physical, he’s low to the ground, he gets under people, he strikes people, he plays really hard, he’s very self-motivated."

He impressed in the spring game. Ace named him one of the standouts:

The hype here isn't going to slow one bit after today. Hudson was everywhere on defense, looking like the heavy-hitting player we expected against the run and proving equally formidable in coverage, where he broke up a couple passes and nearly came up with an interception. As is his wont, he came inches away from a blocked punt, too.

That heavy hitting was deployed against John O'Korn in the picture that leads this section. O'Korn broke the pocket and looked certain to punch the ball into the endzone until he met Hudson:

Nice hit at the goal line from Khaleke Hudson (in the slot) against John O'Korn. pic.twitter.com/1940SOvkhJ

— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) April 24, 2017

O'Korn is the first, but certainly not the last, victim.

Insider chatter this fall has been about as over the moon as this here site. He and Bush are "looking amazing" per 247, with "rave reviews" coming from teammates. McCray offered some of those publicly at Big Ten media day:

"I think he's going to be one of the best players in the nation this year, and in the future, because he can play linebacker, and he can play safety. If he wanted to, he could probably play corner. He's just a freak athlete, and he's really good."

Webb asserted that Hudson kept it up from his excellent spring and has "found his home" at viper(!), where his tendency to be a large hadron collider was a "revelation." Later he'd talk to JT Rogan, who concurred:

"Khaleke Hudson is a great downhill player. He is similar to Jabrill Peppers... man, is he strong and he's fast."

He's "a bull against the run game" and Rivals reports that Michigan tight ends are hugely productive... when Hudson is on the sideline. That about covers it.

Hudson's a perfect fit for the glamor spot in Michigan's defense and has all the arrows pointing the right way. He'll have his share of busts in year one as a starter; when not doing that he'll be turning in more TFLs, big hits, and PBUs. He won't be Peppers, but he's basically Peppers.

[After THE JUMP: fey Johnny Depp! Hhhhhhhyyyyaaaaarrr!]

BACKUPS

hair in recovery mode [Eric Upchurch]

There are three radically different options behind Hudson. Redshirt junior NOAH FURBUSH [recruiting profile]  is the least viper-ish, which is a blessing and a curse for him. As a bonafide linebacker, Furbush is unlikely to get many snaps against spread teams. As a bonafide linebacker it's not hard to see a role for him against the Michigan States and Wisconsins of the world.

That did not happen last year. Furbush got a few meaningful snaps against State when Peppers was dinged; at all other times Peppers kept him stapled to the bench. Sounds like that's set to continue, but it's more realistic for Furbush to start seeing some meaningful snaps in a bonafide 4-3 look since he's now more experienced than the starter.

Furbush did deliver on some of last year's athleticism talk. Brown said he was a 4.5 guy at 235, and this year he showed very well at Michigan's winter combine, winning or coming in second in almost every event. Still, not much is coming out of the program about him. "He is expected to be a valuable backup," quoth Webb. That kind of thing. I did get one clip of him pass rushing late against Rutgers:

So he's got that going for him.

Furbush is in for another season as a backup; he'll hope to break into short yardage, goal-line, and anti-manball packages and get maybe 100 snaps doing so.

[Fuller]

Redshirt freshman JOSH UCHE [recruiting profile] is the pass rush option. Recruiting sites mostly ranked him as a defensive end despite his 6'2", 210-pound frame because of his outstanding ability to get around the corner. Takes  from his recruiting profile include "an incredibly quick first step," "everything is just explosion," "relentless and physical," and that he's "able to dip his inside shoulder and get around the corner."

A DE in a linebacker's body is an awkward fit for most defenses, but Uche landed in Don Brown's. He was in fact the first guy Don Brown offered upon arriving in Ann Arbor, and his enthusiasm shows through:

The number one thing he can do is he can pass rush with anyone in the East. He has a great get off and can turn the corner. Josh uses his hands really well. We’re projecting him as a SAM linebacker. Has shown some ability to defend on the edge but can also play in space. … We really think his pass rush ability is unique.”

Uche has been rather lost in the hype for first Peppers and now Hudson, but there have been a couple positive blips. This here site heard good things this spring:

Josh Uche Is "laying the wood" a lot and should get some playing time this year, possibly as a pass rush specialist, with a productive career in the offing.

And McCray talked him up a bit at Media Days:

"He's really fast. He's probably one of our fastest players we have on our team. He works hard. He gives everything he has every play in practice. And I expect big things from him."

That's been it, though. There hasn't been anything worth quoting from the insider crew; there have been some dark mentions of tight ends running wild when Hudson is not repping. That sounds like another year of prep work. If Uche does find a role it will be as a passing-down disruptor. There will be a role for that guy on this defense what with Bryan Mone replacing Glasgow. Mone is going to get lifted on 100% of passing downs, and a three-man line beckons what with the evil blitzes it facilitates for Brown.

The coverage option is likely to be redshirt sophomore JORDAN GLASGOW or freshman JAYLEN KELLY-POWELL [recruiting profile]. Glasgow is addressed as a safety after his spring performance and talk of a fall move to back up the presumed starters there. Kelly-Powell is addressed as a corner.

INSIDE LINEBACKER: THE MCCRAYKEN AND THE DREAD PIRATE BUSH

FEY JOHNNY DEPP INVOLVED PROMINENTLY, NO DOUBT

RATING: 3.5

think thank thunk [Bryan Fuller]

Fifth-year senior MIKE MCCRAY is this year's slam-dunk Tom Rinaldi feature. The son of a Buckeye captain is now a Wolverine captain, and lo there will be hay made about this. (Probably. I was betting on a "Michigan's receivers are both refugees" feature for years and that never came to fruition.)

In addition to being soft-focus television bait, McCray is an explosive vertical linebacker. He's getting a fair amount of NFL draft hype. Bonafide Expert Matt Miller named him the best ILB, best run-stopper, and best pass-rusher amongst available prospects for this year's draft. Then ranked him the tenth-best LB prospect. This is magnificent scouting, because he's 100% correct. McCray has a number of outstanding features and one extremely crappy one that places him at odds with modern football.

First, the good bits. McCray was an excellent blitzer. His timing was on point and he brought enough force to be able to run through the shoulder of opposing OL—this is "attacking half a man" in scouting jargon—and to the QB:

This was apparent immediately and did not waver over the course of the season. UFR post Hawaii:

[McCray's] slashing blitzes were really effective. This angle on a sack he wasn't involved in is probably the clearest example I have:

He's not trying to go around the guy, he's "attacking half a man," as the scouting types say, running at a brutally difficult point for the OL to react to. He slices through, he sucks in the running back, he draws a holding call, and Gedeon dashes in for the glory. That's the kind of blitz I'll issue big positives for.

This was consistent. While Glasgow drove one of his sacks, I loved McCray's efficient path to the backfield on it. He took advantage of a Charlton spin move and went just far enough outside an OL attempting to redirect to get by; that economy of motion made the sack more likely.

PFF has him the top returning pass-rush ILB in the Big  Ten for this reason. PFF had him +6.4 on just 82 pass rush snaps because he had an event rate on part with Michigan's best DL rushers. Yes, he's always blitzing so that's a little less impressive in context. It is impressive nonetheless. McCray comes with the force of an extra DE, and that wins sacks, hits, and hurries right up the gut. He's got the ability to feint and redirect like a polished weakside end:

And he's just too much meat to stall if you're trying to redirect late.

He was a terrific fit for Don Brown's blitz-heavy defense.

In addition to the pass rush, McCray was capable of stacking and shedding most OL, even excellent Iowa folks:

He stood up fullbacks, he read and reacted too fast for OL to get a block, he dodged OL releasing to him effectively. He was excellent on the ground. He was also good in underneath zone coverage, capable of reading the quarterback and undercutting routes, even when tricking him was the whole deal.

That just about covers it, then. That's why he's the best ILB, run defender, and pass rusher in the draft and will go... somewhere in the middle rounds. A catch veritably looms.

So, McCray had an obvious weakness last year: operating in space. This happened in two different flavors. Flavor one was getting stuck in man coverage against a tailback and getting wrecked. That go route to Dalvin Cook in the bowl game is the most recent and flashiest example; it is also the most understandable. It was more frustrating when he got help and still got beat. Michigan defensive ends were tasked with chipping Akrum Wadley as he departed the backfield and it still didn't matter:

McCray ended last year with a strong coverage grade from PFF, but there was a big split in his effectiveness between man and zone. He was a crafty zone defender and a worrying man defender.

Flavor two was McCray taking crappy angles to the edge and getting outrun by scatbacks.

This happened a ton. Most of his 13 missed tackles on the year were in space, and sometimes he got beat so comprehensively he had to leave it to his teammates.

There was a variant of this where McCray was so focused on the back that he wouldn't see a wide receiver coming down to seal him until it was too late. By the time McCray was trying to deal with the blocker that WR had locked his hands on McCray's chestplate and it was all over despite McCray having 50 pounds on his opposition. The first and most egregious example of this was UCF's long touchdown:

Problem #1 is Mike McCray, who's too focused on the back:

He's got to know that he's got a blocker outside of him and that they're going to try to edge him; instead of focusing on that blocker and shedding him he ends up taking that contact without even looking:

WR locks his hands in on McCray's chest plate and now he's in trouble. Some people have complained about holding; I don't think it is because of the placement of the WR's hands. McCray let those hands in there by not even contesting them. He loses this block, and he's a 250 pound LB getting hit by a UCF receiver.

This continued deep into the season. As late as the Iowa game he was still getting wiped out of plays by WRs, and Wadley wrecked him. It is what it is, as they say. This site's take post-Iowa:

McCray's weakness on the edge has been much discussed. Despite that issue he is also turning in enough positive plays to hover at or above even, depending on the game and grading system. He brings a load; he reacts well; he is an excellent blitzer. He's a good player with an obvious vulnerability.

McCray does have the sheer physical ability to get to the sideline, which he demonstrated on a bunch of Maryland edge runs that he got progressively better at as the game went on. His physical package leaves him no room for error on his angles. McCray can polish this part of his game and improve; it's unlikely he gets a ton better.

He did have a couple of encouraging moments in man coverage on backs in the final two games. He was the recipient of the Francois pick six, and this against Samuels is pretty impressive:

Notably, McCray uses the DL chip to help out in a way that he did not against Wadley. He gets into the receiver and harasses him; he doesn't wait for the back to come to him once again at full speed.

If that development translates to the wider world McCray is one of the top LBs in the country; skepticism is warranted since he had so many at-bats last year and was still suffering late. FWIW, 247 said he's "having a great camp and is primed to build off of what turned into a really good junior campaign"; this is the only insider bit on him because he's an established gent.

McCray will be as good as he was last year as a rusher and interior run defender; he should improve to middling at the edge stuff. That's still an easy first team All Big Ten selection and mid-round draft pick.

coming for you [Fuller]

Next to McCray is DEVIN BUSH [recruiting profile], a dreadlocked heat-seeking missile out of Florida who Michigan pursued to the exclusion of some dudes. They basically told instate product David Reese to GTFO—he wanted to enroll early and Michigan preferred others, including Bush, for their available slots—and they will see him on Saturday as a returning starter for the Gators. Missing on Bush would be a scouting fail of epic proportions. Fortunately that does not seem to be the case.

Bush had a slow start. He didn't get to flash his skills much last year. Early assertions that he'd be part of a bonafide linebacker rotation proved wrong; he was locked behind the starters and only managed around 70 snaps. I had him for a couple of freshman-esque moments—one bust, one badly missed jam. The bust was somewhat painful since it allowed Rutgers to pick up a first down. The only other clip of Bush I got was a nice play busting up a screen:

PFF did have him slightly in the green; it wasn't based on much.

That lack of prominence allowed walk-on Mike Wroblewski, about whom more in a second, to enter spring with a fair amount of chatter. Bush's spring game performance abruptly ended that. Last year Bush didn't get to do the thing that he was brought to Michigan to do: plunge forward like a squat, frenzied pirate. At least not on defense. He is the guy who shows up midway through this Peppers punt return to tenderize an unfortunate Penn State player:

That is what Devin Bush is here to do: impact people at high speed.

He began doing that as a defender in the spring game, where his blitzing terrorized quarterbacks and running backs alike. Ace named him one of the game's standouts:

Bush looked unblockable on A-gap blitzes; it was pretty much an automatic sack when he rushed up the middle. He looked equally capable at both inside linebacker spots. "It's so nice when you have a young guy like that who can play two spots," said Don Brown. "You can ask some guys to do that and they'd look at you like 'are you kidding me?' But he handled it really with ease. He's a really good player."

A few days later my take was along the same lines:

Bush looks like he's benefited a ton from a year of S&C; this has amped up his blitzing, and Don Brown took full advantage. His timing and burst got him through the line frequently, and he is a major problem for RB pickups. He's short, so he's hard to get under. He's thick, so he's got a lot of momentum. He's fast, so also momentum that's how momentum works. The result was a number of blitz pickups that looked good for a moment before falling apart.

This is about in-line with his recruiting profile. The most relevant take from that:

Modest frame but really well-built and explosive. … very good short-area burst but also possesses the speed to make plays to the sideline. … Beats blockers to the point. Quick to read, react and get on the downhill attack. Takes sharp, direct angles to the ball and stays square to line of scrimmage.

He was already committed to Michigan by the time Brown was hired, but even so he's a prototype Don Brown LB.

Bush has followed up his spring with a hype-heavy fall. Both Scout and 247 have had multiple reports praising Bush. Isaiah Hole sat down with Harbaugh at Big Ten media days and was told flat out that Bush would start—he was locked in even before fall camp started. He's mastered the playbook, per Hole, and folks are describing him as a freak; later he and Hudson were "looking amazing". Webb, for his part, asserted he's one of the first names he heard when he started poking around for information because he "has a much better understanding of the defense" and is a "lethal blitzer."

Bush should be a relatively advanced sophomore. He's the son of a former first round pick and 12-year NFL veteran who happens to be on campus, working with the program. For Bush the coaching doesn't stop when he leaves practice. He gets it at dinner, too. 

Another factor arguing for a quick rise: Bush is a guy who probably benefited more than most from a year in a college S&C program. The perpetually blunt Don Brown:

Anything that jumps out at you as far as progression with Devin? Is he faster? Is he stronger?

Brown: “I mean, just look at him. You know, I teased him yesterday. He walked by me and didn’t have a shirt on; ‘Last year you were a short, pudgy guy,’ and he’s chiseled. He’s got a Division I body now."

He's still short, but that's the point. Bush will still be error prone as a true sophomore and first-year starter; when he's in the right place doing the right thing he's going to be caving chests in.

BACKUPS

DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU'RE COMING WITH ME [Bryan Fuller]

Jared Wangler's move to fullback leaves ILB as yet another position group where the three deep is comprised almost exclusively of underclassmen. Here walk-on MIKE WROBLEWSKI is the exception. Wroblewksi started drawing mentions last year, became the number one(!) pick in the 2016 spring game draft—they must put snap limits on a lot of guys?—and was talked up as a serious threat to start this spring until Bush speared that chatter through the heart with his facemask.

Still, he was clearly a notch above other competitors:

He looks the part of the heady gritty grit gym rat, but more importantly he plays like it. I can't tell you how many times I've seen linebackers fail to understand what the line slant in front of their face means; here Wroblewski knows that the Gary slant means the ball is likely coming to the gap outside of him, and he fills with aplomb:

It's a simple thing; again I cannot tell you how many times I've shaken a fist to the heavens because a linebacker does not understand the implication of the line call.

His prominence was "not great news" for the other gents in competition, and he might be a useful piece in enough situations to get some run this year. Insider talk from spring:

Wroblewski is an "A-gap player," which means he's a guy to take on fullbacks and hammer the interior run game but might be limited in sideline-to-sideline range. He's taken over some of the calls from McCray, which is quite a thing to do when you're taking them from a returning starter and fifth year senior who is presumably going to be a captain.

Talk about him has faded this fall—don't think I've seen a mention—with the arrival of a freshman class Michigan is big on. He's still going to start the year as the first option off the bench, and may even maintain that. If Michigan wants organization, he's the man. Don Brown:

"You talk about a self-made football player, a guy who knows it all. Here’s—I’ve never had to do this before. He’s telling the secondary, making their on-rights and lefts call, he’s making the tight call, he’s making the detach call for the outside linebacker and it’s finally like, ‘Hey Robo, you need to shut up and let those guys make those calls themselves.’ ‘Oh yeah, Coach, yeah, yeah, yeah.’ That’s how well he knows the scheme."

Also he's got a cool nickname. Wroblew—ahem. Robo is probably going to see real time as a rotation piece at both ILB spots, a la Gedeon a couple years ago. If it is physically possible he'll be in the right spot.

can it be late early for second year players? [Fuller]

Behind Wroblewski there is plenty of ammo and zero experience. Second-year players ELYSEE MBEM-BOSSE [recruiting profile] and DEVIN GIL [recruiting profile] aren't generating much, if any, chatter. Gil hasn't drawn a tag on this site in a year. Mbem-Bosse did get noticed, but it was for getting sealed inside on an Isaac TD in the spring game:

Partridge did offer up some encouraging talk in a spring press conference…

“Then you’ve got Mbem-Bosse, who’s taken a huge step here in the spring. I mean, we love what we’re seeing out of him. He’s moving around and hitting and starting to understand what it takes to play linebacker at this level."

…but that hasn't been followed up by even a peep of unsanctioned talk, fall or spring. With Wroblewski the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option and a fleet of highly touted chatter magnets just a year behind them, this feels like a make-or-break year for both already. One of these gents is a future fullback. The other might emerge into a starter or transfer.

second verse, bigger than the first [247]

Those freshmen promise to be lethal, sooner or later. Probably later. There's not much clarity as to who is highest on the pecking order. Our best guess is that JOSH ROSS [recruiting profile] is #1 at the moment. He drew a ton of praise in a Webb article that suggested he might be "the most impressive freshman defender thus far." This is almost certainly not true given the Aubrey Solomon activity the last post in this series just embedded, but even suggesting that is eyebrow-cocking. Ross is like his older brother, except moreso:

Josh is two to three inches taller than his sibling and is as strong NOW as James was when he entered the draft. More specifically, Josh put up 21 reps of 225 in Ann Arbor. James brother put up 22 during his pre-draft workout. The buzz I'm hearing about Josh reminds me of what I heard about Devin Bush Jr. last year.

The elder Ross was two inches and twenty pounds from being excellent, and if we're talking about a person who is two inches and twenty pounds heavier than James Ross while being hard to distinguish from his brother...

“And James Ross is really playing well.”

Josh Ross?

“Josh Ross. I call him James half the time to his face.”

How does he react to that?

“He laughs. He’s a real hitter. It’s hard to imagine. I mean, what was he like in high school when he’s hitting guys out here in the college game like that.

...this is a person who may do a business or two by the time he's done in Ann Arbor. Webb's heard that his "fierceness in the run game" had drawn practice attention, which is more chatter than the other two freshman LBs have produced. He's the tentative favorite to get second team snaps in garbage time.

wait till next year? [Patrick Barron/Scout]

Ross's classmates JORDAN ANTHONY [recruiting profile] and DREW SINGLETON [recruiting profile] appear headed for redshirts given the lack of buzz they've generated so far. That's not a huge surprise for either. Singleton is coming off an ACL injury that cost him almost all of his senior year. He's reportedly 100% now and gets the occasional briefshoutout as "a guy" from 24/7. Webb mentioned he'd gotten some snaps with the second unit. He's still going to need a catchup period even if he is back to full strength; there's learning a Don Brown defense and there's learning a Don Brown defense at the same time you're trying to shake off a year's worth of rust.

Anthony played last year, and played well enough that Rivals gave him a fifth star. His issue is a lack of positional consistency; he bounced from LB to RB and back through his high school career. It doesn't appear that he's generated word one so far this fall. This preview doesn't think that means much for the long term; for the short term that's a pretty good indicator of a redshirt.