Blue By Ninety - Blue By the Numbers Ep. 2

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

Tanner and Brian recap Michigan's 35-7 victory over UNLV on Saturday and give their thoughts on the Pro Football Focus grading for Michigan's players as the Wolverines moved to 2-0.

All right, and welcome back to Blue by the Numbers. I am your host, Tanner Wooten, joined by my co-host, Brian Bouton. Brian, how are you? I'm doing really good. How about you, Tanner? I am good. I am good. We're recording here on Monday, September 11th. Quick side note, kind of crazy to think it's been 22 years, but every year goes by.

It's kind of crazy to think about how quickly things move on. So, yeah, Michigan had a big win over UNLV on Saturday, 35-7. I was, again, at the big house. Solid experience. Brian, I know you're asking me about the experience there with the new scoreboards, with the new sound system. You know, still a work in progress. You know, they only have the speakers on the north end new scoreboards, with the new sound system. You know, still a work in progress. You know, they only have the speakers on the north end zone scoreboard.

And my uncle was asking if they only had one set of speakers. It was sometimes hard to hear things. Lack of replays again, unfortunately. So I know you and I had kind of talked about that a little bit in week one, week two, kind of the same story. But just like the football team, you know, kind of some kinks to work out with the scoreboards and all the electronics that go into the same story. But just like the football team, you know, kind of some kinks to work out with the scoreboards and all the electronics that go into the game day at the big house.

So, you know, speaking of the football team, solid win. You know, no real complaints from me. I thought the run game looked better. I thought the run blocking was better. I thought Blake looked pretty good overall. So what were your thoughts just from watching the game and what were your feelings on Saturday as that game kind of progressed with Michigan really doing the same thing they did at ECU? Yeah, I thought it was a really good game. You have the lack of real high quality of opponent, but they did whatever they wanted to do

on both sides of the ball. I thought the run game, I agree, looked a lot better. I thought Blake looked better. Some of my concerns about Donovan, although he didn't have a big day having watched the tape again, he looked better. All in all, I thought they were in total control. The fact that the starters really haven't played the fourth quarter of either game and they're able to get a bunch of guys in there are all really good signs. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that there were some good signs up front. I thought they, like I said, I thought they looked better, but they looked more cohesive.

You know, obviously, Sharon Moore is back. We had a double-headed monster head coach with Jay Harbaugh on the first half, Mike Hart in the second half. So very interesting to see kind of the dynamic working there. Upcoming next weekend is Jim Harbaugh's last game of his three-game suspension. So I'll be glad when we don't have to talk about the musical chairs at the head coaching position with Sharon getting his crack against Bowling Green on Saturday night.

But wanted to talk through, like we do, the pro football-focused numbers and the individual grading that they offer. Starting with JJ, who, again, graded out very highly. I mean, a number of NFL-level throws on Saturday. I mean, zipping the ball in there, in between defenders, tight windows, and he finished with a 92.1 overall grade, which, sure, that seems fine. Yeah, he's the highest-rated PFF quarterback in the country right now. He's been really good.

And, you know, on the broadcast, you were at the game. They kept talking. You know, Gary Danielson was on the CBS crew, kept talking about how he was making NFL throws and that he was an NFL player. And they kept comparing him multiple times to Joe Burrow in terms of his talent and his moxie and his confidence. And I thought that was some pretty lofty praise.

But, you know, unsolicited. And I still think of Danielson as a SEC guy because of all those years at CBS and SEC. So coming from him and the bias that that presents, I thought was pretty lofty praise. Yeah, as long as JJ doesn't have a game like Joe Burrow had against the Browns on Sunday. Oh yeah, that was brutal. It seems they always start off a little bit slow in Cincinnati, and I'm sure they'll probably go like 12-5 and make the playoffs. So if J.J. is Joe Burrow, I think we're in for a treat this year.

I think we're in for a treat either way. I mean, the way he's reading the field, in command of just the entire offense, it seems like he's really progressing well as far as his reads on individual plays. Like he's doing a really good job of not making the tough throws. He's giving himself some easy throws. But when he has to make those NFL-level throws, it seems like – I mean, I don't know, man. His arm is so live.

Right. Like that one throw to CJ towards the sideline where that backer kind of drifted back, I thought I got a little antsy in the stadium watching that, and he just put so much zip on that ball to get it to CJ that the defender had no chance. I mean, these are big-time throws. Again, the competition is not where it's going to be later on in the season,

but I think these are throws that you're going to see all season long, regardless of the opponent. I mean, the way that he's fitting the football in there. So, yeah, 92.1 feels very good for him. Yeah, Danielson, you know, former quarterback himself in the NFL, he said that pass you're referring to down the left side to CJ between the corner and the safety. He said there's not five guys in the country that can make that throw.

I mean, it was a high-level throw. Interesting stat. Jim Harbaugh's been a high-level throw. Interesting stat. Jim Harbaugh's been the coach of Michigan for 101 games now, and there's been four instances of a quarterback having a completion percentage over 82%. All four of those are J.J. McCarthy. So, I mean, he's doing some special stuff that we're seeing. And, you know, regardless of opponents, we play, you know,

weak opponents every year. And no one's done that except for him and he's done it four times now with it what 13 starts now so that's pretty impressive stuff yeah I mean you know what he was 86 week one 88 22 of 25 for what 278 two touchdowns um I will say the third of Roman on the last touchdown that he threw, you know, the step up in the pocket and then just, I mean, that ball, like I was watching the TV replay, like just watching the highlights of the game on YouTube.

Man, that ball just like took like two frames of video to get to him. I mean, it was just a missile and it's right on his hands and lets Roman get up the sideline for a 47-yard touchdown. I mean, not much more to really add with nine. He's really playing out of his mind so far. He's playing really good. Yeah. Yeah. He's probably, he's probably playing the best football of anybody on this team at the moment. I mean, and that's, it's a lot of guys playing good football, but man, he's, he's at a different level and looking like he could potentially be a top 10 pick. You know, NFL teams love, love to fall in love with quarterbacks in February, March, April.

I mean, I would not be shocked to see him work himself up there. And we're looking at Jim Harbaugh's first first-round pick at quarterback at Michigan, which would be a lot of fun, be good for recruiting. I think there's a kid down the road who plays quarterback who might be pretty special, so that could help. But then Jayden Denigal had a nice throw. He granted an 86. Davisle had a nice throw. He graded out 86. Davis Warren had a rough day.

Jack Tuttle, I thought, looked decent on that run, and then he got pushed out pretty late. So I think he's okay. I think they said he's all right. He was begging to come back in. He was in coach's ear. They kept showing shots of sidelines, him trying to get back in. I mean, you've got to think he's the backup right now, right?

I mean, he's probably the best. Yeah. So hopefully Jack Tuttle's okay. And I kind of mentioned earlier, but I thought Blake Corham looked pretty good. I mean, there wasn't that big chunk run, but I thought he was very consistent. I thought he was better at kind of hitting those holes that were there. And again, it's just shaking off the rust for him. So he comes in with a 76.2 grade, highest of the running backs, one of the highest on the offense, regardless of position. So how did you feel about Blake's performance on Saturday? And what do you want to see from him moving forward? Just what we saw on Saturday. He was very decisive. I watched every one of his runs. Again, he's making the right read. He's getting what he can out of it.

He's really improved in the passing game on two fronts. One, you know, making himself available in the pass game, being sure handed. And when you rewatch the tape, both Blake and Donovan, you know, JJ's looked really good. And some of that's the benefit of him having a lot of time. And both Corham and Edwards on every play, they don't run the ball, chip somebody, block somebody. It makes a difference and it shows up so I think they're uh both playing high level Donovan Edwards I I expressed to you last week I was a little concerned with him being a little indecisive and him trying to get too much the the last game he just kind of didn't have a great set of circumstances but he was decisive and

the big runs are will come you know through the first two weeks combined this year versus last year, I think they have 20 more yards this year than they did last year. So it's one or two decent runs, and they're ahead of schedule. So I think they're in great shape. You know, the one benefit of Donovan Edwards not getting a ton of carries yet is he's keeping those legs fresh. So I feel great about that position. Yeah, I feel fine.

You know, Donovan comes up with a 61.4, lack of explosive plays from him. But again, he was a guy that was banged up early last year. We saw him really come on later in the season, obviously had a fantastic game against Ohio State, and then in the Big 10 Championship against Purdue, looked really, really good. And so I'm hoping to see him get back to form. I can't remember which parent of a current player it was, but I had seen on Twitter that it was a parent of a player on this team that said that he had not participated in a ton of practices during fall camp. So I don't know if that was precautionary, if he still had some lingering injuries or what. So that may explain some of the rust. And I think they said, yeah, he's going to be fine.

Like he's going to be Donovan. So that's kind of put me a little bit more at bit more at ease thinking about the offense moving forward and also you know having JJ's legs in the run game I think is going to help a lot of just open up a lot of different opportunities for the run game so no no real concern for me I've seen a lot of people freak out on Twitter and I'm like I mean do you want to win the Big Ten or do you want to beat UNLV 66 nothing because I'll tell you my answer I mean I Right, for sure. Michigan can get what it wants. It is trying different things, you know, on the fourth. And we'll talk about the O-line.

But on that fourth and three that they got kind of stuffed on, you know, they're trying to test that for later on in the season when it truly matters. And maybe don't run that play on fourth and three. Maybe more fourth and one and a half or fourth and two. But, you know, there's a lot of different things that they're doing that aren't you know you don't see that show up in the scoreboard but they're going to pay off down the line so i see a lot of people freaking out it's okay we're going to be all right i think if they keep running that fourth down play against these lesser opponents every time they get to fourth down in a game that matters everyone's going to think they know what

they're going to do and so you're going to get see Khalil Mullins pass again or a play action. And so get frustrated now and when it pays off with a play action or a running back pass or something goofy, remember how frustrated you were now and realize how foolish you are for thinking that way. This is a long game for the 2023 Wolverines, right? I mean, you think about it. There's a lot of things that coaches do that may not make sense, right?

From a schematic conversation or standpoint, but it's so they can play off of that in November and December and January, right? There's a lot of different things you want to try to put on film to set things up for those plays to be big plays later on down the season. So, you know, it'll be okay. You complain on Twitter, but it's going to be okay. And I may roast you for that, but it's fine.

Wide receivers. Hey, Roman again. He's on pace to catch every single touchdown from JJ this season. He's got five so far. Can't hurt for receiver recruiting. He had another big game on Saturday. I thought CJ looked good as well. Really? And Tyler Morris kind of stepped in. All three of those guys were rated within a couple

points of each other between 74 and 77 for all three of those guys. So I thought Tyler Morris looked impressive. I also think, I think I said Carmelo English could be the punt returner. I think Tyler Morris could be a punt returner. He looked really good in his play. I think I got called back, but I thought all three of those receivers looked really, really good. And I think CJ had the big run on the end around. So what were your thoughts on the receivers? How'd you feel about them on Saturday? And what are you looking for from them? Yeah. I mean, I think coming into the season, we thought this was a position group that, you know, at least from a outsider's perspective, wasn't a real strength. And I don't know how you would call this group and the success they're having. And, you know, do we have any drops this year? The first pass of the first game,

Roman had a pretty bad drop. But since then, I don't think we have a recorded drop. I mean, these guys are catching everything, running great routes. You know, when you watch the replays of any big play, they're blocking downfield. Roman's, was it his first touchdown? Yeah, his first touchdown pass over the middle. He caught it and Cornelius led the way for him into the end zone. So they're blocking for, you know, the runners, the other receivers, the running great routes, you know, very few penalties. I'm very happy with them. And Roman seems like he's kicked it in another gear. And like we said last week, really earning that number one jersey for sure. Yeah. I mean, he is, he's played out of his mind thus far, the speed on that 47 year touchdown to get down the sideline, the route running on his first touchdown on that quick little in route

and JJ hit him on down in the red zone with like, I think there was only 20, 30 seconds left in the half, really good two minute drill out of Michigan there and then paying it off with a touchdown to Roman. Yeah, I mean, I feel really good about these receivers. You know, I always thought Roman would kind of ascend into this level of play. I think he's had some injury issues in 21 and 22. You know, 21 he had the cast, and he still caught two touchdowns at Penn State. And then last year I think was a little bit banged up. I don't think he was truly fully healthy until later in the season

and then had that big game against TCU. So I think, like you said, a little bit slept on coming into the year, but I think a lot of talented guys, a lot of guys that are great route runners that know how to get open and sit inside of a zone and find those soft spots. So it's going to be very exciting to see these guys continue to grow. But, yeah, and we talked about Samaj had a nice big catch from Denigol late in the game. You know, really not much more to ask for from these receivers thus far. Yeah, the other thing, you know, we heard all offseason that JJ and Roman were spending time in the offseason rowing and running routes and that sort of thing.

And you hear that, or I guess I hear that. And I think, well, that's what they're supposed to be doing. And, you know, what difference is it going to make? Well, the difference it's making is what we're seeing. I mean, just a level of trust. I mean, it seems like every third down, regardless of what the situation, he's going to Roman Wilson and Roman Wilson's making a play. So that, that chemistry that they formed in the off season and, you know, the last couple of years, but it certainly seems to be paying off. I mean, that's just a big play waiting to happen. And it's fun to see because we really haven't – I mean, Nico Collins had a really nice year,

but I don't think we've seen a quarterback-receiver connection like this in a while. No, I mean, you probably go back to probably Henny Braylon. I mean, honestly, if they continue at this pace, you know, I'd love to see a 1,000-yard receiver, please. Please. Give me 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. Honestly, if they continue at this pace, you know, I'd love to see a thousand yard receiver, please. Give me, you know, give me a thousand yards and 10 touchdowns. I'd be very happy.

I mean, Roman's halfway to that. So and, you know, another he had 89 yards on Saturday. So well on his way to a thousand plus yards this season. I think if you look at the math, you know, kind of switching gears to the tight ends You know, a quiet day From Colson Loveland They tried that end around sweep With him, which Watching it back, might have been A much better play if a couple blocks get picked up

I mean, the design was there But I also just lob it up to him I don't need to see him on an end around But it wasn't a terrible play by any stretch A.J. Barner recorded a catch for 12 yards. Colson only had two for six yards, so kind of a quiet day for the tight ends overall. I thought I saw a lot of good things in the run game from AJ Barner that were exciting. Nice to see him kind of, I don't know how many opportunities he got last week against ECU,

but I felt that he did a pretty good job in the run game as a blocker on Saturday. What did you think? Yeah, A.J. Berner looks really good. I think with his opportunities, he looks real natural catching the ball. He grades out really well. He's one of the highest-graded tight ends in the Big Ten with a 76.3. I think he's a really, really solid addition, and I think he's going to make some big plays for this team. You know, Loveland, the schematics of running a jet sweep to your tight end is a new one.

And like you said, Cornelius Johnson makes a little bit more effort on a block there. I think that that goes for seven, eight yards more than it did. So, yeah, tight end is just a quiet day. Yeah, and sometimes that's going to happen. I mean, Colson Lovell is going to be part of the game plan from the defense's perspective to take him away and make other guys beat them. And, you know, that's what they did on Saturday. So also saw that Matthew Hibner got some run,

which is nice to see him back from injury. I really liked what I saw from him in the spring game. So I'd be curious to see how he plays as he kind of gets back up to speed, shakes off that rust from being out for a little bit. You know, more from Max Bredesen as a blocker on Saturday. I don't know if you had any thoughts on Max. Nothing I really picked up in my kind of rewatches, though, to be fair, I wasn't able to find a condensed version of the game and I didn't have time to sit and watch the full replay. So I just kind of watched highlights and tried to pick up what I could. I didn't see a ton from him,

but I don't know if you had any thoughts on Bredesen's play on Saturday. Yeah, he's a difference maker for the role he plays. You're not expecting him to show up on the stat sheet, but he's involved in just about everything they do. He's pretty reliable. He grades out. That's one of those things where I don't know how you

evaluate that position, the H-back position and what the responsibilities are, but it seems like he's always in the right spot. He's one of those unsung heroes, I think, for this team is when it all plays out. I think he's going to make a few more big plays along the way, but we're going to go several games where he doesn't show up on the stat sheet.

Yeah. Well, and to kind of talk through the PFF grades. So Barner, by the way, with a 76.3. Loveland had a 56.4. And Bredesen with a 54.7. This is, again, we talked about this pre-show. I love what PFF does, but there are some times I disagree, and I'm just not sure where I'm seeing Max Bredesen with a 54.7, unless you know his exact role and assignment, because he may be asked to do different things throughout a game within different formations and different play

calls. So it is what it is. Moving on to the offensive line. Again, I thought there was a, there was some holes, man, that, that Blake run to get down to the two yard line on the first drive, I probably could have ran through that hole. Maybe could have drove my truck through it as well. I mean, Jay, they were, they were, there were some moments where they were mashing and it felt like much closer to 2022 than the ECU game did. So, Brian, how did you feel about the O-line? Does it – do you have higher expectations throughout the rest of the year?

Did it make you feel better? Do you feel more relieved, less stressed about that O-line? Like how did you kind of end up coming out of that game on Saturday? They definitely played better. They schematically played a much different front. You know, ECU sold out we're gonna stop the run a bunch of guys uh in the box and so this was a you know we gave them a different look but they looked much better they graded out on average 10 points higher than they did against

ECU for a man so uh I thought they looked better you know I'm still not where we're I still think they're playing at a level that we want them to be where they've kind of been the last couple of years, but definitely an improvement. And, you know, it's a work in progress. As you said earlier, it's a long season. And as long as they keep getting better, we know the talent's there. We certainly know the coaching's there. We know the depth's there if anyone stumbles. So yeah, I felt much better about the group without question. I thought that Barnhart had a pretty good game hinton still concerns me a little bit there's times i wonder what he's doing but he is a physical presence he did make some really key blocks on blake's runs i had a really nice block on the long

jj run uh but you know that's still the one question mark for me, but the unit as a whole, much better. Yeah. And so it looks like same as last week. Those first five guys all got 50 snaps. I believe as of our recording today that at the presser, I don't remember if it was Sharon Moore or Jim Harbaugh, but they said that their five are starters. So Ladarius Henderson and Trenta Jones are second string at the moment. We'll see if that changes, but it seems like they feel comfortable with that five of Barnhart and hitting at the tackles, Keegan and Zinter, and then Drake Nugent. So, which is interesting because I thought they would have given

Henderson and Jones more of an opportunity to win that job. To win those respective jobs. But, yeah, yeah, I mean, we talked about it last week. That was my prediction. I thought that's what they were doing. It seemed like they had talked about it in the preseason pressers with the media availability, and it seems like they're good with what they've got.

So, you know, Barnhart and Keegan both graded at a 74.8, so solid days. Drake Nugent was the highest graded of the group at 77.4. Zinter, not too far behind at a 68 overall graded, and Miles Hinton at a 67.5, which was much better, I believe, than last week's numbers from Hinton. Or was he around that same? I thought he was graded relatively low compared to – Hinton's up 17 points.

He was a 15-point player. He played a much better game, yeah. Well, hey, if we get that same level of improvement, I think we'll be talking – singing a different tune next week. I'll tell you, Guy, that I had hoped for to be kind of the next guard in line besides Andrew Gentry was Giovanni Alhadi, and he struggled – his struggles have shown up on tape. In the fourth quarter, there was a play where everyone was open

and he missed an assignment coming right down the middle and blew up the play on, I think, Denigal was in the game at the time. And, you know, his struggles have shown up on tape, and I don't think he's going to be seeing much playing time anytime soon. Which is interesting because he started three games last year and looked very good. I know. So, you know, it's – who knows?

I mean, you're out there with a different set of guys than you practice with during the week. So, you know, you obviously can see glimpses, but it's not – it sometimes can be hard to take, you know, everything away from some of these later game snaps. But I did – I also – even just at the stadium, I noticed. I was like, he looks not as good as he was in 2022, which I thought, you know,

if either Keegan or Zinter went to the pros this past draft, I felt very confident about GLL Hadi. I still do. I think he's, I mean, he's, he's got all the kind of that pedigree, right? Top 100 recruit state of Michigan played really well as a, as a sophomore last year, a redshirt freshman. So I I'm sure it'll be fine, but it was interesting that I even noticed just watching late in the game when I really don't care at that point, my uncle was setting out the spread because he had bet on Michigan to cover, but I'm just watching, uh, just wanting to see some good

things from the young guys. And I even noticed, you know, wow, what's, what's going on there. So, but overall, Hey man, solid day from the starters. You know, you hope that you get more repetitions, you gel, you get together, you, you just, you play more reps together that things are going to continue to improve as they have over the last couple of seasons. I think we'll see that. I have no concerns there. There was such gears to the defense and we'll kind of work inside out.

Starting with the defensive line. We'll start with the defensive tackles. Mason Graham, monster. Monster. PFF agrees, 94 rating. Multiple tackles for loss from him. Just looked like a different player. I didn't think he looked bad last Saturday. I just didn't see any flashes.

He had moments of dominance in this one. He was incredible he you know you and i spoke a little bit uh earlier he had he had a couple plays where he's on his back and made tackles i mean the guy is just such a physical presence former wrestler you know he just makes so many plays and there were two guys in the big in the entire big 10 that graded out over 90 grades from pff one was was J.J. McCarthy. The other was Mason Graham. Just stellar, stellar play that gets recognized.

He shows up on every play. He's got such a high motor and just his understanding of the game and scheme. He just seems to be always in the right place and makes such a good push and is a presence of the run game. I feel like between him and Kenneth Grant, I think we're hard-pressed to find a defensive tackle combo that's been better in a long time. Chris Jenkins and Mason Graham?

Yeah. Maybe? Yeah. I mean, the combo of our front. No, I get it. I get it. I mean, this team is so loaded, especially on the interior D line. I mean, you know, we talked about especially on the interior D line. I mean,

you know, we talked about this earlier. Chris Jenkins grades out with a 71.7, and I find that to be low because I thought he was a game wrecker on Saturday. I thought he made a number of plays. He had a stop on a fourth down. That was impressive. I mean, he was fantastic. Cam Good graded out pretty well with a 79.4. He's a guy, you know, last year transferred in from Central Florida, didn't see a lot of playing time, easily a guy that could have transferred and nobody would have had any issue with it. But he decides to stick it out, and I'm glad he did because now Michigan's able to go pretty deep at D-line across the board, whether it's at the nose tackle, whether it's at the DT and both end spots.

I mean, they can go five deep at both those positions. So I thought Good looked really, really good for lack of a better term. He was one of the guys that stood out to me too. He flashed a bunch of plays. He had a couple plays that were just inches away from being huge hits and huge plays, and I agree 100%. He looks like he belongs, and i think he's going to play a lot of meaningful steps this year yeah for sean benny who i think we all had a lot of

hope for you know that late hit in the third quarter that you know in fourth down that extends that drive i mean that was such a boneheaded play you know that's frustration we're not playing enough but you know for for a team that's played with so few mental errors and you know so few penalties this year, that was a really frustrating penalty for me to see because there was just no reason for it, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that was frustrating. It was nice to see the young guys all get in there too. The three defensive tackles from the last class all got in. Pierce, Etta, and Cameron Brandt all got in and played some decent snaps and showed up. I thought that was fun to see. I mean, that's one of the great things about these early season games is to see those young guys that you're excited about when they sign as high school recruits and then to see them get on the field and realize why they were ranked where they were

and sometimes why the staff saw guys in a better light than some of the recruiting services ranked them. And it's just fun to see the young guys get on the field. Yeah. Well, speaking of guys that are much better than their recruiting ranking, Kenneth Grant is an absolute monster. And I, again, we talked about this pre-show, Brian. I find it unfathomable to give this gentleman a 59.3 grade because he had a tackle for loss and he had a

sack and a half i just he was a game wrecker i mean he was all over the field i don't see any way you watch that game and you're like 60 i just i don't i don't get it i mean i am so excited about this dude and every podcast and every forum and everything that i intake when it comes to michigan football all has the same thoughts. And obviously, Michigan fans and people have their biases. But, man, this guy is a beast. And the way he moves at 360 pounds, I mean, goodness, he just continues to impress me. So the 59.3, Brian, I don't know about you, but just I don't understand where they came to that number because he looked like a monster on Saturday.

So you watch the first game, right? You think he's a monster. He played great. First game, he graded 85. BFF grade, 85.5. You think, okay, that makes sense. That's what I saw. UNLV game, felt like we saw the same guy.

Yeah. Same types of plays, have the same type type of presence impact the game in the same way 59.3 right so it's like what difference game one he played 20 snaps game two he played 21 snaps so you literally saw almost the same performance to have that big of a variance seems odd i agree well and you know um 21 snaps 15 pass plays six run. So, you know, had a tackle for loss on one of the 6 run plays and then was a part of two sacks across the 15 pass plays. You strap that over a full game. I mean, we're talking about, you know, big-time performance,

putting him on draft boards. But, you know, I mean, just, again, I love seeing the big guys get a lot of recognition, and I'm a big fan of Kenneth Grant. And so very excited to see him continue to grow and develop at Michigan. I mean, he's got two more seasons here, two more full seasons basically. So at least, I mean, who knows, but I think he's going to play himself into an NFL player. But yeah, a lot of guys got some run on Saturday,

which is always great to see. You know, we'll kind of pick it up with the edge players here. And I, again, felt better about their performance, getting five sacks. Now, obviously not a great old line from UNLV, but I thought there were some solid moments that I saw from Derek Moore, from Braden McGregor.

Jalen Harrell had, I believe, a sack and a half. I liked – you know, I liked – there was a few things I liked from what I saw from Josiah Stewart. So how did you feel about the edge players, Brian? And, you know, do you agree with some of the ratings that these guys got from PFF? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a really, really solid group. You know, there's not a Aiden Hutchinson in the group.

There's not a David Jabo in the group. But I think that there's a couple of Mike Morris's in the group. You know, I mean, I think it's a really solid front. Mike Morris, a third round pick, you know, I mean, a really solid NFL prospect, a guy that's in the two deep for the Seahawks already. I think we have those guys. And with the defensive tackles we have and the linebacker and core we have, that may be all we need. I think we'd all love to see a guy that's going to get in,

that you can count on for a sack and a half every game and be a game wrecker on every play. But I think collectively it's a really strong and really deep unit and I think positioned really well for what this team is going to face down the road. Yeah, and I think the thing that kind of has me not concerned is that interior pass rush. I mean, you know you're going to get a guy in Kenneth Grant

to get after the quarterback in Mason Graham and Chris Jenkins. So I don't – you know, obviously you want to see pass rushers at your edge position, and I think that will come. You know, I think a guy like Jalen Harrell is – you kind of know who he is as a pass rusher, but he doesn't make mistakes in pass rusher, but he doesn't make mistakes in the run game and he doesn't make mistakes when he drops into coverage. So he's so valuable to play on the field. But I think you'll start to see at least one of Derek Moore, Braden

McGregor, or Josiah Stewart start to separate themselves and kind of claim one of those spots as kind of the de facto edge rusher. Now I know, look, different positions for some of those guys, but I think you try to get your best four on the field at any given time. And I think we've seen flashes from all these guys to be able to feel confident that by the end of the season that they'll have enough reps, they'll have enough coaching and development, that I think somebody's going to make a big play in a big game, and we're going to be so glad that they just kept rotating these guys,

getting them run, and I just don't really have any big concerns. I mean, look, do I want Hutch and Ojabo? Absolutely. You put those guys on this defense, I don't know how you're going to move the ball. But you've got to have some concessions. They're going to have some help from the interior guys, and I think they're really good in the run game as well. And I think they're going to be adequate enough to get to the quarterback

every so often. I don't really have any major concerns at this moment. No, and worth noting, Ojabo and Josh Uche, both in their double-digit sack seasons, really didn't get started until week four or week five. I mean, no one was talking about either one of those guys in those double-digit sack years early in the season as all Big Ten caliber guys.

They were just like the four guys we're talking about now. So to your point, we don't need all four of them to step up and beat josh and jay and uh david jabo but if one or two of them kind of find their role and kind of get going there and i and separate themselves i think they can be a really good unit so yeah well and speaking of david jabo did you see he sacked cj str. Stroud again? Hey. That's not the first time that's happened. There was like a 20-minute window of NFL on Sunday where every highlight was a Michigan player. Dax Hill had the interception.

He did, yes. Ojabo had the sack. Cameron McGrone had a really big sack. Jabril. Jabril Pemper's forced the fumble. It was like, this is fantastic. Yes, I spent so much time watching red zone yesterday i think my wife hates me at this point but you know we go again next sunday

it's that time of year buddy absolutely it's the best time of year man so moving on the linebackers did not get favorable gratings uh really across the board um which is interesting because i didn't notice anything in the ecu game again i haven't had a chance to get, like, the full version condensed on YouTube or anything, so I am a little bit blind. So I'm going to default to you here, Brian. But I didn't – look, there were some times UNLV had some runs in there. But, dude, in the first half they had, like –

I think when the starters came out, actually, like midway through the third quarter, it was, like, 490 yards to 95 or 100 yards. So I junior colson 65 ernest houseman 46 michael barrett 68 i just where where are these negative grades coming from when they can't move the ball at all and obviously it's a lot of the interior guys making plays but i i would love to know what you thought because i just didn't see anything egregious that would be like yeah ernest houseman should get a 46 rating on saturday here's the thing is when I watched you know you're watching the game you're watching all kinds of things when I watched it again the scheme that

they ran didn't lend itself to linebackers to have a big impact UNLV had 61 yards rushing so they couldn't move the ball I feel like they had the linebackers in zone coverage, and they weren't in a position to flash, to make big plays. I thought our linebacker would play. You watch it again, and those three guys are in the right. You're not going to hear it. When we get to the secondary, you're going to hear some concerns for me. But the linebackers in the replay, they were in the right place a lot. Michael Barrett, I know some people are not as high on him as others,

but, man, that guy's in the right place in pass protection all the time. I mean, he makes so many good plays. Seems like, you know, when the ball gets thrown to his zone, he's the one making the tackle. He's right there. I thought he had a very nice game. Hausman just, you know, I think of him more as a run stopper, right? And when you only run for 61 yards,

there's not going to be a lot of opportunities for him to flash. And I think that, you know, Colson and the housemen, both they put in blitz packages a few times. Neither one of them really were effective. And so I think that's where the grade could be. I think they both had him in blitz situations three or four times. And I think in both times they got picked up. So, you know, that could be a reason for the grade.

But I thought a really solid game from them all around and excuse me, zero concern about our linebacker unit. Yeah, no, absolutely. I also just want to point out I had never seen the formation of a quarterback and a running back and a running back. You know, I've seen running backs on both sides. I'd never seen them staggered to the same side. I thought that was interesting. I wondered how PFF may look at that type of formation, what the keys would be depending on the personnel Michigan was in.

They ran a really interesting offense. They didn't really find success until late in the game with the backups in. Again, it's hard to really know what those guys did wrong. I'd love to know the reasoning behind some of these grades. But again, it's the person watching the film and the decision that they're making based on what they think the play should have been, where they think each individual player should be. That's a job that I don't want to do, so I'll let them do it,

and I won't critique too much. Moving on to the DBs, I thought there wasn't too much. I will say a couple plays that I noticed. I thought Keyshawn Harris had great coverage down the sideline coming into the south end zone. Receiver from UNLV kind of had his hands on him, and Keyshawn Harris stuck with him and swatted the ball away. I thought Jair Hill had a great play where he turned back for the ball late in the game. And then Mike Sanderstil's pass breakup. I mean, he tackles the dude into the ground, ball bounces out.

Great play. So those are kind of some of the things that I noticed, but there wasn't a ton for me to say, wow, these guys really struggled. But again, I haven't rewatched it, Brian. So, you know, grades all over the place, by the way. All over the place. We've got Caden Colestarar with a 79 rating almost. And then we've got Cody Jones at a 28.8.

So, you know, some of the younger guys, it looks like they may have struggled according to PFF. I may have been out of the stadium at that point. I don't know. But I'd love to know your thoughts and where some of those concerns are coming for you and, you know, how fixable you think they are. Well, you mentioned Caden Colasar, and you mentioned last week,

you said, you know, sometimes if you don't notice someone in the secondary that could be a good thing kate and coles are played 20 snaps no idea i can remember him playing about two uh and i've watched the game twice uh but you know he grayed out really well and you know to your point him not showing up is probably a good thing here's my thing is uh the corners i think played fine i think you know they're limited i mean keshawn harris former walk-on right like i mean he's yeah yeah love that story love him but you can see his limitations a little bit i thought he was really scrappy i think uh the you know i think he's a pretty good man cover i think when he gets into more schematical more uh cover two more zone type stuff i think he gets lost um schematical, more cover two, more zone type stuff, I think he gets lost.

He was out of position where he had to use his kind of – and that can just be from a lack of experience. He was out of position. But in man coverage, he looked solid. He's scrappy. He gets his hands on guys. He's certainly athletic enough. He looked good.

Mikey Sanders still is just – he's such a treat to watch. He makes so many heady plays he's in the right place he's on the ball all the time uh so the corners you know will johnson was nice to him on the field i think that was interesting to ease you know the thought is if your best cover guy can play you throw him out to the wolves and have him play they kind of eased him in there he just kind of all of a sudden showed up in the second quarter. I know. What's he doing out there?

I saw number two. I was like, wait, did they get Blake on defense? No, he's much taller than that. What's going on? Why is Will in the game? Yeah, and I didn't notice him either. I mean, I was paying attention, but I don't think anything – they were going to throw out Will Johnson.

Right. And he's got to ease back into it like you said. Yeah, but the safety play, I thought maybe the worst safety. I mean, I know it's hard to say, hard to be critical of a game that they don't score till, you know, all the backups are in, but when you watch it, uh, just about every big run play, not that there was a lot of big plays all around, but our safety is out of position. And, you know, some of the plays that got stopped by linebackers and corners, you know, had they not make those plays, our safetyeties were just out of position a lot, a lot, a lot. Key on Saab, you know, he graded out really, really well last game, and we both saw it.

Anyone that watched the game saw it. He didn't grade out so well. This is one where I agree. You know, last week he graded gets made or someone misses a tackle. He's out of position a number of times. And then Quentin Johnson, he's just a guy that I admire. He stuck around. He's in year five or six in the program and it's been a great teammate and a great Wolverine.

But he he was out of position a lot. He took really bad lines on tackles and missed some tackles that you know rod moore makes easily so you know sometimes you we know rod moore is a really good safety yeah and you realize it even more when you watch when you watch guys play his position at a at a lower level it's uh didn't hurt us in a game like this, but we need our starting safeties back. Yeah, and I think, like you said, not going to hurt us now, but definitely want to get those things shored up coming up with some of the bigger games. I think

the thing that I take solace in is knowing the pedigree and the caliber of player that's there waiting right now. Looks like McCarty didn't play. He played last week. So I don't know if hopefully didn't re-aggravate anything. But you've got, you know, three guys that are all all Big Ten level or higher level of talents coming back to the secondary. I also don't think the secondary is going to get tested until Penn State. I mean, I'm thinking about the schedule. Not seeing any.

Maryland's after Penn State, isn't it? I can't remember. I just remember watching Biff Poggi had his fellas up 14-0 on the Terrapins. That game doesn't really scare me as much as maybe it did two weeks ago, thinking about Tua's brother, Talia. But yeah, I mean, they've got a lot of time. And I think the great thing for a guy like Keon Saab, hey man, you're a true sophomore. College football is hard. Being a safety in college football is not easy, right? And so there's going to be a lot of coaching and learning opportunities for these guys. So make the mistakes today. Don't make them in November, right? And that's – I mean, you know, these football players, they're so smart.

They've got incredible work ethics. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in this position. And you'll see the improvement year over year and game over game and week over week, which is just – I think the most fun part about college football to me. You know, guys that go to the NFL are not finished products, but they're so much closer to that. Guys got guys coming in college that are just so raw.

Like that's the best part is seeing the development. And so I have no doubt that the, you know, Michigan's got some great secondary coaches too. So one guy you mentioned him last week that stood out to me in the secondary and up and coming guy that didn't play a ton, but DJ Waller, he's going to be a player he's a physical presence he's all over the place he's uh he looks you know maybe a little bit lost at times but you can tell although everything we've heard this offseason from the coaches it shows he's

gonna be a stud yeah and that's a true freshman very excited i mean you look at how tall he is how lanky he is but he he is, he's just an athlete. And I think he's going to be a stud corner. Also of note, Amarion Walker did not play again. So he must be battling some sort of injury, which I don't, I mean, I, it's obviously would be invaluable for him, for him to get these reps and hopefully get him ready by the end of the season. But I still think he's a guy that's probably a year away. So you want to get him those reps, but I don't know how much of a contribution he'd make to defense at this point in his career.

Probably make a contribution on offense as a deep ball threat or a red zone target. But just that position switch, it is what it is. He's going to take some time to develop and learn that role. So overall, though, man, 35-7. You got any closing thoughts about this win as we head into the third game against Bowling Green coming up on Saturday? No.

I mean, I think, you know, the level of competition they've played, we know what it is, but what else would you want to see? You know what I mean? Our starters haven't played in the fourth quarter. From the opening snap, there's never been – you know, we've had so many years where in these games it's close into the third quarter and you're thinking, what's going on? We've been in total control in both these games and I expect more of the same against Bowling Green. They've stayed relatively healthy. Hopefully they keep that

up. Hopefully they get guys that we talked about, Macari Page, Rod Moore, those guys back, Will Johnson back 100% and have a full arsenal as we enter the Big Ten slate. A lot to be excited about. I think it's – you look across college football this year, and there's not a 2021-2022 Georgia team out there. Alabama looks vulnerable. Florida State, I got to see more of it to believe it.

Same with USC. They don't play defense. I mean, you look at the landscape out there, and I think Michigan's poised to be right there with anybody at the end. So, very excited. Yeah, I feel the same. I mean, it's going to be tough sled for anybody trying to move the ball in this defense, too. I mean, especially once Michigan's able to get back those three starters in the secondary full-time. We talked about the interior D-line play. Talked about the linebackers. Good luck. I mean, you basically got have ohio state's wide receivers to really do anything and

even then michigan has been able to slow them down in the past so um yeah obviously the penn state game's big the ohio state game's big and any potential college football playoff games but man you look at this schedule i i think they can go 12 and 0 again win the big 10 and i know that's really hard to do two years in a row. It's hard to do once. It's hard to win 11 games, right? But this team is just so loaded. I think they're so focused.

And once Jim Harbaugh gets back, I can't wait to see. I think the sky's the limit here. So, yeah, I mean, not much more I needed to see out of the UNLV game. Trying some different things. Going forward on fourth down doesn't work out. It happens. I mean, what's the difference between winning 49 you know, 49-7 versus 35-7? I don't really care.

Right. Agreed. So, we're on to bigger and better things, hopefully, with this team. And, again, they've got Bowling Green coming up at night. So, we'll check out the new lights. So, I will be back next week, Brian, to report on the light show and my thoughts and how it compares to the rest of the upgraded sound system and light system at the Big house with the new scoreboard.

I can't wait to hear about it. I know. Well, I got to tell you because my wife's like, I don't care at all. I got to tell you, man. All right. Well, hey, thank you, everyone, so much for tuning in. You can find us on blueby90.com. You can find us on Twitter at blueby90.

You can find me at Tanner Wootang. You can find Brian at Twitter at BlueBin90. You can find me at Tanner Wutang. You can find Brian at BBsBigHouse1. You can find our podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you find your podcasts. Thanks for listening, and go blue. Go blue.