Wolverine247 Board

I'm just obsessive and like to (hear myself) talk about football, appreciate the complement, though.

As to the linebackers, the 4-3 under Mattison blitzes a lot, but consistent gap control seems far more important than athleticism for the middle and weakside linebackers. The speed really comes into play with SLB, ends, and three-tech. Those four will do a lot of blitzing and zone-blitz packages in attempts to get them into favorable 1-Gap assignments.

This defense is a little undersized, and that speed off the edge will be very important, as Alabama will likely be able to have their way to some extent up the middle.

I do believe you owe us a little more info. Based upon what you've read on this forum, what do you think will be the most important matchups?

+1 I don't mind obsessive football fans. I'm coming to another team's site to ask about your team, that's not obsessive?
As far as my info, I will say we don't run a 3/4 like everybody says. We have about 5 different setups that we can adjust from one to another in. Our base is a 3/4. But we run nickel more often. We run dime and some rabbit packages as well. We have a "jack" backer (X. Dickson) who plays OLB in 3/4 or can put his hand in the dirt and turn it into a 4/3. We have a safety (V. Sunseri) who was an undersized linebacker who can step up from safety and turn dime into nickel or nickel to 4/3. So we can literally line up in 3/4 then shift all the way to a nickel. That is what is so dangerous for QBs trying to check into a better play at the line.
Our D front is a bunch of big bodies with some, not a lot, of playing time. J. Williams (54) started at end last year now he's starting at nose. That's very different but at 6'4" & 320 I hope he can learn fast because he has the measurables. Ed Stinson (49) is not flashy but can hold down the right end. D. Square (92) is not a prototypical 3/4 end, but has some speed so he may stay on the field in passing situations.
Our LBs will hopefully be our strength. Nico Johnson (32) will lead them from mike. Really good run stopper. Next to him at will (that's on the inside in base) is sophomore T. DePriest (33) who is being groomed to take over in the next year or two, but he's not ready yet. Not exactly sure who is going to play Sam. The leader for it looks to be J. Atchison (19) but he has been oft-injured. Jack will be A. Hubbard (42) ok against the run, serviceable in coverage, but at 6'6" is a beast of an edge rusher. You'll probably see C. J. Mosley (35) in a good bit in different packages. He's the best in coverage. But he is coming off a hip dislocation, so we'll see how much mobility he has back.
Our secondary is not last years secondary. No two ways about it. It will be led by the lone returning starter R. Lester(37) who led the team in INTs year before last, but did not have many stats last year. (Can you see me with my fingers crossed that last year was a fluke, not year before last) Here's to hoping his experience counts for something. D. Milliner (28) who played right corner last year. Now he is going to be playing left. That means he will be asked to be on an island much more often in man coverage. We have V. Sunseri (3) at the other safety spot. Remember he's the former LB. Spark plug. Yes. Headhunter. Yes. Coverage guy... um, more crossed fingers. Right corner will be J. Fulton (10) don't know a lot about him. He's been a backup to a backup. Seen some clean up minutes. Running out of fingers. Next for our nickel and dime we have a couple of JuCo guys Dixon and Belue. Who have spring summer and fall to pick up on a coverage plan that several NFL coaches have said is more complicated than what they run. Now I'm just praying.

denards first play at michigan

If you study this, it will give you a good idea of exactly what you are going up against.

Thanks for your insights can-do! That O-Line is a thing of beauty and would give Bear, Bo, and Woody half-chubs just thinking about it.

Soooo if AJ McCarron gets Colt McCoy'd out of the game on the first drive you might be screwed, that's good news!

That would be why I am so so excited about that line.
And +1 for the halff chubbed woody.

well to be quite frank, and i dont want to get killed on my own board, but you have more confidence in our receivers then I do at this point.now im nort saying they cant be a very good and productive unit, its just that they are a bit unproven.
Yes we do have a good coordinator but i think we may have to both wait till fall camp to find out exactly what we have.

And you are 100 percent correct, this matchup is so fun because of all the history. As you can see though are recruiting is back up to par and i look forward to seeing you in the national championship in the next 2 to 3 years. I mentioned before that our coaches are similar in their way of coaching and hoke is building his team through the trenches. take a look at this years and last years recruiting classes. It will make for a bright future, and we welcome you with your thoughts from here on out

well i think we all would love that but we arent there yet. and remember, those are highlights!

Big +1 for the insight.

The 4-3 Under that Mattison runs is very similar to a 3-4.

I'm thinking Frank Clark will be Michigan's starting WDE, but it'd be roughly the equivalent of your "jack". He will be playing with his hand on the ground, but he will be regularly dropping into zone coverage. Plus he'll probably be playing at 6'2", 230lbs, so he's got less than prototypical lineman size. He's another guy who got a lot better as the season went on and played his best football in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl was encouraging in at least one way: a lot of these guys played well in their new positions.

As for the game, I think Michigan is going to have trouble moving the ball and may need help from your inexperienced secondary on both pass coverage and on the read option to keep up. On defense, if the middle of the line holds up (that is a big if until kickoff) and keeps you from getting five yards on every first down carry, Mattison should be able to find ways to make things very difficult for McCarron and the rest of the Bama offense.

beyer right now is actually the starting wde.....but, clark comes in on 3rd down and 4+. both have similar traits but beyer is the bigger stronger of the 2. and i hate to disagree again, but i dont think our 4-3 looks much like their 3-4. our under looks like a 5-2 most of the time with four down lineman and a lb on los who backs into coverage or blitzes and that was swapped with kovacs(safety) at times. I guess i would really need to go over film but i dont recall seeing us in dime and nickel coverages

Really.
I know ND has a brutal schedule. If your game is at the end of a particularly tough stretch, it may not be as difficult as you are thinking.
Didn't y'all just give the red N a beatdown? And aren't y'all better now? Are they that much improved?
I know rivalry games are always unpredictable, but:
Meyer ain't got Tebow,
And, really, what does sparty have?

oh, wow...

I missed that when it was posted. Just watched it. Now wishing i hadn't.

wow...

The humble frame of mind is almost flattering. Football is based on competition, lately your players are competing against NFL competition at many positions. At this point Alabama players coming into the fold are better equipped. Michigan is working hard at, and seemingly becoming quite successful at loading their guns, if you will. I see a ten point game. I am proud to say that these kids play very hard for coach Hoke, Borges, and Mattison.