The Michigan Wolverines' football defense is set to possess yet another dominant unit under defensive coordinator Don Brown in 2020, with several of last season's standouts back for another year.
Is it in line to be the best defense in the Big Ten, however? Several other teams can make a case as well, with TheWolverine's Austin Fox and Clayton Sayfie providing their takes below as to which unit is set to be the conference's finest.
Austin Fox — Buy
After a bit of a ‘disappointing’ defensive showing in 2019 (if it’s even fair to call it that; U-M’s defense finished No. 11 in the country), the 2020 Wolverine defense looks ready to return to the form it had under Don Brown from 2016-18 when it finished top three in the nation each of those years.
Loaded with plenty of proven experience and young talent waiting to emerge, it would be a bit of a disappointment if Brown’s crew didn’t finish in the top seven (or so) of the national rankings in 2020.
In a league loaded with elite defenses on a yearly basis, however, (five of the game’s top 12 defenses resided in the Big Ten last year), does Michigan’s stand above all the others?
Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa are the top contenders for that title, with the former unsurprisingly appearing to field the best unit of the trio. That’s not to say the Buckeyes don’t have a few question marks (who will start at cornerback opposite redshirt junior Shaun Wade, and how will junior Josh Proctor perform in an expanded role as the only safety with experience on the roster?), with perhaps the biggest concern of all being the departure of co-defensive coordinator Jeff Halfley to Boston College.
Ohio State’s defense ranked a dismal 71st in the nation in 2018 prior to Halfley’s arrival, before the 41-year old helped elevate them to the No. 1 unit in the nation alongside Greg Mattison in 2019.
The Buckeyes are still loaded with talent on that side of the ball, but it’s fair to expect at least a slight drop off with Mattison and Kerry Coombs now running the show, and not Halfley.
One of the strengths of Michigan’s defense in 2020 is that it possesses very few question marks, with proven commodities at almost every position. The only two starting spots where question marks lie are at viper where redshirt sophomore Michael Barrett is expected to start, and at the defensive tackle spot opposite fifth-year senior Carlo Kemp where sophomore Chris Hinton is expected to earn the job.
Both Barrett and Hinton are unknowns (especially the former), but there isn’t much concern surrounding either player. Hinton was a five-star out of high school and began to emerge late last season, while Barrett has already gotten his feet wet on special teams and has been raved about by teammates while biding his time behind previous viper Khaleke Hudson.
Additionally, Barrett will be brought along by two proven players in the linebacking unit in redshirt sophomore Cam McGrone and redshirt junior Josh Ross, while Hinton will have the same luxury along the defensive front playing next to Kemp and arguably the best defensive end duo in the Big Ten in senior Kwity Paye and junior Aidan Hutchinson.
The secondary, meanwhile, is loaded once again, with U-M possessing arguably the two best safeties in the entire Big Ten in senior Brad Hawkins and sophomore Daxton Hill. Senior Ambry Thomas is expected to repeat as one of the best cornerbacks in the league, while redshirt sophomore Vincent Gray appears to be following that same path.
Depth is a concern at several spots for the Maize and Blue, but the 11 starters are rock solid. The best defense in the Big Ten is basically a coin flip between Michigan and Ohio State, with those two clubs checking in a notch higher than Iowa and Wisconsin, who own the next best units.
Clayton Sayfie — Buy
It’s not a hot take to say Michigan’s defense will be very good in 2020. In each year under Don Brown, the Wolverines have finished top-11 nationally in total defense, with top-three finishes in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Last season was that lone finish outside the top-three. We’ll say Brown’s unit will be improved in 2020 and is able to survive the key losses of linebackers Jordan Glasgow, Khaleke Hudson and Josh Uche, as well as cornerback LaVert Hill and safety Josh Metellus.
The end duo of junior Aidan Hutchinson and senior Kwity Paye that combined for 23 tackles for loss and 11 sacks is coming back, and so are other key pieces (that will be better and more experienced) such as senior safety Brad Hawkins, sophomore safety Dax Hill, fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp, redshirt sophomore linebacker Cam McGrone and senior corner Ambry Thomas.
We, along with some experts, believe the line and the secondary will be better than they were in 2019, with more explosiveness. Will that be enough, however, to make the leap from No. 4 in the Big Ten in total defense and No. 5 in scoring defense all the way back up to the top of the conference?
Ultimately, yes. When you look at the roster composition of other Big Ten teams with a shot at having the conference’s best defense, Michigan’s has the most proven talent spread out across its unit, evidenced by four first-team preseason All-Big Ten selections by Athlon Sports (Hill, Hutchinson, Paye and Thomas) and a pair, McGrone and Kemp, on the second and third team, respectively.
A new coordinator at Ohio State (Kerry Coombs) is tasked with piecing together a very talented defense primed to reload, but one that only has three starters returning after losing corner Jeff Okudah, defensive end Chase Young and others.
Penn State has one of the best defenders in the conference in All-American junior linebacker Micah Parsons, along with plenty more talent, but it’s unclear whether the Nittany Lions will be much better in pass coverage, an area in which they gave up 251.5 yards per game in 2019 (13th in the Big Ten).
Wisconsin has nine starters returning and should be very good once again, but there’s question marks at linebacker, outside of junior middle ‘backer Jack Sanborn, that need to be answered.
We’ll give Michigan a slight edge over (in order) Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State. Still, the Maize and Blue must prove it against the Buckeyes (and other elite offenses), who have scored a combined 118 points on Brown’s defenses over the last two seasons.
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