Michigan Football: What We’ve Picked Up Halfway Through Camp — The Defense

The 2019 Michigan Wolverines football team opens the season Aug. 31 against Middle Tennessee State. Here’s what we’ve picked up about the defense (on and off the record) halfway through camp, position by position.

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LINEBACKERS

Replacing Devin Bush won’t be easy, but this is the deepest group the Wolverines have had in a long time. There are five guys vying for the middle (MIKE) and weakside (WILL) spots, and most of them are interchangeable, with a few exceptions.

Junior Josh Ross is the leader of this group and has met expectations this fall after coordinator Don Brown called him “one of the brightest linebackers I’ve ever coached.” He missed the spring with an injury but hasn’t suffered for it in camp. He’s perfectly suited for the MIKE and a big hitter.

Redshirt frosh Cam McGrone could play MIKE or WILL and is “coming on like gangbusters,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said recently. He’s the fastest of the five. Fifth-year senior Jordan Glasgow has been working with the ones at times at WILL (the position for which he’s best suited, though he could also play VIPER – the fact that redshirt frosh Michael Barrett has really started coming on there has allowed him to play a lot inside).

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