Michigan's defensive back depth chart set with emphasis on having options
Rotation, rotation, rotation.
That appears to be the general consensus when looking at the Michigan football depth chart on both sides of the ball heading into the 2022 season. Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke on the In the Trenches podcast this week to break down where his depth chart currently stands coming out of training camp.
RELATED: Everything Jim Harbaugh said about the depth chart on In the Trenches
On defense, the plan is set and the depth chart is mostly settled heading into the Colorado State weekend. Harbaugh knows what he has and knows how it's going to be utilized.
The defensive back group has plenty of returning faces but also has an injection of talented youth that will see the field this season.
At cornerback, DJ Turner will lead the way as the top corner. As for what's after him on the depth chart, the Wolverines have a variety of options to use.
"I feel good that everything is settled and we have a plan moving forward," Harbaugh said. "Take corner for example, DJ Turner, Gemon Green, Mike Sainristil, those are your starting corners. There's two in base but there's three when you go to nickel. Mikey is our starting nickel but they'll interchange in base as well. You've got three starters there. Will Johnson is right there as well coming out of camp. Tremendous, maybe our best freshman that's on the roster. He just looks great at corner. Those four, I consider them all really first-team players."
The Wolverines will be looking to replace the production from Brad Hawkins and first-round NFL talent in Dax Hill at the safety position.
Fortunately, the Wolverines won't have to look too far as production from last season is returning. Harbaugh sees as many as three safeties that could see playing time this season.
"Safety, RJ Moten, Rod Moore and Makari Paige, those are the starting safeties," Harbaugh said. "We do different packages. There's a base where we only do two safeties. You go to a stronger nickel package and you want a third safety in there, we have that. Makari Paige has had a really good camp coming off a really good spring. He's good and ready to go. Kaden Kolesar is the fourth safety and our number one special teams player. We're in good shape there knowing who is lining up and where they're lining up on defense."