Michigan will have to replace a number of starters on defense, including a few stalwarts who spent several years in the starting lineup. Defensive coordinator Don Brown has many options at a number of positions, and one battle in particular will be interesting to watch when the pads go on this week.

Junior Michael Barrett has waited his turn at VIPER linebacker/safety playing behind Khaleke Hudson the last several years. Many assumed it would be his job to lose once Hudson moved on, and they’re probably right. But redshirt freshman Anthony Solomon has added 20-plus pounds since arriving on campus, now up to 212, and he has impressed from the first day he got to Ann Arbor.

Brown noted this week there would be a battle for the spot, and Barrett knows he has to continue to work.

“He has grown a lot since last year,” Barrett said of Solomon. "He is more comfortable with the defense, where he is. Our speed and technique is similar … coverage wise, blitzing wise, we’re very similar.”

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Consistency, then, will be huge, especially now that the team is starting to hit. It’s just as important that whoever wins the job does it well given its importance in Brown’s defense.

“Viper is pretty much a combination of a lot of different positions,” Barrett explained. “Sometimes you’re lined up at safety, slot corner, man to man on the tight end, blitzing. Sometimes you’re lined up like a linebacker.

“As a viper, there’s a lot of versatility. I feel like my skill set versatility wise, coming from offense to defense, I feel like I’m a versatile player and fit pretty good at the viper position. I've played linebacker in high school, so I had experience on the defensive side. When I came over, Coach Brown called me up my freshman year and had me do some defensive drills. He saw I could do all those drills, cover, all those things.”

So Brown put his trust in him to go ‘all-in,’ and it’s paid off. Barrett stuck his nose in the playbook constantly in the offseason to make sure he was prepared. Solomon apparently did, too, to the point that Barrett had to put in even more work.

“I learned the whole defense rather than just my position; learned what everyone else was doing and where I fit into the scheme,” Barrett said. “Physically, my body is in better shape to be able to cover ... everything necessary in the game.

“I feel I've grown since last year both physically and mentally to prepare myself.

He and Solomon both had a great mentor in Hudson, too, who was a lead-by-example guy until last season, when he also became more of a vocal leader.

But he and Solomon learned work ethic from Hudson more than anything, he added, and they’re both going to play. Who sees more action will be determined over the next three weeks, and Barrett — a former high school quarterback — is ready after waiting his turn.

“I miss scoring touchdowns making plays, but I’ve always the been person to say I just like making plays,” he said. “Whether it's offense or defense, as long as I’m making plays, regardless where I'm at, it's a blessing.”

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