Michigan will put on the pads for the first time tomorrow, it appears, at which point the men will be separated from the boys. However, like the offense, several have put themselves in position to make a move on the depth chart heading into padded practice.
One in particular — 6-2 fullback turned linebacker Ben VanSumeren — has already been the surprise of fall camp.
“We've been going at it for a while now … mid-June, so a couple weeks there, four weeks in July, August and now September,” defensive coordinator Don Brown noted. “We've really been at it. Coach [Jim Harbaugh] has done a great job of maximizing our practice ability based on the rules in place for us to practice.
“I really feel even based on our limitations of no shoulder pads and those kinds of things, we're in very good shape schematically, conditioning wise. We need to get the pads on, bumping around a but we’re definitely on track in terms of preparation for Oct. 24.”
They already know how physical VanSumeren is with pads on, Brown noted. He still has a long way to go and needs every bit of the next three-plus weeks to prepare, but he’s currently the leader at the SAM position over redshirt frosh David Ojabo and others.
His ascent isn’t a total surprise given that he was recruited by several schools for defense, but it is still one of the biggest fall eye-openers to date.
