Pro Football Focuses prides itself on watching every snap of every game (both collegiate and pro), and as a result uncovered an incredible statistic surrounding the Michigan Wolverines' recent football defensive backs.
The outlet searched through the Big Ten to find the conference's five defensive backs who have allowed the lowest completion percentage since 2014, and all five belonged to the Maize and Blue.
Cornerback David Long allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete just 29 percent of their passes against him in 2018, which stands as the league's lowest mark of any defensive back since 2014.
Cornerback Channing Stribling checks in with the next lowest mark, allowing just 30.2 percent of passes to be completed on him in 2016. Long then makes yet another appearance on the list, this time for the 31 completion percentage he yielded as a sophomore in 2017.
Former consensus All-American cornerback Jourdan Lewis slides in at fourth for the 31.7 completion rate he allowed in 2016, while — perhaps to many people's surprise — current redshirt sophomore cornerback Vincent Gray rounds out the list at No. 5 for the 32.4 completion rate he gave up last season.
It's also worth pointing out that all of the aforementioned U-M defensive backs posted lower opposing completion rates than the likes of recent star Ohio State cornerbacks such as Jeff Okudah, Damon Arnette, Gareon Conley, Marshon Lattimore and Eli Apple, all of whom were first-round NFL draft picks.
Talent has undoubtedly been one of the primary reasons Michigan's defensive backs have had so much success during the Jim Harbaugh era (since 2015), but another is due to cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich and the phenomenal tutelage he has provided throughout all five years of the current regime.
The statistics that his position units have posted each of the last five seasons have been nothing short of amazing, and are unmatched by any other program in the nation during that span:
Passing yards allowed per game:
• 2015 — 158.5 (3rd nationally)
• 2016 — 142.5 (1st)
• 2017 — 150.1 (1st)
• 2018 — 147.8 (2nd)
• 2019 — 185.5 (10th)
Opposing completion percentage:
• 2015 — 47.5 (1st)
• 2016 — 43.6 (1st)
• 2017 — 48.8 (3rd)
• 2018 — 49.5 (2nd)
• 2019 — 57.4 (35th)
Total touchdown passes allowed:
• 2015 — 8 (3rd)
• 2016 — 9 (T-4th)
• 2017 — 11 (T-5th)
• 2018 — 14 (T-18th)
• 2019 — 16 (T-25th)
It's fair to expect the Maize and Blue's lights-out defensive back play to continue in 2020, with the aforementioned Gray set to take over as a starter at cornerback, and senior Ambry Thomas — a 2019 midseason Pro Football Focus All-American — in line to start once again as well.
Senior Brad Hawkins will likely reclaim his starting role at safety after a stellar junior campaign, while sophomore Daxton Hill — a preseason pick for the first-team All-Big Ten squad by both Street & Smith's and Athlon — is expected to emerge in a big way after coming to U-M as a five-star prospect and showing plenty of promise as a freshman.
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