Michael Barrett – Syndication Server

How Michael Barrett fits with the Carolina Panthers

The winningest player in program history finds a new home. #GoBlue

With the 240th pick in the NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers selected linebacker Michael Barrett.

Barrett recorded 65 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and three forced fumbles in 2023. Barrett was also voted a team captain in 2023 and has the most wins as a player in program history.

Barrett is the epitome of a ‘glue guy.’ He is the first player in and the last one out, he is a student of the game and understands the value of being coachable. There aren’t many players you would rather have in your locker room from a chemistry and effort point of view.

His best asset is his brain. Barrett doesn’t have the physical traits of his former running mate Junior Colson, but he does understand football on a very deep level. He’s the type of player who can call the defense on the field and understand everybody’s role and fit. After his hopefully long playing career is over, expect to see Barrett move into a coaching role if that’s what he desires.

Barrett joins a Panthers team that is coming off the worst record in football. Of course, Barrett was around for the Michigan program’s overhaul from 2020-2023, so he understands how to be a part of a transitioning team.

So, will Barrett play in year one? It’s doubtful. The Panthers don’t have a strong linebacking group, but Barrett is an outside shot to become a starter regardless. It’s possible he fills in for a potential injury, but Carolina spent their third-round pick on a different linebacker who probably has depth chart priority. Either way, if the situation does come up where Barrett has to play serious snaps on defense, he will be as prepared as possible. For now, I would project him to play mostly on special teams or late in games as a reserve backer.

Panthers select Michigan LB Michael Barrett with 2024 draft’s 240th overall pick

Dan Morgan finished his first draft atop the Panthers front office with a rather appropriate pick.

In case you weren’t aware, Carolina Panthers president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan was once a linebacker. (Crazy, right?)

So maybe it was only right that he finished up his very first draft atop the front office with . . . you guessed it . . . a linebacker!

With the 240th overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft, the Panthers selected University of Michigan linebacker Michael Barrett.

The Valdosta, Ga. native played at the University of Michigan from 2019 to 2023. Over those five seasons, he amassed 208 total tackles (12.5 for a loss), 8.5 sacks, two interceptions, four passes defensed and four forced fumbles.

Barrett doesn’t boast the biggest frame for the position at 5-foot-11 and 233 pounds. But, as has been the theme for Morgan’s selections this weekend, he does play with a steady pursuit and high tenacity.

He is now the second linebacker taken by the Panthers over the past two days, joining third-rounder Trevin Wallace.

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List of linebackers and edges at 2024 Senior Bowl

With the NFL as pass-happy as it is, pass-rushers are extremely valuable. Having a good week in Mobile can also help such players. Just ask the Jets. They have selected an edge that was at the Senior Bowl in the first round in each of the last two drafts — Jermaine Johnson, 2022; Will McDonald, 2023.

Could the Jets add another this year? Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will get a close eye on some of these players as the American team head coach. Not just Ulbrich, but linebackers coach Nathaniel Willingham as well, as he will be on the coaching staff. Joining Willingham is Imarjaye Albury of the Vikings, Rob Leonard of the Raiders and Cato June of the Colts. [anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]Here’s who’s in Mobile this week at the edge and linebacker positions.

Mike Barrett: All we heard was about Washington offense, not Michigan football defense

Everyone doubted them but they proved to be the best! #GoBlue

HOUSTON — Facing TCU in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinal was supposed to be just a formality for the seemingly superior Michigan football team.

Yet, once the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl ended, the result was the same as the 2021 College Football Playoff: Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was loitering on the field watching the other team celebrate.

After the game, McCarthy was short and sweet: The team didn’t do enough, but it would be back. He walked off the dais in Phoenix after saying his piece.

His teammates took that to heart. Doubted all the way, picked against at every stage by multiple pundits (such as Pat McAfee), these Wolverines used that as fuel to propel themselves past Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington in the national championship game.

“We all knew what kind of team we had, what kind of defense we had,” sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett said. “We fell short the last couple years and like J.J. said, man, we was gonna be back, Blake Corum was coming back. And all of us had his back. He made that promise we had to go get that for him.”

In the week leading up to the national championship game, the narrative was about the Washington offense led by former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Though the Huskies were similarly doubted, many of the same pundits who were low on UW suddenly looked at the explosive offense and deemed it to be too much for the Wolverines.

Yes, Washington entered the championship game as the No. 1 offense, but Michigan had the No. 1 defense. The question frequently asked: How were the Wolverines going to stop Penix and receivers Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk. Another was how the maize and blue would keep stride with an offense that assuredly would score in bunches?

Well, it turned out that the winning score came in the first quarter — on running back Donovan Edwards’ second touchdown scamper. Barrett said that the defense took to heart the challenge in front of it and knew that it had something special — no matter what was thrown against it.

“Everybody always asked us how we were gonna do something to get somebody else man like we’re not the best team and we’re not the best defense in the country,” Barrett said. “How were they gonna move the ball on us was real question. We just came up and just executed, man. We came up, prepared the same way we prepare all week, all year long, man, and just trusting each other man that we’re gonna go out there and execute on all three levels.”

Barrett has played his last game in a winged helmet, but will continue to celebrate. The Wolverines will hold a parade and pep rally in Ann Arbor on Saturday to celebrate the 2023 national championship win.

Michigan football players: A loss to Ohio State on Saturday would render 2023 season worthless

Just beat Ohio State. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For both Michigan football and Ohio State, everything is on the line Saturday when the undefeated teams face off for The Game. The winner will advance to the Big Ten Championship Game to face Iowa and will have an inside track to a top two seed in the College Football Playoff semifinals — the last time it will be a four-team invitational. The loser will miss out on the former and almost certainly the latter.

Considering the ‘championship or bust’ mentality in Ann Arbor all offseason, losing is not an option for the Wolverines.

With a weak nonconference schedule and having only faced one ranked team in Penn State thus far, Saturday provides an opportunity to show that the early-season dominance wasn’t just beating up on bad teams, but that it was just evidence of who the Wolverines have been all along. Given all of the off-field allegations surrounding the maize and blue, a win would also silence many of Michigan’s critics — many, but not all.

For senior left guard Trevor Keegan, this game is so paramount in importance, a loss would completely erase any good things that took place in those games that precede The Game.

“We think about that every day. This is a game that we prepare for. We don’t win this game, the season doesn’t matter,” Keegan said. “All of our goals are right there in front of us, we want to go the national championship, we want to win the Big Ten championship. And we’ve got to beat the team down south in order to do that. So I mean — most definitely.”

Michigan entered the season with five goals, in this order: beat Michigan State, beat Penn State, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, win the national championship. The first two have been accomplished, but neither of the latter two can be accomplished without the middle one, which is arguably the most important of the five.

The Wolverines don’t want to settle for a New Year’s Six bowl game, they want to make their third straight College Football Playoff appearance. Sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett echoed Keegan’s sentiments while noting the importance of The Game in this moment.

“That’s kind of every season. We always know we got that big one at the end of the year that kind of matters more than the rest of them,” Barrett said. “We’ve had our goals from the beginning. And we’ve knocked them all off. And they’re the next team in a way. So if we don’t win this game, then yeah, like our season pretty much be over.

“We can’t get our next goal without getting to this one, without over getting over this one. So yeah, I could agree with that.”

Senior right guard Zak Zinter noted, like Barrett, it’s one of many goals for the maize and blue. And now that it’s here on Michigan’s doorstep, it’s time to scratch it off the list.

“It’s just one of our goals that we’ve had all year,” Zinter said. “Beat Michigan State, Penn State, the next one’s up. So we’re gonna do everything we can do that.”

Michigan football is a boa constrictor that relishes suffocating its prey

The players are leaning into their new identity. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Even when it appears that one of the teams on Michigan’s schedule starts providing a challenge, it’s been awfully short-lived. Such was the case for Indiana in Week 7, much like Rutgers in Week 4 and Bowling Green in Week 3.

After two straight weeks of shutting down the opposition from the jump, the Wolverines returned home and let the Hoosiers march down the field for a touchdown on the second drive. Conversely, the offense couldn’t seem to move the ball, going three-and-out on the two opening offensive possessions.

But after that — pure domination.

Joel Klatt, the Fox Sports analyst, has likened Michigan football to a boa constrictor being in a small room with you. You’re going to have some fight, but eventually, the serpent will choke you to death. With the Wolverines having won 10 straight games by 30 or more points, you’re seeing the death in live action.

These players can even sense the moment when the opposition has given up, and it appears to be the focus of the team every game now.

“My favorite thing is watching them like their hope slowly go away,” sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett said. “Watching that fight, just kind of diminish away from them. And just kind of get to the point to where they’re just like, ‘Let’s go home.” That’s kind of my favorite feeling. When you can just kind of feel that extra oomph go away. I think that that’s kind of what it is.”

“Similar to what Mike B. said, over the course of the game, how are we playing, we start to see some of their passion diminish,” sophomore safety Keon Sabb added. “Like a boa constrictor, you want to just keep applying pressure at all times until the end of the game.”

Ultimately, this is a confident bunch that knows what the ultimate goal is: a national championship.

The schedule has not yet been a challenge, but that will change in short order with a rivalry game against Michigan State coming up and Penn State, Maryland, and Ohio State forthcoming in November.

And, in the meantime, as Michigan dominates, the team appears to be a reflection of its head coach, as Barrett says.

“Like coach always says, ‘We’re in the (expletive)-kickin’ business, and business is booming!’ You got to keep it going.”

Michigan football turns focus to MSU, but not focused on tunnel incident

Maturity from #Michigan, not surprised. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Now that Indiana has been vanquished, Michigan football can officially turn its focus to a rivalry game, one it’s certainly been looking forward to for nearly a year.

The Wolverines beat in-state rival Michigan State, 29-7, last year, but the postgame felt like a loss after two players were accosted in the stadium tunnel following the game. While that will certainly be a storyline all week for both sides, along with the sudden firing of MSU head coach Mel Tucker a few weeks ago, the current Wolverines are worried about just one thing: winning the game and retaining the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

“Just treat it like any other game, honestly,” sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett said. “Prepare the same way we prepare every week. It’s that week now so we can finally start looking into them. But we kind of treat everybody the same — nameless, faceless opponents. We just prepare the same way each week prepare as hard as we can just go from there.

“But like just showing, telling all the younger guys, just gonna prepare because like it’s a rivalry game, right? These games always gonna be tough, always gonna be gritty. Probably going to end up raining, be like a tsunami or something like that. You never know with this kind of game. So just kind of get to prepare for anything, just getting ready.”

Has Michigan been particularly champing at the bit to play the Spartans to avenge what happened in the aftermath of last year’s game?

Senior wide receiver Roman Wilson says no, that the team isn’t thinking about last year, it’s focused solely on perfection this year. If the maize and blue prepare as they have all year long and play similarly, they’ll get the win, which is what matters most.

“Me personally, I don’t think so,” Wilson said. ” They’re always going to come in here, no matter where we’re at. They’re going to try to kick our (expletive deleted), you gotta have that same energy every time. It doesn’t matter what happens after the game, before the game. All that matters is what happens when we step on that field. So no, it doesn’t bother me at all.”

Entering the game, Michigan is undefeated at 7-0 while Michigan State is 2-4 after losing to Rutgers in dramatic fashion in Week 7. The game will take place at Spartan Stadium where Jim Harbaugh is 2-1, and kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBC.

These Michigan football freshmen are impressing in fall camp

Excited to hear some of these names! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While Michigan football’s 2023 freshman class isn’t exactly making national headlines for how good it is on paper, there are several who are impressing a few of the team captains in fall camp.

We got a glimpse of a few in the spring game — running back Benjamin Hall, wide receiver Fredrick Moore, and cornerback Jyaire Hill — but who are some of the other first-year players who have made a strong, early impression?

Sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett has liked a lot of what he’s seen, almost particularly on his side of the ball, though a few offensive players have also stood out to him. Barrett feels that once they get more acclimated and don’t have to split time with the freshman ‘bridge’ program, where they miss some time in camp for the classroom, that the group will really move to the next level.

“This freshman class, they got a lot of young dogs on there,” Barrett said. “On the edge, you have (Enow) Etta, I like the guys in our room and they’re working, man. So we got a couple of young guys — Jason Hewlett, Semaj Bridgeman, Hayden (Moore). A guy like, like I said, Semaj Morgan on the offensive side, we’ve got Fred (Moore) on the offensive side. Yeah, we got a lot of young talent. DJ Waller, he’s working.

“A lot of young talent how that I feel like once they get comfortable, out of the classes — they’re working at bridge during the summer and during this time so they really couldn’t have the full time to be with us and learn everything. But I feel like once they get comfortable in the building and up and kind of go out the process, they’re definitely gonna make a lot of plays.”

Nickel Mike Sainristil has a little more familiarity with DJ Waller, as the former three-star and late addition from Ohio is in his position group. Waller has garnered some praise of late in fall camp and Sainristil explains exactly why there’s some newfound excitement about the player from Youngstown.

“DJ Waller — I think for his size, he’s very freaky,” Sainristil said. “Like he moves very well for his size, he runs better than people might think because of his size. And for him, I feel like once he does understand that, once he does get the overall concept of our defense, and once it slows down for him, he’s gonna be a really special player here.”

Fans will get their first chance to potentially see many of the aforementioned on Sept. 2, when the Wolverines host ECU for the noon season-opener at The Big House.

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Michigan football team captains reflect on pivotal moment when they knew they’d beat Ohio State in 2022

Now this is leadership in the most crucial of moments! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As Michigan football was working to secure a rarefied victory against Ohio State in Columbus — something that hadn’t been done in 20 years at that point — the Wolverines needed a spark. They needed some leadership.

But it wasn’t Jim Harbaugh or team coaches that provided it. It was player-led.

The maize and blue were galvanized on the sidelines when cornerback Mike Sainristil and linebacker Michael Barrett gave an impassioned plea to their teammates about the moment at hand. The Game was tight in the second half for a while, with the Wolverines wresting away a Buckeye halftime lead. But OSU was starting to fret, as its vaunted offense could do next to nothing while the visitors marched right down the field for a methodical touchdown. The defense had to hold serve, and that’s where the defensive duo came in.

Sainristil was seen as the ringleader of the sideline speech, and he backed it up with action, keeping tight end Cade Stover from catching a sure touchdown pass and forcing Ohio State to settle for a field goal. Michigan scored a long touchdown by Donovan Edwards in the immediate aftermath, essentially sealing the game. The Michigan nickelback says that his speech wasn’t planned, it was just something that happened in the moment.

“I will say nothing about that was forced,” Sainristil said. “Like I’ve mentioned before, that was just something that I noticed, how the opposing sideline looked. And I was like, ‘You know what? Right now, it’d be a great time to tell these guys, let’s keep going, this game’s not over. We just need to keep the foot on the gas. And just take everything away from those guys.’ Because their demeanor showed that it was over. We’re on our sideline energetic. And I just wanted to let everybody know if you keep going your hardest for four to six seconds per play, this game will be ours at the end. So that’s just something that I felt in my heart, I had to say at the time.”

Sainristil already had a captaincy in Ann Arbor, but Barrett didn’t earn one until this week, 10 months after that game. Yet, he exuded leadership in that moment.

For him, it was just a moment where he recognized that the almighty Buckeyes were down — not just in score, but emotionally — and that it was the perfect opportunity for the Wolverines to take advantage.

“We just knew we were playing a great game at that point,” Barrett said. “And just looking over to their sideline, just kind of seeing the defeat in their eyes and hanging their heads. We just wanted to get everyone together just let everyone know it’s our time to go finish this — like we’re here now. We know what we want to do, we know what we want to accomplish. Let’s go do it. There’s no point like — we see they’re defeated. Let’s go stomp them while they’re down.”

Michigan has now won two straight in the series and very well could be favored to win a third once The Game arrives in late November.

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Two linebackers impressing Michigan football veteran in fall camp

This group is getting to be exciting! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After being somewhere between questionable and a liability for years and years, Michigan football now appears to have a linebacker corps that’s deep and primed to impress in 2023.

Former position coach George Helow definitely elevated the group and did what he could considering there were few top-flight recruits in the room. But now with Chris Partridge back coaching the position, there is more ample personnel to go along with those who have cemented themselves recently.

One player who really improved over his career is Michael Barrett. The former high school quarterback at Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes really came into his own late last year, but there are some challenges this year given how deep the room is.

Though junior Junior Colson is considered the leader of the group, Barrett sees two others who are standing out now in fall camp.

“Jaydon Hood — I feel like he’s made a big step from last year,” Barrett said. “He’s coming along I feel — like really fast. Learning and being able to help us step into that next spot. Ernest (Hausmann) — like I said, he’s jumped coming along fast. He’s really impressed me just by how fast he’s been able to pick it up. Moving around as being comfortable in the defense already just being here, what, six months? So that’s really impressive.”

Hood is a former four-star who has really taken his time to develop, but there’s perhaps no more exciting name than Ernest Hausmann. A transfer from Nebraska entering his second year, Hausmann impressed in the spring game and is fighting Barrett for playing time.

What’s made him so good and such a formidable fall camp opponent in Barrett’s eyes? The sixth-year positional journeyman sees a young buck who has latched on quickly to what the defensive coaches are looking for.

“A quick learner, came in ready to learn, ready to work,” Barrett said. “Yeah, we push each other every day, just in our room. And in general, I feel like we just all kind of pushing each other, helping each other get better. It’s never any tension in the room, it’s always one to help the other, one be better and set up ourselves get better. So he’s just came in with just that will to learn, that grind that we’ve been looking for. And he’s definitely gonna help us a lot this year.”

Hausmann is up 17 pounds to 237 after weighing in at 220 for his freshman year in Lincoln. Expect to see him early and often throughout the year. And if Hood has come along, it will be interesting to see if he or sophomore Jimmy Rolder is one of the premier reserves who gets his name called early.

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