This defense is going to be better than people think. #GoBlue
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There seems to be a lot of hyperbole coming out of Schembechler Hall in regards to the new-look defense. Now, the defense isn’t new-look due to there being a new defensive coordinator in Jesse Minter, but instead, it’ll be different by virtue of that side of the ball having lost seven starters from last year.
Pundits will tell you that this year’s Michigan defense is doomed as a result — especially considering three of those seven starters ended up going in the first two rounds of the 2022 NFL draft — Aidan Hutchinson at No. 2 overall. What they won’t tell you is that, in a way, the Wolverines return nine players who either were full-time starters last year or that have started games at one point or another. What’s more, every expected contributor that isn’t a freshman has played significant minutes at some point in the past two seasons.
One such player who has started games for the maize and blue but wasn’t one of last year’s ‘starters’ is safety RJ Moten, who’s entering his third season. He sees a group on defense that really could improve upon last year’s 20th-ranked squad.
“We all are confident,” Moten said. “Most of us played in a couple games last year. We got a couple new guys getting ready to play this year. But with the leadership, with the guys that have been in the fire before, I think we’ll be able to all come back as a defense and be better and see bigger than last year.”
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He may be waxing poetic, but Michigan has consistently fielded a top-tier defense. 2021 actually was the second-lowest output via total defensive yards per game given up in the Jim Harbaugh era, with 2020 being the actual outlier. Every other defense since 2015 has been, at worst, ranked 11th overall.
This offseason, Harbaugh has been espousing the notion that this defense will improve upon last year’s output, despite having ‘no-stars.’ Asked about the concept, Moten actually sees it quite the other way around.
“We’re all-stars. I swear!” Moten said. “Everybody, every person that will play this year is a star. I don’t care what the critics say, I don’t care what anybody else says, we will be the best defense in the nation.
“We all know what we’re doing. We’re a lot hungrier. Everybody is chasing that same goal. The obnoxious communication comes along with it. We understand what we’re doing. We all understand our parts and we’re just ready.”
One of the things we’ve heard about coming out of the first week of fall camp is that the defense’s communication has been significantly improved. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and co-coordinator Steve Clinkscale calls it ‘obnoxious communication’ — but what does that mean? Why has it changed?
Again, it’s a trait that Moten feels will lead this year’s group to being among the elite from a defensive standpoint.
“The obnoxious communication just comes from everybody understanding — like I said, what one-11th is,” Moten said. “And you’ll see us out there, our pre-snap communication, we’ll see something that somebody is doing and then we’re all saying, ‘Oh, he’s about to motion. Alright, so what’s that check we’re going to?’ Understanding, but it just seems like we’re all on the same page. We all understand what’s about to happen and what we’re supposed to do. If we have obnoxious communication, I think we could be the best defense in the nation.”
Moten says that while some of the communication was there a year ago, it really is a new thing for this group, that it’s bringing in.
“Freshman year, not really; last year, a little bit — but this year, since I think it’s our second year in the defense,” Moten said. “Everybody’s comfortable and definitely has stepped it up.”
Overall, while there is no obvious No. 1 overall pick on this defense — though Mazi Smith being ranked the No. 1 ‘freak’ in college football certainly gives him an argument — the fact that this group is playing cohesive football, at least through a week of fall camp, gives a lot of promise to a group that was expected to have a fall-off year.
“I feel like everything’s just the way it’s supposed to be,” Moten said. “We understand defense, our tackling has gotten better, our coverage obviously has gotten better. We’re able to put little things in. I really think the whole defense is just like what it’s supposed to be right now.”
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