SB Nation - Brandon Harrison

2009 Michigan Football, Position by Position: Safety and Safety Recruiting

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:08:21 -0000

Going into the 2009 season there are three positions on the Michigan Defense that are causing a great amount of concern among the Michigan faithful. Cornerback. Defensive Tackle. Safety. All three of these positions have highly touted players starting for the Wolverines. All three of these positions are also an injury away from becoming an aneurysm inducing mess. In an effort to assuage those fears (or stoke them like coals in a furnace) we'll be taking a look at Michigan Football's positions of need, the quality in place, the replacements on the way, and recruits that hopefully will carry the load for Michigan going forward.

Safety

Just like Cornerback, Michigan fans have a deep abiding love for the safety position. Some of our favorite and most important players manned the safety position for the Wolverines during all those championship seasons of yore. And by "Yore" I mean every year up to 2007. Just like with Defensive Tackle at Michigan, Safety has it's own iconic photograph.

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. For a very long time being a safety at Michigan meant you were one bad mutha'. You hit like freight train and moved like a Maserati. Think about the guys that have played there: Marcus Ray, Ty Law (CB and S, IIRC), Tripp Wellborne, Brad Cochran, and Don Dufek. And that's before I get into the Ernest Shazors, the Jamar Adams, and many other outstanding young men who patroled the deep defensive backfield for Michigan. There's some history there. And some well earned Michigan pride.

But safety ain't a position for the faint of heart. After Middle Linebacker, it's arguably the most complicated position on the defensive side of the ball. Imagine having to make split second decisions on whether to rush the line on a hand off or back pedal because the hand-off may just be play action or head to the middle of the field because the tight end is getting behind the backer or...

You get the picture.

It's not easy. And as a result, from time to time, you're going to have down periods. In 2007 Michigan was woeful at safety early on, despite the presence of Jamar Adams (a safety I still consider to be pretty good) and diminutive run stopper Brandent Englemon. In 2008? Good lord. That can only be categorized as absolute disaster. No one could get the job done in deep coverage or in run support: Stevie Brown, Brandon Harrison, Mike Williams, and Charles Stewart were all equally culpable. It got so bad the Donovan Warren had to be shifted from corner to safety in an attempt to stop the hemoraging. It didn't help. Michigan ended up 87th in the country in pass defense, giving up 230 yards per game in the air. Quarterbacks completed 57.7% of their passes and threw for 19 TDs. When you consider Michigan only picked 9 balls all season, it was as bad as you remember.

So where does that leave us at safety for 2009?

(The answer after the jump....)

With Michigan's move to the 3-4 defense, you're going to see some differences in who lines up where this season. The most notable change will be moving Stevie Brown from safety to hybrid/deathbacker as the fourth linebacker in the scheme. Like the rest of the Michigan team, it's impossible to classify his season as anything more than dissapointing. The switch from Ron English to Scot Shafer went about as smoothly as a brick boat passing through a sea of Legos, and I can't think of a player that suffered more as a result of it. Whether it was miscommunications, blown assignments, or bad luck, Brown found himself routinely looking at the backs of receivers as the sprinted to the endzone. I think, after three years, it's safe to say deep coverage isn't his strong suit. On the other hand, Brown seems to excel close to the line of scrimage.

Brown's size and speed truly make him ideal for the deathbacker position in the 3-4. At 6'0", 220, Brown has the size and strength to play close to the line without getting burried by a lineman. According to camp reports he's taken very quickly to the new position and has earned praise from his teammates and coaches for his efforts. Playing a former safety near the line will also help the defense against spread attacks as Brown can line up over the slot reciever without there being a significant mismatch in coverage. But most importantly, the move takes Brown away from a responsibility I'm not sure he was capable of managing, and puts him in a position where his physical tools can be maximized. All that said, stop me if you've heard this before. After three years of waiting for Brown to be that next great safety or even a more than break even contributor, this is it. I hope he's up for it.

Brown's transition does create some different issues. While no one will protest moving him closer to the line, or having a dude with speed over the slot receiver, the question becomes who is back there if Brown's not? With Brandon Harrison's departure to graduation (God speed, Brandon, you were alwasy one of my favorite players), Michigan will be playing two safeties with no starting experience at safety and at least one safety who's never played in a college game!

At this point the smart money is on Mike Williams (RS So.) and Vladimir Emilien (Fr.) starting at strong and free safety, respectively. Mike Williams came into Michigan as the 15th rated safety in the 2007 class and a bonafide 4* recruit. Williams was an Army HS All-American and has been fairly impressive in the playing time he's received. Most importantly, Williams has the respect of the older players on the team, particularly Brown:

"Just being around Mike, I know how Mike is, and he will never turn down a hit regardless of who it is or how big they are."

So, barring injury, it looks like Safety No. 1 is spoken for. Likely backing Williams up will be Troy Woolfolk (Jr.). Woolfolk was another defensive back that the services agreed upon, both ranking him the #44 CB in the country in the 2007 class. Last season, after playing on special teams and in the nickle packages, Woolfolk was moved to safety during spring practices and seems to have excelled. Much like Williams, Woolfolk has a good deal of speed and enjoys inflicting pain on opposing receivers. Both were described as big hitters as opposed to pure coverage guys, so I'm not entirely sure how well they'll do once the ball is in the air. Given their athleticism and the praise coming their way so far, I'll put on my rose colored glasses and say going into the season, they appear to be an upgrade over last season's strong safety play. But how much of one is anyone's guess.

At free safety, Emilien (or Vlad the Impailer as he will be envitiably called) appears to have the inside track. Vlad's incoming pub from the recruiting services was mixed. Scout had him as a 3* safety and #42 at that position for the 2009 class. Rivals was far more positive, saying 4* and #14 safety in the class. The reason, or at least likely reason for the dispairity was a junior year ACL tear that cost Vlad his senior year. However, camp reports say the kid can fly and that he's a much better "cover" safety than first indicated.

After Vlad, your guess is as good as mine. Stevie Brown mentioned walk-on transfer Jared Van Slyke (son of Andy Van Slyke) as the next "cover guy" after Emilien. Van Slyke sat out last season after transferring from Southeast Missouri State where he played very little at quarterback and DB. Here's the blurb:

2007: Played in one game as a backup quarterback ... saw action in relief at Samford ... rushed one time for four yards ... lone pass attempt was intercepted.

Van Slyke was an unrated quarterback recruit that showed up on Northwestern's radar at one point and promptly dropped off it when no scholarship materialized. He's been shifted to safety since he transfered and appears to be one of the back-up options as practice rolls on.

Only two other players seem to merit consdieration for playing time at safety, Thomas Gordon (Fr.) and Justin Turner (Fr.). If you ever wanted to see what it's like when a scouting service drools all over itself about a recruit, check out Turner's Rivals page. Turner was rated the #3 safety by both services, but showed so well at the U.S. Army All American game that he's now looked at as a pure corner prospect. My understanding is that Turner is will be on campus, qualified, and in the weight room shortly, but we're still waiting on some clearinghouse issues (HT: Mgoblog). Given the lack of depth at safety, even though I'm certain the coaching staff would love to redshirt him, you're probably going to see Turner in the defensive backfield. He's just too talented. When you're the No. 1 rated recruit out of Ohio, expectations tend to be high.

Gordon's a little bit more of an unknown to me. He was a 2/3 star recruit, seemingly without a position. Earning the dreaded ATH designation from Rivals. Oddly, his Scout bio was fairly complimentary for a kid they rank as a 2 star.

Gordon is very solidly built. He is a strong kid and shows good straight line speed. Having only played one year of safety, he must refine his technique in terms of man to man coverage, in particular, improving his backpedal and breaks. However, he shows very natural instincts and anticipation as well as good ball skills. He is a good athlete who can go up and either intercept passes or break them up. He is also a solid tackler. - Allen Trieu

So, that's good. Right?

Just based on guru ratings, the likely top four should be fairly capable. Williams, Emilien, Woolfolk, Turner are all big time recruits with solid offer sheets. Hopefully, they'll live up to their billings in their first years, and Michigan fans will be on their way to erasing some painful memories. I hope. It's not going to be an easy season when you're starting two new guys at any position, let alone safety. So keep your fingers crossed.

As you can tell from the above, there is plenty of space on the roster for a couple of good safeties. The unfortunate thing about safety recruiting over the last five years has been Michigan's insistence on recruiting safeties to play Linebacker. Yes. I get it. Kids grow, their frames, speed, blah, blah, blah. But we need some firggin safety recruits that will, you know, play SAFETY!

For the 2010 class, it's anyone's guess how things will shake out. The only committed safety in the class is uber-stud Marvin Robinson out of Florida. Robinson's a concensus four star, and Scout has him as the #10 safety in the class. However, in keeping with Michigan's habits, Rivals projects Robinson as an OLB (#11). Lovely. Whatever, we need help there too, I guess.

There are still a number of 2010 safeties on the board, including Dietrich Riley, Marquis Flowers, Sean Parker, and Brandon Ifill. Of the group, however, only Ifill looks like a solid possibility to commit (being a teammate of covetted Corner Cullen Christian). Unlike at Defensive Tackle or Corner, getting guys to campus to take a peak has been somewhat difficult.

One player who will definitely see campus is Sean Parker, who is reportedly set on an official visit to Michigan in the fall. Dietrich Riley also reportedly liked Michigan, but based on his rivals and scout pages, it may come down to beating out hometown USC for his services. After these two and Ifill, your guess is as good as mine.

What it all means is that Michigan is insanely young at a critical position, but also insanely inexperienced and thin. Injuries to Williams, Emilien, or Woolfolk, and Michigan will be relying on walkons, converted cornerbacks, and possibly a wideout to cover the gap. Maybe Stevie Brown would be moved back, maybe he wouldn't. But if the kids in place get hurt, or don't live up to expecations, Michigan's going to be in big trouble at Safety.

Also check out 2009 Michigan Football, Position by Position: Cornerback. Defensive Tackle.

The Triumph of Hope Over Experience: Michigan Football Dominates Minnesota for 29-6 Win

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:11:44 -0000

via www.mikedesimone.com

During law school I clerked for a wonderful human being, who just happened to be a lawyer. He'd been as successful as you could be professionally. Argued before the Supreme Court. Made gobs and gobs of money. Was well liked by his colleagues and commanded a room without intentionally trying to comandeer it. However, if there was one place he'd been a tad unlucky, it was in love. Married and divorced a few times, and at the time I met him, happy to never walk down that aisle again.

After law school I took him and his associate, another good friend to lunch to express my graditude for all they had taught me and causually mentioned that my law school sweetheart and I were getting married. The associate smiled and quickly let out a genuine, and totally midwestern, "That's wonderful!" The older lawyer sat there with a big grin on his face and as soon as the associate's voice had faded, let out a hearty, good natured laugh, and bellowed "Ah ha! The triumph of hope over experience!" before shaking my hand and picking up the lunch bill I actually had every intention of paying.

But he was right. I've seen my fair share of marriages end in disaster. But I've also seen plenty that have withstood the test of time. Endured the harships and challenges that break lesser commitments and emerged stronger from that forge of difficulty.

That's one of the reasons Saturday's victory was so rewarding. As Michigan fans, this season has been a bumpy patch in what was otherwise a functional, happy marriage to our football team. The type of rough patch that makes you yell and scream, argue over and question just about everything. We've screamed for blood. Cried over losses. Looked for someone else to blame. Searched for the easy road out. But most of us have stood by, watched it all, and hopefully come out with some perspective. Even if we couldn't see it going into the Metrodome. But once we got there, all that faith and hope were finally rewarded with a convincing 29-6 win, a third victory on the season, and retention of the Little Brown Jug.

Hope comes in strange forms, and this time it came in the form of Nick Sheridan. Lets be honest. He's the last guy anyone though would lead Michigan to a win, but he did. For the first time in his career Sheridan played within himself, limited his mistakes and positioned his teammates to succeed. Frankly, he threw the short screen better than Threet has at any point this season. You can't ask more from the kid. But, anyone annointing him the new starter needs to have their head examined. 67 of his 203 passing yards were on a pair of wounded ducks he was lucky came down in bounds and the rest were on short hitches or wide receiver screens. Sheridan's not going to win us many ball games. But for one glorious Satruday afternoon, he delivered one of them at a time Michigan fans desperately needed it.

Equally surprising was the play of the Michigan defense. After weeks of being dismantled and discombobulated, all of a sudden the defense we thought we'd see at the beginning of the year appeared. Sure it was about five games late, but sometimes the flight gets delayed, so they're arrival was a welcome surprise. Through the first half Minnesota had one first down, negative rushing yards and less that 100 yards of total offense (I want to say it was 46 total yards, but I can't remember). Coverage was solid. Mistakes were minimized and practically non-existent. It was as if an entirely different defense was on the field.

In a manner, it was an entirely different defense. Returning to a set of four down linemen, Michigan pressured Minnesota Quarterback Adam Weber to the point that he was beginning to crystalize. Stevie Brown wasn't victimized once, and actually looked decent in coverage. Michigan went to man coverage with Trent and Warren, allowing the safeties some freedom to move and react. In a surprising move, Brandon Harrison spent most of his playing time as a psuedo-linebacker, hellbent on destroying any attempted screen pass. Most surprising, Michigan tackled. They wrapped people up with both arms and wouldn't let go. There weren't any running backs scurrying out of Ezeh's arms or any receivers somehow running for easy touchdowns or gaining an extra four yards after the initial hit. The coverage was tight, so tight that Trent came up with a game sealing interception.

It was what we expected, what we hoped for all season; a sufficient offensive output matched with outstanding defense. For one game at least, we got to see it. To see what the team is capable of. We got to see Justin Feagin sprint through the line like so many of Rodriguez' quarterbacks over the years (and damn is that kid fast). We saw what a well throw wide receiver screen can do. We saw Mike Shaw blast through the line and Minor continue to prove that injuries and all, he's still our best running back.

I truly was the triumph of hope over experience. Our season has taught us to believe we're going to lose games like Saturday's. It's hammered us for holding out hold in the face of a cold harsh reality. But for one day in the Metrodome, hope triumphed. Never underestimate it.

Hope can raise up even the most jaded, the most experienced among us and make them believe in things they swore never to believe in again. How else can you explain being a Michigan fan this year?

Further, how else can you explain that the old, expereinced lawyer is getting married again?

Poll

Who was Saturday's MVP?

Nick Sheridan

75 votes

Brandon Graham

9 votes

Tim Jamison

0 votes

Greg Mathews

1 votes

The Defensive Secondary

22 votes

Brandon Minor/Mike Shaw combo

7 votes

The Linebackers

3 votes

The Offensive Line

10 votes

Other

6 votes

133 votes | Poll has closed

Five Minutes of Perfection Prove To Be Enough for Michigan Football in Win Over Miami (Ohio)

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:00:07 -0000

For five minutes on Saturday I was in heaven. I know I was. Clear as day, there it was. Michigan’s new offense was humming along like a choir of angels right before they break into song. Playfully kidding around, as if what they were doing was effortless and just for fun.

Photo Courtesy John T. Greilick / The Detroit News, via multimedia.detnews.com

Freshman quarterback Steven Threet ran the spread to perfection during those first five minutes. Ball fakes, deft runs, even they occasional shake and bake for an extra yard. Martavious Odoms frittered down the field like the little water bug we’d heard he was all summer. Sam McGuffie was our main tailback and ran like he was on air. Then finally, a beautiful ball fake and zone read by Threet turned into a 12 yard touchdown prance, as he walked into the endzone untouched for Michigan’s opening score on its opening possession. I cheered, happy, almost giddy that the spread we’d been promised had finally arrived. Even if it was a week late, I didn’t care. It was marvelous. It was also 7-0 Michigan, en route to a 16-6 win over the Miami of Ohio Redhawks.

If only Michigan could live the rest of the season in those opening five minutes.

From that point on it was a frustrating afternoon. Whether it was Threet overthrowing receivers, a confusing game plan from the coaches, or Sheridan doing his best tree imitation, nothing seemed to work. Easy passes were overthrown or under thrown. Michigan running backs alternated 15 yard sprints with getting dropped at the line of scrimmage or 4 yards deep in their backfield. Any forward pass designed to go farther than 5 yards was banished from the playbook after Threet and Sheridan showed no ability to complete them. The offensive line was performing passably, but took a huge hit when starting left tackle Mark Ortmann left the game with an injured right arm and was replaced by a former walkon.

Even on defense things were spotty. This may be a strange thing to say when the defense limits a team to 252 yards and less than 50 rushing yards, but there were holes evident in the linebacking corps and safety positions. On more than one occasion the linebackers were sucked up into the line of scrimmage for no reason, leaving the corners of the line exposed for first down runs. At the safety position, while I thought Brandon Harrison was one of Michigan’s best players on Saturday, Stevie Brown had his second straight shaky game. Brown repeatedly found himself trailing receivers that were his responsibility only to be bailed out only by an overthrow or the receiver bobbling a sure catch.

It was as if those opening five minutes were there just to taunt us. Despite the promise of those fleeting moments nothing went the way it was supposed to afterwards. Threet was supposed to claim the starting quarterback slot as his own. The linebackers were supposed show continued improvement. The Defensive line was supposed to get continuous pressure. The receivers were supposed to actually catch a ball. The play book was supposed include more than four plays. But all those things didn’t happen.

Despite that, Michigan won. And they produced a win that had some benefits. Michigan showed everyone it is capable of running the ball even though it can’t throw it. Sam McGuffie showed he is, in fact, the real deal rushing for 74 yards on 17 carries. Michael Shaw wowed everyone with two electric runs for 45 yards before leaving with a groin injury. Brandon Minor reappeared from his fumble induced seclusion to fight for one of the best 15 yard touchdown runs you’ll ever see. Maybe even more importantly, the guy that made Minor's touchdown dive possible with a crushing block was... Carson Butler!?

Yes, that is Carson Butler crushing some fool.
Photo via Kirthmon F. Dozier cmsimg.freep.com

Further, Steven Threet showed his feet are not made out of cement or tar. Steve Schilling had, at least on my recollection, an excellent day and was the focus of the Michigan running game. Brandon Harrison broke up a sure touchdown and had a number of hard, outstanding tackles. Jonas Mouton looked fairly competent at linebacker, despite making a couple of errors in his reads. Donovan Warren continues to be awesome on defense even if he’s fairly useless as a punt returner. On the other hand, Boubacar Cissoko is electrifying with the ball in his hands. I can’t wait to see more of him. So there are positives to take away from Saturday’s game.

However, even with the positives the same questions that followed the Utah game remain to be answered.

Who’s our quarterback? Dunno. Steven Threet appeared to be the best suited quarterback to run the offense, but Rodriguez pulled him toward the end of the first half after Threet’s arm had proven as accurate as a SCUD missile. Even so, it’s not as though Sheridan did anything with his feet or arm that makes anyone think his future is brighter than Threet’s. Even with Threet’s overthrows he managed to avoid putting the Michigan defense on a short field with interceptions or stupid forced throws. More importantly for Rodriguez’ system, Threet looked substantially more mobile than Sheridan has at any point under center. 5 carries for 26 yards isn’t bad. And when you consider the difference in arm strength and potential in the passing game, 5.2 yards per carry out of a quarterback is more than adequate out of a guy like Threet.

Why are we still playing zone against experienced teams and shouldn’t there be a few more blitzes? Your guess is as good as mine. For some reason Shafer likes his DBs 10 yards off the receivers. Maybe he thinks it takes the pressure off his linebackers to react to things they’re not ready to manage. I don’t know. When Michigan brought its linebackers to the line, it left the corners of the line wide open, so perhaps he wanted to limit the ground game, but that is just a guess. Michigan got pressure simply overloaded the Miami line. But when the D Line went mono-y-mono with Miami’s very large line, Miami’s QB had enough time to make a sandwich, as well as air out a couple of bombs against Stevie Brown or Morgan Trent. When faced with more talented receivers, the pressure and the coverage could be problems.

Are we ever going to try a forward pass again? Maybe. Maybe not. Threet had receivers wide open and flat out missed them. At least two of them (an overthrow of Butler on Michigan’s second possession, and a sideline over throw of Hemmingway later on) would have resulted in touchdowns. After Threet’s second sideline overthrow, it was apparent that McGee did not trust his quarterbacks to throw the ball vertically ever again. However, even prior to the three overthrows that banished Threet to the headset, the majority of Michigan’s passes were glorified running plays with the QB throwing a quick 90 degree pass to Odoms or one of Michigan’s other jitterbugs. Until Threet learns not to let his emotions/adrenaline get the best of him, Michigan’s vertical passing game may remain tucked away in the "break glass in the case of 21 point deficit" box.

No matter what the answers are, we’re not going to know them until after Michigan’s matchup with Notre Dame. We’re not going to know whether those 5 minutes of heaven were merely a tantalizing glimpse into what this offense is capable of, or more a freak occurrence more akin to a lightning strike than competency.

Never the less, for five minutes on Saturday, Michigan was beautiful, competent, effective. And those five minutes will have to carry us until Michigan gets off the bus in South Bend this Saturday.

Poll

Who was Michigan's best player on Saturday against Miami (Ohio)?

Sam McGuffie

124 votes

Michael Shaw

26 votes

Brandon Harrison

15 votes

Jonas Mouton

5 votes

Terrance Taylor

6 votes

Will Johnson

8 votes

Tim Jamison

12 votes

Brandon Graham

11 votes

Brandon Minor

9 votes

Martavious Odoms

9 votes

Steven Threet

13 votes

Other

6 votes

244 votes | Poll has closed