1 hour and 53 minutes
The Sponsors
Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.
Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Sklars Brothers, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, Champion Circle, and returning this season Winewood Organics.
1. The Defensive LineStarts at 1:00
Brian says we're not allowed to cackle through this or be hype the whole time, but we spend a lot of time talking about what to expect from Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant before getting into their depth. Benny has a road back to health but should have his breakout year about now. After him it's iffy, since Etta had to move inside. Pierce is Just a Nose for now. After them…not much. Edge should be deep and excellent again. Josaiah Stewart is younger than Derrick Moore and was in the process of turning into a complete Amoeba edge. Moore is on his way to Tacodom and the NFL Draft. TJ Guy has been waiting forever. Think part of the reason Etta moved was because they like Cam Brandt a lot.
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
2. Hot Takes and LinebackersStarts at 47:18
We are buying the Barham hype, yes. Because of practice and film and the talk. Hausmann was a nickel in high school and never lost that agility, played along with the starters last year and wasn't a drop. Think Rolder's end of the year isn't fair, that his freshman year was more telling. Seth likes Jaydon Hood, the last of the Don Brown backs. Cole Sullivan will probably be good but don't want to see too much of him this year.
3. SecondaryStarts at 1:12:38
This Will Johnson fellow, maybe you've heard of him. Can't afford an injury so no he can't play receiver and return puts you sickos. Was injured last year so this year could be special, or he could be avoided as Jyaire Hill gets his feet under him. Good news that he's moved up, always needed time to mature. Still younger than most of the freshman, and played safety in high school. Backups are the transfers-Hall has drawn comps to Wallace But Fast so that's your #3 guy—Seth thinks he's Gemon Green. Kechaun Harris could play too. Ricky Johnson might need a year. Safeties took a hit losing Rod Moore but Makari Paige will be nice and forgotten, Quinten Johnson had his light go on and we're glad they fished him out of UDFA'dom. Think the transfers will take time to learn the defense but should be in a regular rotation—Mangham is another Sabb, blow up next year. Zeke Berry won the nickel job over McBurrows, which is impressive. Will be more of a blitzer, won't be Sainristil, but they went portal shopping for safeties because they wanted Berry in the slot that much. Brandyn Hillman has a role as the hybrid if they want to go 4-3 against running QBs again.
4. Special Teams and WinkStarts at 1:34:57
Tommy Doman might never punt again but he's good at it; the consistency is coming with age. Dominic Zvada is another good portal kicker, has two years to play, missed all of his bad ones early last year. Returns will be fun with Semaj. Wink is going to blitz because that fits the personnel.
MUSIC:
- "Waves (Tame Impala remix)"—Miguel
- "Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mammy)"—Devo
- "Better in the Dark"—Jordana & TV Girl
- “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- What's with the theme music?
