Monday, July 19, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

11

Michigan
C CFootball
Season Preview

Blue D-backs may struggle to return to glory

By RYAN KARTJE
ManagingEditor
When analyzing Michigan's
defense during the RichRod era, one
glaring weakness has become obvious,
year after year:
Ninth in Big Ten pass defense in
2008.
Seventh in the same category last
season.
See a pattern? Adding more insult
to injury, the year before Rich Rodri-
guez took over as head football coach,
the Wolverines' pass defense ranked
near tops in the Big Ten, allowing just
178.8 yards per game in Lloyd Carr's
last season at the helm.
One could point to the improve-
ment (albeit slight) in Michigan's pass
defense from the 2008 season to the
2009 season. That sort of improve-
ment should continue, right?
Well, with a pass rush that remains
a huge question mark and a second-
ary devoid of the shutdown skills of
All-Big Ten talent Donovan Warren
- who signed with the New York Jets
after going undrafted - the Wolver-
ines could be hard-pressed to improve
on their meager numbers in the defen-
sive backfield.
With Warren gone, the pressure
will be on senior corner Troy Wool-
folk to fill the shoes of Michigan's
shutdown corner. After splitting time
between corner and safety last year,
Woolfolk should be prepared to be
Warren-esque in his performance.
And although he lacks the impressive
size that made Warren the dominant
force he was, Woolfolk makes up for
it with blazing speed, enough to be
referred to by some as the fastest play-
er on the team..
But aside from Woolfolk, the rest of
the position group gets pretty fuzzy
* from there. The other cornerback
spot, which many thought could be
filled by blue-chip prospect Demar
Dorsey before he was denied admis-
sion to the University, remains a wide
open competition.
The most likely candidate for the
job is J.T. Floyd, a redshirt sophomore
who was a regular in nickel and dime
packages last season. With a few years
of experience in the defense (even
though it's been consistently changing
since he enrolled), he should have the

advantage to nab that second spot - at
least to start the season. In his time
in the spotlight, however, Floyd was a
little better than average, appearing to
be in over his head at times.
But don't count out freshman Cul-
len Christian. Christian was one of
the Wolverines' star recruits in their
past recruiting class and his size
makes him an ideal replacement for
Warren. Just like Warren, however,
Christian has been criticized for lack-
ing top-end speed, which kept him
from five-star status on all the major
recruiting sites.
Floyd will still get the nod against
UConn, but don't be surprised if you
see Christian take that spot for his
own by the fifth or sixth game, with
Floyd sliding back to the nickel or
dime spot. And maybe, just maybe,
sometime this season Wolverine fans
will get a glimpse of super prospect
J.T. Turner. As for the safety spots, the
goal of improving those pass defense

numbers doesn't get much easier.
Jordan Kovacs will most likely
retain his spot at the bandit safety
position, where he'll play up close and
aid with the run-defense in addition to
droppingback into coverage. And with
the lack of viable options behind him,
it's not likely that Kovacs will lose his
job. But if anyone were to challenge
him, it'll be incoming freshman Mar-
vin Robinson who has wowed coaches
to this point with his brute strength
and athleticism.
But aside from the glaring question
marks, there is one unique and seem-
ingly positive experiment going on in
the Wolverines' back four.
Cam Gordon, a wide receiver when
he came to Michigan, has made head-
lines this spring and summer for his
seamless conversion to the Wolver-
ines' free safety spot, where it looks
like he'll start come Sept. 4.
Despite his lauded transformation,
it still should worry Michigan fans, at

Senior cornerback Troy Woolfolk is Donovan Warren's potential replacerent this year.

least a little bit, that Gordon has never
played a down on defense. If he turns
out as dominant as the coaches say he
will be, then he'll be one of the most
pleasant surprises of Michigan's sea-
son.

GRADE: C
PROJECTED STARTERS: Troy
Woolfolk, J.T. Floyd, Jordan Kovacs,
Cam Gordon
SURPRISE PLAYER: Cullen Chris-
tian