How Michigan Will Attempt To Stop Brock Bowers

The Georgia Bulldogs leading receiver is a tight end, a freshman tight end at that.

Entering the 2021 football season, most expected Brock Bowers to be a difference-maker, but not seemingly the sole focus of the offense at times during the season.

Though, as the Dawgs sit just five days away from the College Football Playoff's start, they enter with a weapon in Bowers that has given defenses fits for the better part of the year.

Bowers has 47 receptions for 791 yards and 11 touchdowns over 13 games this season and he's been bailed out this offense several times this season. So, how will Michigan attempt to limit Bowers' impact?

Scheme

Michigan plays an abnormal amount of man-to-man coverage for a college football team, and they do so with a tremendous amount of safety help. So, even though Bowers is a nightmare matchup for any defender — being both too big for defensive backs and too fast for linebackers — Michigan will likely have help built into the scheme to defend Bowers.

Length

Michigan presents similar problems as elite SEC defenses do. They are extremely long and athletic in the back end. They don't play a single defensive back that is under 6'0, 190 pounds. So, the Wolverines have plenty of size and length to defend Bowers or at least compete with him in the back end when it comes to the size discrepancy.

Double Team

Michigan's propensity to leave defensive backs in man-to-man coverage has created a level of comfort from their cornerbacks when it comes to being on an island with little to no help. So, they will be afforded the opportunity to double team Bowers and leave other defenders without help elsewhere. This means Georgia's other wide receivers will need to win their individual matchups.

The health, availability, and usage of a talented wide receiver like George Pickens could drastically impact Michigan's ability to do such a thing, however.

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