Grading Each Michigan Wolverines Defensive Position Group Through Five Games

Michigan is now through the first five games of their regular season as they begin their bye week. Things have not gone as expected through these first five games, with the Wolverines sitting at 3-2 with losses to Iowa and Minnesota. Even in their wins it hasn't been very pretty, and Michigan has a lot of work to do if they want to turn this season back around.

Yesterday I graded how each offensive position group has performed thus far, so today let's go through each defensive position group and grade them all based on how they've performed thus far below.

Defensive Line: A-

Michigan defensive end John Henry Daley and defensive end Dom Nichols sack Iowa quarterback Hank Brown | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Kyle Whittingham said all off-season that the defensive line was arguably the strongest unit on the team and through five games that's certainly been the case. The defensive tackles has been very good against the run. The defensive ends have been a menace to handle when rushing the passer. They've been everything you can hope for from this unit altogether.

If I'm going to nitpick, they got consistent pressure on Hank Brown and Iowa but only managed two sacks. Similarly against Minnesota, Michigan had success getting to Drake Lindsey when they brought a blitzer, but didn't always create that pressure without it.

Now, Dominic Nichols has been the teams best edge rusher so far this season and he's hardly played in each of those games so I think that's definitely part of it. The rest of this group though is still good enough to harass quarterbacks and the reason it's not a straight A is because I'd like to see another guy or two emerge as a true pass-rush threat.

Linebackers: B

Michigan Wolverines linebacker Troy Bowles celebrates with teammates after a fumble recovery against the Oklahoma Sooners | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The linebackers are the group that's surprised me most in a positive way so far this season. On paper this was a position group that had a lot of question marks coming into the season but they've been good through five games. They've been good tacklers for the most part, and outside of the Oklahoma game and a couple instances in the Minnesota game, have been good in coverage as well.

Troy Bowles leads the team with 40 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss, he's been quite good through five games in his first true run as a starting linebacker. Nathaniel Staehling is third on the team in tackles with 25 overall including 2.5 tackles for loss, and that amazing pick six against Minnesota. Chase Taylor has had a couple ups and downs, but overall he feels like he's coming into his own a bit with 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

One guy I'd like to see play more in the second half of the season is Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. He's flashed at times when he's been in there, but he can really run and he tackles well too. So far it's been Aisea Moa playing more over him as more of the steady veteran presence, but I think Owusu-Boateng has a higher ceiling. Hopefully he can start to come on in the second half of this season because it could really transform this unit.

Overall this position group has been better than I expected coming into the season and that's been a pleasant surprise. Troy Bowles in particular looks like he may be turning into a star and that would be a really nice development for this Michigan defense. If they can clean up their coverage a bit it would help this defense overall go from a really good unit into an elite one.

Safeties: B-

Iowa wide receiver Reece Vander Zee runs for a touchdown against Michigan cornerback Jyaire Hill and safety Rod Moore Jr. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

They haven't been bad per se, but I also expected them to be better than how they've played in these first five games for how experienced they are back there.

Rod Moore is coming off two major knee injuries so it's understandable that it may be taking him some time to full get back into the groove of things. He's got 22 tackles so far and has been pretty good in coverage because he doesn't get targeted a whole lot. Chris Bracy has 23 tackles with one pass breakup, one forced fumble, and one quarterback hit. He's been asked to do a lot of things for this Michigan defense and he's been decent so far as well.

Michigan hasn't rotated a lot of guys in there at safety, and I'd like to see them do that a bit more in the second half of the season. Jordan Young and Mason Curtis in particular have different skillsets than the starters do, and I wish we'd be able to see a little bit more. Hopefully those guys can elevate their play and start to earn some more snaps as the season goes on.

Overall I just want to see this group tackle better and have more ball production. With as much pressure as this defensive line puts on opposing quarterbacks, there's been plenty of opportunities to come away with takeaways and it just hasn't happened yet at the level I think it should, and that's why I gave them a B- here.

Cornerbacks: B+

Michigan cornerback Jyaire Hill pushes Iowa wide receiver Tony Diaz out of bounds | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The cornerbacks are another position group I was looking at pre-season as a potential weakness. Through five games it's been the opposite, as this group has performed really well for the most part.

Jyaire Hill has been good, and he's even tied for 2nd on the team right now with 25 tackles, 1 INT, and 1 tackle for loss. The interception in the Oklahoma game was a great play and he's been good overall in coverage outside of that as well. Zeke Berry as CB2 has been pretty good as well outside of the bad penalty on the last drive against Iowa. He's been solid in coverage and doesn't seem to get targeted much either which is always a good sign.

Smith Snowden transferred in from Utah and plays a lot as the slot CB, and he's been quite good in that role. He did get beat for the game-winning touchdown against Iowa, but to be honest, I blame Jay Hill more for even putting him in that spot than I do him for his coverage on that play. Then he bounced back and got that interception against Minnesota which was a harder play than it looks like with the ball fluttering the way it did, almost like a punt return.

Even Shamari Earls has looked good when he's played, and I think he should start to play more as the season goes on to give the top three guys a breather every now and then. Overall this position group has been really good outside of a coupe big mistakes. Such is life as a cornerback, your mistakes get amplified, and your good plays often go unnoticed.

Special Teams: C+

Michigan punter Cam Brown punts against Iowa during the second half | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Ironically enough coming into the season I was curious to see how good Michigan's kicker and punter would be because those two positions had been fairly disappointing in two straight seasons now. Those two special teamers have been good though, and the weakness has been their kickoff team and the punt return team.

The kickoff return touchdown they allowed against Iowa just looked way too easy for the Hawkeyes and it completely flipped the game. Michigan wins that game if the kickoff team doesn't completely blow the coverage there in my opinion.

As for the punt return team I just expected improvement there from prior seasons with Andrew Marsh retuning the punts now and we haven't seen that improvement happen, at least through five games. Marsh has muffed two punts himself which is never good, and they need to clean that up the rest of the way. The same punt return team did block one punt against Minnesota and got very close to blocking another one though, so there's been progress overall with that unit from past seasons.

The special teams I feel like isn't quiet living up to what I was hoping for pre-season but they've also been quite bad at it the last two seasons. I think they have shown improvement for the most part, it's just a matter of cleaning up the big mistakes that have been the biggest issue for them through these first five games.

Defensive Coaching: A-

Michigan defensive coordinator Jay Hill watches warms up ahead of the Iowa game | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Jay Hill has been really good so far as Michigan's defensive coordinator through five games in my opinion. I thought he botched the last play call against Iowa in a major way but not having his defensive backs play further off the wide receivers, but outside of that he's been very good.

He's mixed coverages pretty well and allowed the talent on his side of the ball to shine in every game thus far. Michigan's defense is in good hands as long as he's calling the plays and I can't wait to see how he matches up with the teams in the second half of Michigan's schedule.

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