Michael Barrett Is Ready To Take Charge Of The Viper Position

Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown has been charged with the duty of replacing five starters from last year's team, and junior Michael Barrett has emerged as a strong candidate to fill the Viper position after an offseason filled with hard work.

"I feel like I've grown both physically and mentally since last year," Barrett said on Thursday. "Mentally I just went into the playbook harder, learned the whole defense instead of just my position. I tried to learn what everybody else has to do and learn where I fit into the scheme. Physically, I've cut my body, just getting it in more shape. I've just been able to be in shape to be able to cover, to be able to do all that stuff in the game. I feel like I've grown since last year both physically and mentally."

Up to this point, Barrett has played sparsely with most of his work coming on special teams. Though he will have an expanded role on defense this fall, he is still working with U-M's special teams group on a regular basis.

"I take a lot of pride in it," Barrett said. "There's a lot of people who don't realize the work of special teams. You can win or lose games from it, so just being able to go out there and have my name called and them trusting me to be able to go out there and execute those plays, I take a lot of pride in it.

"I have a more limited role and more helping some of the younger guys come up for the special teams since I'll do more defensively this year, but yeah, I'll still be contributing on special teams."

In terms of other players that will also be comprising Michigan's defense, the emerging Viper talent shifted praise over towards Ben VanSumeren. After moonlighting as a fullback, VanSumeren's talent was recruited to the defensive side of the ball, and that's a place he's flourished at recently.

"I've seen his work ethic," Barrett said. "He's going after it everyday, wanting to learn, wanting to get better. He's always asking questions and always giving it his all, for real. He just transitioned not too long ago from spring, so he's been hitting the books, trying to learn the defense and just trying to help wherever he can."

Though VanSumeren will likely be contributing in a backup role as depth this year, it's clear that he's made an impact after winning compliments from Coach Brown a day earlier. Barrett has been part of Michigan's defensive practices recently, so he's aptly qualified to report on VanSumeren's recent strides, but he did not stop there. Barrett also delivered his analysis on how Anthony Solomon is growing into a solid competitor at Viper as well.

"I just feel like we, just watching him, he's grown a lot since last year," Barrett said. "It's just being more comfortable in the defense, being more comfortable where he's at. I feel like our speed, our techniques are similar. I think just coverage-wise, blitzing-wise, we're a lot similar."

Though the Wolverines will have a lot of new faces on linebacker, Barrett, VanSumeren and Solomon should help ease the transition in defensive units. Each player has been on the squad for some time now, but Barrett is expected to receive the most playing time of the bunch, and U-M will determine early on just how much he has developed in recent months.

What are your expectations for Michigan's defense in 2020? Will the Wolverines field one of the better defenses in the Big Ten? Let us know!