On Wednesday, I wrote an article predicting which Michigan football offensive single-season records may be broken in 2023 and how likely the chances are — you can see that article below.
We now turn our eyes to the Wolverines’ defense. Michigan did lose a couple of ‘stars’ on the defense from a season ago. Mazi Smith was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft, and both DJ Turner and Mike Morris were also quality draft selections.
But the Wolverines return plenty of really good pieces in 2023 and with Jesse Minter returning for the second year in a row, the Michigan defense shouldn’t miss a beat.
We are going to show you who holds each record, the player that has the best chance to break each record, and the chances it happens in 2023.
Tackles
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Record holder: Ron Simpkins (1977) 174
Who can break it in 2023: Junior Colson
Chance of it happening: 3/10
Going back to 2009 there have been 10 Michigan players to record more than 100 tackles. Jonas Mouton had 117 back in 2010 and that was the most during that span.
While Junior Colson is always around the ball and is a tackling machine — he led the Wolverines with 101 tackles last season — 174 tackles is quite a number and it’s unheard of in today’s game.
There was only one player in all of football to record more than 174 tackles last season. Jason Henderson at Old Dominion had 186 tackles. Basically, Colson will need to average more than 11 tackles a game, in 15 games, to break the record.
Tackles for Loss
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Record holder: Shawn Crable (2007) 28.5
Who can break it in 2023: Braiden McGregor
Chance of it happening: 2/10
Brandon Graham came close to this record back in 2009 with 25.5 tackles for loss, but this is another record that is just super impressive and hard to beat. In fact, not one college football player would have broken this record last season.
Jaylen Harrell is probably the popular pick here since he was second on the team behind Mike Morris (11 TFL) with 7.5 tackles for loss, but I really think Braiden McGregor is going to have a breakout season. The stats don’t back me up, last season he had 4.5 tackles for loss, but he looks the part and he is finally 100%. McGregor was a highly-touted recruit and it’s his year to put it all together — but the chances are slim-to-none this record gets touched.
Sacks
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Record holder: Aidan Hutchinson (2021) 14
Who can break it in 2023: Braiden McGregor
Chance of it happening: 5/10
I almost went with Jaylen Harrell here, but I’ll stick with my guns and go back to my breakout player. The Wolverines lost the top two sack leaders from a season ago in Mike Morris and Eyabi Okie, so someone will need to step up and get to the quarterback.
It seems like a defensive end/edge is the one that usually racks up double-digit sack numbers, but what hurts Michigan is how much rotating it does on the defense. If McGregor, or whoever leads the maize and blue, in sacks this season doesn’t rotate out much, I think this record does have a chance to be broken.
We’re talking a sack a game, give or take, in a 14-to-15-game season. It’s doable, especially if a player gets hot and has a couple of sacks in one game.
Pass breakups
Photo: Isaiah Hole
Record holder: Jourdan Lewis (2015) 22
Who can break it in 2023: Will Johnson
Chance of it happening: 5/10
Jourdan Lewis was one the best, if not the best, cornerback in 2015 when he broke this record. Teams feared to throw the ball his way and if they did, it usually wasn’t completed.
I look for Will Johnson to be the same type of way in his sophomore campaign. Johnson was arguably Michigan’s best defensive back in the final four or five games of the season. He had a 91.1 grade from PFF when he was in man coverage last season as a true freshman.
Not that he has an offseason to work on his craft, he should be a lock-down defender in 2023.
Interceptions
Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Record holder: Tom Curtis (1968) 10
Who can break it in 2023: Rod Moore
Chance of it happening: 2/10
Michigan has not been known for intercepting the football under Jim Harbaugh, or at least any individual player. Blake Countess and Rod Moore both had four interceptions in a season which is the most in one season under Harbaugh.
Moore led the team last year with four and I would have to guess he has the best chance to come close to 11 this season. While I think Will Johnson has the best shot to break the pass-breakup record, I don’t look for teams to throw the ball his way much to have a chance at getting 11 INTs.
Moore is extremely versatile and being a safety, he will have chances at bringing down balls that are thrown deep.
