Michigan football review-preview part 2: Defense/ST

Continuing with part 2 of our review-preview series, we break down what happened, what’s next and more with the Michigan football team’s defensive line, linebackers, cornerbacks, safeties and special teams units.First, we look at Michigan’s defensive line, and weigh the strengths of the Wolverines’ defensive ends vs. some issues with Michigan’s defensive interior and depth. We also look at what the unit will look like next season with more experience, and why the second- and third-year “project” players are the key to the line making the next step.We then look at linebacker, and dissect what was overall a strong year from an experienced group. We look at why big plays continued to be a problem, and what the position group looks like with three departing starters next season. We next break down Michigan’s cornerbacks and safeties, following our same formula as the other groups. We offer grades, what worked, what didn’t work, decide if the arrow is pointing up, down or even and break down out big key offseason question. We close by doing the same for special teams.