'I can help make plays out there': Michigan EDGE Braiden McGregor is the Big Ten's best in this area

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football senior EDGE Braiden McGregor walks around with a different type of confidence now. It took him some time to get fully healthy and overcome some mental hurdles to play at a high level after suffering a major knee injury at the end of his high school career. Now, he’s one of the Wolverines’ most important defensive players.

McGregor starts at Michigan’s ‘RUSH’ linebacker spot as a stand-up player on the end of the line of scrimmage. He’s recorded 9 tackles, including 3 for loss, this season, and is coming off a big game at Nebraska.

The 6-6, 267-pounder got a hand on Nebraska quarterback Heinrich Haarberg‘s pass on the second defensive snap, batting the ball into the air so that sophomore defensive tackle Kenneth Grant could grab it for the interception. The Port Huron (Mich.) Northern product also had his first sack of the season on a 3rd and 7 in the third quarter to force the Cornhuskers to attempt, and miss, a field goal.

This is the role McGregor envisioned for himself over the last few years.

“I definitely think that as the year goes on, the play starts slowing down, you just start feeling more comfortable out there and I think Saturday was really when I started feeling, OK, midseason form,” the Michigan EDGE said Monday afternoon. “When you get there and you’re like, OK, I’m starting to feel good, and just keep building on this.

“With the way the defense is playing, I think I fit into that role and I can help make plays out there.”

McGregor was stellar in pass defense against Nebraska, but it’s been his run-stopping that has stood out most this season. He leads Big Ten edge rushers with at least 34 run-defense snaps with a 15.6 stop percentage (7 stops on 46 snaps), according to PFF. The metric measures the percentage of a player’s run defense snaps where he was responsible for a stop (either solo tackle or assist).

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‘Really fresh’ Michigan EDGE group employs deep rotation

Michigan has four EDGEs who rank top 16 on the defense in total snaps, with senior Jaylen Harrell, sophomore Derrick Moore and junior Josaiah Stewart all getting plenty of playing time along with McGregor. On a given drive, Michigan will have a “rally group” ready to spell those who start the possession for a few plays. The entire defensive line has bought into the method, McGregor said, and it’s benefitted them in staying fresh.

“We all feel really fresh. We rotate a lot,” McGregor noted. “You go out there four or five plays and then get a rotation, which is really nice, especially when you’re playing in October, pretty much, and it’s 90-some degrees out there.

“It’s nice to have a rotation. It’s good to get everybody out there. Like I’ve said before, we all support each other in that room, we want each other to succeed and being able to rotate as much as we do is good for our defense and good for everybody as a whole. As the season goes on, it helps with injuries and feeling more fresh toward the end of the year.

“We actually embrace it. When we see the rally group, we’re like, ‘Alright, I can go get a breather now.’ It doesn’t take much convincing at all. We just want what’s best for the team. At the end of the day, stats will come and all that. You just go out there, trust the process, do what you can do. But the rally group, it’s just great to be able to look over and see a group of four that are fresh ready to come in, and you see the O-line tired. It’s pretty awesome.

“You want to play your best ball at the end of the year, and getting there healthy is a big thing.”

Michigan has built more depth this season than in past years, and McGregor isn’t the first player or coach to reveal the team’s desire to be healthier down the stretch this season compared to a year ago, when injuries piled up — minor, major or otherwise.

With the way the schedule sets up, Michigan’s toughest three games of the regular season may come in its final three — at Penn State Nov. 11, at Maryland Nov. 18 and versus Ohio State Nov. 25. The Wolverines are living in the moment while also preparing for what could be de facto playoff games in November.

“You always got an eye on Ohio and all that, so being able to focus on who we play this week and then watching a little bit of film every week on them as well as the other teams — Penn State, Maryland, all those guys,” the Michigan EDGE said. “The thing we talk about is stacking days, on defense, on offense, and [defensive coordinator] Coach [Jesse] Minter always says, ‘You stack days, you can’t afford a bad day,’ so when we get to the end of the year at the point when we’re playing our toughest opponents, to be at the best level we are as individuals and a defense. I think just focusing on who we play and stacking the days, and when we get there we’ll be ready.”

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that he believes the state of the program is “scary good,” but that “the law of averages say it’s going to catch up to you.” It’s Michigan’s job to be like “smoke,” which rises while other things fall due to the Earth’s “tremendous” gravitational pull.

“We’ve said since the beginning here that we have a really special group, and we just have to keep going every day,” McGregor said of the 2023 Michigan Wolverines. “We can’t afford a day off, really. If we want to get to where we want to get, we just have to trust the process. At the end of the day, just keep doing what we’re doing. We’re on a trajectory to get where we want to go. And just stacking the days, like Coach Minter says, and all that, we should get to a good spot at the end of the year.”