Expect Michigan to use Jaishawn Barham at EDGE more: 'So disruptive you have to account for him'

Michigan Wolverines football senior Jaishawn Barham has been a linebacker for the last two seasons in Ann Arbor, but he took on a different role in Saturday’s 63-3 win over Central Michigan. All of the 6-foot-3, 243-pound District Heights, Md., native’s snaps came at EDGE — not linebacker.

He was extremely disruptive, too, with 2 sacks and 6 total tackles.

“The biggest thing is [Michigan defensive coordinator] Wink [Martindale] putting guys in situations to be successful,” defensive line coach Lou Esposito said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show. “Him being on the edge is a mismatch. There are certain things that he does athletically and with his God-given ability that it comes natural to him — how he bends, how he rushes, the way he plays with violence, the way he physically sets the edge.

“All of those things are big, and he does it really, really well — and it lets other guys play other positions to be successful. You saw the flex nose a little bit. You saw some different guys at linebacker. So, for him, it gives us a guy on the edge that can be physical at the point of attack and get after the passer when we need it.”

That look certainly gives a lot of opponents — including this week’s foe, Nebraska — a lot to think about and prepare for. As a result, that could free up the Wolverines’ other EDGEs, and it allows the backup linebackers who are more than capable — senior Jimmy Rolder and sophomore Cole Sullivan — to play more snaps.

“He’s an incredibly disruptive player, and athletically he’s very unique because he’s big but he can really run, and he is twitched up,” Michigan associate head coach Biff Poggi said.

“Wink views him — and others — as so disruptive that you’ve got to account for him, so find him. We’re going to move him around — find him. Find him before you snap the ball.

“And his matchup against a tackle off the edge, you have him, you have [senior] Derrick Moore, you have [graduate] TJ Guy and you have [junior] Cam Brandt — you just have so many guys that can give you so many different problems.

“And with Jimmy Rolder coming along and playing so well, and Cole Sullivan, we can get a guy that’s a real force off the edge in the pass rush game.”

Michigan’s EDGEs haven’t produced at quite the level that was expected coming into the 2025 season. Through three games, Moore has only 5 pressures, after posting 37 in 12 outings a year ago. Guy, meanwhile, was benched for last week’s game. But Barham’s presence could help everyone else out in getting more favorable matchups.

“So, think about this: Now, you’ve got to slide the protection to Jaishawn, but you’ve got No. 8 [Moore], what are you going to do? Block him one-on-one? So, it presents problems,” Poggi pointed out.

Michigan will play Barham more at EDGE moving forward, though the door hasn’t been closed on him also taking snaps at off-ball linebacker. The Wolverines are getting him prepared at both spots during practice.

“We do a great job managing it,” Esposito said. “We talk about it as a staff, we set it up in indy he’s gonna be here for this point, he’s going to be here for that point. It’s pretty clean.

“And then the calls that we do, it’s a package that you kind of grow as the season will go on. We do a great job with it, and you make it where you never want to put a guy in a situation where you slow him down and take away what he has.

“So, we’re going to put him in as many situations where he can play fast. That’s what we want to do as the whole defense. So, we’re excited about that, and it’ll be fun for us.”