Healthy Nikhai Hill-Green is a 'huge addition' to suddenly deep Michigan linebacker group
Michigan Wolverines football senior linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green played in 14 games with six starts in 2021, was primed to have a big season in 2022 but missed the entire campaign with a lingering “soft-tissue injury.” That made Michigan’s depth at linebacker relatively thin, but his return this spring has bolstered a group suddenly stocked with talent and experience.
Hill-Green has registered 51 tackles, 2 stops for loss and 1 pass breakup throughout his career, and rotated along with junior linebacker Junior Colson at the WILL spot in 2021.
“It’s phenomenal having him back,” Colson said Monday afternoon. “He’s a great leader, he’s a great guy to be on the field with, and he just understands and knows how to play football; he’s a football player.”
Michigan brought in sophomore linebacker Ernest Hausmann, a Nebraska transfer, saw graduate Michael Barrett return for a sixth season and has up-and-comers like sophomores Jimmy Rolder and Micah Pollard. But Hill-Green being healthy is almost like having a new standout in the room.
“Being able to have him back is a huge addition,” Colson explained. “Especially at times last year, we needed him to go in the game, especially in certain situations when people were down. He brings a lot of depth and experience and talent to our team.”
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Michigan lines up in a 4-2-5 defense most of the time, so it’ll be a challenge to get down to just a pair of starting inside linebackers. Colson, though, doesn’t make it seem like that’s much of an issue, and excited to be able to rotate more.
“Now we’ve got a lot more depth, now we’ve got a lot more players we can rotate in the game to be able to stay fresh throughout the season, be able to stay fresh throughout games,” the Michigan linebacker said. “It’s awesome having all those guys back and being able to go out there and trust that they’re going to make the right plays.
“[Last season], you’re out there exhausted, but you can’t really put anyone else in. I think it’ll be really good to divvy up the snaps a bit, be able to rotate guys that can all play on that level, being able to keep each and every one of us fresh.”
Hausmann has stood out during spring practices already, after totaling 54 tackles, including a sack against Michigan, with the Cornhuskers last fall.
“He’s awesome. He’s an awesome guy, he’s a great kid,” Colson said of Hausmann. “He’s learning, he’s growing. You can just tell he loves to learn, he loves to grow and he’s going to be a really good football player.”
Colson is enjoying helping the next wave of Michigan linebackers improve. Back when he was a freshman, the coaching staff told him to “shadow” then-fifth-year senior Josh Ross.
“All the little moves he does, I’m like, ‘I’m going to steal that before you leave. I’m going to take that,'” Colson said in 2021.
Now, he’s taken Rolder and Pollard under his wing.
“Jimmy, he follows me a bit, and Micah — both of those guys,” Colson said. “It’s kinda fun being the older guy now a little bit. But yeah, Jimmy is coming into his own a lot now, and you can just tell he’s gonna be a tremendous player. Same as Micah.”
Colson loves new linebackers coach Chris Partridge, who was hired in February, but he recognizes that players have to coach each other up, too.
“A lot, because coaches can tell you so much, but the players are the ones that are going out there and doing it, so we have our own experiences, our own thoughts about how to do a certain play, how to fit a certain play,” Colson explained. “Being able to talk to other guys about how you see it yourself, it’s a huge help.
“It’s the same way how I used to watch Josh — ’how do you take on that block? How do you slip a certain thing?’ A coach can tell you a billion times, but you have to learn from someone else who is in the same situation as you are in.”
