Is the Michigan defensive backfield ready to take a big leap forward? Wink Martindale discusses

Michigan Wolverines football has dealt with injuries on the back end of the defense early in the season, but they’re getting healthier. Graduate safety Rod Moore returned to action against Nebraska for the first time since the 2023 season, playing 21 snaps, and he should earn more run as the season goes along. Senior cornerback Zeke Berry, meanwhile, has missed the last two-plus contests with an apparent ankle injury but is closer to coming back. Those are two injuries, but there have been others.

The Wolverines have developed some depth in the absence of key pieces, with no better example being that they had three freshman cornerbacks rotating in at the end of the 30-27 win over Nebraska last time out, following an injury to junior Jyaire Hill.

Jayden Sanders has started the last two games, while Elijah Dotson and Shamari Earls have come off the bench to have a role.

“I think that E-Dot is a fiery competitor, which I love,” Martindale said. “He’s the same way in practice. He loves football. And same thing with Sanders. You could see from day one he really likes football and is a smart kid, attentive in meetings. Is he perfect yet? No, but I have full confidence whenever he comes into the game, and that falls into the other thing with how we’re practicing. There’s still competition all over the field, and that’s a good thing for our depth.

“I think our tackles are playing a lot better than what they were when they first started out, and you’re seeing guys starting to jump out at you there, as well. There’s competition across the board, even in the linebacker room. You look at a guy like [sophomore linebacker] Cole Sullivan — how can you not play him, with how productive he is? When you go and watch practice tape, he’s playing faster than a lot of guys out there. And he’s just going to continue to get better.”

Martindale is a “wizard,” head coach Sherrone Moore said Monday, attempting to put his best 11 players on the field in a given situation and game, and putting those pieces where they fit the best. He can also call defensive plays to put the healthy players that are on the field in advantageous situtions.

“I think it’s different with each guy and each position,” Martindale said of how he’s had to change calling the Michigan defense with injuries in the secondary. “It’s not just the corners. That’s the good thing that I’ve always talked about is the flexibility of the system, that we’re able to call different things to cover up a guy’s weakness or show a guy’s strength.

“Take a guy like [senior linebacker] Jaishawn [Barham]. He’s playing all over the place, and he’s going to continue to play all over the place. His work ethic, his training camp, his coaches, both BJ [Brian Jean-Mary] and ‘Phee [Pernell McPhee] — and we don’t talk about ‘Phee enough, because he’s doing a great job with those guys on the edges.”

Martindale was noncommittal about what kind of jump the Michigan secondary can take with Rod Moore having an increasing role and Berry potentially returning soon, along with the younger players that have carved out roles. But Martindale isn’t typically prone to projecting out and making predictions — he understands the results are a part of a larger proces.

“We’ll see,” the Michigan coach said of what level the defensive backfield can reach. “It’s different in college football compared to pro. You need a lot more competition than what we already have, especially in the back end because those guys rotate so much. LaMar [Morgan] and [Lionel] Stokes and B-Hawk [Brad Hawkins], those guys do a great job of getting all of them ready for the game. And if they’re not ready, they’re not going to play. That’s also a comforting feeling for me, to see the guys and how they coach them and where we’re at there.”