Wolverine TV podcast: Erik Bakich to Clemson, Duke hoops transfer Joey Baker to Michigan? Plus, football mailbag
On this episode of the podcast, TheWolverine.com‘s Clayton Sayfie, Chris Balas and Anthony Broome discuss Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich leaving for Clemson, Duke transfer Joey Baker, who visited U-M hoops last week, and his timeline. The hosts also answer Michigan football mailbag questions.
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A Michigan fan and TheWolverine.com subscriber asked a question on if the U-M defense will be more “role-player oriented” this coming season. The trio of hosts discussed the notion, and lended credence to it. A few players came to mind, one of them being graduate defensive lineman Julius Welschof, who could play both on the interior and the edge.
Keeping in mind he’s still relatively new to the game of football, he’s only recorded 19 tackles, one for loss and one sack in 21 games played at Michigan. If they do ask him to play on the edge, Michigan radio analyst Jansen said, he’ll have one responsibility.
“Uh … kill,” Jansen quipped when asked what Welschof’s role would be on the edge. “Just seek and destroy. If you can run the way he runs and get downhill … there are some guys that pass rush moves matter, and they always do. But if you can be a 290-pound missile …
“I could tell you from my perspective, when you’re running backwards and a guy like that is running forward, that is really, really hard to stop.”
It doesn’t always mean getting to the quarterback either, Jansen continued.
“This is where it all comes together,” the former Michigan great said. “Even if he doesn’t get home, now you’ve got [senior tackle] Mazi Smith inside, you’ve got other guys that are handling their business in there and putting pressure and collapsing the depth of the pocket. Now you get a guy like Julius out there who is collapsing the width of the pocket. Then you get linebackers who can run the way Michigan does …”
