Michigan football: Pre-Spring Preview, Part III, defensive line

(Note: This is the third in a series concerning potential starters for this fall’s Michigan football team. Now, we’ll look at the defensive line. Previously we examined the linebackers and defensive backs. Here are the links to those two articles.

Part I, defensive backs

Part II, linebackers

New defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin will begin his first season without four of the Michigan football team’s top defenders from 2014.

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Defensive ends Frank Clark and Brennen Beyer, linebacker Jake Ryan and cornerback Ramon Taylor are all hoping to latch onto NFL teams this summer.

Durkin, along with DL assistant Greg Mattison (who served four years as U-M defensive coordinator under previous head coach Brady Hoke) will be restructuring a defensive front which last season played its best football since 2011.

Clark and Beyer excelled in 2014.

Beyer leads sack stats

Despite missing the final two games with a domestic violence charge, Clark’s quickness enabled him to finish with 13.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks.  The TFL’s were second only to Ryan’s 14.0, who also led the team with 112 tackles. Beyer, who also played linebacker in his Wolverine career, led the team in sacks with 5.5.

With the four departures (including cornerback Raymon Taylor) adding to the challenge,  head coach Jim Harbaugh will be shuffling the lineup through the spring and into the fall.  Harbaugh, Durkin and Mattison are waiting to adjust personnel before deciding on a base 4-3 (under or over) or a 3-4 front.

When next week’s spring practice begins, figure on junior Taco Charlton to land the strongside defensive end spot, while two Michigan kids, senior Mario Ojemudia from Farmington Harrison and redshirt freshman Lawrence Marshall from Southfield, compete for the WDE position.

Several All-Americans

Over the years, Michigan has featured several fine nose tackles: Glen Steele, Rob Renes, Mark Messner and Curtis Greer were four of several All-Americans.

While there have been few in recent years, junior walk-on Ryan Glasgow has a chance to distance himself from the others. With 20 tackles and four TFLs, his numbers are not bad for a position which is primarily there to clog up space.

Pipkins’ year?

Everyone has been waiting for 4-star recruit Ondre Pipkins to break out at any time, but he suffered a torn ACL midway through the 2013 season which caused him to miss all but five games in 2014.

If Pipkins can’t unseat Glasgow he might be given the chance to compete with Chris Wormley and Willie Henry at DT (3-tech).

Ok, so where is the “Michigan Difference” Harbaugh and his staff are bringing along to fix what’s been ailing the defensive front for years.  Sure there wasn’t time to find the answers with a just a few weeks to work before National Signing Day.

Wheatley. Jr could be a star

But two recruits just might show some mettle in the early going. Tyrone Wheatley, who was one of Michigan’s best ever running backs, and now a Michigan assistant, helped convince his 6-6, 270 lb. athletic son to join the Wolverines.

At some point Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. may play both sides of the ball, beginning with either defensive end or eventually playing some tight end.

Shelton Johnson, another Harbaugh recruit, could be a natural pass rusher at WDE, or even the spare linebacker in a 3-4 set.  So yes, youth may squeeze itself itself into the lineup sooner than we think.

How else can Michigan make an early statement to the Buckeyes or Spartans?

Here is how the defensive line will shape up for both the 4-3 and 3-4 alignments:

4-3
SDE Taco Charlton JR, Henry Poggi, RS SO, Tyrone Wheatley, FR                                                     

NT Ryan Glasgow JR, Ondre Pipkins SR                                                                        

DT Chris Wormley JR, Willie Henry JR, Brian Mone, SO                                                  

WDE Mario Ojemudia SR, Lawrence Marshall RS FR, Shelton Johnson, FR 

3-4                                                                                                                                                                                  

DT Chris Wormley JR, Willie Henry JR                                                    

NT Ryan Glasgow JR, Ondre Pipkins SR                                                

DT Henry Poggi, RS SO, Taco Charlton JR