Michigan snagged a commitment from Utah cornerback transfer Smith Snowden a few days ago, shoring up a position that has seen departures from the likes of Jayden Sanders (Notre Dame), Elijah Dotson (Missouri), and Tevis Metcalf in recent times.
Snowden is a 5'10", 185 lb. corner who was a 4-star, the #34 cornerback, and #331 overall in the class of 2023. In the transfer portal, he is ranked as a 4-star, the #3 cornerback, and #50 overall. Coming out of Lehi (UT) Skyridge, he played immediately in 2023, making 7 tackles while playing in eleven games. He started at the nickel position in 2024, making 48 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 8 pass breakups. He was 2nd Team All-Big 12 in 2025 while starting at corner, making 37 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, and 9 pass breakups. Snowden even played a little on offense in 2025, starting two games (one at RB, one at WR) and making 8 carries for 40 yards and 1 touchdown, along with 13 catches for 57 yards.
Michigan will only get one year out of Snowden, and he is likely to start at the nickel position used by Utah and new defensive coordinator Jay Hill from BYU. With the Wolverines bringing back cornerback starters Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry (though Berry may play some safety), Snowden gives the team at least a third starter-quality corner. Throw in a couple touted backups like Shamari Earls and Joziah Edmonds, and the team should be in decent shape at corner going into 2026.
Secondary might be improved
ReplyDeleteLinebacker will depend on coaching & development, but man we could have used a guy
DL may progress, but we missed out on DTs
Whitt & Hill have their work cut out for them
It may not be a world-beater defense, but to be honest, I think after the last two years I'll be pretty satisfied to see sound, disciplined, fundamental defense. It may get beat on some plays when the opponent has a superior athlete, or a really well-designed play. But if we can stop seeing players out of position, players not knowing what they're supposed to do, players taking bad angles, players over-committing on pass rush ... then okay.
DeleteFollowing Moore's departure, there has been a whole lot of criticism of the departing coaches. Honestly, I do not get it, especially on defense. Our defense was top 10 in 2024 (at least according to SP+) and top 15 in 2025. I am not at all sure that Whitt & Hill will be better. I am hoping but I am not sure. Offense is a different story. The bar on offense is pretty low. If we are not able to do better, I will be very disappointed.
Delete@FT
DeleteAccording to FEI Michigan's D was 44th in the country. I would ask if it FELT like a top 15 defense to you?
I was a pretty firm defender of Wink in the context of the people who thought he was awful and should be fired immediately. I thought Wink was alright, notwithstanding being a huge drop off from Minter/McDonald (outlier greats). My logic was you are not going to get future NFL head coaches as your DC all that often. But TBF Wink was still not real good even if you lower the bar to historical norms. Finishing outside the top 25 is not good for Michigan standards.
The fancy stats aren't for everyone but to me that felt closer to correct than top 15. This D was soft on 3rd downs, and pass spready teams were able to rip us apart.
Will the D be better in '26? That I don't know. I'm looking at a DL that, even with Etta, lacks proven all conference players (beyond Daley) or even guys who looks ready to ascend to that level. We're really hoping young guys like Marshall and Palepale can make leaps. And depth is questionable at best especially if Pierce or Daley miss time.
Given the DL concerns, this is not an elite defense. LB looks similarly uncertain. With personnel being what it is I'm not going to hang top 15 expectations on Whitt and Hill in year 1. Now if you gave them Graham and Grant and Stewart it would be a different story... expectations would be much higher. Hell if you gave them some steady vets on the interior like Benny, Payne and Williams expectations would be much higher.
As a goal, I would call being a solid top 25ish defense a success for this group. Pressure is really on Esposito to mold some clay at DT and Powell to polish up some talented pieces in Brandt, Nichols, Marshall, Meadow opposite Daley. We'll see if they deliver.
2024 and 2025 were night and day different, most notably because of 2024 had Graham, Grant, and for part of the year, Will Johnson.
DeleteAccording to cfbstats.com, in 2025 Michigan was:
29th out of 136 for scoring defense
19th out of 136 for rushing defense
54th out of 136 for passing defense
53rd out of 136 in 3rd down conversions allowed (38%)
76th out of 136 for red zone success allowed (31%)
21st out of 136 for 10+ yard rushing plays
49th out of 136 for 10+ yard passing plays
What I take away from that is that our rushing defense was on the better side of average, but our passing defense was only average at best. And that red zone success rate allowed (76th nationally) is not good. In 2024 we were 24th nationally, and in 2023 were were 4th nationally.
When we step away from the numbers, our memory recalls too many frustrating missed tackles, too many 3rd and longs converted, and too few QB pressures and sacks. There is room for improvement. Again, I doubt the talent is there to be a nationally dominant defense, but with some cleaning up of things we should be able to push the boundary of a good, solid defense.
I'm not expecting 2o23. But I would like to see a Greg Mattison return to fundamentals. As Anon says, just being in the right place would fix the repeat whipping SC put on us with routine Screens
Delete*every issue I pointed out after OU was further exposed against SC, ohio AND Texas. The last staff may have tried hard, but the new guys are going to have to try harder
Felt like a massive get for the '26 team. Locking down that nickel spot with a Utah vet frees Michigan up to rotate 3 CBs outside. Presumably that's Hill, Berry, and Earls with Edmonds being next up. So elite talent plus depth -- exactly what you want to see.
ReplyDeleteWould be surprised to see Snowden play offense given the playmakers and talent on the UM roster suddenly, but it's always fun to have a guy playing 2 ways.
Secondary in '26 looks vastly improved.
-Hill, Berry, and Curtis should all be better with an extra year
-Snowden > Metcalf
-Bracy = Hillman
We lost some depth pieces like Mangum (350 snaps), Sanders (290 snaps), Dotson (90 snaps), and Anderson (80 snaps). However, there is not much concern there for a few reasons:
I believe Hill has said he won't rotate personnel in the secondary much, which I think is a welcome change relative to '25 shuffling. I'm sure the younger guys will get some opportunities still, but you might not need 10 guys.
If Moore is healthy, even if he's not quite 100% but just 90% of his former self, that's still a big upgrade on Mangum.
Sanders was a big loss and looked on the star track but Earls can slot in behind him. I would speculate that Sophomore Earls can perform on par with Freshman Sanders.
Not at all worried about depth pieces like Anderson or Dotson since Young, Winston, Oden, and Edmonds are all back. Will be interesting to see how Young is used -- at safety or a backup nickel.
Only real nit I can come up with for the secondary might be CB depth being a concern if Hill or Berry are injured and miss significant time, but Snowden and Taylor offer versatile pieces that can maybe be moved around if needed.
You can see CB as a big need for the '27 but that's another topic for another day. For '26 the secondary looks to be the strength of the defense.