Name: Cameron Brandt
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 265 lbs.
High school: Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon
Position: Defensive end
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Brandt #94 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He played in fourteen games and made 4 tackles.
TTB Rating: 82
Brandt was committed to Stanford during the recruiting process, but he was good enough to contribute on a national championship-winning team as a freshman, so clearly he was going to be a big fish in a small (football) pond in Palo Alto. Instead of transferring to a place like Michigan in two or three years, he just skipped that step altogether. Michigan didn't really need help at the edge positions in 2023 because they had Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor, Derrick Moore, and Coastal Carolina transfer Josaiah Stewart, but mop-up duty was inevitable, and that's the role that Brandt served. He played 60 snaps on the defensive line (plus another 84 on special teams). Pro Football Focus wasn't high on his play as they gave him an overall grade of 47.3, but not much should be expected from a true freshman third-stringer.
Now Harrell and McGregor are gone. Moore and Stewart should slide into the starting roles, but the Wolverines need people to step up as backups. T.J. Guy has been getting a lot of buzz since the spring, but someone else needs to be that #4 guy. There has been talk that Michigan might use middle linebacker Jaishawn Barham to rush off the edge at times, but that's probably not going to be a frequent strategy. Instead, it will probably be someone like Brandt - or Kechaun Bennett or Dominic Nichols - who takes most of those snaps. I expect Brandt to be the #4 edge overall and back up Moore.
Prediction: Backup defensive end
60 snaps is pretty solid for a freshman DL. The fact that he wasn't red-shirted even though the DL depth was so plentiful last year seemed like a tell that that coaching staff expected him to play a big role in 2024. That's what I expect too, like Thunder, Brandt will be EDGE4.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I don't see him seeing as many snaps as EDGE4 had last year (Josiah Stewart with 333 to Harrell's 474 while Moore and McGregor were 50/50, just 3 snaps apart). I don't think Brandt will get up to 300 and there will be a more traditional breakdown between starter, backup, and a bit more asked of 3rd string guys like Keshaun Bennett.