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17 days until Michigan football: Braiden McGregor has his swagger back, is now ready to put it all together

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•08/16/23•

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Braiden McGregor
Braiden McGregor is ready for his next chapter ... the NFL. Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.

Michigan senior EDGE Braiden McGregor has his swagger back.

The 6-6, 267-pounder came to Michigan still working his way back from a knee injury that held him out of his senior year of high school. It took him longer than he expected to return, and there were some “dark times” mixed in, but he finally got healthy. But even when he did, he was still lacking some confidence, naturally, both physically and mentally.

Now, he’s carrying himself differently, thanks to being healthy and in great shape — and what he did on the field last season. McGregor wasn’t a full-time starter, though he did open three games and play in all 14. He racked up 16 tackles with 5 for loss, including 2.5 sacks and 2 pass breakups.

McGregor showed up in big moments, too. He had a sack against in-state rival Michigan State and 2 pass breakups at Ohio State. Both were resounding victories by 22 points. In fact, McGregor almost called game with a near-interception against the Buckeyes.

“No. 1, just how he trains, he’s seen himself now, he’s made some big plays in big games, made some big plays,” Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said of McGregor during fall camp. “If you look back at some of his biggest plays, he’s got a sack against Michigan State, he’s got some big plays against Ohio State. Those are big, big games that he’s now made key plays in. And so that allows your confidence to grow.”

Heading into this season, McGregor and sophomore Derrick Moore are battling out to be the starter at Michigan’s SAM linebacker spot. One thing’s for certain, no matter how the competition plays out, both will have big roles.

McGregor is next up in a long line of successful Michigan edge rushers, including Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo and Mike Morris — all NFL Draft picks — the last three seasons. McGregor said he’s heeding some of Ojabo’s advice from a couple years back, to take things, “day by day,” and he’s passing it down to the ‘next generation’ of U-M linemen.

“That’s really what I’ve been doing,” McGregor explained. “I’ve been telling the younger guys that just day by day, uh, keep getting better. And that’s what I’m trying to do this camp is just stack days and continue getting better.”

From everything we’ve gathered leading into the 2023 campaign, McGregor is going to be an impact player for Michigan.

Michigan football countdown to kickoff

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