Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 66 days until 2022 season
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, 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.
Former Michigan Wolverines football defensive tackle Mike Hammerstein, who wore No. 66, was a disruptor. He played for the Maize and Blue from 1981-85, but his final season was his most significant. That year, he registered 23 tackles for loss — tied for the fifth-most by a Michigan player in a single season since 1978 — and nine sacks (tied for 13th).
He notched 37 career stops behind the line of scrimmage, which slots 17th on the Michigan all-time list. His 112 tackle for loss yards rank fifth in Wolverines history. He also had two contests in which he recorded three sacks, which is tied for the third-best mark by any Michigan player (1984 vs. Wisconsin and 1985 vs. Notre Dame).
In 1985, Hammerstein was selected as Michigan’s most valuable player. A consensus first-team All-American, he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 1986 NFL Draft. He played 56 career games in the league from 1986-90, registering 5.5 sacks.
Who’s going to be the disruptor this season?
Eighteen percent of Michigan’s sacks and 27 percent of U-M’s tackles for loss last season were made by players that still reside on the roster. The Wolverines return just 43 percent of their production on defense per ESPN.com — factoring in tackles, passes defended, tackles for loss and sacks — which ranks 124th out of 131 teams in the nation.
Graduate defensive end Taylor Upshaw is U-M’s leading returner in tackles for loss (3.5) and sacks (2.5).
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The Wolverines have quite a bit to replace on defense, and will need former role players to step into prominent roles. Upshaw is a top candidate to do so, and the same goes for senior defensive end Mike Morris. Michigan desperately needs that duo and others to step up on the edge.
But like Hammerstein was a defensive tackle, Michigan could get disruption from other positions outside the defensive ends (are we fixating too much on the edge defender spots and forgetting about some other positions?). In 2021, a combined 17 of Michigan’s tackles for loss came from linebacker Josh Ross (nine), safety/nickel Daxton Hill (4.5) and cornerback Vincent Gray (3.5).
Top non-edge rusher candidates to be up there for Michigan in the tackles for loss category include: Sophomore linebacker Junior Colson, who we’d call the favorite at this point, senior defensive tackle Mazi Smith, junior defensive lineman Kris Jenkins, junior linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and a dark horse in junior nickel/wide receiver Mike Sainristil.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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