Ranking The Top 10 Michigan Football Defensive Players Heading Into 2023 By PFF Grade
Michigan begins fall camp on August 2 and the college football season is right around the corner.
I'm going to continue our fall preview content by switching gears to the Wolverines' defense. I just got done ranking the top 10 Michigan offensive players by their Pro Football Focus grade -- you can see that here.
The Wolverines had one of the best defenses in college football a season ago. Even after losing Mike Morris, Mazi Smith, and DJ Turner to the NFL -- Michigan is still loaded. It's even more apparent after looking at the grades per PFF.
In order for a player to be on the list, they had to have played more than 164 snaps a season ago and they must be on the roster heading into the '23 season.
1. Will Johnson (CB) Grade: 88.2 (488 total snaps)
2. Rod Moore (S) Grade: 83.8 (726 total snaps)
3. Mike Sainristil (CB) Grade: 83.3 (689 total snaps)
4. Kris Jenkins (DT) Grade: 80.7 (536 total snaps)
5. Mason Graham (DT) Grade: 80.3 (303 total snaps)
6. Makari Paige (S) Grade: 79.1 (485 total snaps)
7. Josaiah Stewart (Edge) Grade: 78.3 (541 total snaps at Coastal Carolina)
8. Michael Barrett (LB) Grade: 75.7 (629 total snaps)
9. Junior Colson (LB) Grade: 75.5 (727 total snaps)
10. Rayshaun Benny (DT) Grade: 73.8 (164 total snaps)
Other notables:
Kenneth Grant (DT) Grade: 72.7
Josh Wallace (CB) Grade: 70.1 at UMass
Jaylen Harrell (Edge) Grade: 69.1
Derrick Moore (Edge) Grade: 67.9
Braiden McGregor (Edge) Grade: 66.5
Ernest Hausmann (LB) Grade: 51.9 at Nebraska
