Michigan DBs had breakout springs: Jyaire Hill, Zeke Berry

The Wolverine breaks open the OL space of Michigan football

Michigan Wolverines Football has the task of replacing three starters from last season’s defensive backfield at cornerback Josh Wallace (NFL), Nickelback Mike Sainristil and senior security Rod Moore (Injury). Junior Cornerback Will Johnson and graduate security Paige, Makari are two cornerstones to build on, but there is uncertainty about who will fill the roles alongside them.

On the corner, second year student Jyaire Hills — a 6-foot-2, 190-pound player who played 56 defensive snaps in four games last season — was mentioned most often as a standout player this spring. The Wolverines also brought in the transfer from Albany Aamir Hall and UNLV transfer Ricky Johnson this summer, but Hill is right in the middle of it.

“If you just focus on the guys who were here this spring and held up really well, Jyaire,” said Michigan’s defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan said on “In The Trenches” podcast with Jon Jansen“I think he’s a unique player. I think he loves football. I think he’s growing up. He’s got a goofy personality, but that’s a good thing. He can have fun in the hallway, be a clown and stuff like that. His parents have done a great job with him. And then suddenly when it’s football, he’s all in; he’s not messing around.

“I think this is a guy who took a big step this spring and I’m excited to see where he is this fall.

“We brought in two older players that I haven’t seen yet, so I can’t compare them with the guys we already had in our squad. So I don’t like doing that.”

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graduate Keshaun Harrisan extra, is back for a sixth season, and Senior Ja’Den McBurrows With 15 appearances in his career, he has experience as both an outside cornerback and a nickelback.

“We had a lot of young players coming in, including Keshaun, who played a lot last year, J-Mac, who played a little bit outside last year along with Nickel. Those guys have done a really good job this spring.”

Morgan mentioned that Michigan has been mixing and matching players at all different positions during spring training.

“But we try to get guys to play left and right, not just infield and on the perimeter,” the coach continued. “And if you’re just playing nickel, like J-Mac, we try to get him to play reps outside as well. A guy like (freshman) Jacob Oden who came this spring, he played everywhere.

“We just need to focus a little bit on the corner to see what those guys can do to help us win games and I think it’s going to be a combination of a lot of different players. I think that’s going to be good for us.”

During spring training, Morgan spoke to the media about the junior safety Zeke Berry to replace Sainristil as nickelback and he again called the 6’1″ and 195lb player his breakout player.

“I think Zeke Berry had a really good spring as a safety,” Morgan said. “He played a lot of nickelback and high safety and I think he’s a unique player. I can safely say he played 40 snaps last year, but he had a really good spring and I’m excited for him to take the next step. We’ll be better when he takes the next step.”

Michigan had a revolving door at safety in spring training due to several injuries, including a second-year Brandyn Hillman (unknown) and graduate Quinten Johnson (paralyze).

“A lot of the other guys were there in the spring and not,” Morgan explained. “Various guys got injured. (Junior) Kody Jonesthose guys were there and not there. I haven’t seen that much of B-Hillman and Quinten and the others. I haven’t seen that much, but I’ve seen a lot of footage of them. It’s going to be interesting.”

Michigan has also added a pair of safeties through the transfer portal in Junior Jaden Mangham (State of Michigan) and graduate Wesley Walker (Tennessee).

“I think everyone knows we’ve brought in some guys and our group has taken to them well,” Morgan said. “I think we’ll be better if we have a very competitive squad. Competition always brings out the best in you and that’s what I believe in. There will be no favorites; we’ll be playing the best guys.”

“Those are probably some of the highlights. I would say these guys had something of a breakthrough in the spring. I’m excited to see them continue to do that.”