Recapping 2012 Commit Mario Ojemudia

Today, we continue on with the defensive line recruits and reach Mario Ojemudia.  He's a defensive end out of Farmington Hills, Michigan and has one of the fiercest stares in the history of the world (see here).  He brings in some decent hype and is expected to progress into a defensive end that wrecks havor in the backfield.  Of course, this will take time, but his talent could definitely be important in the future at a position of need for Michigan.

Ojemudia has several skills that can make him absolutely lethal as a rushing defensive end.  First, he has incredible speed off the snap and is often able to get in the backfield before offensive linemen can even react.  This is one of the reasons he was able to amass so many sacks in high school.  He also possesses a solid wingspan and some good fundamentals.  Of course, with just about every recruit, there is a negative side and Ojemudia certainly has one.  He is pretty undersized at this point, coming in at 225 lbs according to the media guide.  Along with this, he's just 6'2" and doesn't have nearly the level of strength needed to be a major factor on the line in the near future.  Yes, he will be playing weakside defensive end, which is closer to a linebacker than a defensive tackle in Mattison's scheme, but he's just doesn't have the size and strength to be a factor at this point.

2012 Positional Breakdown: Defensive Line

Out of all the question marks for Michigan's 2012 squad, perhaps the biggest are for the defensive line.  After losing three starters, Michigan is looking for players to fill the roles formerly played by Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergen, and Will Heininger.  They have returning players at every position on the defensive line with game experience, but only one of the four spots has gotten a serious amount of confidence from fans.  As a result, Michigan's defensive line progress could very likely determine the direction of the defense overall and the team's performance down the stretch.

This is largely because Michigan has All-Big Ten prospects at just about every positional group on the offensive side and is returning just about everybody that started at linebacker or in the secondary last year as well.  Add in the fact that both of the specialists return and Michigan looks like a pretty good squad for 2012, assuming the defensive line can progress.  In my opinion, this is the position group that will determine the type of season Michigan will have in 2012.  Not only because it has the most question marks, but also because of the way it produced in 2011 in route to the Sugar Bowl victory.  Key red zone stops, key stops on 3rd and short, and a plethora of turnovers during the course of the season.  Making up for that is going to be a challenge, so let's start breaking down who has a chance at doing it in 2012.