Who will start on Michigan's defense? Our projected depth chart

We've identified the most likely outcomes for Michigan football's offensive starters − at least the direction things appear to be going in just more than one week into camp − and now it's time to do the same for the defense.

There are questions all over this unit. Will U-M's two injured stars be ready to suit up for game one? Have any linebackers been able to separate from the competition and stand out in the battle for a starting job? Who is going to be the nickel? What about the second edge rusher?

While the next few weeks will provide even more clarity on those fronts, here's where we believe things would stand if fall camp ended right now, with a projection of the two-deep at every position underneath coordinator Jay Hill.

LEFT TACKLE BATTLE: Michigan football's depth chart on offense one week into fall camp

Defensive line

Starters: EDGE John Henry Daley, DT Trey Pierce, DT Enow Etta, EDGE Dom Nichols

Reserves: EDGE Cam Brandt, DT Jonah Lea'ea, DT Deyvid Palepale, EDGE Lugard Edokpayi/Carter Meadows/Nate Marshall

Hill was asked in U-M's opening week of fall camp who was the favorite to start opposite Daley at the second edge spot, and he immediately responded even Daley is competing for a job. Daley is also on a "pitch count" as he works his way back from an Achilles injury, but per coach Kyle Whittingham, he has been "fully cleared" by doctors, it's just the staff that's slowly bringing him along.

While a number of names have come up at the edge spot opposite Daley, the one coaches seem most excited about is Nichols. In the spring, Whittingham called Nichols a "force" and said he "has the chance to be All-Big Ten before he’s finished here."

Brandt, a reliable senior, will come in on the second wave along with someone with true athleticism and pass-rushing upside, like Edokpayi or Meadows. Strangely, we haven't heard much of anything about Marshall, who was a four-star recruit in 2025 and thought to be a breakout candidate this season.

On the interior, Pierce and Etta are the two most proven pieces in a room that seems to lack star power. Pierce has put on a lot of good weight and seems to be poised for a solid season, but the questions are behind him. Is Lea'ea big enough to hold up in the run game? Can Palepale, who's 340 pounds, really get after the quarterback in the pass game? Whittingham has called the defensive line one of the strengths of the team, but time will tell just how good it really is.

Starters: Chase Taylor, Nathaniel Staehling

Reserves: Troy Bowles, Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng

No unit has as much to prove on the entire team as linebackers. This is an inexperienced group, with Staehling as the only player projected in the two-deep who's started at the college level, and that was at FCS North Dakota State last season. He was a "tackling machine" with the Bison in 2025, said Whittingham − he put up 75 tackles with six for loss, three interceptions and one returned for a touchdown − but this is another level. That said, even after sitting out spring with an injury, he's come on early in camp and someone Whittingham said will figure prominently into the defense.

Our guess is Taylor will be alongside Staehling. Now, it could be Bowles − linebacker coach Alex Whittingham told the Free Press over the summer he was serving as Mike linebacker − but with Staehling's emergence, he may rely on Taylor's athleticism, having said he can do "special things." Expect all four to play (even Max Alford and Aisea Moa could get in the mix), but it sounds like Staehling has been the standout early in camp.

Starters: CB Jyaire Hill, S Rod Moore, S Chris Bracy, NB Smith Snowden, CB Zeke Berry

Reserves: CB Shamari Earls, S Mason Curtis, S Jordan Young, NB Zeke Berry CB Jamarion Vincent/Jo'Ziah Edmond

The starting secondary is all but locked up, barring something unforeseen.

Moore (health permitting) will start at one safety spot, Bracy will start at the other and Hill will "100%" be on the outside, according to Whittingham, only moving inside to nickel in case of emergency. That leaves Snowden and Berry as the final two pieces; U-M just needs to decide which one it likes better on the inside and which on the outside − but don't be surprised if they move around a bit, depending on the matchups.

Beyond that, Earls, a former top-50 prospect and Georgia pledge, is said to be No. 4 in the cornerback room and pushing his way into the rotation, while Curtis has shown he can be productive in playing time, now it's about grasping a new system. Young, Vincent and Edmond are all young but could be called upon in a room that's not exceedingly deep for a team that runs a nickel base.

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.