CHICAGO -- Not spoken of as much as a potential contributor usually is, Chris Bracy was something of an underrated addition to the Michigan football team. Having started his career at UAB (he played in Birmingham at the same time as Yaxel Lendeborg), Bracy was third last year in tackles and tackles for loss at Memphis, with 81 tackles and 9.5 for loss.
When WolverinesWire asked running back Jordan Marshall which under-the-radar players are impressing him, along with wide receiver JJ Buchanan and edge rusher Lugard Edokpayi, he noted that Bracy has a lot he really likes.
"Chris Bracy is a player," Marshall said. "He's a player. He's smart, really, really smart."
He's not the only one who believes that. In fact, you can expect to see Bracy out on the field
straight out of the gates, starting alongside a now-healthy Rod Moore, according to head coach Kyle Whittingham.
"Chris Bracy will be a guy that is in the mix there," Whittingham said. "Then we got three or four other guys that really had good springs. As soon as I start mentioning them, I'll forget somebody. Right now, Chris Bracy and Rod Moore are really at the top."
What has allowed Bracy to emerge as the likely starter? After all, there are other safeties who have been in Ann Arbor and who have experience. Many anticipated that Mason Curtis, now entering his third year, would be a likely candidate to start alongside Moore. But Jacob Oden and Kainoa Winston also could be in the mix. But with the Metcalf brothers and Brandyn Hillman all transferring out, the Wolverines brought Bracy in because he has a lot of traits that Whittingham anticipates will help the team straight away.
"Toughness, good tackler," Whittingham said. "In our scheme, safety has got to be great tacklers. He brings that to the table. He's athletic. Ball skills are really good. He's got great ball skills up the field. He's got great angles to the football. That's so key. A free safety that runs 4-4 that has poor angles is not as valuable as a 4-6 guy that takes great angles."
With Big Ten media days now in the rearview mirror, the team will soon start fall camp. The season opener for the Wolverines will be at 7:30 p.m. EDT against Western Michigan at The Big House on September 5.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Why Chris Bracy is poised to start at safety for Michigan football
