For the past two seasons, Zeke Berry has been buried in the Wolverines’ depth chart, but now he has regained his confidence and will have the chance to step up in a new role by splitting time between safety and nickel:
For the past two seasons, Zeke Berry has remained hidden in the shadows, buried in the Michigan football team’s depth chart. With Mike Sainristil locking down the nickel position and Rod Moore and Makari Paige locking in the starting safety roles, there wasn’t much room for Berry.
But Sainristil is now in the NFL and Moore went down with an ACL injury in the spring, potentially ending his season before it even started. Finally, Berry has the room he needs to hit the field. And despite his limited playing experience, his coaches and teammates have full faith in his abilities to step up.
“It feels good having those type of guys speak about me like that,” Berry said. “I’ve been waiting my turn for two years now, practicing hard, making sure I’m doing the right things in order to get my opportunity now, so coming from those guys it makes me feel good about myself and making me able to regain my confidence again.”
In Berry’s first two seasons with the Wolverines, he spent all of his time at safety. However, his experience remained extremely limited, as he has only had 45 defensive snaps in his career thus far. Despite that finite experience, he will play a critical role in Michigan’s defense this season.
In order for him to do that, Berry won’t exclusively line up at safety; he has split his time equally between safety and nickel this offseason. It’s a change that took some adjusting, but it’s also a change he has completely embraced.
“Being at safety, you’re further back in the defense while being a nickel you’re up in front. So I mean just being able to juggle those and finding the right spots and positioning, I would say that was something that I struggled with at one point. But I feel like I’m getting better at it right now,” he said.
A major part of Berry’s improvement comes from the boost in confidence he’s found through the offseason. In part, that has come from the role models that have stood in front of him the past two seasons: Sainristil and Moore.
“Both of those guys really know football a lot,” Berry said. “And being able to watch Mike on the field, at practice and even off the field — he’s a role model for me and I just looked up to him everyday and I would try to pick his brain on football and even outside of football just to see how he can help me. And also with Rod, too, he’s a smart guy, just being able to have that guy in my pocket and just use him as a resource, that makes me feel good about anything.”
Sainristil leaves behind massive shoes to fill, but because of the example he set for Berry, the redshirt sophomore has the preparation needed to contribute. Similarly with Moore, Berry has an excellent leader on the sidelines to help him thrive. Although Moore can’t contribute on the field, he’s still playing a critical role in part through his guidance toward Berry and other players.
After spending two seasons buried in Michigan’s depth chart, Berry finally has the opportunity to see the field. And with Sainristil and Moore’s guidance, as well as regained confidence, Berry has the tools to be a breakout player for the Wolverines.