[Michigan Wolverines News]

With football training camp just a month away, Michigan's hot topic is sure to be its defense.

Losing five key players to the NFL draft, plus defensive end Rondell Biggs, the Wolverines' ranking will be downgraded solely because of defensive uncertainties.

Not that it bothers the players.

"I never really listen to that, and if I do read that, they don't know the inside scoop," senior linebacker Chris Graham said earlier this summer. "I have (starting) experience, and a few other guys do, too. Everyone has been in the games before. It's like that every year, how do you replace guys like Dave Harris and Prescott Burgess? I look at that as (pundits) write what they need to write and (are) waiting to reveal what we have."

The losses affect all three levels of the defense, but returning impact players on the defensive line (Tim Jamison, Terrance Taylor), at linebacker (Graham, Shawn Crable) and in the secondary (Jamar Adams, Morgan Trent) provide some continuity, even if they weren't last year's stars.

The new defensive leaders are trying to make summer workouts their proving ground -- just as Leon Hall and LaMarr Woodley did last year.

U-M FOOTBALL: Emerging leaders unify U-M's defense