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Only member of Michigan's secondary with experience ready for the challenge: 'I'm underrated'

Brad Hawkins didn't anticipate becoming the only returning starter within Michigan football's secondary.

He was supposed to play alongside senior cornerback Ambry Thomas after both roamed the defensive backfield last year in their first season as starters. But Thomas declared for the NFL draft in August shortly after the Big Ten postponed all fall sports. That left Hawkins as the sole veteran of a position group that doesn't have much experience anymore.

“Becoming a leader on this defense, it means a lot to me," Hawkins said Friday during in a Zoom call.