Michigan defensive line jelling – ‘Pieces there’ & a ‘pleasant surprise’
The Michigan defense lost key players on all three levels from last year’s squad, but the Wolverines got hit hardest up front. Ends David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson are projected first-round picks. Tackle Chris Hinton, too, left a year early to pursue his NFL dream.
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But new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter did his homework on the returnees before arriving at Michigan from Vanderbilt. He knew the strengths and weaknesses after talking to friend Mike Macdonald, and he’s been pleased in the early going.
“[End] Taylor Upshaw is a guy that is tough and rugged. He plays like a Michigan defensive player is supposed to play,” Minter said on the recent In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen. “A guy I’ve been pleasantly surprised with is Braiden McGregor. I think he has potential to be a high-end edge player as we continue to grow.
“There are pieces there. There are guys that have played and played a good amount of snaps, like [tackle] Mazi [Smith] … and guys that haven’t maybe played as much but have sat behind high level players for a couple years. You hope those guys make the same jump that Ojabo made when he hadn’t played before. I think that’s natural in college football — that guys progress.”
Head coach Jim Harbaugh already talked about Mike Morris earlier this spring, noting he could be the ‘next Ojabo or Hutchinson.’ Veteran Kris Jenkins played a lot last year and has had a good spring, per rumblings, while second-year frosh Rayshaun Benny is also opening eyes.
Youngster George Rooks has been getting to the quarterback this spring, and it’s possible Michigan will add one or more tackles, too. Central Florida’s Cam Goode will visit (we think he ends up in Ann Arbor). He could add some pressure from the interior, which would be more than welcome. Minter has a lot to replace when it comes to pass rush, and he could need to get creative.
In that sense, expect the defense to look at least somewhat different this fall.
“I’m not Mike [Macdonald],” Minter said of last year’s coordinator. “[The players and I] had to get to know each other, and them get to know my leadership style and things like that. Also, I had to get to know the players as well as I could before walking in there and saying, ‘hey, this is what we’re doing.’
“That was key. We were able to dive into a lot of the film from the past year, tweak some things and then say, ‘all right — here we go. Let’s hit the ground running.’”
But a lot of it is similar, and one of the reasons they are ahead of the curve this spring. The defense has been holding its own, at least at times, and there’s a lot of talent.
“I think the big advantage is the continuity and the overall system allowed us with the players to say okay, this is year two. We can move probably at a faster rate of install than last spring when everything was new,” Minter said. “While at the same time trying to teach it in a way that our early enrollees can keep up … that everybody that hasn’t played before can get a lot of reps and know what they’re doing.
“It’s been a smooth process. Credit to the coaches that are in place here and the players for being open minded and willing to dive in and keep this thing going.”
