The Wolverine

May 2017 Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/813087

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 24 of 67

MAY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 25 with an enthusiasm about playing football. That, plus they're talented. "We'll get them ready to play. I'm not nervous at all." The youth can actually play to their advantage, he noted earlier this spring. "They're such young guys. We'll let them compete, and it will take care of itself," he said. "I'm not afraid. We'll be settled and have our packages down, have a very, very solid group that will be able to compete at a high level despite the age. "I'm not worried about that at all. I'd rather be talented and young than the alternative, have a bunch of veter- ans where it's, 'Oh my God. What am I going to do?' "I'll take the alternative and be happy with it. This is a fun group to coach, kind of like the 'feed me' pa- trol. They just want more and more and more, [they're] coming in extra, which they don't have to do. They want to be good. That's half the battle when guys want to be great players. It's usually a good sign that they're going to be." Here's an overview of how the de- fense looked coming out of spring: DEFENSIVE LINE Replacing a number of defensive linemen — and more specifically, finding depth — is one area on which Brown and line coach Greg Mattison are concentrating. "We played eight guys last year," Brown said. "Four are gone, but we've got a first team with [redshirt junior nose tackle] Bryan Mone and [redshirt junior end] Chase Winovich … he is such a better player. "And I'm not sure there's a better tandem, anchor-tackle, in the country than [sophomore end] Rashan Gary and [fifth-year tackle] Maurice Hurst. "I went back and watched practice three of spring last year. Holy moly. What was that? We're just so different. Those first four guys are really setting the tone. We've got some youth there I'm very excited about." It might take some time this spring to get them to jell, with first-time starter Gary and others ready to take the next step. Early returns have been extremely positive, Hurst said, and the "expectations for the position" is much easier with this much talent. "I'm really excited. These guys are special," Hurst said. "I think we're a little bit different up front, but I think we definitely have the guys to be as good, if not better, than we were last year. "I think we'll have a lot of fun mess- ing with offensive linemen. I think it's going to be a lot of fun being on the same side as Rashan." It's cause for celebration just when he gets a block on Mone or Hurst in- side, fifth-year senior center Pat Ku- gler explained. Mone's brute strength and Hurst's quick first step will be tough for any offensive lineman this year, he insisted. Finding backups for them and the other starters is the coaches' task now, and they made progress this spring. Sophomore Carlo Kemp was a spring game standout, and he'll back up Gary. "Carlo Kemp has had a very, very good spring," Mattison said in the days leading up to the spring game. "Carlo Kemp has been a guy who has really showed some things. He's got to do it every play, every day — that's usually the thing that separates people." The Wolverines will need some- one to step up at weakside end. Early enrollee Corey Malone-Hatcher was banged up for much of camp, but he'll get a look. So will freshman Luiji Vilain, a four-star prospect who will report in June. Fourth-year junior Lawrence Mar- shall and redshirt freshman Ron John- son are vying for time inside, along with walk-on redshirt freshman Carl Myers, while redshirt freshman Mi- chael Dwumfour had made progress as a back-up nose tackle before getting hurt. All of the interior linemen will be pushed by freshman Aubrey Solo- mon, a five-star out of Georgia who could be tough to keep off the field, and the other true freshmen. LINEBACKERS Three guys have stood out at weak- side and middle linebacker, with Devin Bush Jr. having learned both. That might be tough for some players, Brown noted, but not for his sopho- more. "Devin is exactly what we knew he'd be in this type of environment," the coordinator said. "He played a year ago, and he's certainly right in form to step in here and do a good job. "Between him, [fifth-year senior] Mike McCray and [fifth-year walk- on] Mike Wroblewski helping out at times, I feel good about those three guys. I'm really looking for a fourth guy, and I'm not sure we know [who that is] yet. At linebacker, that would be my huge task." Sophomore Josh Uche is in the mix there, Brown said, but he's still learn- ing the position after playing defen- sive line in high school. Bush, though, continues to progress on a daily basis, linebackers coach Chris Partridge said mid-spring. "He's starting to understand what it Michigan will need a big year from sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary, who learned on the job as a freshman — totaling 27 stops and five tackles for loss with seven quarterback hurries. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Wolverine - May 2017 Issue