The Michigan Wolverines' football team received surprising news last week when freshman defensive end Aaron Lewis announced he would be transferring before ever playing in a game with the Maize and Blue.
Lewis is heading home to Rutgers to be closer to his mother (he is from New Jersey), leaving behind a defensive end spot that has virtually no experience or past production behind its dynamite starting duo of senior Kwity Paye and junior Aidan Hutchinson.
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Lewis' departure will have little impact on the 2020 Wolverines, seeing as how he wasn't likely to crack the two-deep this season. Redshirt junior Luiji Vilain, redshirt sophomore Taylor Upshaw and redshirt freshman David Ojabo will seemingly be the first defensive ends in off the bench in 2020, and all likely would have been ahead of Lewis on the depth chart.
It's worth noting, however, that Steve McGregor (the father of freshman defensive end Braiden McGregor) recently told TheWolverine that defensive line coach Shaun Nua had informed both the younger McGregor and Lewis that they would be expected to contribute as freshmen, and that the door was open for playing time.
At 6-5, 235 pounds, many had viewed the latter as an athlete who could potentially move inside to play defensive tackle down the road, or at least give the team a few snaps there in a pinch.
Some fans may not think much of his transfer when considering he was just a three-star prospect out of high school, but it's worth noting he received high praise from two of the most respected recruiting analysts in the business this past winter when he signed with U-M.
Both Rivals.com Mid-Atlantic recruiting expert Adam Friedman and national recruiting guru Tom Lemming singled out Lewis as one of, if not, the most underrated player in Michigan's entire 2020 signing class.
"He’s a tall kid with great athletic ability who will put on weight and strength," Lemming said last February. "He’s not as highly rated by a lot of people because he’s not as big and strong as a lot of other guys.
"Lewis is very athletic and was named two-time South Jersey, and that’s really good competition down there. He’ll impress a lot of people."
Again, Lewis' departure won't necessarily be felt in 2020, but the defensive end spot may begin to take on a new look in 2021 following Paye's graduation and several new contributors stepping into prominent roles.
A luxury Nua had with his ends last season was that both Paye and Hutchinson were durable enough to play almost the entirety of games; the latter saw 746 snaps last year and the former 638, with the now-graduated Mike Danna checking in a distant third with only 394.
Vilain, meanwhile, was fourth at defensive end on the snaps played list in 2019, but only saw the field for 47 plays. The Maize and Blue are now slated to have 11 scholarship defensive ends on their roster in 2020 following Lewis' departure.
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