When fall camp begins on Friday, one position group will have zero issues with depth — defensive line.
At Big Ten Media Days in Chicago last week, fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich spoke about the overall strength the unit has and why he’s so confident in the younger players that will fill out the two-deep.
The defense as a whole loses only two starters, one of them defensive tackle Maurice “Mo” Hurst, and while he is a giant loss on the interior, Winovich feels comfortable with redshirt sophomore Michael Dwumfour taking over his spot.
Fifth-year seniors Bryan Mone and Lawrence Marshall are also expected to play crucial roles along the line.
In addition to Dwumfour, Winovich praised redshirt freshman defensive end Luigi Villain and junior defensive lineman Carlo Kemp, who worked at both tackle and end in the spring.
“I felt like they got it,” Winovich said. “If I had to place stock into who I thought would have a productive year or a better year, at least compared to last year and some of those guys really didn’t play at all, it would be those guys.”
He said the trio “turned a corner this year” and will be ready to be impact players. In terms of growth, he says Kemp sticks out the most — especially when it comes to physical improvement.
“I’d say this to his face, so I’m fine saying it in public,” Winovich said. “He looked like a doughboy last year, but this year he looks like a man.”
Kemp is listed at 6-foot-3, 264 pounds on the team’s official website.
Elsewhere along the line, sophomore defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon is penciled in as a starter after taking over midway through last season. He totaled 18 tackles and two tackles for loss as a freshman. Winovich says he “started to mentally turn the corner,” especially over the last few weeks and will help fill the void Hurst leaves behind.
“[Replacing Hurst] be an interesting challenge, because we had spring ball, but we haven’t had a season where you don’t feel the same need to rely on someone like you do in the season. You don’t feel the same need to rely on someone like we did in the fall with Mo Hurst,” Winovich said. “This year, it’s one of those things, that you do it so many times during camp … they’ll be just as prepared. That’s why they pay [defensive line] Coach [Greg] Mattison and all the coaches the big bucks. They’re specialists at getting guys prepared.”
One guy Michigan won’t have to replace — at least not until 2019 — is junior defensive end Rashan Gary. The big man is considered a consensus top 10 NFL prospect entering the fall.
“I think he was really close last year to really increasing his numbers and getting sacks,” Winovich said. “I felt, like me, that we left numbers on the board. [He can improve] just being tighter in our pass rush, bending that corner and getting a rip. So, just small technical changes that I think could have a pretty profound impact on his stats and production. He’s a great player and an awesome teammate.”
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