Michigan’s freshmen defensive linemen have stepped up to provide some depth on a line that’s been a strength of the team, a group that only figures to get better.
Sophomore end Rashan Gary paid his dues last year, playing behind a pair of high NFL draft picks before emerging as a force this year. Freshman tackle Aubrey Solomon has worked his way into the starting lineup this season, while frosh end Kwity Paye is playing more and more.
“Aubrey has steadily since he got here,” defensive line coach Greg Mattison said. “He’s improved every day. It’s really like it was in the past, which we take great pride in, in that the older guys have really mentored him. You can see it every day — you get [redshirt junior] Bryan Mone coaching him on what he should be doing, [fifth-year senior] Mo Hurst … guys will be watching film and they’ll say, ‘that’s really good,’ or ‘step this way.’
“And he’s really a great young man, a great, great young man that wants to be good. He’s gotten the opportunity, and when he’s gone in, he’s played very well.”
Paye is still working his way up, but he’s provided pressure off the edge on a number of plays this year.
“Kwity Paye is another one, just like Aubrey. He has just daily improved, and again, just before I’ll say something to him you’ll hear Rashan or Chase say, ‘you’ve got to step this way,’ or, ‘you’ve got to be lower here.’
“He’s the same way. He listens in meetings, has great pride. He wants to be a really good football player, so the same things happening with him. Every time he takes a rep, I sit there and say, ‘this guy’s gotten better.’ He gets better every day, and he’s going to be a special player.”
The starters have taken ownership of the group, he reiterated, to the point that they’re watching what their backups are doing when they’re not in the games themselves. It’s not the same at all schools, Mattison said, but it is at U-M.
“They’re proud of being in that defense that when a guy comes off and they’re watching him, you’ll hear him yell out, ‘good job, or that’s good!’ When he comes over, they’ll tell him. They’re all into it. They want two groups or whoever it is with the variety to do as well as they can do.”
“The [freshmen] have kept doing what our guys have done before them. They’ve come in and decided that for us to be a really good defense, we’ve got to have a good d-line. A lot of people going into the season said, ‘well, you’re really young there. You don’t have the depth you did before. Well, the starters have stepped it up even more, and the guys behind them have now become great depth. That really shows well for us in the future.”
As of now, he said, he has just as many he can count on as he did last year, and maybe more.
“I believe we’re at eight, maybe more,” he said. “Guys will keep coming. They know every day they’re evaluated, you’re one of those eight or you’re not. They want to do that.”
NOTES
• Hurst has dominated his position like few others this year and seems to be a shoo-in for All-Big Ten, possible All-America honors.
“I’m really proud of him,” Mattison said. “Mo Hurst has great ability. The one thing Mo has shown this year more this year than any other is consistency. Week in and week out, there have been times in his career he’ll play a great game, then maybe not as great … not bad, but not as great. He’s really, really stepped it up trying to go each week taking a step forward. I think he’s improved every week.”
• Michigan has gotten beat on a few quarterback scrambles this year, and there’s been added pressure on the defensive line to maintain their rush lanes and keep them bottled up given how much man to man coverage the defense plays.
“That’s what makes it harder, no question about that,” Mattison said. “That’s something where there’s kind of a very small area in there, a gray area where you’ve got to be really, really aggressive but be careful now … you don’t want to open up a rush lane.
“That’s why I'm proud of our guys for being unselfish. If you’re a selfish football player you try to go sack the quarterback no matter what, don’t care about rush lanes. Our guys understand there are rush lanes that could open if you get too deep behind a quarterback, if you get too wide. They understand that, and they’re doing a good job of that.”
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