Michigan Wolverines football defensive line coach Shaun Nua met with the media this afternoon for the first time since spring ball kicked off, discussing how his position group has been progressed so far.
The first-year Wolverine mentor went in-depth on the newcomers along the defensive front, while also providing some injury news to what is expected to be a key contributor for the Maize and Blue.
We analyze the highlights of what he said in this News & Views format:
NEWS: Michigan brought in a five-man defensive line class — tackles Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith, and ends David Ojabo, Mike Morris and Gabe Newburg — in its 2019 recruiting haul, and it appears that several of them could make an impact as early as this season.
Though fans originally believed the freshmen may simply see the field out of necessity, it now sounds like their fast physical progressions will make it difficult to keep them off it.
NUA: "Mazi has done a great job of reforming his body from when he first got here. You have to give credit to our strength staff and [nutritionist] Abigail [O'Connor] a lot of credit, because they’ve helped him with that a lot.
"He’s dropped some weight and is moving a lot better. Chris Hinton is big, athletic and can run, and both of them have great qualities you look for in an interior d-lineman. Chris is also a very mature kid and you can see it just by having a conversation with him.
"He loves the game too and is always in the room learning and watching film; he’s probably ahead in the mental part.
"Ojabo can run — he can fly and is very, very athletic. I’m just trying to catch him up with the knowledge of the game, but he needs just a lot of reps and experience."
VIEWS: The fact that Nua raved about the two interior freshmen — Hinton and Smith — is especially encouraging, when considering the need is a lot higher at that spot than on the edges.
It's safe to assume that one (and maybe even both) of them will play meaningful snaps in 2019, simply due to how inexperienced the position remains behind senior Carlo Kemp and redshirt junior Michael Dwumfour.
Hinton and/or Smith certainly don't need to be great in 2019, but will hopefully at least be able to produce at an adequate level while learning on the fly.
NEWS: Michigan will likely have at least three players play significant roles on the d-line who have never appeared in a game at the position at U-M — redshirt sophomore end Luiji Vilain, junior tackle Ben Mason and fifth-year senior end Mike Danna.
