Position Breakdown: Defensive Line

For our Position Breakdown series, we are going to take a look at each position group for Michigan Football with spring practices nearing a close.

How does the current depth chart shake out?
What are the storylines or things you should be watching heading into the summer and eventually of course the season?
What's the X factor, whether it's a player, coach, or situation that could change the way the group looks?

Let's talk about the big men up the middle.

Mazi Smith and his 632 snaps are headed to the NFL. Kris Jenkins however, elected to return to Ann Arbor. He will pair with freshman breakout start Mason Graham to be the primary duo at defensive tackle. Michigan has elite depth at the position with Rayshaun Benny and Kenneth Grant expected to be big factors in the defensive line rotation.

How Michigan utilizes each player will be interesting to see. Michigan uses a multiple front defense that sometimes features two defensive tackles in base formation and sometimes features three. Last season Mazi was the primary nose tackle, with 185 snaps over center. Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant combined for 50 snaps at nose. Mazi rarely left the field with another 400 snaps at 3T. Graham and Jenkins are most likely to play over the guards in 2 man fronts, which means Michigan would have to bring Grant in for nose tackle snaps as opposed to sliding the nose over like they did with Mazi. All 4 of the leading DTs are able to slide over the line, so that versatility will be utilized, but watching the scheme develop early in the season will be compelling.

Behind the top 4 Michigan has depth but not a lot of experience. Grad transfer Cam Goode returns for another season and a coaches favorite Ike Iwunnah figures to factor into the two-deep. With the depth at offensive line Michigan also moved Alessandro Lorenzetti over to defense. The Wolverines recruited the position well in 2023 with Trey Pierce, Brooks Bahr, and Cameron Brandt joining the fold.

Michigan knows what it has with Mason Graham and Kris Jenkins, and that's two of the best defensive tackles in the country. Graham's ceiling is sky high and Kris Jenkins is no longer a tweener, and instead a fully developed beast in the middle that can play in any alignment along the defensive line. He wasn't recognized enough last season playing next to Mazi Smith.

The X factor here is Kenneth Grant. Grant was a physical freak alongside Graham in the 2022 class. While Graham had a clear path to playing time, Grant was blocked by Mazi Smith. Grant will obviously see a significant increase in snaps this season, but the question again is how much? Word out of spring camp has been that Grant has been impressive and has seen great improvement in conditioning despite being over 340lbs.

One weakness Michigan had last season was tempo, and Michigan can't get caught being unable to rotate players on the defensive line. If Grant can stay consistent for multiple plays in a row and make quick changes when the defense calls for subs, his impact could be massive. Michigan can replace the run stop and pass protection of Mazi with Graham, Jenkins, and Benny, but it is likely the only true nose replacement will be Graham. If he can be that, this defensive line could be better than we are already think it will be.

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