The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 23 len, he's that Sam-type of player … really athletic, bend around the corner to get to the quarterback." HEALTHY COMPETITION Harbaugh considers all of them start- ers, and each will get a chance to prove himself in the first few games, the coach insisted. He's expected his veterans to bring the younger and new guys along, and that's exactly how it's transpired from spring through summer and two weeks into fall camp. Harrell and Mc- Gregor are the veterans now, and they're looking out for their fellow edges in prep- aration for the season. Harrell, of course, would love to be on the field on every down. He also un- derstands that Moore and Stewart are more than capable of making plays when they're out there, too. "Derrick has been doing good … I'm expecting a big year out of Derrick. He's doing some great things for us, for sure," Harrell said. "… Derrick lost like 20 pounds. He's a lot faster, quick- twitchier. "Stew, man … yeah, he's not the big- gest guy. But trust me, he'll get under your pads and take you for a ride with the leverage he plays with. And he's [also] quick, twitchy. He can look kind of small, but he can get under you and take you for a ride, so size really doesn't matter here." Through two weeks, though, Harrell had been the best of the bunch. Though they were only seven practices in, de- fensive coordinator Jesse Minter said he liked what he'd seen from a pass rush that got plenty of work in the spring and individual work this summer. Minter said the interior line and the edges are becoming more in sync with each other, and they're on the right track. While there's still a long way to go, and a lot won't be known until they get to the game, there were several standing out in the early going against some elite pass blockers, led by Harrell. "I think the inside guys and the edge guys are working really well together, particularly Jaylen Harrell," Minter praised. "He's having a really good camp. He's the same player from [last year] — very dependable, does everything right — but he's also starting to become an even better rusher. I look forward to seeing his production this year." Stewart will have a say, too, and Minter believes he can hold up against the run despite his smaller stature. He called Stewart one of those exceptions for the position — a smaller guy who can play bigger even if he doesn't have the mea- surables. Minter did provide a clue later in his press conference as to how they might be used. He intimated that Harrell and Stewart together could combine their skills to work on different downs, though both will get their shots in all situations. "Do I expect him [Stewart] to play the run? Well, he's got a great guy that's really teaching him the nuances of playing the run on the edge in Jaylen," Minter said. "I expect the combination of those two guys to get the job done for us." And don't count Harrell out as a four- down guy, offensive guard Trevor Keegan said. He's come a long way since last year. "He's definitely more explosive," Keegan praised. "He's good off the line [with] his get-off. "I feel like Jay is just becoming a really good leader, really leading by example, being a good mentor for the young guys. Once we strike, he's been really good at readjusting into his second move and getting into his second pass rush. He's gotten really good at that, and he's really good at run stopping, too." To the point that he could be headed for an All-Big Ten season. He's got it in him, his coaches and teammates say — now it's time to put it all together on the field. With the work ethic he's demonstrated and his play early in practice, he's shown he's serious about becoming one of the Big Ten's best. ❑ ❱ U-M defensive coordinator Jesse Minter on Harrell "He's the same player from [last year] — very dependable, does everything right — but he's also starting to become an even better rusher. I look forward to seeing his production this year." Pass Rush Appears Dramatically Improved An improved pass rush has been a goal of the Michigan defensive line since the spring. Though the Wolverines put up 37 sacks last year, many of them came from blitzes or play- ers other than defensive linemen. Defensive line coach Mike Elston made it a mission to get more from the interior linemen in the spring, and senior Kris Jenkins and the rest took it to heart. That's put more pressure on all of them, though, to be there for one another. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said he was pleased with where they were a few weeks into camp, adding there was even more room for im- provement. "I think the biggest thing is that you can tell the amount of work they've put into it in those individual sessions for themselves outside of here," he said. "So, they've worked really hard." Getting the interior and exterior to work together has been the biggest goal, Minter added, and they've made progress. "It's No. 1, just an understanding. Certain rushes, we may be running a game over one side where they both have to really execute," Minter continued. "You may be letting those edge guys go, and then the inside guys, it's understanding what that forces them to do. I just think Coach Elston, Dylan Roney, those guys … the players have talked about it, but the coaches are obsessed with it, too. "We want to be a team that can pin our ears back and rush four guys, and really, really af- fect the quarterback. "… Through seven practices — and obvi- ously, you saw some of it in the spring, but where it's headed — we've still got a lot of work to do. But the vibe amongst the group is really, really good. And nobody's worried about which room is going to do this, who's going to get turned loose … we just want them all working really well together." That's what they want, too, senior edge Jay- len Harrell said. "Building that continuity, just playing off each other, feeding off each other," he said. "Last year, sometimes we weren't on the same page. I'd see that we're rushing too wide and the quarterback escapes in the middle. "Just playing off each other and just having an IQ — if the three-tech is going up field, you've got to come underneath, stuff like that." They're getting there quickly this fall and off to a great start. — Chris Balas