The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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98 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW DEFENSIVE LINE backup, described by Brown as one giant muscle from head to toe. Mattison loves what he sees from the second-year Wol- verine, who delivered one sack among five tackles in nine game appearances in 2017. "Kwity's so much stronger than he was a year ago," Mattison said. "Kwity came in here at probably 230 pounds, and I think he's 250-some pounds right now. He's a lot stronger now. He hasn't lost any quickness, and he's playing like a guy that's been here before — not like a freshman. "I'm really looking for good things out of him. He has a summer in that weight room with these guys? Watch out. You're going to find somebody you're really going to be excited about." Actually, Paye noted, he's at 261 pounds. "I feel like Coach Mattison has more trust in me to throw me out onto the field," Paye said. "I know what I'm doing now." Kemp can help the Wolverines as either a backup end or tackle, after posting three stops and a quarterback hurry in 13 games last fall. Mattison sees his versatility as highly valuable to the big puzzle. "Carlo Kemp, every day he comes out and he's playing better," Mattison said. "He's playing a couple of different posi- tions. We've got a number of kids that are doing good. "It's when you keep putting a Carlo Kemp in with the first unit and he does well. Then the next time, when it's a com- petitive situation, he goes in again and he does well again. Now, when you're looking at the film, you start saying to yourself, if we're playing a game right now, I feel re- ally good about him going in." Redshirt freshman defensive end Luiji Vilain came on strongly enough after sign- ing a year ago that many felt he'd see the field prominently as a true freshman. In- stead, he saw far too much of the training room, a leg injury wiping out his chances to make an immediate impact. He also missed spring practice this sea- son, and remains in process to find his way back to the competition. "He's getting better all the time," Mat- tison said. "Luiji does not miss one treat- ment. He does not miss one workout. His grades are doing really well. I'm really excited about when he comes back. "This is going to be really interesting, once he finally is cleared." Redshirt freshman Deron Irving-Bey, Defensive coordinator Don Brown said fifth-year senior end Chase Winovich "gives you every- thing he's got on every single play." PHOTO BY PER KJLEDSEN "Up front, we always want to have enough depth to be able to rotate. That's what the spring is for us. We want our first group to get better. The guys behind them have to earn the right, so that when we get into games, this guy can go in right now. You're starting to see that." DEFENSIVE LINE COACH GREG MATTISON ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year Elig. Hometown (High School) 50 Michael Dwumfour DT 6-2 290 Jr. So. Wayne, N.J. (DePaul Catholic) 37 Dane Drobocky* DE 6-3 234 Jr. Jr. Bowling Green, Ky. (Bowling Green) 3 Rashan Gary DE 6-5 281 Jr. Jr. Plainfield, N.J. (Paramus Catholic) — Aidan Hutchinson DE 6-6 258 Fr. Fr. Dearborn, Mich. (Divine Child) 44 Deron Irving-Bey DL 6-5 274 So. Fr. Flint, Mich. (Southwestern Academy) 95 Donovan Jeter DT 6-3 288 So. Fr. Beaver Falls, Pa. (Beaver Falls) 97 Ron Johnson DE 6-4 264 Jr. So. Camden, N.J. (Camden) 4 Reuben Jones DE 6-4 245 Sr. Jr. Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson) 2 Carlo Kemp DL 6-3 264 Jr. Jr. Boulder, Colo. (Fairview) 99 John Luby* DL 6-6 241 Sr. Sr. Lake Orion, Mich. (Lake Orion) 93 Lawrence Marshall DT 6-4 285 5th. Sr. Southfield, Mich. (Southfield) 54 Carl Myers* DT 6-3 276 Jr. Jr. Grand Rapids, Mich. (West Catholic) 90 Bryan Mone DT 6-4 325 5th. Sr. Salt Lake City (Highland) 19 Kwity Paye DE 6-4 241 So. So. Providence, R.I. (Bishop Hendricken School) 5 Aubrey Solomon DT 6-3 297 So. So. Leesburg, Ga. (Lee County) 91 Taylor Upshaw DE 6-4 240 Fr. Fr. Bradenton, Fla. (Braden River) 18 Luiji Vilain DE 6-4 242 So. Fr. Ottawa, Ontario (Episcopal [Va.]) — Julius Welschof DE 6-6 253 Fr. Fr. Miesbach, Bavaria, Germany (Fos Altoetting) 15 Chase Winovich DE 6-3 253 5th. Sr. Jefferson Hills, Pa. (Thomas Jefferson) * Walk-on