After languishing on the bench, Michigan football DT Donovan Jeter is making the most of his opportunity to shine on the field.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — We heard time and time again for over a year now that, as Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown would say, ‘This Donovan Jeter,’ is impressing off the field. But it never rectified with on-field results for the fourth-year defensive tackle.
However, this season, Jeter came out of the gates with a fumble recovery for a touchdown in Big Ten Week 1, and has since been a mainstay on the defensive line.
So how did he manage to become a vital part of the D-line rotation? Through five games he’s already more than doubled his total output, snap count-wise, having played 188 defensive tackle snaps compared to 93 snaps the whole season last year. He’s also had 8 tackles (compared to zero a year ago and 3 in 2018) and has graded out fairly well according to PFF, with an overall grade of 68 this year. He posted his best game yet against Rutgers, with an overall grade of 76.1.
As far as getting to see the field early and often, Jeter says he put in the effort to make sure he was ready now that it’s his time.
“Just work. There will never be a time where you work hard and it doesn’t pay off,” Jeter said. “I just told myself during quarantine, during the offseason, when I was able to get back up here and start practicing a little bit, I told myself to work hard and the rest will take care of itself.”
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But getting to this point wasn’t an overnight type of deal — it took a lot of work to get to this place for Jeter.
The biggest difference for him is his mentality. He felt like he had something of a lackluster effort a year ago, the setback caused by a poor outing when his name was called. So, once he dusted himself off and got focused later in the year, he vowed that he would do everything possible to fulfill his promise as a player.
“I think I got mentally tougher,” Jeter said. “Last year, I played horribly against Wisconsin — and that kind of affected my mindset throughout the rest of the year. I didn’t really get back into myself until right around the bowl game, Alabama, honestly. I told myself after that game, ‘I’m never going to have that feeling last year — that feeling that I could of did more, I could have did this.’ I invested everything I had into this offseason, just to work hard — and, like I said, just let the rest take care of itself.”
Jeter has played at least 27 snaps in all five games this year, steadily increasing his workload as the season has gone one, especially with defensive line injuries mounting.
Now that he can see his tangible contribution and the playing time has come to fruition, he can look back knowing that all that hard work this offseason has been worth it.
“It’s a good feeling, to go in there and help the defense with a few starts,” Jeter said. “Play major snaps. Now, it’s about making more plays. It’s about making plays that put our defense in a position to be better. I’m happy, blessed to be in this position to help the defense. But now, I’m trying to take it another level — to even help the defense some more.”
Jeter will have yet another opportunity to prove himself this week, as the Wolverines take on the Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan Stadium on Saturday at noon EST.
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