Defense
Defensive Line
| Edge | Tackle | Tackle | Edge |
| Kwity Paye | Carlo Kemp | Chris Hinton | Aidan Hutchinson |
| Taylor Upshaw (or) David Ojabo | Jess Speight (or) Phillip Paea | Donovan Jeter (or) Mazi Smith | Luiji Vilain (or) Braiden McGregor |
Three of the four starters from last year are returning, with Carlo Kemp getting an NCAA waiver for a fifth-year — excellent news considering he only played in one game in 2016.
Of those starting up front, while we’re not much differentiating between the the 3-tech or the nose tackles, we anticipate that former five-star Chris Hinton will be the one to step in to replace Michael Dwumfour, who transferred to Rutgers this offseason. However, Donovan Jeter could challenge, though he hasn’t quite come on as he looked to do as a true freshman before injuring his ACL. If he gets back into form, he certainly could be the guy there. Fellow (to Hinton) second-year interior lineman Mazi Smith should also be in the rotation.
At end, it will be Kwity Paye and Aidan Hutchinson retaining their jobs. Behind them, there are a bunch of names that could make noise. Luiji Vilain was a borderline five-star coming in, but had surgeries on either of his knees in consecutive years. Last year, he had to acclimate to the speed of the game. Taylor Upshaw was oft-used in relief situations, and should be ready to make some noise in his third-year. However, we heard a lot from players all year about David Ojabo’s progress throughout the season, and he should be a factor as a redshirt freshman. And if true freshman Braiden McGregor is fully recovered from the ACL injury he suffered his senior year, he could be an early impact player off the bench, similar to Hutchinson two years ago.
Back to the interior, it was former walk-on Jess Speight who got the nod starting in the middle against Alabama with Carlo Kemp out with a foot injury. He should be in the rotation along with Phillip Paea, who’s had an injury-laden career thus far, but looks the part of a Power 5 defensive tackle, and should be ready to go this year.
Don’t count out: At end, Julius Welschof and Gabe Newburg could be ready to go and take a big step forward this year. Same with Mike Morris, a freshman last year who was out with injury late in the year.