Tag: Derrick Moore

Younger defensive players impressing Michigan football edge Derrick Moore

These are the names on defense you’ll need to learn by the time fall comes. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has a great deal of talent on defense, but, as usual at this time of year, the depth behind the presumed starters remains somewhat unknown.

Now that spring ball is underway, many younger players are taking advantage of their newfound opportunities and are making the most of it. If they continue down this path, come fall, they’ll be in a position where they could see the field early and often.

The best way to learn who’s taking that step forward isn’t necessarily hearing from the coaches as they often try to list as many players as they can. But their teammates? That can (sometimes) be a different story.

Derrick Moore is slated to be a starter on the edge as he enters his third year. He’s been behind some top talent and he knows what it takes to persevere and rise to this point where he’s about to be on the field constantly. But who does he see as those challenging to be in the rotation?

Moore didn’t stick his position group, but shared multiple players who are poised to find themselves making plays on Saturdays this fall.

“From the edges, I have seen a lot of guys who have stepped up,” Moore said. “Guys, like TJ Guy, he’s had one hell of a spring ball. He having one helluva spring ball right now. Cam Brandt, he’s also stepping up, having a really great spring ball.

“I’m trying to think of guys on the back end. Ja’Den (McBurrows), he’s had a great spring ball. Also losing Mike (Sainristil) — but he’s stepping up out there taking that stuff that’s been in the making and being able to do it live. Also transfer and my former teammate, Jaishawn Barham, he also came in, he’s playing real fast, he’s looking dominant out there. It’s looking like he’s been here, but he’d been here, he’s been looking great.”

Guy is a player who has seemingly waited his turn while working hard to crack into the rotation. He made some nice plays his freshman season but has languished behind newer faces — such as Moore, Josaiah Stewart, and former edge rusher Eyabi Anoma. But now, he could be the first off the bench for the pass rushers.

Brandt saw the field early and appears to have an inside track to cracking the rotation in his second year. He was raw last year, but is perhaps refining his game.

McBurrows has had quite the storied career already, from being involved in the MSU tunnel melee to his redemptive interception against those same Spartans a year later. He filled in for Mike Sainristil in the Maryland game (when Sainristil moved outside) and acquitted himself well. It makes sense that he would be poised for the role full-time in 2024.

Barham has drawn nothing but rave reviews since arriving in Ann Arbor via Maryland. Likely a starter at his position, he has everything he needs physically to be the next great Michigan football linebacker.

Derrick Moore didn’t know he made the game-ending tackle on Jalen Milroe in the Rose Bowl

This is unreal! #GoBlue

HOUSTON — Michigan football reached the national championship game in dramatic fashion, winning the Rose Bowl thanks to a big defensive stand on fourth down by the maize and blue against Alabama.

It was fourth-and-3, and the Crimson Tide put the ball in its best playmaker’s hands: quarterback Jalen Milroe. Milroe kept the ball and rushed up the middle. But he was slowed by both a low snap and Michigan edge rusher Josaiah Stewart bullrushing star right tackle JC Latham into the ground. The other edge, Derrick Moore, shot the gap and got his arms around Milroe to seal the game for the maize and blue.

On Saturday, Moore spoke to Wolverines Wire about the play and he gave a lot of credit to Stewart for his play opening the door.

“First, shout out to Josaiah. One-on-one, was one hell of a play that he made on that tackle,” Moore said. “And (JC Latham is) projected to be like a first-round pick and Josaiah is coming from a smaller D-I college. So you know, just to be able to share that moment with him.

“And, yeah, it was a great moment, but at the end of the day, I didn’t really think of too much about their play. When I got up, I just seen everybody just running around. The band was going off, so like, I didn’t even know I even had him in my arms. I was just so excited that we won it and were going to the natty. So at the moment, I wasn’t really thinking of it.”

So, wait — Moore didn’t realize he’s the one who made the tackle? He insists, no, he was so caught up that he enacted his assignment that before he knew it his teammates were rushing the field celebrating a victory.

“I did not know!” Moore said. ” Literally, I did not know. I was on the ground, I got up, I’d seen everybody running around, the band’s playing. And I’m just like, I’m shocked. I’m like, we just beat Alabama, you know. It was just a great moment. It was just a great moment, just that moment.”

As a result of the big play, Michigan will face Washington in the national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Why Michigan football had success batting the ball against Nebraska

It was stellar on Saturday. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On Saturday at Nebraska, it appeared that an unusual amount of passes from Husker quarterback Heinrich Haarberg were batted at the line of scrimmage.

Of course, the most popular one was on the first drive for Nebraska, when defensive end Braiden McGregor got his hand on the ball which went flying into the air for defensive tackle Kenneth Grant to snag for his first career interception. But others got into the mix, as well.

Michigan was credited with five passes broken up in the game total, but the stats don’t make it clear on who made the play. But one player for sure got his hand on the ball in edge rusher Derrick Moore, who says that’s been a point of emphasis for the defense.

“We work on it every day so we’re working on mirror hands — we call them your hands,” Moore said. “If you can’t get to the quarterback, that’s a hang-up. So work that every day. And it shows up in the game. We call it tips on overthrows. So tips on overthrows, we’ve got to get those so he tipped the ball up, somebody gotta be there to get it and (Kenneth Grant) was there to get it.”

But why were the Wolverines so successful? Part of it was the work that went into practice, but the other part was knowing the quarterback’s tendencies. Being aware that Haarberg had a low release was key for the Michigan defense.

“We kind of knew that the quarterback, he winded back and then all his throws was like real low,” Moore said. “So that was like a big thing that we kind of like study. And we already knew if we got our hand up, somebody was going to get a tip.”

While part of the success came due to Haarberg’s throwing angles, Moore said the bigger part was the defense’s willingness to work on it every single day. Because it’s been drilled into them that they have to get their hands up, when it came to game time, if the rushers couldn’t get to the quarterback, they at least did the next best thing to disrupt the offense: keep the ball from getting to the target.

“Putting the work in every day in practice, and seeing it every day,” Moore said. “And then you see it in a game and then you’re able to do it in a game. So, it’s all from practice.”

Slimmed down Derrick Moore adding more to his pass rush arsenal

Stoked to see his progress year-over-year! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Entering his second year with Michigan football, edge rusher Derrick Moore has trimmed down 21 pounds. But that’s by design.

He met this offseason with team nutritionist Abigail O’Connor so that he could lose the weight — something he feels is paying dividends in fall camp.

“I feel way better,” Moore said. “I feel quicker, faster, more twitchy, more explosive. I don’t feel (weaker or) anything, I just feel way, way better than I felt in the last year.”

That was the goal, to increase his speed and get him to be able to play faster, with more get-off at the snap. But, if you expect to see Moore simply bull rush off the line as he mostly did a year ago, then you’ll be surprised at his growth, he says.

After studying other players such as Aidan Hutchinson, Mike Morris, even former Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa, Moore recognized that he could integrate other moves into his repertoire. He feels like it’s been going well in fall camp, in large part due to the support he’s getting from the fellow players in the edge rusher room.

“Last year, I focused a lot (on) power,” Moore said. “So I think going into the spring game, I kind of just sort of focused on more speed and let my power set it up.

“But now like going into camp, I’m setting up my rush stuff. My bull rush, like, I’ll bull rush, and then I’ll play off-speed with it. So I’ve been just trying to like set all my pass rushes and getting like — especially having the guys that I have in my room. So I’m the youngest edge guy in my room. So having guys like Jaylen, Braiden, Josaiah, just having them guys in my ears telling me like, ‘Ya know, you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to do that,’ and like how to set up and game plan my pass rushes, having them guys has been helping and just working for me.”

While that tells the bulk of the story, the biggest difference for Moore this offseason isn’t his weight loss or his additional moves. It’s that he feels more comfortable in what he’s doing, now that he has a much better handle on the college game.

“I will say the biggest difference is my confidence,” Moore said. “I feel like last year I just wasn’t as much confident, coming in as a freshman and you’re playing you thinking like, ‘Oh, if I mess up, I’m probably never gonna get back on the field.’ So now this year, I just feel more confident, you know? I want my teammates to be able to have my trust to go out and perform — even if I mess up, if I could come back and redo it the next play and just be there for my team, that’s all I really have going into this year.”

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5 Questions: Quick Q&A with Michigan football EDGE Derrick Moore

He’s ready for prime time this year! #GoBlue

DETROIT — One of the position groups hit hardest coming out of last year is at defensive end-edge rusher. The Wolverines lost one player to the draft in Mike Morris, and two to the transfer portal in Eyabi Okie and Taylor Upshaw. Though starter Jaylen Harrell returns, the Wolverines will be looking at somewhat new faces this upcoming season.

Michigan football did bring in Josaiah Stewart, the edge rusher from Coastal Carolina, but it will also be depending on senior Braiden McGregor and former four-star Derrick Moore, who is now entering his second year in the program.

We caught up with Moore at the Will Johnson camp on Thursday and asked him a few quick questions about how he felt his first year went, how he’s gotten better, and his outlook for the upcoming season. You can read what he had to say below.

Mike Morris reiterates there are multiple edge guys that can ‘play winning football’ at Michigan

Love this edge room! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — No. 8 Michigan took care of its business on Saturday when the Wolverines hosted Colorado State for their season opener. Michigan is now 1-0 on the new year after defeating the Rams, 51-7.

The Wolverines’ offense totaled 440 yards of total offense and rushed for 234 yards on the ground. While the offense did what it needed to do to move the ball and put up 51 points, the story of the game was the defense.

Michigan had to replace three starters on the defensive line, but Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo were, arguably, the greatest edge duo in football last season. Hence, why the national media has been reluctant to pick Michigan to repeat as Big Ten Champions, largely due to the fact that the Wolverines are replacing so much starting experience.

On Saturday, the Wolverines started Mike Morris and Jaylen Harrell at edge, but Michigan used a committee to get as much production as it could out of its edge players.

The Wolverines caused a ton of havoc for the Rams’ starting quarterback Clay Millen. Millen was sacked a total of seven times on Saturday, but that number doesn’t even speak volumes as to how much the defensive line was in the backfield.

Mike Morris and Junior Colson spoke with the media on Saturday and Morris pointed to the fact that Michigan rotated eight guys during the game against the Rams, and that everyone ‘ate’. It’s paramount to give small breaks, and if there are so many players that can play winning football, then Michigan can always have players that are fresh out on the field.

“We have a, we have so many edges and so many different guys at d-line who can do great things for the football team,” said Morris. “So me and Mazi talk about that all the time, there’s a lot of guys on the d-line and in the edge room who can play winning football. So we just switched it up as much as possible. Give everybody a break. Yeah, we just had like, what I think eight guys rotating at one point, and everybody ate. So yeah, I feel like we bring a lot of versatility and depth to each and every game.”

Going back to the loss of Hutchinson and Ojabo, the Wolverines lost, statistically, a ton of contribution. Hutchinson is the single-season sack leader at Michigan with 14 sacks in 2021. Ojabo wasn’t far behind him with 11 sacks. But Morris said that the edge room has a chip on its shoulder. He says that players come and go, but the coaches have done an excellent job recruiting and developing the room, so the Wolverines have multiple players that can get the job done.

“I feel like as an edge room and as a d-line and total, we put a, put a chip on our shoulder because their absence,” said Morris. “Everybody thought like, we weren’t going to be as good because of their absence. And I feel like that fell on the coaches and the players because it’s like, I feel like people didn’t have faith in the coaches recruiting, and didn’t have faith in the coaches development of us and didn’t have faith in our development. Because people come and go out of every school all the time. But now it’s like, does Michigan have a guy? But no, we have multiple. So anybody can anybody in the edge room can play winning football and start on this defense.”

Lineback Junior Colson, who led the team with 10 tackles on Saturday, was smiling ear to ear in the media room on Saturday. He said he was just happy for the defense with how well they played.

“I guess now I’m just excited for the defense you know we know there’s been a lot of talk about — we lost a lot of guys,” said Colson. “I think we proved that you know like we can still be dominant without them we can still win pressure we can still sack the quarterback we can still just dominate in all phases”

One, of the many, edge players that contributed on Saturday was freshman Derrick Moore. If you look at the stat sheet he only had a quarterback hurry, but he was a menace for the Rams’ offensive line. Moore had back-to-back plays where he was in the backfield going for a sack, but barely missed out on it. Morris said that Moore shocked the entire team due to how far along he was physically when he came to Michigan.

“Derrick more surprised all of us because he’s a big guy just coming in,” said Morris. “He looked like us. And he just got there in January, so I was very surprised by him and everything related to the field as well. Everything, everything transferred to the field. He was strong in the weight room and doing his thing in the field. Learning to play is very fast and just becoming a really good ballplayer and I’m excited to see where he goes.”

The Wolverines added former five-star and Alabama edge defender Eyabi Anoma a few weeks ago. On his very first player as a Michigan player on Saturday, Anoma sacked Millen. He added two tackles and a tackle-for-loss to his stats at the end of the day. Morris and Colson both shared similar sentiments — they are happy he’s on the team.

“And on Eyabi, honestly had no idea like what was going on, but I accepted him with open arms,” said Morris. “I’m sure the whole edge room did. And today he showed us what he can bring to our team and he showed us at practice as well but today he solidified what he could do for our defense.”

“He’s a phenomenal player,” said Colson. “He’s very smart. So he learned the playbook very, very quickly if you just I think he’s gonna get more and more snaps as the season goes on because he’s a dominant player. He has a high motor. I just can’t wait to see what he can do.”

The Wolverines’ defense will look to continue to wreak havoc in the backfield next Saturday against Hawaii.

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Surprise starter on Michigan football defensive line reveals overall depth

This is big news! #GoBlue

Michigan football is a week away from taking the field in an official capacity, and one of the big questions has been who would line up along the defensive line.

While we’ve had some good ideas — Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins were locks, but the edge rusher rotation was perhaps somewhat unclear with multiple players vying to start — we didn’t really know until Saturday. Which is a surprise, considering head coach Jim Harbaugh tends to keep things close to the vest.

On Saturday, Harbaugh joined Jon Jansen on the “In the Trenches” podcast and had something of an unprecedented breakdown of the entire depth chart. Starting with the outside linebackers (edge rushers), he revealed that there are three players who are considered starters for two positions, while four more players will be in rotation, including recent incoming transfer Eyabi Anoma and true freshman Derrick Moore.

“The outside backers right now, starting outside backers: Jaylen Harrell, Mike Morris and Taylor Upshaw — those three have had a heck of a camp and there’ll be a rotation there,” Harbaugh said. “Braiden McGregor, TJ Guy, Eyabi Anoma’s doing some really good things.

“Derrick Moore has been fantastic, we’ve talked about there before, but when that motor becomes like Chase Winovich and Aidan Hutchinson and then he learns a countermove or two, I think he’s gonna be close to unblockable. Now as soon as that happens, may take some time, but he’s ready to play and he’ll be in there.”

But there’s a surprise that he unveiled, in the form of a new starter.

While most fans and media (us included) still tend to think of the defense in terms of a 4-3 front (it was switched to a 3-4 multiple last season, but still often operated similar to how it did, with two down linemen and two ends), Harbaugh revealed that one true freshman has emerged as a starter, opposite the expected interior linemen.

”Inside, interior defensive line, Kris Jenkins, starter in the base package. Mason Graham will come out of camp as a starter, true freshman,” Harbaugh said. “Mazi Smith, starter at nose. Cam Goode is somebody that is now really surging. He’s backing up Mazi at nose tackle. Kenneth Grant is right there as well at nose tackle. George Rooks at end, backing up Kris Jenkins, has had a tremendous camp. Dom Giudice has done some really good things. And we got a true freshman, Charlie Lovell, who walked on, just turned 18 about a week ago. His dad played at Michigan, was a kicker here. He’s been great as well and he’ll be really good in the future.

“So really been happy with the interior defensive line and the guy I gotta mention is Rayshuan Benny. Rayshaun Benny is surging. He and Mason Graham are playing the tackle position in base. But he’s just coming on like gangbusters, every practice is better and better. So I’m really excited about Rayshaun.”

That’s a lot of depth, although, beyond the starters, there’s very little experience. It’s encouraging that Graham, who enrolled early, has managed to cement his starter status, especially given the surge made by players such as Benny, who entered the offseason as an expected starter. It doesn’t appear that Graham got the nod because Benny isn’t pulling his weight as much as it sounds like the Anaheim (California) Servite lineman is performing beyond expectations.

We’ll know more in a week, when Michigan football hosts Colorado State. The game will kick off at noon EDT and will be televised nationally on ABC.

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Power ranking Michigan football freshmen by potential 2022 contribution

Who will be #Michigan’s first-year instant impact players? #GoBlue

Every year, in likely every college football team, a first-year player comes in and makes an instant impact.

At Michigan, we’ve seen several. In 2021, Andrel Anthony and Junior Colson; in 2020, Blake Corum and Roman Wilson; in 2019, Zach Charbonnet and Dax Hill; Chris Evans and Devin Bush in 2016. The list can go on indefinitely. But who will be those players in 2022?

Though the class was 23 deep (when you include Andrew Gentry), there are numerous candidates to be instant impact players. Even though we have a good idea of some players already who are likely to find themselves in the two-deep, there are others — particularly in positions of need — that could make a splash in year one.

Here are our top 10 choices, ranked from last to first, of freshmen who could find themselves on the field early and often in 2022.

Michigan is among the best at recruiting defensive linemen

Big things are in store for this unit!

An ESPN article on which college football teams were recruiting the best on offense mentioned Michigan being among the best at recruiting running backs. On Friday, Tom VanHaaren with ESPN switched gears to the defensive side of the ball.

Not surprisingly, he mentioned the Wolverines when it comes to recruiting the defensive line.

The Wolverines will be replacing defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, as well as tackle Christopher Hinton this season. The coaches added defensive tackle transfer Cam Goode from UCF and signed ESPN 300 defensive end Derrick Moore in the 2022 class.

There are some younger players on the roster, including George Rooks, TJ Guy, Kris Jenkins and Mike Morris, who will help this coming season, but the staff needs more players up front and especially on the edge.

The coaches have commitments from ESPN 300 defensive ends Collins Acheampong (6-7, 235) and Enow Etta (6-5, 260), as well as three-star French defensive end Aymeric Koumba and three-star end Brooks Bahr.

Michigan has had elite talent on the defensive line for a very long time, even in the early 2000s with the likes of Brandon Graham, Lamar Woodley, Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich to name a few.

Then, of course, the duo from the 2021 season that left a mark on the Michigan record books: Hutchinson and Ojabo. Hutchinson had 14 sacks in 2021, which is the single-season sack record at Michigan. Ojabo came out of seemingly nowhere and became a staple in college football. He ended the season with 11 sacks.

The cupboard is not bare in Ann Arbor though. Nobody can replace Hutchinson or Ojabo, but the Wolverines return plenty of talent. Taylor Upshaw, Kris Jenkins, Mike Morris and Mazi Smith are expected to step up for the maize and blue. Michigan also has newcomers Cam Goode, Derrick Moore and Mason Graham who could make an immediate impact on the defensive line in 2022.

While it’s hard to believe anyone can match the production the duo from 2021 had, the Wolverines can still have a formidable line in 2022.

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Two Michigan first-year defensive linemen who impressed in spring ball

Both of these guys are going to be really, really good before their #Michigan careers are done!

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Michigan football defense this offseason is how it will replace three-quarters of its production from a year ago on the defensive line.

The Wolverines lose star edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, and defensive tackle Christopher Hinton. Though the likely culprits to replace them — Mike Morris, Taylor Upshaw, and Kris Jenkins — are known, there are some other players who certainly could contribute this fall. Though other relatively younger players like Braiden McGregor and Rayshaun Benny are often mentioned, perhaps the maize and blue will get a boost from a couple of first-year players.

One such player has been known about, while the other was something of a recruiting steal — speaking of four-stars Derrick Moore and Mason Graham, respectively. Moore has long been highly-regarded and was ranked as high as No. 20 overall by 247Sports. But Graham was a late-riser, getting his fourth star late in the process.

Jim Harbaugh spoke at length about both on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with Jon Jansen, and starting with Moore, he shared why he could be not only an instant impact type of player, but why he thinks he could be an elite edge rusher before his time of wearing a winged helmet is done.

“Derrick Moore, he is going to be — I think my personal opinion is going to be a fantastic player. Probably will also be a really good player right away in the fall,” Harbaugh said. “He is really gifted athletically and strength — it’s all there already. Another mid-year freshman and when he figures out to play with the really high relentless mid-play — you can still make a play — you don’t have to just come clean to make a play and get involved with a tackle or a sack. Once he really learns how to play the game, it’s just learning the scheme and the counter moves, once he learns that, I think he’s going to be a beast out there on the edge — like I got really high hopes for him. He has a really quick first step and second step. He can beat guys — it’ll come, it’ll come — Mike Elston is doing a tremendous job with all those guys. The development is there right now, seeing it, so good as a coach. But, yeah he is going to learn that guys — tackles do punch back. You try to punch first and take really good sets, so you do need — they are going to stick you more times than not.

“You need counters and need relentlessness like Aidan developed. He didn’t have — didn’t know it until his second year. You’re used to coming out of high school and ‘here I go, I’m by you’. Once he gets that, and learns that I’m real confident he’s going to be stellar.”

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With Graham, we saw him starting to make plays in the spring game — which is exciting when you consider that freshmen generally aren’t impact players on the interior line of either side of the ball. Harbaugh points to his toughness as a big reason why he’s been able to emerge, despite only having been on campus for a few short months.

“Yeah, he was playing and playing at a pretty darn high level right off the bat. He was out about a week or so, or two, he had an ankle but came back faster than an ordinary man would,” Harbaugh said. “You love to see it because there is a real level of toughness there. As you know the closer you get to the ball, the harder it is to play as a true freshman. Center, guard, D-tackle for sure, the physical development of being strong enough to be a defensive tackle where you’re playing against guys who are four and five years older. He’s a mid-year freshman and should still be in high school but he was right in there and not just flashing, but consistently playing pretty, really good football. I’m excited about that.”

Whether or not they get involved in the defense for meaningful snaps this fall remains to be seen. But it’s a good thing that Michigan has some options at these positions where there are few known commodities and not quite as much depth as one would hope.

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