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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — He might be leaving the team behind as he embarks on a hopeful NFL journey, but former Michigan defensive tackle and team captain Carlo Kemp sees bright things for the future of the Wolverines defensive line as a whole.
There’s some attrition from a year ago, with Kemp’s departure, end Kwity Paye expected to be a first-round NFL draft pick and Luiji Vilain transferring to Wake Forest, but with Aidan Hutchinson returning for his senior year and a solid cast of characters surrounding him, Kemp feels like the future of the Michigan line is bright.
On Wednesday, Kemp singled out several players who he thinks will be key contributors in 2021, mentioning Hutchinson, Christopher Hinton, Taylor Upshaw, Donovan Jeter, Mazi Smith, Gabe Newburg and David Ojabo as players he anticipates that will take a big step forward when their name is called this upcoming season.
“The good thing about where the Michigan defense is or the Michigan D-line is as a whole is they’re retaining a lot of very good players that not only played a season but have played two seasons under their belt,” Kemp said. “Of course you’ve got Aidan Hutchinson who we all know what a great player he is, but it’s gonna be awesome to see – and for a lot of people who don’t know all the behind-the-scenes work he does as a leader and a captain for this team, he was a captain last year, and I’m assuming he probably (will) receive that role next year, because of what he does for this team and what he means to this team and all the players’ relationships with him.
“And then you’ve got players like Taylor Upshaw who got to step into that role last year with Aidan going down with an injury. With him getting more games under his belt and him being able to play in games and make big plays for us last year is really gonna help him moving forward. Jeter has always been a great player for us, and him having a whole another year again to go out there, compete and play, I’m excited to see him get to play.
“Chris Hinton has always been a great player for us, even when he was young as a freshman. And now, coming into his third year, I think for him, he demands and expects a lot out of his play. And I think we all do too, because that’s the type of caliber he is and the type of player we all think he can be. And we know he can be. He’s shown it ever since his freshman year. It’s a big accomplishment, something a lot of people have gotta remember, to come in and play D-line at any school as a freshman at any school is a huge thing. And we all got to see Chris do that and had a great sophomore year. Now going into his third year, it’s gonna be great to see him building off that. I’ve got to see Mazi, too, and the way Mazi looks – he looks awesome. I’m just excited to see him play this year.
“I mean, the list goes on. We got to see Gabe get into games last year, as well. He’s a player that I don’t think many people have even gotten to see him play yet. But you see him here in practices all the time, just how well he does every single day. I know he’s foaming at the mouth to go out there and get on the field and be able to help his teammates out, help his teammates play.
“I’m excited for these guys, and that’s one of the things, going back to the questions where it’s like, ‘Did I think about coming back?’ Of course! All these players that are still here and how good they’re gonna be. You want to be a part of that, you want to play with them. One guy I didn’t even mention is David Ojabo who we’ve all seen here develop for two years and not really get to be on the field yet, going into his third year. I know his mindset is he just wants to go and he just wants to play. And we’ve seen some things that he can do that’s like, ‘Man, the world’s gotta see this stuff!’ So I’m really excited about this team and like I said, there’s so many good players on that D-line getting another year and hopefully this year get to have a full season with the full go – 12 games. It’s gonna be awesome for guys to get to have that this year.”
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In 2020, Michigan’s defensive push wasn’t nearly what it had been previously, but you could see that it was still getting pressure, even though it rarely got home. Replacing the outgoing seniors will be tough, but if Kemp is right and all of the aforementioned become key contributors, there’s a chance that we could see the defensive line retake the mantle of being one of the more disruptive fronts in all of college football.
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