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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — What may have been seen as a liability going into 2019 is potentially a strength in 2020.
Last year, there were tons of questions about Michigan’s defensive line, with new starters across the board after several key departures. We didn’t know what Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye would bring to the table as they moved up from rotational players to starters on the edge, nor were we sure of who would succeed in the interior.
The interior still remains a question, but with Carlo Kemp healthy and returning, along with talented up-and-comers such as Julius Welschof, Christopher Hinton and Mazi Smith, as well as DT Donovan Jeter reportedly taking a step forward, it might not be as much of a concern as it’s been since Mo Hurst left after the 2017 season.
To ask Kwity Paye, though he may be biased, he believes that the Wolverines biggest strength on that side of the ball starts with the guys up front.
“The strength of this defense? I’m thinking the D-line!” Paye said on Thursday. “Honestly, we’re the most experienced, I would say. We’ve got the oldest guys on our defense.”
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But it isn’t just about who starts for the Michigan defense, it’s who comes in to spell them that has tended to extol the strength of the defensive line unit.
Back in 2016, that’s when the unit really took a giant step forward, as it not only had four NFL-bound starters in Taco Charlton, Chris Wormley, Matt Godin and Ryan Glasgow, but it also had a rotation that featured more future NFL talent in Chase Winovich, Rashan Gary and Mo Hurst.
Now Paye is seeing a similar trend with this group, as there are several key components that could be coming off the bench. He shared who’s been impressing him the most in fall camp, with one name being a near-five-star as a recruit who had early setbacks with injuries.
“I think the guys we’ve been seeing a lot in practice are Taylor Upshaw, we’ve been been seeing a lot of Luiji (Vilain) and a lot of Julius Welschof,” “I feel like those three guys are working their way into the rotation a lot more. (Luiji)’s been great, you know? He’s been great in the past, but I feel like this year, ‘Ji’s real hungry and has lots to prove this year. Something we lacked last year with the rotation, but I feel like this year it’ll be different.”
Vilain was ranked No. 36 overall in 247Sports’ 2017 proprietary rankings, but had corrective knee surgeries in two successive offseasons to start his Michigan career. He came in as a backup in 2019, but given that he took two years away from actually playing football, there was a steeper learning curve than he envisioned.
Paye saw the ups-and-downs for Vilain first-hand, witnessing moments of dejection before he really started grinding once he became healthy. To hear Paye tell it, it seems like something of a certainty that Vilain will be a disruptive force up front once he gets his chance this fall.
“Me and Luiji are best friends,” Paye said. “I’m always with him and at times you can just see he was kinda frustrated and kinda down. But if there’s a harder working person than me, I would say it’s Luiji. He made sure he took care of himself during his injury process. He made sure he took the treatment seriously. He made sure he got back to where he needs to be and now it’s just getting the reps and getting the experience. But Luiji will be on his way up.”
We’ll know just how good this defensive line can be in a hurry, with the Oct. 24 season opener taking place at Minnesota.
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