Mike Elston goes in-depth on Michigan football freshman DL development
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has a strong defensive line in 2023 and the future may be just as bright as the current iteration.
The Wolverines brought in several edge rushers and defensive tackle types, and three in particular have been mentioned by head coach Jim Harbaugh as being ahead of the curve: EDGE Cameron Brandt, DT Trey Pierce, and tweener Enow Etta. The trio has seen early playing time, albeit in mop-up duty, in the first two games of the season.
Additionally, the maize and blue have two notable project players in Brooks Bahr and Aymeric Koumba.
On Wednesday, defensive line coach Mike Elston shared his thoughts on the five, what they’re doing well, what type of players they are, and how they’re developing. You can check out what he said about each below.
Cameron Brandt
Starting from the outside, Cam Brandt — and we’ll start with him — Cam Brandt’s been a great, great addition. He’s can do a lot of different things. He’s played from the stand-up two-point to three-point in our base defense and given us really good depth and there. He’s got some really good snaps over the last couple games, doing well on special teams.
Enow Etta
Enow Etta, he’s done a really nice job. Cam’s a little further along with technique and things that he might have been coached in high school, and it was catching up quickly because it’s important to him, he works hard. He’s very talented. So to those two guys have been, you know, very pleased with those two guys.
Trey Pierce
And then Trey Pierce, he’s gonna be really, really good. And been force-feeding him trying to get them out there. He’s played in both games. Got a tackle in the last game. He’s really good at block destruction. He’s needs to work on his pass rush, like a lot of incoming freshmen do but it’s important to him and he works his tail off.
Brooks Bahr
Brooks Bahr, who’s a project. We know he’s a project and he learns well. I think he’s going to pick it up really well. But the other guys were just a little bit further ahead of him and ahead of him in technique but he will be a really good player down the road.
Aymeric Koumba
Koumba is a developmental project as well. He’s came in from another country, so he’s got to learn some things and play consistent and play physical and he’s got some good talent to him and a good upside.
