First and second-year Wolverines impressing veterans in spring

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One of the biggest storylines every spring for Michigan football isn’t just which freshman early enrollees start to come on, but also those second-year players who step up. Considering the maxim that you get better at football by playing football, with a year under their belt, that’s tended to mean that the redshirt freshmen and sophomores are more primed to make something of themselves and increase their playing time.

The Michigan defense is loaded, as coordinator Wink Martindale noted on Monday, as the unit has more depth — although not as much high-end talent as in 2024. That likely means we’ll see some players emerge that hadn’t previously.

WolverinesWire asked senior edge rusher TJ Guy about the younger defensive ends, and while he’s seen progress from the three second-year players, he sees one as being potentially more pivotal than the other two.

“They made huge progress — like (Lugard Edokpayi), Devon (Baxter), and Dom (Nichols) all made huge progress from last year,” Guy said. “I think Dom, we’re gonna expect Dom to be a guy, you know what I’m saying? I don’t really view him the same as some of the other kids in this class because I view him as somebody we have to lean on.”

Nichols rotated in as a reserve in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama and made some key plays when called upon. But there are high expectations for Baxter (who early enrolled last year) and the four-star Edokpayi, who committed on early signing day in Dec. 2023.

But behind the defensive front, there are other players who are standing out, too.

Senior linebacker Ernest Hausmann keyed in on a second-year player, but also really likes what he’s seen from the two freshmen who both early enrolled. Overall, he feels as if the entire group should be better off this year than it was last.

“I’m really impressed with Cole…

Source link : https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/wolverines/football/2025/03/19/first-and-second-year-wolverines-impressing-veterans-in-spring/82549039007/

Author :

Publish date : 2025-03-19 19:23:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.