Kyle Whittingham doubles down on Michigan's defensive line

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Back in spring ball, it was a bit of a surprise when new Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham said that the strength of the football team was the defensive line. Given the attrition at the position, it had seemed like it might have been one of the team's weaknesses entering the year, but when the group took the field at the spring game in April, it was clear that it hadn't lost a step.

And now, with Week 1 just five days away, Whittingham isn't backing down from his assessment.

"Still feel that way," Whittingham said. "We've got five deep at the tackle spot and probably seven or eight deep at the edge. It's going to be hard getting all those guys reps because we've got so many guys that are really good players.

"The two freshmen, Tariq Boney, No. 1, and Carter Meadows. Carter's been a little bit slowed down by a nagging injury that he should be fine in the next day or two, but we've been very blessed player-wise up front. It's just going to be a matter of trying to figure out where everybody fits and getting enough guys involved. I can't get everybody involved because there's not enough reps to go around, but we feel like the defensive front is a strength of the football team."

On the edge, the players expected to likely see the field are transfer John Henry Daley, junior Dominic Nichols, senior Cameron Brandt, sophomore Nate Marshall, junior Lugard Edokpayi, sophomore Benny Patterson, and the two aforementioned freshmen — Boney and Meadows. The interior features five players who appear to have asserted themselves in senior captain Trey Pierce, senior Enow Etta, senior transfer Jonah Lea'ea, junior Deyvid Palepale, and sophomore Bobby Kanka.

While the defensive front may be the biggest strength of the entire team, the run game should be the best part of the offensive side of the ball, even if the pass game is starting to take off.

Whittingham detailed what he feels he has in that room, with kickoff looming on Saturday.

"We feel like we've got a very strong running back room, as we've talked about quite a bit since way back when," Whittingham said. "Jordan Marshall is RB1, the headliner. Savion Hiter is a guy that's shown a lot of promise in practice. Bryson Kuzdzal is a very dependable, talented back that would be starting at a lot of places, I believe. Our room is so stacked that he's right now the third guy. After that, Tomas O'Meara would be the No. 4. It was Ka'apana, but we know he got injured way back in early in the year. That was something that was unfortunate, but it gives Tomas a chance to be the No. 4 guy."

Fans will get an opportunity to see the new-look Wolverines this upcoming Saturday when Michigan football hosts Western Michigan for a 7:36 p.m. EDT kickoff at The Big House. The game will be broadcast nationally on NBC.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham doubles down on Michigan's defensive line

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