Jesse Minter believes Derrick Moore can become an elite edge rusher

Michigan had one of the most dominant defensive units in the country last season, a standard they’ll look to carry into the 2023 season under second-year defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. One key piece to that success could be EDGE Derrick Moore, who’s also entering his second season with the Wolverines.

Minter recently joined Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches with Jon Jansen’ podcast and discussed the potential of Moore this upcoming season and beyond.

“Derrick can be as good as Derrick, the best part about Derrick is he has the mindset to be a really really high-end, dominant player,” Minter said. “And then his skillset and his physical tools match up with that, so he has a chance to be high, high, high-end draft choice one day, high-end player, productive.”

Moore towers at 6-foot-3 and weighs 279 pounds, providing ideal size and strength as an edge player in Michigan’s defensive scheme. Moore was a four-star prospect out of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was ranked the No. 37 overall player and the No. 5 EDGE in the 2022 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

He made the most of his playing time in his freshman season with the Wolverines, appearing in all 14 of Michigan’s games and recording eight tackles, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, and one pass breakup.

He recorded his first career sack in the Wolverines’ first Big Ten conference game of the season, getting a hold of Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards in the final defensive possession of the game to help solidify the team’s 34-27 win over the Terps. Two games later he’d record another sack versus Indiana.

Moore certainly has the physical foundation and tools to be a great player for the Wolverines and beyond over the next several years, but according to Jesse Minter, he also has the mental edge and intangibles needed to take his game to a whole new level this upcoming season.

“He’s just got to stay on his process, stay on his progress he’s on. Coach Herb does a great job with him, he’s completely focused and he has a really good mentality of where he wants to go and he takes it out on people on the field,” Minter said. “So it’s really exciting to see him along with the rest of the group.”