Sherrone Moore reveals who has taken the most notable step forward on Michigan's roster

Sherrone Moore will be needing plenty of new faces to step up for the 2024 Michigan team to get going on a path to success. And he’s already seeing a few players making strides to make notable impacts in 2024.

All told, Michigan will have to replace the vast majority of starters on offense and fill plenty of holes on defense. Notably, the Wolverines have to replace all five starting offensive linemen. But at least one interior offensive lineman has taken a big step: Giovanni El-Hadi.

“Another guy that just jumps out is a guy that started games for us, is Gio El-Hadi,” Moore said.
“He’s changed his body and I think being behind [Trevor] Keegan and [Zak] Zinter the past couple years, he’s really done a really good job of learning. We always say ‘Watch, emulate, surpass’ and that’s what he’s trying to do.”

El-Hadi, a Detroit-area prospect out of high school, has been biding his time in the Michigan program. But the senior hasn’t just been riding the bench this whole time. In recent years, he’s played as one of the sixth or seventh offensive linemen that the Wolverines would bring in with heavy personnel packages.

Across his time in Ann Arbor, El-Hadi has played in 30 games, making three starts. And now it seems he might be ready to slot into a full-time starting role on the line.

And opposite El-Hadi is a defensive lineman that Moore has been impressed with: TJ Guy. The senior edge rusher hasn’t made a start for the Wolverines and served mostly as a special teamer in the action he’s gotten, Moore seems keen on Guy making an impact this fall.

“I think the guy that really has been where he was in the spring and taken the next step in fall camp is TJ Guy,” Moore said. “He’s a guy that’s really taken that next step of you’ve got Josaiah [Stewart], you’ve got Derrick [Moore] and you’ve got him and you’ve got other guys that are chomping at the bit. But he’s really taken that step to be an elite player and be that guy that, there’s not that much of a drop off like last year. So, feel really good about TJ, he’s changed his body, done a lot of great things.”

There’s also, perhaps, a bit of irony or humor in this specific duo turn the dials to make an impact ahead of their senior seasons, as Moore noted both El-Hadi and Guy are close, personally, off the field.

“So those guys have all — the whole team’s been outstanding, but those two, I think specifically. And ironically they’re really, really close. I think they were roommates. So, good to see,” Moore said.