Jim Harbaugh on two Michigan freshmen who ‘will play’ – & play well
Michigan is hitting the spring and summer conditioning phase, but not before an outstanding spring football session. Head coach Jim Harbaugh has seen plenty to love about his team, and the young depth is one piece.
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On offense, he’s talked at length about the young receivers (the “freak show,” as he calls it). There are two freshmen on the defensive line, however, that have emerged and will play.
That alone is impressive given how hard it is to play there as a freshman.
“Mason Graham would be the guy to keep an eye on as someone who could play early out of the freshman class,” Harbaugh said on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen. “Really high motor, well thought of, already physically pretty strong. He needs some more strength work, but he shows the athleticism and the agility to be a really good player. He’ll play as a freshman.”
He was playing at a “pretty darn high level” right off the bat,” Harbaugh said, before an ankle injury set him back. But he showed his ‘want-to’ in getting back on the field quickly.
“He was out about a week or so, two. He came back faster than the ordinary man does, which you love to see,” Harbaugh said. “Because that’s a real level of toughness there.
“As you know, the closer you get to the ball, the harder it is to play as a true freshman. Center, guard, defensive tackle, for sure. Just the physical development of being strong enough to be a defensive tackle when you’re playing guys four or five years older than you.
“He’s a mid-year freshman, should still be in high school. But he is right in there not just flashing, but consistently playing really good football. We’re excited about that.”
Michigan frosh will be a “fabulous player”
Michigan redshirt freshman George Rooks was also flashing his potential at times, Harbaugh said. But another true freshman on the edge is proving to be everything expected, and more. Edge Derrick Moore is still learning how to play at this level, but he’s going to be a good one.
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“He is going to be — my personal opinion — a fabulous player,” the Michigan coach continued. “Probably will also be a really good player right away in the fall. He is really gifted. Athletically, strength — it’s all there already. And he’s another midyear freshman. When he figures out how to play with the really high relentless [motor] — mid-play, you can still make a play … don’t have to just come clean to make a play and get involved in a tackle or a sack.
“Once he really learns how to play the game. Just learning the scheme and the counter moves … once he learns that, I think he is going to be a beast out there on the edge. I have really high hopes for him.”
The Michigan frosh has a great first step and explosion and long arms, Jansen noted. That made Harbaugh jump in and add more about his freshman.
“And strength,” he continued. “He has a really quick first step and second step. He can beat guys. Just … it will come. It will come. [Michigan line coach] Mike Elston is doing a tremendous job with all those guys. Development is there right now. We’re seeing it. So good. He’s so competent as a coach.
“But yeah. [Moore] has to learn that the tackles do punch back. If you try to punch first, they take really good sets. So, they’re going to stick you. More times than not, they’re not going to whiff and miss, or get run over. They are fully developed football players. So you need counters, need that relentlessness that a guy like Aidan developed — didn’t know it until his second year.
“They’re used to coming out of high school, ‘here I go — I’m by you.’ Once he gets that, learns that, I’m really confident he’s going to be stellar.”
