'Elite' Michigan DT Kenneth Grant has taken his game to new level recently, Mason Graham clips are 'teach tape'

Michigan Wolverines football rotated heavily on the defensive line last season, with eight players who saw 244 or more defensive snaps. The Maize and Blue lost four of those standouts, though, and have had to build depth up front. Position coach Lou Esposito said that process has been successful, but starters have spoken this offseason about working to make sure they can handle higher snap counts.

“Us as a D-line, you watch very good defenses, up front they’re fresh,” the Michigan assistant said. “It’s uncommon what we ask guys to do: You’re running into 300-pound guys, you’re trying to stop on a dime, change direction, chase a running back, chase a receiver on a screen. So it takes a lot of energy, and guys get banged up. 

“It’s no secret when you’re fresh, you play better. So we’re going to try to rotate those guys as much as we can. I hope we’re in a situation where we can play a lot of guys, but that’s not always the case.”

Junior defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham, for example, may have higher workloads for a number of reasons, including heightened competition earlier in the season. Grant (26.9) and Graham (34) each averaged under 35 defensive snaps per contest for Michigan a year ago.

Esposito has been particularly impressed with Grant as of late.

“It’s not even always the schedule, it’s game to game,” Esposito said. “He’s put himself in better shape — he’s in football shape. I think the last 14 days of practice, he has really stepped up.

“We talk about those guys that are kind of unknown a little bit, those younger guys that haven’t played that have come light years from where they were. KG, condition-wise, playing with low pad level, using his hands, playing with his eyes the last 14 days have been elite. And those are the things we need from our guys to be better.

“As far as number of plays, you ballpark it. You want to be around 40. If he’s around 40, you feel good about that. But there might be games where he plays less, there might be games where he plays more, depending on what the situation is and where we are in the game.

“I think the good thing about those guys that are all proven commodities, they wall want more plays. They want to be in. There are times in practice where you’re trying to pull them out, and he’s like, ‘Coach, I got it. I got it. Give me another play.’ So I think those guys will be great.”

Grant, a 6-foot-3, 339-pounder, made splash plays with his energy and elite traits last season, including running down a Penn State running back 30 yards down the field to potentially save a touchdown and blocking well down the field on a pick-six against Rutgers (among many others). He’s been doing the same thing heading into Michigan’s 2024 season, after notching 5 tackles for loss a year ago.

“The biggest thing with KG was playing with lower pad level, because he is such a massive human being, playing with unbelievable energy all the time,” Esposito said. “He plays with a great motor. There are numerous plays that stick out to me. Everyone talks about the Penn State play last year; there are at least eight or nine of those in camp this year, where he’s running a guy down on a screen all the way across the field, he’s rushing from one sideline to the other.

“So he’s done that because he’s gotten his conditioning up and really bought into what we did in the summer. So I think for him that was step one.”

Where Graham shines is his understanding of the game, and his Michigan teammate is nearing his level in that regard.

“The next thing is playing with lower pads and good eyes and knowing where blocks are coming from before they happen, understanding the backfield, understanding your triangle,” continued Esposito, speaking on Grant. “That’s the same thing with Mason. Mason has an unbelievable knack of reading offensive linemen and knowing things are going to happen before they happen. 

“And then he does a great job with his hands and his feet. So the next thing for Mason is just keeping his feet going on double teams, keep his feet going all the time. And he’s done a great job.”

Graham, who posted 7.5 tackles for loss in 2023, was “banged up” at one point during Michigan’s fall camp, but he was “full speed” Tuesday evening at practice. Esposito was blown away by what he put on tape.

“You’re supposed to get better right to that point of game time, and yesterday’s practice for Mason was elite,” Esposito said. “I was just up there before I came down here, and there were five or six clinic tapes, where you just go, ‘OK, this is teach tape. This is exactly how it should look.’ He’s ramped it up; he’s ready to rock and roll.”