Michigan DT Kris Jenkins is 'a little crazy,' but 'everything you would hope to see from a front guy'

Michigan Wolverines football is searching for a new starting nose tackle following the departure of Mazi Smith to the NFL Draft. However, it’s the guy who played next to him at the defensive tackle spot who’s receiving a lot of buzz this spring.

Senior Kris Jenkins continues to progress, checking all the boxes. Once undersized, playing last season at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds, Jenkins recently weighed in at 302 pounds this spring. He’s already had the speed and explosiveness to play at a high level — and he received some positive feedback in NFL circles before he decided to return for his senior season in Ann Arbor — but now that he’s a year older and his weight is where it needs to be, his teammates expect him to be even better.

One of the most underrated players on the Michigan defense last season, Jenkins ranked fifth with 54 tackles, adding 3.5 stops for loss, 2 sacks and 2 quarterback hurries. His 31 run-defense stops were tied for the most in the nation among interior defensive linemen.

Brought up by multiple of his teammates when they discuss the most impressive Michigan players in spring practices so far, Jenkins has the chance to become one of the team’s best overall standouts.

Part of the job of a defensive tackle, especially in Michigan’s system, is to destroy blocks and keep the linebackers clean, not allowing offensive linemen to work up to the second level. Junior linebacker Junior Colson, whose playmaking ability is, in part, reliant on Jenkins’ success at eating up blockers, loves playing behind the senior.

“Everything you would hope to see from somebody in front of you,” Colson said of what he’s seen from Jenkins this spring. “Everything you would hope to see from a front guy. His mentality, his drive, the way he plays, the energy he brings into the room … he’s taken a big leadership role, being able to command the room now because he’s an older guy now.

“You can just tell how much passion, how much joy it brings him, being able to help the younger guys, coach the younger guys and be able to go out there and play at a very high level.”

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Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has compared Jenkins’ energy and love for football as a “kid in a candy shop.”

“Always looking for an opportunity and always having a good day,” Harbaugh said of Jenkins last year.

Jenkins believes his passion rubs off on his teammates.

“I’d like to think it does,” Jenkins said. “Sometimes, it’s a little bit too much. Sometimes in the morning if I’m too hyper, too energetic, not everybody’s on that same type of page, I’ve gotta calm down a little bit. Just trying to keep that mindset, keep that mentality of always being happy, being excited and do what we do, continue to have that love for the game, love for each other.”

Jenkins jokingly called himself “crazy,” at times, and Colson has an example.

“He’s a little crazy, but we enjoy him,” the Michigan linebacker said with a laugh. “He does his own thing. Like yesterday, we were all screaming in meetings. You can tell how excited he was just to scream. Everyone was just like, ‘You’re screaming a little too loud.’

“But no, he brings the energy to the team just by being himself at all times. You can never damper down his mood, and I think that brings a lot to us.”

Junior Colson believes Braiden McGregor will break out

Michigan senior EDGE Braiden McGregor has waited in the wings, flashed on multiple occasions — including with a sack against MSU and 2 pass breakups versus Ohio State last season — and appears ready to break out in 2023.

“You’re about to see something crazy this year,” Colson said of McGregor. “He’s about to have a crazy-type year. He’s come into his own, he believes in himself, and you can tell he has all the traits and tools to be great. I think he’s just coming into his own.”

McGregor has played with former Michigan edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, among others. When asked to compare McGregor’s style to somebody else, Colson declined.

“I don’t really like to compare people, because we’re all different and our own guys. He’s gonna be Braiden,” Colson stated. “He’s gonna make his own legacy.”