Michigan Football: 3 Candidates for Wolverines open DT position

Quietly making his way up the ranks

Plenty of headlines centered around early enrollee Mazi Smith. Considering the four-star from Grand Rapids was practicing while others were dressing up for prom, it makes sense that Smith, who was serving as a freshman on an undetermined defensive line, would see the field early and often even as a newcomer.

Two games, no stats, no early breakout.

That shouldn’t deter the in-state monster who nearly broke through the top 100 in the country for his class. At 105 nationally, Smith was pursued by everyone and at 290-pounds, he seemed like a plug-and-play type of football player. As it turns out, he wasn’t, or, at least, the staff didn’t believe so.

Now that he’s passed 300-pounds, Smith has the size to be an effective run-stuffer and should get his opportunity come fall.

Since we can’t predict the future, let’s review the evaluations. First, we start with 247 sports Allen Trieu:

"Wide, thick build. Very strong and plays with good pad level. Has twitch and explosive qualities. Can get off the ball and has quick hands, he just needs to use them more consistently. Tough to move when he anchors in and has a good bull rush. Needs to keep intensity up consistently, but has a true nose tackle build and great power. Can play in even or odd fronts. Size and strength should allow him to compete as a true freshman."

And on to ESPN ($):

"STRENGTHS: Good size and flashes quick first-step. When stays low can generate good push with bull rush and when shoots hands demonstrates strength to press blockers. Flashes ability to attack half-man… AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: Demonstrates good power when stays low, but needs to work on being more consistent with pad level and can lose hands at times and needs to continue to work on usage…. BOTTOM LINE: Smith needs to continue to develop and improve consistency in areas, but displays he can be a quick, disruptive defender with good power."

Matt’s musings

Don Brown and company are not going to flip a coin to determine who gets to start. It’s going to come down, as it always has, to hard work, skill, and determination. The guy who hits the gym the hardest and works the most on and off the field will most assuredly start over the rest.

With that said, Hinton has the most potential and will have a presence, but this is, like it was last year, going to be a rotational line with all three getting some playing time until one of them proves to be better than the rest.