Michigan's defensive line is expected to be one of the best in the country this season with the return of Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josiah Stewart and Derrick Moore.
This offseason, the Wolverines have placed a premium on developing young talent that would add depth to the units the coaching staff likes to rotate.
One of the standouts this spring has been Enou Etta. The redshirt freshman played mostly on the outside last season, but after bulking up to 309 pounds in the offseason, he's transitioned to playing mostly on the inside, where he's been performing well throughout practice.
Defensive line coach Lou Esposito said Etta is ready to turn a strong spring into an even stronger fall and contribute.
“Enau has really grown since the spring,” Esposito said Wednesday. “From them (Etta and Trey Pierce) in the spring to now, they're light years ahead.”
As you often hear about players who flourish in the University of Michigan football program, Etta's development came from learning — learning from her coaches and trying to learn as much as she could from one of the best players on the team, in this case, that player was Mason Graham.
“The last two weeks of camp, he came and met with me. I didn't ask him to do anything, I didn't say anything. He just came and met with me. He came and met with me yesterday before class. He met with Coach Lewis. He's just a sponge when it comes to football. And the most impressive thing was, we talked about Mason. One day at practice, Mason and I walked into the defensive line room, and Mason and Eno were inside with the door closed, just watching video. Mason was coaching them. And Eno was writing notes down. And Mason was saying the same message. Sometimes when you hear it in a different voice, the players respond to it differently. And that was really good. He wants to learn football, you know what I mean?”
Etta is expected to be a top rotation member of the defensive line this season, and emulating a player like Mason Graham is a good start.
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