Mike Elston Recaps D-Line Performance, Sack Party
Defensive line coach Mike Elston had a lot of good things to say about his unit on Wednesday afternoon and with good reason. His defensive line accounted for three of Michigan's seven sacks and several guys who haven't played much in the past really stepped up. Elston specifically spoke about Eyabi Anoma, Mason Graham, Derrick Moore, Kenneth Grant and Rayshaun Benny as youngsters/newcomers who played well and lived up the billing coming out of fall camp.
Despite the dominant performance, Elston did point out several things he'd like to see his guys do better against Hawaii.
"Things that we would like to see improve would be an even better effort running to the football," Elston said. "More consistent block destruction. Better get offs; I feel like as the game went on we were trying to see what they were doing and reading blocks instead of just coming off the ball and knocking guys back.
"Inside guys I'd really like to see more edge pass rush. I feel like the guys we have can be explosive and get on edges and create more havoc in the backfield in passing situations. Overall, I think we can be more productive in pass rush. We left some production on the field and I'd love to see improvements in those areas in week two."
Elston knows that he has a talented group and in the video above, he talks about why. Of course, as any good coach does, he spends more time on the things they need to do better, and that's why I think this group is going to be better than just fine this year. With Elston's attention to detail, the overall team speed and Jesse Minter's apparent ability to mix up pressures and coverages, this talented Michigan defense is going to be really good despite losing guys like Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Daxton Hill and Josh Ross.
