Mike Elston Knows He Has Special Players In Kenneth Grant And Mason Graham

Michigan's interior sophomore studs have made defensive line coach Mike Elston's job a lot easier.

Not all freshmen interior defensive lineman earn snaps, but Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant did just that last year. Jim Harbaugh has called them "gifts from the football gods" before. Now, as sophomores, Grant and Graham are on the field and a lot and making plays often.

"[Kenneth is] playing really, really well right now," Elston said. "I think his ability to just continue to get the snaps and the finer details of playing that position and coming off the ball a little more consistently and attacking. But he's so big and he's so strong and his arms are so long that he's just able to get off blocks relatively quickly, which leads to the high level of production that he has."

Like a true coach, Elston also would like to see Grant do some things even better. 

"I'd like to see a more consistent get off and things like that, which will be better for pass rush and better for knocking people back," Elston said. "And, and he knows that. He knows that that's something he needs to work on. But once that becomes consistent, he's going to be a wrecking ball there."

With Graham, his versatility is the reason he played early and often last year and one of the traits that allows him to be on the field with anyone in 2023.

"Mason can move out a little wider, you'll see him over the tackle, maybe sometimes outside the tackle," Elston explained. "Mason is maybe a little quicker off the ball, a little more twitched up, per se, with movements. So if [Graham and Grant are] both in the game together, Kenneth would be on the inside and Mason would be on the outside. When Mason or Kris [Jenkins] are together, we can move Mason inside and now Kris is on the outside. So there's a lot of flexibility with Mason."

With the two sophomore studs flanked by long, athletic guys like Braiden McGregor, Jaylen Harrell, Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore, and then The Mutant that is Kris Jenkins, Elston has a lot of toys to play with, and he knows it.

"This is as good of a front that I've had the privilege of coaching, without a doubt," Elston stated with authority. "And I mean, from end to end, even that second level — it's an impressive front seven."