In 2023, Michigan football had one of the best, if not the best, defensive fronts in the sport. With an interior rotation of Kris Jenkins, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Rayshaun Benny, and Cam Goode, the Wolverines were stout, and opposing teams had an awful time trying to run the ball or get any movement against the maize and blue tackles.
But Michigan became one short in the Rose Bowl against Alabama, with Benny going down with a broken leg. He recalled the situation on the In the Trenches Podcast with Jon Jansen on Wednesday.
“Well, when it happened, it was kind of just like — I knew it was over,” Benny said. “Never broke a bone. Just didn’t know what it was supposed to feel like, but I was pretty confident that I broke something. I just knew something wasn’t right. I lost all like lower movement. Everything was just weak down low. And yeah, kind of just knew from there.”
The Wolverines had some wiggle room in terms of depth this past season, but not nearly as much as the year before. With Graham and Grant (both first-round NFL draft picks last month) starting, the question was more about who would come in behind them.
Benny was the obvious third, but he wasn’t a full-go right at the season’s outset. Yes, he was cleared to play, but he told Jansen that it took some time for him to get comfortable again and to the point where he felt like his old self.
“Yeah, it took about really into the season,” Benny said. “I really didn’t start feeling comfortable until a few weeks into the season. I started feeling better and started getting more moving and feeling myself again. But that process was long. I was just happy that I had the right people in my corner to go through it with me. They supported me. They was able to work with me. Like if stuff was going on with my body, they was able to help me. I probably didn’t fully recover, though, until about September.”
Now Benny is expected to be the star of the show up front and is working to do what he can to maximize his potential.
“I’m not recovering from an injury. This was really like the first offseason I had to be able to train and get better,” Benny said. “So, really just trying to maximize this year. I don’t have no other ability. Trying to max out, do what I can do to go first round.”
Michigan is expected to be six deep this season with Benny, Trey Pierce, Tré Williams, Damon Payne, Enow Etta, and Ike Iwunnah all rotating — whether it be with a two-man interior or, as we saw in the spring game, three tackles up front.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Rayshaun Benny describes broken leg rehab for Michigan football, when he felt healthy
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
