This time last year, spring ball looked a lot different for now-graduate defensive lineman Rayshaun Benny. As he made his methodical recovery from a broken fibula sustained in the 2023 Rose Bowl, Benny was relegated to coaching from the sidelines of the Michigan football team’s spring practices.
The beauty of spring practices for many defensive linemen — getting out of the weight room and pushing guys around — didn’t come around until fall camp for Benny.
“You don’t get that feeling of throwing your hands at a guy and knocking a guy back, no matter how many weights, no matter how many sprints, no matter what you do, the only way you can rep that is actual practice,” Wolverines defensive line coach Lou Esposito said Monday. “So from when he hurt himself to when he came back, he hadn’t had any practice until camp, so he was just getting into it.”
After Week 1, it appeared as though Benny hadn’t missed a beat. He had his most prolific game statistically against Fresno State, recording five tackles and two tackles for loss, both of which were season bests.
While he didn’t fill up the stat sheet as often thereafter and missed two weeks due to illness, Benny’s play steadily improved as he regained his confidence following the injury. He was an overqualified backup and first off the bench behind former Michigan defensive linemen Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, two likely first-round NFL Draft picks.
Benny’s rotational role carried over from the 2023 season, in which he played a part in the national championship run before his untimely injury in the penultimate game. Though Benny was able to recover to that level last year, missing spring practices limited his development.
“There was more on the table for me,” Benny said Friday about his decision to return for a fifth year. “I think we can get another natty. Team looked good, so (I) wanted to run it back with my guys.”
Coinciding with the Wolverines’ inspiring end to last season, Benny really hit his stride in the games against Ohio State and Alabama — some proof that “there was more on the table.”
The defensive line as a whole was what held the Buckeyes to a measly 77 yards on the ground and just 10 points. Benny’s position group was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, driver of the upset over the eventual national champions.
Then when Graham and Grant opted out of the ReliaQuest Bowl against the Crimson Tide, the D-line played just as adept. Benny helped fill the void in that contest, relentlessly leading the Wolverines in the trenches to yet another upset.
“He had the sickness midway through the season, and then when he came back for the bowl game, and there was a little bit of time off, you saw him really shine,” Esposito said. “And even in the Ohio State game, you saw him really shine.”
Not getting to knock guys back before the fall, it took until those end-of-season games for Benny to fully regain his confidence in his ankle. When he did, though, Benny flashed his potential to play up to the standard the Wolverines have become accustomed to on the defensive front.
Those final games also let Benny know there was a lot to gain from another year — especially when he can take advantage of spring practices this time around. And with an overhauled defensive line room to replace Graham and Grant, Michigan is counting on Benny to take what’s left on the table and lead the defensive line to another successful season.