Michigan DT Rayshaun Benny ready to 'dominate' in return from leg injury
Michigan defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny, who broke his fibula in the first quarter of the Wolverines' win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, says he's recovering well from the injury as fall camp and the 2024 campaign approach. Benny said he "should be full-go by the season," which begins August 31 against Fresno State at the Big House.
"Recovering from it real well. Everything is aligning and we're looking good for where we gotta be for August 31," Benny said, though he likely won't be a full participant when fall camp begins later this month.
Benny left the first quarter of the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl with a right lower-leg injury, later described on the U-M radio broadcast as a broken ankle. He missed the CFP National Championship Game but was recognized as an honorary captain prior to kickoff.
A former four-star prospect from Oak Part (Mich.) High School, Benny has appeared in 31 games at Michigan through three years. In 2023, he played in 14 games along the defensive line, making 27 tackles with 5.5 for loss including one sack, two pass breakups and one forced fumble. He shared Defensive Player of the Week honors three times in 2023 for his performances against Bowling Green, Indiana and Penn State.
But the offseason between Benny's junior and senior years has been a difficult one. The injury itself was "the easy part," he said, especially since the Wolverines won the Rose Bowl and the national championship despite his absence.
"It happened, and where my mindset was at, there's nothing I could do about it. We still got a game to finish, and as long as we win, I won't trip too much," Benny said. "We finally won and when everything was all said and done, I'm not gonna say it made it worth it, but it made it worth it, you know? It made the bitter part sweet. I was a sacrifice, in my eyes. That's how I decided to look at it to not get down on myself."
But once the offseason began, Benny struggled through the emotional toll of being sidelined while so many of his teammates and coaches departed for the NFL or turned their attention toward 2024.
"At first, it was just real dark, just being alone, being away from the guys," Benny said. Justin Tress, the new strength and conditioning coach, took notice and helped make sure Benny knew his door was always open. Tress asked the defensive tackle to come by the weight room, even if he was on his scooter, to spend more time around his teammates and support system.
"Maybe he could tell, but it just didn't feel good being by myself," Benny said. "Once I got past the hard part and the roadblock to where I didn't feel like I was alone, I did recognize and I realized that I'm part of a team still. Then it was a lot easier knowing I had to support my teammates."
Nearly seven months after the injury, Benny can run and cut. Though he's prioritizing his health, he is also looking to improve his technique and footwork ahead of a senior season in which he expects to factor heavily in the defensive tackle rotation.
"It's definitely something I've been looking forward to," Benny said. "This is going on my senior year, so this is basically the role I've been waiting for my whole time being here. It's real good to see everything come full circle and the way it came about. I learned from the right guys — from Mazi to Chris, and both Chrises [Christopher Hinton and Kris Jenkins] — to where I was able to take bits and pieces from everyone and basically execute my game and get better and better every day."
And Benny knows he'll return to a defensive tackle room featuring Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant which should again rank among the best in the country.
"We dominate everybody. That's always fun. When you can impose your will on another man when he doesn't want it, that's the fun part. That's the best part about what we do," Benny said. "The fact that our room is that deep and that good, and I had this many people to learn from and we learned from each other and everybody just takes it bit by bit, and nobody gets a big head. I'll say, in my opinion, we're obviously my favorite position group, but I think we're one of the tighter position groups on the team too."
Earlier this offseason, defensive line coach Lou Esposito said Benny had done an "unbelievable job" of staying involved with the program through his injury. His return will be valuable to a tackle room that succeeded in 2023 in large part due to its deep rotation.
"What it does when you have a good defensive front, you can't just scheme one guy. They can't just say, 'We're gonna go scheme to Mason. We're gonna go slide to D-Mo. We're gonna go slide to Stewart.' There's so many guys up there, so it opens everybody else up," Esposito said. "And that's the key to having a deep front. One of the biggest reasons we won the national championship here last year was because of the depth up front. And I think that's what we have to keep building, keep building, keep building."
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