Identifying breakout players is similar to solving a mystery. More often than not, there are breadcrumbs or clues that portend a player is on the rise. Of course, there are always outliers like 2021 David Ojabo, whose one (O-N-E) career tackle entering the season would have never been predicted to evolve into 35 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and five forced fumbles. But for the most part, there are always signs if you know where to look.
When examining the roster this year, there were a handful
of viable candidates, but most were first-year starters coming off mixed maiden voyages (of course, they should improve with a year of seasoning and a real coaching staff in place). Others felt too established — Jordan Marshall or Andrew Marsh going from good to great isn’t the point of this exercise, nor Jyaire Hill or Zeke Berry. It’s the player(s) who have flown under the radar while steadily improving.
At a position group that is one of the team’s biggest question marks entering the season, the interior defensive line, there are a few players primed for a step forward, and none more so than senior Trey Pierce. He is a 6-foot-2, 310-pound veteran of 39 games, a national champion, and one of the leaders in the locker room. Over the course of his career, Pierce has shown flashes of dominance and glimpses of impending stardom, but nothing that extends beyond a few plays or a series in a game.
After his fire-breathing performance vs Alabama in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl, many expected a bigger leap in 2025. While he didn’t fully meet those expectations, he still showed significant signs of development. In 2024, he only played 153 snaps (just shy of 12 per game) behind two of the best to ever do it at Michigan. Pierce’s snaps did drastically increase from the previous year’s 58, but the frequent rotation still allowed him to play fresh.
But he struggled despite all that. He frequently missed tackles, failed to make an impact against the run and was ineffective rushing the passer. Pierce’s 18.2 missed-tackle rate was one of the worst of any high-volume defender on the team. In fairness, his number was overly weighted by bad performances against Illinois and Michigan State, but those two performances also led to a diminished snap count the rest of the regular season; Pierce played 45 snaps across those two games and only 29 in the remaining four games of the regular season, perhaps limiting further shortcomings.
Against the run, Pierce was 17th on the team with only five stops in 2024, and his 6.4 stop-rate percentage was disappointing for a nose tackle. For comparison, Mazi Smith, Kris Jenkins and Mason Graham were all north of 13 percent. Additionally, his 2.7 percent pressure rate was the second-worst on the team for any defender with more than 20 pass rush snaps.
With those numbers in mind, excitement got the best of us following his one-off performance against the Tide. But with an increased role in 2025, while still operating within a rotation, Pierce improved across the board. Despite playing 252 more snaps (405 total), he only missed one (O-N-E) more tackle and his missed-tackle rate plummeted to 7.5 percent, one of the best on the team. Going hand in hand, Pierce was fourth on the team with 20 stops in the run game — tops among interior defensive linemen — and his percentage cracked double digits at 10.8; Kenneth Grant’s best rate at Michigan was 10.1.
Lastly, Pierce took strides as a pass rusher in 2025. Albeit, strides from short legs. He may never be mistaken for Mason Graham or Mo Hurst, but Pierce’s pressure rate leapt to 4.6 percent last season. Granted, most of that came against inferior opponents — 40 percent of his pressures came vs New Mexico and Central Michigan — and he will still need to find a way to be more impactful in primetime matchups if he is to become a star.
But he is already aware of this deficiency. Back in March on In The Trenches, Pierce said his top focus this offseason is rushing the passer.
“Pass rush — that’s my main focus through this whole offseason,” Pierce said. “But especially this spring, going against our guards and our centers and our tackles, too, getting our pass rush up. I feel like I left a lot on the table this season in that regard. And I think that’s a gap in my game that if I get just a little bit better at that, it can change everything, change games, change my trajectory as a player.”
The numbers don’t lie, and if Pierce can make the jump to an All-Big Ten player this season, Michigan’s defense should be one of the best in the Big Ten.
