2019 Season Countdown: #38 Chris Hinton, Jr.
Name: Chris Hinton, Jr.
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 285 lbs.
High school: Norcross (GA) Greater Atlanta Christian
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #74
Last year: Hinton was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 49 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks.
TTB Rating: 90
Welcome to the part of the countdown that gets into the guys Michigan really needs to be successful in 2019. From the start of the countdown until yesterday, I think the players I listed were important but not critical to Michigan’s team performance.
Hinton is the countdown’s highest ranked freshman defender. The Wolverines lost three defensive tackles from last year, and despite a flirtation with Rice grad transfer Zach Abercrumbia (who has ended up at SMU, by the way), no reinforcements were imported from other programs. Of the two true tackles in the 2019 class (Hinton and Mazi Smith), one almost has to be in the two-deep, and I project that to be Hinton. I believe Michigan has three solid players with Carlo Kemp, Donovan Jeter, and Michael Dwumfour, but Jeter missed 2018 due to injury and Dwumfour is constantly nursing nagging issues.
Smith enrolled early and has lost 25-30 pounds. Hinton arrived on campus in June, and his body composition is as yet unknown. He lit it up at the All-American Bowl playing defensive tackle – not strongside end, like some thought early on – and needs to be ready to play this fall. Listed at 285 pounds, my hope is that he has reshaped his body some, added some muscle, and maybe even put on some weight overall. There were times during his senior year where he was loafing (SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS); whether that was because he was worn out from playing too many snaps, I don’t know. Whatever the reason, the Wolverines need him to eat up some of the snaps on the interior defensive line in 2019.
Prediction: Backup defensive tackle