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16Aug 2022

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2022 Season Countdown: #25 Mike Sainristil

Name: Mike Sainristil
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 182 lbs.
High school: Everett (MA) Everett
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #0
Last year: I ranked Sainristil #26 and said he would be a starting slot receiver with 25 catches for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 22 passes for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 84

Sainristil has been right on this starter/backup edge for three years running, ranked at #25 or #26. Last season I thought he would start at slot receiver, and I was only a few catches/yards off his totals, along with expecting 1 more touchdown than he actually scored. He developed into a reliable target for Cade McNamara, if only partly because Ronnie Bell tore his ACL in the season opener, creating playing time for other guy. The highlight of his season may have been the diving reception he made on a deep ball against Nebraska.

Sainristil has worn both #5 and #19 in his career, and he nabbed #0 this off-season. He’s also on to playing another position: Sainristil played some nickel corner in the spring and continues to play on both sides of the ball in camp. It remains to be seen whether he will be the nickel going into the season. The receiver room is stacked and the defensive backs are talented, so I’m having a hard time gauging how integral Sainristil will be on either side of the ball. It’s entirely conceivable that he fades away on one side, but I can’t imagine him disappearing from both sides of the ball. He should be a pretty big factor to the team overall, but I don’t expect him to be a standout either way.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver and defensive back; 18 catches for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns, 18 tackles

16Aug 2022

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2022 Season Countdown: #26 Karsen Barnhart

Name: Karsen Barnhart
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 308 lbs.
High school: Paw Paw (MI) Paw Paw
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #52
Last year: I ranked Barnhart #24a and said he would be the starting right tackle (LINK). He started two games at left guard.
TTB Rating: 86

For the second year in a row, Barnhart served as Michigan’s extra lineman. He’s a utility man who can start at either tackle or either guard spot. When he was a redshirt freshman in 2020, he got a bunch of playing time on a bad offensive line. Last year he played left guard when Trevor Keegan couldn’t go, but he also was a backup tackle in blowouts. Barnhart has not really left an indelible mark as a beast of a player just waiting to break out of his cage, but he has been solid and has a good athletic profile to be “next.”

Last year’s pure blocking tight end, sixth lineman Trente Jones, is likely to start at right tackle now that Andrew Stueber has moved on to the NFL. I will be curious to see if Barnhart takes on Jones’s role as a blocking tight end, or if the staff will simply let the tight ends handle the tight end role, since the tight end room is so stacked with talent. Regardless of whether Barnhart is a blocking tight end or just the backup at guard/tackle, he’s going to play a lot. And when 2023 rolls around, he will probably have a starting role somewhere along the line.

Prediction: Backup offensive lineman

16Aug 2022

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2022 Season Countdown: #27 Brad Robbins

Name: Brad Robbins
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 205 lbs.
High school: Westerville (OH) South
Position: Punter
Class: Sixth year senior
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Robbins #15 and said he would be the starting punter (LINK). He punted 45 times for 2,085 yards (46.3 yards/punt) and put 17 of them inside the 20-yard line.
TTB Rating: 70

Robbins was a standout punter in 2021, averaging 46.3 yards per punt, which is second only to Will Hart’s average of 47.0 yards per punt in 2018. He’s come a long way from the point where he was struggling, had a back injury, and entered the transfer portal earlier in his career. He had a 65-yard punt against Penn State and a 64-yarder against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game. Altogether, his performance in 2021 earned him Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors.

So it might seem to make sense to rank him higher on the list, except the backup punter is Tommy Doman. Doman averaged 44.8 yards per punt as a senior in high school in 2020 and was an Under Armour All-American. I’m guessing Robbins is still a better punter at this point, but how large is the gap between the two? I expect Robbins to be the starting punter again in 2022 and have a solid season.

Prediction: Starting punter

15Aug 2022

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2022 Season Countdown: #28 Michael Barrett

Name: Michael Barrett
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 233 lbs.
High school: Valdosta (GA) Lowndes
Position: Linebacker
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #23
Last year: I ranked Barrett #20 and said he would be a starting inside linebacker (LINK). He made 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup while starting one game.
TTB Rating: 82

Barrett is a former high school quarterback, and I love me some quarterbacks. It just seems like when you’re a Division I-caliber athlete with the smarts and leadership to play quarterback, you’re likely to figure it out at the next level. But the switch from defensive coordinator Don Brown to Mike Macdonald didn’t bode well for the former hybrid linebacker/safety, and now the move to Jesse Minter doesn’t seem any better, since he coaches the same system as Macdonald.

Michigan will probably play more of a true nickel safety rather than a linebacker, and anyway, Barrett has added six pounds since last year and is playing more inside linebacker. He appears to be the #3 guy at inside linebacker behind Junior Colson and Nikhai Hill-Green. I would expect him to play special teams, too, where he has been valuable over the past few years.

Prediction: Backup inside linebacker, special teamer

15Aug 2022

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2022 Season Countdown: #29 Luke Schoonmaker

Name: Luke Schoonmaker
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 250 lbs.
High school: Hamden (CT) Hamden Hall
Position: Tight end
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #86
Last year: I ranked Schoonmaker #32 and said he would be a backup tight end (LINK). He caught 17 passes for 165 yards and 3 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 81

Schoonmaker, a former high school quarterback, has improved year after year. He represents exactly what one should expect from a Jim Harbaugh-coached tight end. If you play tight end for Harbaugh, you’re probably going to develop into a pro candidate. There are some who think Schoonmaker has improved as a blocker to the point where he’s the best blocker at his position group, which is saying something, considering other tight ends include starter Erick All and former offensive lineman Joel Honigford. But Schoonmaker has also turned into a solid receiver, with 2 touchdowns against Indiana and a couple one-handed catches during his career. Despite being just a part-time starter and tying for 8th on the team in receptions, he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media.

The 2022 season should be more of the same. Schoonmaker is a quality player, but he will have to share time with All, Honigford, and others. There’s also talk that youngsters Matt Hibner, Louis Hansen, and Colston Loveland – who all have barely played or not played at all – are good enough to get on the field. Schoonmaker will play a bunch, and he might even be good enough to get drafted in 2023, but he probably won’t see a leap in production because the tight end room is so crowded.

Prediction: Part-time starting tight end; 20 catches for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns