I meant to post this at the beginning of the month, but you know, Michigan’s exciting activities in the Rose Bowl and then the national championship distracted me. I don’t think many other people care, but it’s always good for me to review the numbers to see what kind of content people like the most. Year after year, the most viewed posts primarily consist of post-game discussions.
So here are the top ten posts of 2023, including links to the posts (the Blogger versions) in case you want to go back and discuss:
Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil recently finished one of the greatest defensive seasons in school history, notching 6 interceptions and returning them for 232 yards and 2 touchdowns. Altogether, he finished with 7 interceptions and 240 yards for his career. Where does that rank historically?
431 yards on 25 interceptions – Tom Curtis (1967-1969)
240 yards on 7 interceptions – Mike Sainristil (2022-2023)
202 yards on 9 interceptions – David Brown (1972-1974)
182 yards on 8 interceptions – Thomas Darden (1969-1971)
169 yards on 10 interceptions – Marcus Ray (1995-1998)
169 yards on 6 interceptions – Blake Countess (2013)
145 yards on 6 interceptions – Raymon Taylor (2012-2013)
141 yards on 8 interceptions – Tony Jackson (1980-1981)
132 yards on 10 interceptions – Keith Bostic (1980-1982)
127 yards on 8 interceptions – Dwight Hicks (1975-1977)
127 yards on 3 interceptions – Brandon Watson (2018)
Alcoa (TN) Alcoa tight end Eli Owens, a 2025 prospect, committed to Michigan on January 4, between the wins over Alabama and Washington. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee, and several others.
Owens is listed at 6’2″ and 243 lbs. As a sophomore in 2022, he caught 33 passes for 385 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Sophomore wide receiver/cornerback Amorion Walker has entered the transfer portal. He played in thirteen games for the Wolverines over the past two seasons.
Walker came out of Ponchatoula (LA) Ponchatoula in the 2022 class and was ranked as a 3-star, the #72 wide receiver, and #522 overall. I gave him a TTB Rating of 81.
Michigan’s coaching staff believed in Walker as an athlete, and he had some freaky testing times when it comes to sprints and short shuttles. But after two years on campus, he was listed at 6’3″ and 180 lbs. Despite Jim Harbaugh saying he considered Walker to be a starter last winter, he looked overmatched in the spring game – getting torched by walk-on Peyton O’Leary – and then got passed up by UMass transfer Josh Wallace during the summer.
Players usually seem to end up closer to home when they transfer – see Oregon native Darrius Clemons transferring to Oregon State – so I would expect Walker to end up somewhere near SEC country. He has a crystal ball right now for Ole Miss.
As for Michigan, the Wolverines will once again be looking for help at cornerback after losing Walker and rising second-year player Cam Calhoun (Utah) to the transfer portal. Starter Will Johnson returns on one side, but Wallace and Mike Sainristil are heading to the NFL, leaving sophomore D.J. Waller, redshirt junior Ja’Den McBurrows, redshirt freshman Jyaire Hill, and a few others to battle for playing time. Michigan may look to the portal once again for a starter.
Alcoa (TN) Alcoa tight end Eli Owens committed to Michigan.
DECOMMITMENT
Hollywood (FL) Chaminade-Madonna defensive back Chris Ewald, Jr. (4-star, #11 CB, #87 overall) decommitted from Michigan. He recently visited Georgia and also has visits set up to a couple Florida schools.