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Name: Zach Charbonnet Height: 6’1″ Weight: 220 lbs. High school: Sherman Oaks (CA) Oaks Christian Position: Running back Class: Freshman Jersey number: #24 Last year: Charbonnet was a senior in high school (LINK). He had 215 carries for 1,795 yards and 17 touchdowns; he also had 3 interceptions on defense. TTB Rating: 90
I would like to start off by apologizing for liking Zach Charbonnet so much.
Name: Mike Sainristil Height: 5’10” Weight: 183 lbs. High school: Everett (MA) Everett Position: Wide receiver Class: Freshman Jersey number: #19 Last year: Sainristil was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 32 catches for 792 yards and 12 touchdowns, along with 290 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns; he also made 6 interceptions on defense. TTB Rating: 84
Sainristil was the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Massachusetts, and that was well deserved. Going back to watch him play during his senior year, it’s ridiculous to see how explosive, elusive, and strong he is. If you’re one-on-one with Sainristil, you might as well sit down to make sure your ankles stay intact. Graveyards have been filled with the shards of tibias that have come within 5 yards of Sainristil on a football field.
And then came the spring. Sainristil enrolled at Michigan early, got hyped up by Josh Gattis, and did things like this in the spring game:
I expect Sainristil to have a breakout year as a true freshman. Unlike Freddy Canteen – whose spring hype from yesteryear outpaced his film – the buzz about Sainristil is backed up by what you see from his high school career. Not only that, but Michigan’s RPO-based offense needs a slot guy who can run the crossing routes, slants, hitches, and bubbles that make the pistons churn. Ronnie Bell has some elusiveness and vision, but his explosiveness isn’t on the same level as Sainristil’s. He has already been named a starter in the slot – a stance in the spring that was reaffirmed recently – which suggests that a previously hyped receiver will start the game on the bench. At various different times, Tarik Black, Nico Collins, and Donovan Peoples-Jones have all been pegged as future high draft picks and/or the best receiver on the team, but Sainristil will apparently start over at least one of them.
Prediction: Starting slot receiver; 30 catches for 480 yards and 5 touchdowns
Name: Michael Dwumfour Height: 6’2″ Weight: 282 lbs. High school: Wayne (NJ) De Paul Catholic Position: Defensive tackle Class: Redshirt junior Jersey number: #50 Last year: I ranked Dwumfour #16 and said he would be a starting defensive tackle (LINK). He made 21 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 1 interception. TTB Rating: 69
Dwumfour created some buzz over the past couple years, and we’ve all heard the comparisons by now: he’s another Maurice Hurst, Jr. If you’re another Hurst, you’re going to be a starter and make a bunch of plays, right? Well, Dwumfour played in every game (starting just two) and made 21 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks. Maybe the Hurst comparison makes sense because of the comparative lack of size (Dwumfour is 6’2″, 282; Hurst was 6’2″, 280 on the roster as a senior). As a redshirt sophomore, Hurst made 35 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks, so the numbers are somewhat similar, too, when you account for the fact that Hurst played more.
The 2019 season presents a huge opportunity for Dwumfour. Bryan Mone, Lawrence Marshall, and Aubrey Solomon are out of the way, and Dwumfour is the elder statesman of the defensive line. Ideally, I would like to rank Michigan’s starting defensive tackle higher in the countdown, but I can’t quite convince myself to do that. He hasn’t flashed in the way I would expect for a future star, and he has been very inconsistent. Injuries have also been a problem, especially in the off-season, and I think it’s hard to reach your potential when you’re always having setbacks. I acknowledge the possibility that Dwumfour could be a stud and explosively slice into opposing backfields regularly, but with him I’ll have to see it before I believe it.
Name: Tarik Black Height: 6’3″ Weight: 215 lbs. High school: Cheshire (CT) Cheshire Academy Position: Wide receiver Class: Redshirt sophomore Jersey number: #7 Last year: I ranked Black #9 and said he would be a starting wide receiver with 45 catches for 600 yards and 6 touchdowns (LINK). He made 4 catches for 35 yards. TTB Rating: 82
Maybe I ranked Tarik Black perfectly last season. He broke his foot in fall camp – the second year in a row that a broken foot ruined his season – and wasn’t available for the season opener against Notre Dame. Michigan lost a fairly close game to the Fighting Irish. Black was projected to be a starter, and the dropoff in talent to Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones wasn’t too significant, but Black is almost certainly better than the other receivers who ran out there in 2018, such as Grant Perry and Jake McCurry. Black returned to action for the second half of the season, but he didn’t look like he was up to speed and was used sparingly.
It feels like a make-or-break season for Black in 2019. He tweeted out something in the off-season about this being his final year of college, so it seems like he has the expectation of playing in the NFL by 2020. Those are high hopes for a guy with 15 career receptions in two seasons. Furthermore, by all accounts he’s not a starter. The coaching staff reiterated recently that Mike Sainristil was the starter in the slot, and both Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones have locked up their starting roles on the outside, provided they get/stay healthy. That leaves Black as the “odd man out” even though the #4 receiver can get plenty of targets.
Will Michigan’s #4 guy get many catches? And perhaps more importantly, will Black be the #4 guy? Black has broken his foot twice in two seasons at Michigan, and the Wolverines have done pretty well without him. If he’s healthy, he can add another element to Michigan’s game and be a very good backup when Collins and Peoples-Jones need breathers. Not too far below Black, I ranked #5 receiver Ronnie Bell (LINK), who could be a key component of the offense if any injuries occur.
It’s frustrating that Michigan has a couple elite recruits (Black and Luiji Vilain) from the 2017 class who can’t stay healthy, but if they can get themselves right and make an impact in 2019, it could be a huge boost for this program.
Name: Devin Gil Height: 6’1″ Weight: 236 lbs. High school: Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan Position: Linebacker Class: Redshirt junior Jersey number: #36 Last year: I ranked Gil #27 and said he would be the starting weakside linebacker (LINK). He started all thirteen games and made 33 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery. TTB Rating: 63
The Devin Gil situation in 2018 was perhaps the most intriguing (head-scratching?) personnel situation of the whole season. Gil registered as the starter in all thirteen games. The other guy fighting for the job was Josh Ross, who started only one – and that was the bowl game that Devin Bush, Jr. missed.
Ross was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten with 61 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 2 pass breakups.
Gil made 33 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
I don’t understand the playing time decisions made by Michigan at the weakside linebacker spot last year. It doesn’t make any sense.
Moving on to 2019, though, Ross appears to have the MIKE linebacker position locked up, and Gil is the clear front-runner at WILL. There are other capable players behind the two inside linebacker starters, such as Jordan Anthony and Cameron McGrone. Considering Gil held on to the “starting” job in 2018 when his play was less than stellar, I feel like the dropoff from starter to backup wouldn’t be that significant. That’s why Gil is ranked here. I thought Michigan had three good options for the two inside linebacker spots in 2018 (Bush, Ross, Gil), but this season, I see four (Ross, Gil, McGrone, Anthony).
