Michigan is 10-5 against the Washington Huskies. They first met on November 4, 1916, which was a 66-7 win for the Wolverines. The last time they met was on January 8, 2024 in the national championship game, sealing Michigan’s 15-0 season.
Tyrone Wheatley 88-yard TD run (1992)
Mike Sainristil 81-yard interception return (2023)
Rick Leach 76-yard TD pass to Curt Stephenson (1977)
Here are the results of the 2024 NFL Draft for Michigan players:
2024 1st round: J.J. McCarthy – QB – Minnesota Vikings (#10 overall) 2nd round: Kris Jenkins, Jr. – DT – Cincinnati Bengals (#49) 2nd round: Mike Sainristil – CB – Washington Commanders (#50) 3rd round: Junior Colson – LB – Los Angeles Chargers (#69) 3rd round: Blake Corum – RB – Los Angeles Rams (#83) 3rd round: Roman Wilson – WR – Pittsburgh Steelers (#84) 3rd round: Zak Zinter – OG – Cleveland Browns (#85) 4th round: A.J. Barner – TE – Seattle Seahawks (#121) 5th round: Trevor Keegan – OG – Philadelphia Eagles (#172) 7th round: Michael Barrett – LB – Carolina Panthers (#240) 7th round: La’Darius Henderson – OG – Houston Texans (#249) 7th round: Jaylen Harrell – DE – Tennessee Titans (#252) 7th round: Cornelius Johnson – WR – Los Angeles Chargers (#253)
Jenkins joins a Michigan-heavy defense with the Bengals, who spent a first round pick on S Daxton Hill a couple years ago and a second round pick on CB D.J. Turner II in 2023.
The Chargers are coached by former Michigan head man Jim Harbaugh, who drafted Colson and Johnson, both of whom play positions of need for the team. The Seahawks are led by Mike Macdonald, whose lone pick from Michigan (A.J. Barner at #121 overall) didn’t overlap with Macdonald’s one season at defensive coordinator in 2021. Barner transferred from Indiana for the 2023 season. However, former Michigan assistant coach Jay Harbaugh is on Seattle’s staff.
The following players signed undrafted free agent contracts with NFL teams:
Karsen Barnhart – OG – Los Angeles Chargers Trente Jones – OT – Green Bay Packers Braiden McGregor – DE – New York Jets Drake Nugent – C – San Francisco 49ers James Turner – K – Detroit Lions Josh Wallace – CB – Los Angeles Rams
McGregor is the biggest draft snub of these players, in my opinion. At 6’5″ and 257 pounds, I thought he showed adequate enough production and athleticism to get taken somewhere prior to the end of the draft. He was injured as a senior in high school and took a few years just to get back on track. I always thought he should have stayed in college one more year to continue ascending since 2023 was his first year as a starter; perhaps with that previous injury, he thought this might be the best time to try to make a jump for the NFL rather than risking another year in college.
Additionally, three former Wolverine signees were taken in the draft:
1st round: Xavier Worthy – WR – Kansas City Chiefs (#28) 4th round: Erick All – TE – Cincinnati Bengals (#115) 6th round: Joe Milton – QB – New England Patriots (#193)
Worthy signed with Michigan but was unable to enroll, so he transferred to Texas. All played at Michigan for three seasons (2020-2022) before transferring to Iowa in 2023. Milton spent three years in Ann Arbor (2018-2020) and then spent the next three seasons (2021-2023) at Tennessee.
Two of these guys will be involved in the first round, and hopefully a third will get drafted on day two.
It’s that time of the year for another mock NFL Draft. Here are my guesses for how the draft shakes out. If I guess wrong, oh well. And if I guess right? I’m a genius. That’s just how it works.
1. Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams – QB – USC Why? He seems to be the consensus choice here. This one seems obvious.
2. Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels – QB – LSU Why? A few months ago, I never would have believed that Daniels would hop ahead of Maye to be QB#2, but again, it seems to be the case.
3. New England Patriots: Drake Maye – QB – North Carolina Why? Some people are running the angle of taking J.J. McCarthy as “another Michigan Man” to fill the shoes of Tom Brady, but when I’ve tried to make those connections in the past, it just rarely seems to work out that way. Maye is a bigger prospect, too, and I think some are concerned about McCarthy’s sturdiness.
The following 18 Michigan football players are participating in the 2024 NFL Combine. That’s a record number of players invited to the Combine for any school. They are:
QB J.J. McCarthy
RB Blake Corum
WR Cornelius Johnson
WR Roman Wilson
TE A.J. Barner
OL Karsen Barnhart
OL La’Darius Henderson
OL Trente Jones
OL Trevor Keegan
OL Drake Nugent
OL Zak Zinter
EDGE Jaylen Harrell
EDGE Braiden McGregor
DT Kris Jenkins, Jr.
LB Michael Barrett
LB Junior Colson
CB Mike Sainristil
CB Josh Wallace
Over 300 players were invited to the Combine, and last year 259 players were drafted. So mathematically, not every player invited will end up being selected. But if everyone gets drafted, that would set a record for the most players drafted from a school in one year. The current record is 15, which was set by Georgia.
Former Michigan players TE Erick All (Iowa), QB Joe Milton (Tennessee), and EDGE Eyabi Okie-Anoma (Charlotte) will also be at the Combine, as will former Michigan signee WR Xavier Worthy (Texas).