Fifth year senior defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows has decided to enter the transfer portal for his final season.
McBurrows is listed at 5’11” and 194 lbs. on Michigan’s roster. He played four games as a freshman in 2021 and then missed 2022 with an ACL injury. He played in fifteen games in 2023 and 2024, totaling nineteen appearances throughout his career. McBurrows was also involved in the infamous tunnel brawl with Michigan State when he tried to help fellow defensive back Gemon Green.
At various times in his career, McBurrows has been thought to be a key contributor, especially at the nickel position. However, injuries and the performances of other players have prevented him from being a major factor. Last year the nickel spot was won by Zeke Berry initially, and then safety Makari Paige won the role during the second half of the year when Berry moved to outside corner. That was probably McBurrows’s best chance to play significant moments, but his season ended due to injury after the first four games.
McBurrows has one season of eligibility remaining (though with his injury history, he could eventually apply for a sixth year and would probably get it). Overall, he made 13 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups, and 1 interception in his career at Michigan, and that one pick came against the dastardly MSU Spartans in 2023, a year after they attacked him in the tunnel.
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PWO QB FTW. Well, it was a mild surprise when it was announced that former walk-on Davis Warren was named the starting quarterback for the season opener over Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle. Orji had received most of the hype in the off-season, and Tuttle is the most experienced. But Tuttle has been dealing with injuries and soreness, so he wasn’t really an option. Rumors started coming out a couple days before the game that Warren would be the guy. He finished 15/25 for 118 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception and graded out as Michigan’s #4 offensive player (69.7 on Pro Football Focus). Overall, I thought Warren was mostly accurate. He overthrew a deep shot to Tyler Morris, and he underthrew Fredrick Morris on an open post route that could have been a touchdown but turned into an interception. There were a lot of checkdowns and short throws, probably by design to make things easy for Warren in his first start. But overall, I thought Warren looked composed and accurate.
Name: Ja’Den McBurrows Height: 5’11” Weight: 194 lbs. High school: Fort Lauderdale (FL) Saint Thomas Aquinas Position: Cornerback Class: Redshirt junior Jersey number: #18 Last year: I ranked McBurrows #41 and said he would be a backup cornerback (LINK). He made 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 interception. TTB Rating: 73
I don’t know about other Michigan fans, but McBurrows has turned into a bit of a “fan favorite” of mine. As a high schooler, he was always around the ball and created a ton of turnovers despite being a little undersized. While at Michigan he has struggled at time with injuries. On top of that, he was a part of the infamous “Tunnel Incident” against Michigan State in 2022 when teammate Gemon Green was jumped by a bunch of Spartans and McBurrows tried to intervene.
He got some revenge in the 49-0 beatdown of Michigan State last year when he notched his first career interception.
McBurrows also had the unfortunate luck of playing behind Mike Sainristil, an all-time great for the Wolverines who just happened to also play the nickel spot. So his time has been limited over his first three years on campus.
His outlook is a little brighter for 2024. Sainristil is gone, and now McBurrows has a chance to step up and play some nickel or outside corner. He is unlikely to start at either position with Zeke Berry set to start at nickel and Jyaire Hill the likely #2 corner across from Will Johnson, but I expect an uptick in playing time for McBurrows as a fourth-year player. He was #20 on the team in defensive snaps last season (185) and I expect him to move up to perhaps #17 or #18 in defensive snaps this fall.
