Scouting Report: Mike Sainristil (CB) - Michigan
Sales Pitch: "Twitchy instinctive slot corner who plays well above his size. Lacks the long speed or size to live on the outside but will instantly upgrade a teams nickel role with his toughness, coverage skills and ball production."
Athletic Profile
Height: 5’ 9 3/8”
Weight: 182 lbs
Arm Length: 30 7/8”
Hand Size: 8 1/2”
40 Yard Dash: 4.47
10 Yard Split: 1.54
Vertical: 40”
Broad Jump: 10’ 11”
Short Shuttle: 4.01
3-Cone: 6.99
Age: 23
Relative Athletic Score: 8.45 / 10.00
Statistics
Career: 70 TKL - 10.5 TFL - 7 INT - 13 PBU - 2 FF
2023: 26 TKL - 4 TFL - 6 INT - 6 PBU - 2 FF
Strengths
Twitchy slot corner with excellent quickness and agility
Outstanding leader w/ very good communication skills on and off the field
Quickness to mirror slot WRs man to man in press and off coverage
Excellent zone instincts in underneath coverage
Quickly able to diagnose and close on routes in front of him
Former WR w/ tremendous ball production in 2023
Brings power and aggression when attacking downhill out of coverage
Aggressive and technically sound tackler
Eludes blockers in run game with plus agility and balance
Plays w/ good leverage as a run defender
Impact blitzer from the slot
Weaknesses
Undersized, skinny frame with below average length
Likely a slot-only at the next level
Struggles to play against size at the LOS and catch point
Fails to get off blocks in the run game and as a blitzer
Lacks stopping power as a tackler
Bounces off bigger ball carriers as a tackler in space
Lacks size to neutralize blocks in the run game
Summary
Mike Sainristil is an undersized slot corner with tremendous quickness and football IQ. The former 3-Star recruit from Massachusetts is a former WR, who converted to DB half way through his collegiate career, before becoming a All-American in 2023 and All Big-10 honoree in both 2022 and 2023. Due to his lack of size, Sainristil projects to be a slot-only at the next level but has the tools to be one of the best in the league in that role. He is a twitchy athlete with plus quickness and agility that allows him to mirror all types of WRs in man coverage. He has tremendous instincts as a zone corner, both from deep and underneath alignments. As a former WR, Sainristil displays excellent ball skills in both man and zone coverage. His first step quickness and soft hands allow him to convert pass breakups into interceptions at a high rate, his 6 INTs in 2023 ranked 2nd among all DBs in college football. Despite his lack of size Sainristil is also a plus contributor in the run game. The same quickness and instincts that make him a good coverage player translate to the run game. He is adept at closing quickly downhill with proper leverage from outside and in the slot. While his length and weight limitations can lead to issues tackling bigger ball carriers, he still closes with aggression and excellent technique to chop out the legs of bigger backs. Sainristil is also an exceptional blitzer. He does a tremendous job timing snap counts and has the speed/quickness combo to quickly close ground on quarterbacks when he comes free. Sainristil projects as a high level slot corner who can play in any type of scheme. The lack of size and outside coverage ability will naturally limit his ceiling as a player and in terms of draft position but few players have a higher floor in this class. Sainristil will enter the league immediately as one of the best slot corners in football - a position ever increasing in value - and will be one of the safest picks a team can make on Day 2 of the draft.