Michigan Football Snapshot: Mike Sainristil

As a sophomore, Mike Sainristil is going to be needed.

We heard a ton about Mike Sainristil when he arrived on campus as an early enrollee last winter but then when the season rolled around, he wasn't a big part of the offense. 

The 5-10, 183-pounder showed flashes of what he can do once the ball in his hands, he just wasn't on the field enough to get the ball into his hands. He appeared in all 13 games but finished his true freshman season with just eight catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. He's got some juice, but didn't get to show it much last year. That'll change in 2020.

2020 Outlook

It's hard to predict specific numbers for Sainristil's sophomore season because he just didn't get a chance to show what he can do as a rookie. With Donovan Peoples-Jones now in the NFL and Tarik Black now at Texas, Sainristil is going to be needed. He played in every game last year but not many snaps and wasn't high on the read list for Shea Patterson. That's going to change in 2020.

Sainristil has great speed, short-space quickness, hands and moves in the open field. When he makes a catch, he's going to turn it into a bigger gain. He just has that knack. He may also be involved out of the backfield because of his versatility. He did a little bit of everything in high school and could do more for Michigan next year as well.

I could see a Jeremy Gallon-like jump for Sainristil in year two. When Gallon first started seeing action, he had just four catches for 49 yards and a score — pretty comparable to Sainristil's freshman campaign. The following season, Gallon had 31 catches for 459 yards and three touchdowns. I could see Sainristil finishing his sophomore season with about 35 catches for 500 yards and three or four touchdowns. If he did that, he'd be a much bigger part of the offense and would show great growth as a second-year player. If it's more than that, he'd be progressing in a rare way. If it's less, it probably means U-M is getting more production out of guys like Giles Jackson and Cornelius Johnson, which wouldn't be a bad thing.