The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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70 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW WIDE RECEIVERS WIDE RECEIVERS The Wolverines certainly feature others ready and willing to step in. Sophomore Ronnie Bell broke through as a freshman to signal a bright future in a Michigan uni- form. He made eight catches for 145 yards as a rookie, averaging a wideouts-best 18.1 yards per grab with a pair of touchdown catches. The talk of the spring, though, centered on early enrollee freshman Mike Sainristil. The compact rookie out of Everett, Mass., made a major impact in the spring, show- ing off not only his quickness and ability to catch the ball, but also plenty of toughness. Harbaugh himself ignited the Sainristil talk early in the spring, noting the freshman was "on his way to cementing a spot in the starting lineup," and "doing a fantastic job at all the receiver positions." The frosh also got some love from the other side of the line of scrimmage, de- fensive backs coach Mike Zordich noting: "Little Mikey Sainristil, he's the guy. He's Rookie wide receiver Mike Sainristil isn't physically im- posing, at 5-10, 179 pounds. But he can leave an impres- sion, both in Michigan's of- fense and on would-be tack- lers. It took no time at all for the early-entry frosh to begin making both plays and hits as a receiver. He wasn't play- ing catch-up this spring. He instantly became a producer with what head coach Jim Harbaugh identified as start- ing potential. "He has a level of quick- ness, change of direction and speed that has been really eye-opening and really good for the team," Harbaugh said. "He's also tough. He's block- ing. There are probably three examples where you can re- ally just see him with second, third, fourth effort down the field, sometimes 20, 30, 40 yards downfield, blocking for whoever does have the ball. "He's been really good, and I can't say enough good things about him. He's one of our mid-year guys that has been great. They get to class, they get there on time, they get here early, they're kicking down the door to get in the weight room. He's doing everything right." On that point, the coach experienced no dissenters. "Great athlete," Michigan senior quarterback Shea Patterson offered. "Speed like no other, and he's football savvy as well. He's made numerous plays this spring." "Wow, he is quick," junior fullback/defensive lineman Ben Mason observed. "He's a really good football player. A really tough guy, too. He's not afraid to stick his nose in there and make a block. "I'm really confident hav- ing him on the field with us, and he's a guy who's going to make an impact for our team this year." Sainristil put up 1,740 yards and 28 touchdowns through the air for Everett (Mass.) High School, and added 11 rushing touchdowns, two special teams scores and four defensive touchdowns. He also picked off six passes as a senior and 10 over his final two years, causing Michigan cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich to get a little covetous. "First of all, he's very ath- letic, he's very quick and he's fast," Zordich said. "And when he touches the ball, he's just got this magic. I watched his highlight film from high school seven or eight times — he's just fun to watch. "He's a jitterbug. When he gets the ball in his hand, he just goes. He finds ways to break tackles, he finds ways to gain yards and score touchdowns. He'll be exciting for us." Harbaugh isn't big on pumping up freshmen, but he's more than willing to make an exception in this case. "He has an intensity about him when he's practicing, when he's in meetings," Harbaugh said. "He's really hungry and is doing a great job. All compliments to Mike Sainristil, as long as he takes that flattery and, as they say, doesn't inhale. He should be good." — John Borton Despite being a relatively unheralded three-star recruit, early enrollee Mike Sainristil wasted no time making a strong impression this spring. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Redshirt sophomore Tarik Black has been limited his first two years due to foot injuries, but his 184 career receiving yards still rank third on the team among wideouts. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 'Little Mikey' Comes Up Big For Michigan