Michigan dominated the all-conference selections in 2023, which is to be somewhat expected with a 12-0 record.
FIRST TEAM
QB J.J. McCarthy (Coaches, Media)
RB Blake Corum (Coaches, Media)
OL La'Darius Henderson (Coaches)
OL Zak Zinter (Coaches, Media)
C Drake Nugent (Coaches, Media)
TE Colston Loveland (Coaches)
DL Mason Graham (Coaches)
DB Will Johnson (Coaches, Media)
DB Mike Sainristil (Media)
SECOND TEAM
WR Roman Wilson (Coaches, Media)
TE Colston Loveland (Media)
OL Karsen Barnhart (Coaches)
OL La'Darius Henderson (Media)
OL Trevor Keegan (Coaches, Media)
DL Kenneth Grant (Coaches)
DL Kris Jenkins, Jr. (Coaches, Media)
LB Junior Colson (Coaches, Media)
DB Mike Sainristil (Coaches)
K James Turner (Coaches)
THIRD TEAM
OL Karsen Barnhart (Media)
DL Mason Graham (Media)
DL Kenneth Grant (Media)
LB Michael Barrett (Coaches)
DB Rod Moore (Coaches)
P Tommy Doman (Media)
HONORABLE MENTION
WR Cornelius Johnson (Media)
TE A.J. Barner (Coaches, Media)
DL Jaylen Harrell (Coaches, Media)
DL Braiden McGregor (Coaches, Media)
DL Derrick Moore (Coaches, Media)
DL Josaiah Stewart (Coaches)
LB Michael Barrett (Media)
DB Rod Moore (Media)
DB Makari Paige (Coaches)
DB Josh Wallace (Coaches, Media)
K James Turner (Media)
P Tommy Doman (Media)
RET Semaj Morgan (Coaches, Media)
I believe every single Michigan starter is represented here except FB/TE Max Bredeson (1 start), OL Trente Jones (2 starts), WR Tyler Morris (2 starts), safety Keon Sabb (4 starts). Even a full-time backup in Derrick Moore - who has yet to start a single game - was named Honorable Mention by both the coaches and the media.
Do you see any snubs?
Personally, I think Mike Sainristil should have been 1st team to both coaches/media. Meanwhile, I'm surprised Barnhart was valued so highly since he struggled in pass protection so much, especially over the last three weeks of the season.
A lot of our defense only played half the year snap wise since UM substitutes so much. And the starters and backups for that matter were out of the game by the 4th quarter. The stats are a fraction of what they would have scored if they played full time.
ReplyDeleteGlad a lot of our guys still got their recognition despite that.
Wallace getting HM seems a stretch IMO.
#1 ranked defense in the country got rewarded
Jesse Minter should be acknowledged in some award category ... there was a lot of questions coming into this year, and he put the puzzle together brilliantly.
ReplyDeleteYeah minter is crushing it!
DeleteThe fact that Mason Graham is third in the Media's eyes, but first in the coach's eyes, says a lot about what the media doesn't really know about the game. The Upon Further Reviews (UFRs) at mgoblog consistently show Graham as an absolute beast. Why can't the media see this?
ReplyDeleteThe media is largely focused on who makes splash plays, counting stats, etc., but they also tend to hand out Career Achievement Awards on both lines. They don't pay attention to what's going on in the trenches. So if there's a recognizable name on the ballot because they've been starting/playing for a couple years, then that's who's going to get the vote.
DeleteThe media also have 3 defensive ends and 1 defensive tackle on the First Team All-Big Ten squad...and 3 defensive tackles and 1 defensive end on the Third Team.
There must be a mistake, I don't see Cade McNamara's name?
ReplyDeleteWhere is that crank from last year that yapping Cade was the better QB?
He seems really bitter about getting dumped. Called us, "that other team" in an interview reviewing the championship game.
LOL.
He should be happy that he got a bag of cash from Iowa to play 3 crappy games.
He probably got a million dollars in NIL money.
I believe that commentator was under a bridge back to Michigan, helping Cade burn it down. What a waste of time -- Cade's doing it himself.
DeleteI thought Barnhart looked better at RG than he did at RT.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on Bredeson! I did not think he looked good early. Maybe it just took him some time to catch up to the speed of the game.
I would say Barrett being a 3rd team guy is surprising to me. I can't say who he should be ahead of necessarily on other teams but I would put him ahead of Junior Colson.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to Sainristil was to agree but I don't know who you pull off the first team to take his place from the other DB. The answer is nobody, instead pull one of the 3 linebackers spots - there should be a hybrid/nickel spot instead, since everyone has that
James Turner 2nd team is kind of funny to me -- he crushed it vs OSU but could have slept through the rest of the season. Big Ten must be hard up for kickers this year.
I'm going to disagree on Barnhart being overrated. He's a very good player and wouldn't have been starting for Michigan otherwise. While Hinton, Henderson, and Jones battled for snaps, Barnhart has been pretty much locked in as a fulltime starter all year - like Keegan, Zinter, and Nugent. Chop Robinson got him a few times - it happens. Meanwhile he slid from tackle to guard when Zinter got hurt and Michigan immediately ran a play behind him. That speaks to the value of his versatility as well as how high of a regard our coaching staff has for him. The coaches aren't always right, OK, but let's just go ahead and give Harbaugh and Moore the benefit of the doubt on this one. 5 years into it, they know what they have in Barnhart and that's a helluva college football player. If he was 1st team I might say otherwise but he deserves these honors IMO.
Another starter not included is Hinton.
Denzel Burke, OSU: 19 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FF, 9 PBU
DeleteMike Sainristil, M: 28 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack, 5 INT (2 TD), 5 PBU, 2 QBH
Yeah, I forgot to include Hinton. Thanks.
DeleteWill Johnson, M: 17 tackles, 3 INT, 3 PBU, 0 TFL, 0 sack, 0 FF
DeleteStats tell a limited story but if you're going to cut a guy based on them, I'm not sure it would be Burke that goes first.
I don't know that stats tell you much here but I know that Sainristil struggled at times when moved outside. To his credit that he can do it at all (versatility is valuable!) but he did not look like a great option when he did that job.
1oo% agree on stats. Important & telling, but NOT the whole story ... It's why we watch the games
DeleteImportant to watch the games but also know football enough to understand what is going on. Otherwise...
DeleteToday was the day the Buckeye and ESPN came to bury the wolverines
ReplyDeleteThey all stood there, decked out in Scarlet and grey
The words were said,
The prayers were said,
And everybody cried
But when they went to close the coffin
There was someone else inside.
Oh, the Buckeyes and ESPN came to bury the wolverines
But Michigan was not dead.
And when the game was over,
It was someone else instead
22 Michigan Wolverines put on the gloves of grey
And as rivelli played the victors
They laid Ryan Day,
away