Name: Mike Sainristil
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185 lbs.
High school: Everett (MA) Everett
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #19
Last year: I ranked Sainristil #26 and said he would be a backup wide receiver (LINK). He started three games and made 7 catches for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 84
Sainristil has earned bits and pieces of practice buzz - mixed with some tantalizing on-field play - for the past two seasons. So far that has amounted to just 15 total catches, albeit including 3 touchdowns. Those three scores came on an RPO catch-and-run in 2019, a leaping 23-yard touchdown from Cade McNamara against Wisconsin last season, and a screen catch-and-run against Rutgers. Sainristil has also had some frustrating drops.
In a recent interview, offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis lamented the fact that Nico Collins's opt-out in 2020 forced Michigan to move Sainristil out of the slot to the "X" receiver position. The implication was that Sainristil is back in the slot for 2021. With Giles Jackson (Washington) having transferred, Michigan is searching for someone who can make big plays in the slot. I'm not yet convinced that Sainristil can be that guy, but off-season hype has him taking a step forward this season.
Prediction: Starting slot receiver; 25 catches, 330 yards, 3 touchdowns
I can't believe Saint is a Junior already
ReplyDeleteHe has a few drops to his name, but hopefully youth (and Milton's cannon) had something to do with it. Cade throws a soft pitch, so hopefully between that, experience, and a more fitting role at the Slot will bring him along
Sainristil played but didn't catch a ball in Cade's lone start, though they did connect in garbage time against Wisconsin and Rutgers.
DeleteI don't know how relevant the connection with Cade is, but Milton's transfer seems beneficial to Sainristil because it seems connected to Worthy and Jackson skipping town.
The Worthy/Jackson departures are absolutely more impactful to Saint's role and opportunities. No argument from me
DeleteNever been sold on him
ReplyDeleteFun trip down memory lane on last year's Sainristil post. 2020: "Slots are slots. Outside guys are outside guys". 2021: "2020 forced Michigan to move Sainristil out of the slot to the "X" receiver position". I'll stick to my side of the argument and say that WRs - especially good ones - move around. Sainristil did this his freshman year and he did it his sophomore year and he'll do it his junior year most likely too.
ReplyDeleteNow, that all said, I do agree we'll see a lot more of Sainristil in the slot in 2021 and I think that's a really important position in the offense.
I still don't see Sainristil as being worthy of being ranked this high because he simply hasn't differentiated himself as a playmaker or reliable target. He'll be one of the top WRs but Michigan has 5 or 6 guys who can play and I expect all of them will rotate and share snaps. While WR is an important position we don't have a proven playmaker here. IMO only Bell belongs in the top 25.
I hope that clarity in the offense and perhaps a focus on the slot routes will help Sainristil shine. Ultimately, he's a junior and we haven't seen enough from him to expect a breakout year. IMO.
These are 2019 highlights and they show Sainristil lining up both inside and outside as a freshman. First play and the last two are both outside, in between it's inside.
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=242563966945002
I couldn't find a similar video from 2020 but my recollection is that Sainristil lined up inside and outside again. So any position change wasn't obviously manifest in outside/inside alignments in my eyes, though I do believe it could change the percentage of times a guy is inside or outside aligned.
Spent a couple minutes watching Rutgers game highlights on youtube (aka watching film lol) and indeed Sainristil lined up inside as well as outside.
Delete*shrugs shoulders*
DeleteOffensive coordinator Josh Gattis literally said they moved him from the slot receiver position to X. If the OC calls the guys slots, I'm not going to change my stance just because LANK posts about it repeatedly.
I'm trying to play nice here. What Lank is saying (here and historically) is that it's ideal to have guys play multiple positions. Move your DL & OL inside and out; slide your Corner/Safety to Nickel; your TE can ideally flex out; and your "Slot" should play outside & inside, and vice versa
DeleteBut the OP is specific: Saint is a Slot, who can/does go outside, but his role is mainly inside. Last year he was forced to play outside far more than preferred, and it showed
Different positions, same skills. The parallel I've drawn is to LG vs RG. You can "change positions" but you're doing the same thing.
DeleteProbably LT vs RT is more accurate because there can be some differences in attributes and assignments, and personnel may be preferred at one spot vs the other at times. Still, the "position" is 95% the same.
Field vs boundary CB is another example. There's differences but people don't see a recruit and talk about "this guy is more of a field than a boundary corner" or "this guy looks like he's headed for LG moreso than RG". Sometimes you see it with RT vs LT but increasingly rare and mostly it's folly.
But we do that with most WRs. And it's mostly just based on height. Even though we see these guys play "both positions' over and and over and over again. Bell and Sainristil are just the most recent examples. Gallon and Howard the canonical ones.
That's aside from the semantics of "slot" and "outside" being nonsense. If your "outside" WR lines up inside every game what are we talking about? It's like putting your "right guard" on the left side of the line. Then again the fullback lines up between the quarterback and the running back (ne half back) and there's not much kicking in the game of "football", so whatever.
Bottomline: some treat slot/outside WR like it's the difference between playing OC/OG and OT. It's not. You don't see OG lined up outside of an OT and these guys shifting between spots within a game. At least not very regularly like you see with WRs most games. Most "slots" are going to line up outside and run a deep route. Most "outside WRs" are going to lineup off the line and run a hitch or catch a screen. Most OGs are NOT going to be on an island against an edge rusher. Most OTs are NOT going to have to block a 340 lb NT directly off the snap.
Fully acknowledge that SOME WRs are limited to slot duties (because that's where they fit best). That's true of SOME OTs too, those who can't be trusted to defend a QBs blindside. But it's not true for the majority of OTs or WRs.
To Thunder's credit, he recognized that Sainristil could be used at many different positions when he was an incoming recruit. This is in contrast to some others who are framed as one or the other based mostly on height. To me, the latter mentality seems oblivious to the ongoing experience we see on the field.
-LANK
@JE
DeleteI mostly agree with your framing. It seems wise to be flexible in thinking about positions (as fans) as well as with onfield deployment (as coaches).
I am just not convinced that it is somehow suboptimal to have Desmond Howard, Jeremy Gallon, or Ronnie Bell lining up outside. Maybe for Sainristil it is, but I am not convinced of this.
Same way I am not convinced that it is suboptimal to have Aiden Hutchinson lining up at OLB instead of WDE or SDE or DT. Or having Chris Wormley at "anchor" isntead of DT or NT. Guys who can play can play and there can be tremendous benefit to moving them around to take advantage of their versatility. It lets you put the best 11 on the field.
I think we generally acknowledge the positional flexibility pretty well at some position groups (OL, TE, S, CB) and less well at others (WR, DT, ILB). The MIKE vs WILL talk is even more nonsensical to me.
It's cool to draw distinctions where we can but if you're making predictions about the future (highly uncertain) it seems foolish to be overly specific. There's a gray area of course but the same way you'd react to me saying "I think OL Recruit X is going to play RG not LG." is how I read most "this WR is probably headed for the slot". It COULD be true, but not worth saying for most guys.
Very nice picture. He's the most overlooked set of hands on the team. His inconsistency makes makes some leary of him. But s=consistency s=comes with maturity. He will be better this year!
ReplyDeletedang, those typos!
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