Former Stanford offensive tackle Myles Hinton committed to Michigan over the weekend, joining LaDarius Henderson and Ernest Hausmann (and now others) in picking the Wolverines in the transfer portal.
Hinton is listed at 6'7" and 320 lbs. He started for two seasons at right tackle, albeit missing time here and there due to injury.
RANKINGS (CLASS OF 2020)
ESPN: 5-star, 90 grade, #3 OT, #14 overall
On3: N/A
Rivals: 5-star, 6.1 grade, #4 OT, #25 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 92 grade, #16 OT, #218 overall
Hit the jump for more.
Hinton is the younger brother of former Michigan defensive tackle Chris Hinton and the son of former NFL offensive tackle Chris Hinton, a former teammate of Jim Harbaugh's. The connections has always been there, even though Myles didn't pick the Wolverines coming out of high school in 2020. Instead, Michigan landed offensive tackle Jeffrey Persi and guards Reece Atteberry and Zak Zinter in that cycle. Unfortunately for Stanford and (now former) head coach David Shaw, things went south for the program, and now FCS Sacramento State's head coach Troy Taylor has taken over in Palo Alto.
Hinton is a mammoth tackle prospect who is a good player. Team success is always a factor in offensive line accolades, and it didn't help that Stanford went 3-9 in each of the past two seasons, but Hinton did not earn post-season awards in either of the past two years. He was, however, named 4th Team All-Pac 12 in the preseason for 2022, which is . . . something. He has good foot and a long wingspan, and he can also mash down one side of the line on run blocks. With Michigan's weight room and offensive line development, Hinton could get some deserved recognition in 2023 despite moving to a better conference.
Overall, this is a solid land for Michigan. Hinton is a big player with two seasons of starting experience and a good bloodline, and obviously academics are not going to be an issue coming from Stanford. Michigan has an opening at left tackle with the departure of Ryan Hayes, and many thought Henderson would get penciled in there. The heirs apparent seemed to be Persi or Karsen Barnhart, so something is likely to give; in other words, we're going to see some departures from Michigan's offensive line room to make space for Henderson and/or Hinton, because 20 offensive linemen are too many to carry on one roster while trying to keep everyone happy. (NOTE: Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter could jump to the NFL, but Michigan has been working to keep both around for one more season with NIL money.)
Here's a look at how the line might look in 2023, but again, things will change:
LT: Karsen Barnhart (RS Sr.), Jeffrey Persi (RS Jr.), Evan Link (Fr.)
LG: Trevor Keegan (RS Sr.), LaDarius Henderson (RS Sr.), Giovanni El-Hadi (RS So.), Alessandro Lorenzetti (RS Fr.), Nathan Efobi (Fr.)
C: Drake Nugent (RS Sr.), Greg Crippen (Jr.), Raheem Anderson II (RS So.), Amir Herring (Fr.)
RG: Zak Zinter (RS Jr.), Reece Atteberry (RS Jr.), Dominick Giudice (RS So.), Connor Jones (RS Fr.)
RT: Myles Hinton (RS Sr.), Trente Jones (RS Sr.), Andrew Gentry (So.), Tristan Bounds (RS So.)
Since the 2020 COVID season didn't count, Hinton has two years of eligibility remaining.
My head spins trying to guess at the potential comings and goings and stayings (or not).
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine Zinter or Keegan have anything to prove at the college level that would dramatically alter their draft stock. Regardless, NIL would have to be substantially more than the impact on potential earnings of starting-caliber NFL player at the next level. In Mason Cole's case that's $5M a year. In Graham Glasgow's it's around $10M.
Any agent worth a damn could point that out pretty quickly by comparing 5-year earnings (while most fans are comparing 1 year). That's relevant in the case of Corum too. Of course if you can't stick in the NFL it's just going to be about the rookie contract and the guaranteed money. But I'm sure Zinter and Keegan are aware that even Chris Hinton (undrafted) just played in the NFL and will earn $200K this year. I have no clue if OL-caliber NIL is competing with this or not. These guys are probably closer to Caesar Ruiz than Chris Hinton and Ruiz is making north of $3M/year already.
Anyway - I don't know anything but am skeptical Zinter or Keegan will be back. even so there's a ton of depth without them and there are likely to be some other departures.
Graham Glasgow is making $10M a year? He was a walk-on, wasn't he? Good for him!
DeleteYep. Glasgow was a 3rd round pick which got him about $1M/year. It was in year 5 free agency that he hit the jackpot.
DeleteOther than the guys close to the top of the draft the big payouts come in free agency in year 4 or 5. There are busts like Taco Charlton who earn most of their money on the rookie deal but most quality NFL players earn more after they are off the rookie scale. Delaying the start of an NFL career delays the start of free agency, that's the math that needs to factor in. Of course the trick is being good enough to stick around for multiple seasons to make it relevant.
The times, they are a changin', ain't they? My goodness: portal, transfers in, transfers out, NIL this, NIL that.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be a fly on the wall and listen to the coaches discuss among themselves the dynamics of all this. And I'd love to see how they discuss these things with the players, and how candid they are, and what the players are saying.
I'm just a fan, and not a particularly rabid one at that, so my investment in all this is mostly as spectator. But as an observer of the human condition, I must confess all this makes for fascinating pondering about things.
My overarching takeaway from the big portal haul (so far) is that it is much harder to care about HS recruits.
ReplyDeleteCombined with NIL potentially making scholarship limits irrelevant, it's hard to get worked up about Michigan taking some 3-star or 4-star kid to throw on the pile of potential contributors. If they don't pan out you can just go to the Portal to grab somebodies elses' guys. Even if they develop successfully (e.g., Persi) they might not stick around.
It's going to feel a lot more like the NFL and to me that's very disappointing.
Yeah I mean that's already happening. It was grad transfers (like Danna) but now the timeline is expedited (like Josiah Stewart).
DeleteAnd from the school's perspective it means HS recruiting is just not going to be nearly as important. Alabama can go and recruit a 5-star RB but if that guy doesn't work out to his potential they can just go and grab a 5-star RB through the portal (even if he was a 3-star as a recruit). They can kind of shrug and say we'll take the best guy we can get out of HS but we're not going to sweat it if he doesn't pan out.
For programs like Michigan and Alabama it may be just as important to have some culture guys who will stick around for multiple years and let the Portal fill gaps and add impact playmakers.
I don't like the new portal or NIL, and have said so for years (old head mentality). But this is CFB, and I'm glad Jim Harbaugh & MICHIGAN are working within the rules
DeleteI don't like it but it is what it is.
DeleteWhen free agency was introduced to MLB in 1976 there was a lot of concern but baseball fans got over it. Then again, the game was never as popular ever again. (perhaps unrelated, perhaps not).
I think the BCS era (1998-2013) was the entertainment pinnacle for us fans, but the players clearly benefit from more mobility and more TV dollars and all that.
I'd have Jones ahead of Barnhart considering he beat him out to start the year (before being injured) but YMMV. I know Jones is back now and Barnhart is ahead.
ReplyDeleteHinton will be a Senior with Junior eligibility. He's a year younger than Jones and Barnhart who will be 5th year grads with Junior eligibility. I don't know what RS SR means in the COVID era but there's a year difference for these guys since Hinton never took a traditional red-shirt while the other two did (in 2019).
Zinter never red-shirted so if he comes back he'd be a Senior with Junior eligibility - just like Hilton.
Persi would be a senior with sophomore eligibility since he, like Jones and Barnhart but NOT like Hilton or Zinter, would be taking advantage of a red-shirt in addition to COVID 2020.
Crippen would be a junior with sophomore eligibility (thanks to 1 red-shirt year, just like in the olden days, phew).
Even without these transfers, I think most fans would think that our Offensive Line will be in good hands next year. We have Barnhart, El-Hadid who were reserves but performed well when they were asked to start. I wonder how much of these moves are driven by the coaches’ worry about the ability of the younger guys in the program. My gut feel is that the coaches are simply taking talent when they see one who fits into the program, even at the risk of younger guys leaving the program.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteI think a guy like Hausman is as valuable as a 5-star recruit coming out of HS. And a guy like Hinton - who already WAS a 5-star recruit - is even better because he's a 5-star recruit with 3 years of development behind him. Even if he hasn't played like it, I don't think any HS OLmen can touch that. You could argue the HS guy might give you 3 good years (like Zinter has) but Hinton's got 2 years of eligibility left still.
Of the Hinton brothers, this is the one that I wanted. Chris was a really good prospect, but Myles I thought to be special. A huge man, remarkably light on the hoof, as my good friend Coach Ronnie used to say.
ReplyDeleteI think he steps in at Left Tackle, but I think the guy who takes over at right Tackle is gonna be Gentry. Then Barnhart, Jones and El-Hadi slug it out for the Guard positions.
This is based on absolutely nothing other than size and shape of guys as published. Except that I've been told that Gentry can play. Maybe we do lose Persi now, unless maybe he gets the Jumbo TE snaps.
I'm also told that Crippen is very good. The sentence went something like, Oluwatami was the only guy in the country that could have come in and stepped in front of Crippen. Likely hyperbole, and I guess we'll find out soon enough, but I'm thinking that Crippen fights Nugent off.
Then, I've a question and am mildly embarrassed that I have never noticed. Do TEs change their down hand when they move from one side to the other? It would seem that stepping down would be significantly easier to your open side.
You didn't mention Henderson. I think he's going to factor in somewhere. I doubt Michigan would pull a multi-year starter and captain from the Pac-12 and then bury him on the depth chart. Insiders initially said Henderson would be competing at tackle, but with Barnhart/Jones/Gentry scheduled to return and Hinton joining the squad, I just don't see how Henderson is a factor at OT unless Zinter/Keegan stay.
DeleteIf Crippen were that good at center, I don't think he would have been recruited over. Like if you have the #2 guy at a position in college football, I don't think you mess around trying to get the #1 guy and risk all the moving parts (team dynamic, broken relationships, etc.).
By the way, yes, the tight ends put their outside hand down. (Left hand down when lined up on the left, right hand down when lined up on the right.)
Is there a rule that says that players *must* have a hand down? Or is that a practice to help with pad level and leverage?
DeleteI would rank the probability of starting on Michigan's OL in 2023 like this.
Delete1. Henderson
2. Nugent
3. Barnhart
4. Jones
5. Hinton
6. El Hadi
7. Crippen
I didn't rank Zinter or Keegan because I think both will go to the NFL.
6. Crippen could start for sure - but I think if that's going to happen it's either somewhere else or with him playing beside Nugent. I agree with Thunder -- he's too good to not be coming here to start. Same with Henderson. Those 2 are locks. Exact position may depend on what happens with personnel around them.
I'd really like to find a way to hold on to El Hadi because he looked damn promising for being only a soph. In-state bias but I don't want HS recruiting to become an afterthought entirely.
I would have El Hadi higher on your list, above Hinton maybe above Jones. I thought he showed very well and earned the coaches' trust this year. I view Henderson as a near lock but I think it's open between Crippen and Nugent.
DeleteBest guess:
DeleteNugent sticks at OG,
Henderson sticks at OG,
Crippen (if he stays) and El Hadi battle it out for the other OG spot. Jones / Barnhart / Hinton battle it out at the 2 OT spots with the 3rd guy functioning as a bonus OL.
Crippen could slide to OG if there's a spot but I'd think El Hadi has an edge there.
Barnhart or Jones could maybe slide inside too (if Hinton is that good) but I think it hurts their draft stock relative to a full season performance at OT.
I think Jones is really good and is still on the upswing. It's a shame he missed the whole middle part of the season.
There's still a lot of playing time out there, even if you're not a starter. We played as many as ten starting combinations, so hopefully we can hang onto guys locked into spring & fall competition
Delete8 played meaningful snaps. That includes Persi, El-Hadi, and Barnhart behind the first team.
DeleteOlu -> Nugent
Zinter -> Henderson
Hayes -> 3rd OT (i.e., Barnhart or Jones whoever isn't at RT)
3rd OT -> Hinton
Regardless of positional shuffling the only other playing time opening up potentially is Keegan. So you've got one spot open, total, for Crippen, El Hadi, and Persi to step into. Unless one of the 3 coming in are not up to the job, that's not much opportunity window for 3 guys.
That's before you start talking about other guys outside the top 8 (Anderson, Atteberry, Gentry, etc.) Attrition is pretty much guaranteed and then if either Zinter or Keegan comes back you can expect even more.
Right. I didn't say 10 would play, I'm saying - while 1 or 2 may leave - there's reason to compete in spring (or even summer for the spots up in the air .... and if it's close enough (Barnhart/Jones), a younger guy may wait it out
DeleteI think the UM OL situation is a little different than elsewhere, because of how many play, and the close battle we can expect
One thing I'm thankful for this year is Lank and je93 not having such angry arguments. Thanks for playing nicer this year, fellas!
DeleteJE deserves most of the credit there.
DeleteAt least you still have Anon and other Anon arguing about Cade McNamara
Predicated upon Zintner and Keegan leaving, which I would, were I either of them. Except, I've now heard twice that both will get a nice raise for staying. I'm still leaving were I them ... probably. I guess it depends on the size of the raise.
ReplyDeleteRoanman
Even if they got say $2M a year to stay. Taking that would be a bet against yourself.
DeleteIf they are successful at the NFL level they make $10-20M in 2027 on the first year of a free agent contract. If they stick at school they make $1-$4 in 2027 on the last year of a rookie deal.
Maybe they can elevate their draft stock to get to Cesar Ruiz level and maybe they can't but that aside, they would basically be choosing security of immediate money over potential for being very rich.
I'm by no means a scout, but I've watched Zak Zinter play for nearly 3 seasons now and I can't think of too many more impressive, built-for-NFL, guys we've had on the interior OL. He's right there with Glasgow, Ruiz, Onwenu and Oluwatimi.
*Which is probably ludicrous money now for an OL but may not be in a few years if things keep escalating. My guess (very uneducated admittedly) is that it's closer to $200K than $2M and that a successful NFL career is a very strong probability for both of them as draftable prospects. If the bird-in-hand is not much different and the upside to leaving (vs staying) is enormous. At that point it boils down to how much you want to be in AA for another year. In Hutchinson's case the answer was a lot -- but he hadn't yet beaten Ohio State and had potential to be a top 10 pick. These guys don't have those considerations. They're all ready first team all conference, back to back big ten champs, and in the playoff.
Barring some strong emotional rationale to stay, it would be objectively foolish for those guys careers to come back to Michigan.
I'd mostly say the same for Corum but the calculus is a bit different for a RB. Still a no-brainer decision (at least financially) to go. If he has a long rehab ahead of him why not get paid for it like Ojabo and Jameson Williams?
DeleteGraduation may be a factor in the above decisions too though I think Keegan is already there.
Floodgates. Not exactly how I had expected, but with these transfers in, the staff made up for their off year in HS recruiting, and may have kept themselves every bit as competitive for a title next year
ReplyDelete