Name: Myles Hinton
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 342 lbs.
High school: Norcross (GA) Greater Atlanta Christian
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #78
Last year: I ranked Hinton #45a and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He played in thirteen games and started five.
TTB Rating: N/A
Hinton is a former elite high school recruit who struggled to realize his potential in three years at Stanford. Michigan rescued him from Palo Alto after David Shaw resigned following the 2022 season, and Hinton came in with a chance to win an offensive tackle job in 2023. It wasn't quite meant to be as Arizona State transfer La'Darius Henderson won the left tackle job and Karsen Barnhart won the right tackle job, but Hinton managed to start four games on the right side and one on the left. He was generally good as a pass blocker and improved throughout the year as a run blocker, and he even won Co-Offensive Player of the Week when he started against Maryland after Henderson got injured. Overall, Hinton was significantly ahead of Barnhart when it comes to Pro Football Focus grades, but . . . well, Michigan won the natty, so I guess they made the right choice.
I feel a little queasy about not putting any linemen in the top ten for most important players in 2024, and Hinton was a tough choice to put here at #11. I wanted to rank him higher, but lots of other spots are missing quality backups, too. I think Hinton has the potential to be a very good tackle this year, and I have high hopes for him if Sherrone Moore and Grant Newsome can help him get rid of some of the mental/technique mistakes he made at Stanford. But Michigan does have some veteran tackles vying for playing time - as well as redshirt freshman Evan Link - so I think they might be able to weather an injury to Hinton without a terribly devastating impact to the offense as a whole.
Prediction: Starting offensive tackle; Third Team All-Big Ten
I have doubts. Huge. Athletic. CRUSHES fools. But also makes critical mistakes
ReplyDeleteI didn't care much for Henderson, and didn't think he was very good. But I didn't see the obvious flubs that came with Hinton
Hopefully a year later he's closer to his ceiling. We'll need it
It would be a tremendous development if Hinton was a first team all conference rock at left tackle. If he's using his physical talents to dominate people, and playing up to his potential, he's going in the first couple rounds of the draft.
ReplyDeleteIt would also solidify our entire OL if that position is locked down because we lost our top 6 guys from last year and the starting group seems to still be unsettled at the moment (or very recently settled). This can take time to gel.
The thing that gives me confidence is that we return Moore and Newsome -- and they don't seem worried in the least, at least in public. Hinton was already a solid player at Stanford, and he went toe to toe with 3 pretty good college OL last year (Henderson, Barnhart, Jones). The floor is really high. But that ceiling is so much higher!