INDIANAPOLIS — Last season, the Michigan football team might have sported the best defensive backfield in the country.Led by Mike Sainristil, Will Johnson and Rod Moore, the Wolverines’ secondary was as good as any. In coverage, Michigan’s cornerbacks and safeties allowed just 109.7 passing yards per game, just 6.3 yards per attempt, a completion percentage of just 53.2 percent and seven passing touchdowns compared to 16 interceptionsMichigan is losing Sainristil, as well as productive graduate transfer Josh Wallace and defensive backs coach Steve linkscale. CBut on their way out, Sainristil and Wallace felt confident in the players remaining behind them.
They’re gonna be great,” Wallace said at the NFL Combine Thursday. “They just got a new defensive coordinator (Don Martindale), new DB coach (LaMar Morgan). So I’m excited to see where they end up next year.
“Really everybody to be honest. Michigan, we gotta whole bunch of guys you guys probably never heard of that are ready to take on the task.”In terms of new players to step up in their place, Sainristil looked first at rising sophomores DJ Waller Jr. and JyaireHill.Hill,a former four-star prospect out of Kankakee, Illinois, played 56 defensive snaps in four games in September before ultimately redshirting. The speedy, 6-foot-2 defensive back will try to add weight to his 182-pound frame, but has thephysicality and tenacity to play cornerback, safety or somewhere in between, and allowed just three receptions for 18 yards on seven targets last year.
Also knocking on the door, and perhaps more loudly, is Waller. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder turned heads in fall camp, then played 123 defensive snaps over 10 games, burning his redshirt. He will try to develop his ball skills this offseason, but showed solid instincts, physicality and movement for his size, allowing seven receptions and 97 yards (43 on one reception) in 12 targets last season, many of which in high-leverage situations.
DJ Waller, Jyaire Hill, those two guys are guys I think are gonna have an impact this year, and I’m excited to see what they do,” Sainristil said. “I’m not sure if we’re gonna get transfers in or not, but I know the younger guys that are in that room, who had plenty of time last season are gonna get prepared as well. So I’m excited to see what they’re going to do.”
Added Wallace, speaking on Waller specifically: “He’s a long, physical corner. He learned a lot from us this past year, and I’m very excited to hear what he does. I’m happy to see him step up and play.”
Of course, more so than other position groups, Michigan has plenty of veteran leaders at defensive back. Multi-year starters in Johnson, Moore and Makari Paige are all back for another season. Moore and Paige likely could have joined their teammates at this week’s Combine had they made the leap, but instead will form one of the more experienced and decorated safety rooms in the country next fall.
