The Michigan Wolverines had a magical four-year run from 2021-24, clinching three straight Big Ten titles, making three straight College Football Semifinals, winning the National Championship and beating Ohio State four straight times.
The Wolverines preach a team effort and a family mentality with each and every season, but like any football team, some guys stand out among the rest and were rewarded for it by getting drafted pretty high in the NFL Draft. After the National Championship, 13 players
were drafted, with eight going in Rounds 1-4. However, just because you were associated with the round you were picked in on draft night, it has no bearing once you put the pads on and fight to keep that spot months later.
The top dogs
The 2024 draft class was very top heavy for the Wolverines, and a season into their professional career, those eight players drafted in the top four rounds are still with the teams that drafted them.
- QB J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota Vikings) – First Round
- DL Kris Jenkins (Cincinnati Bengals) – Second Round
- DB Mike Sainristil (Washington Commanders) – Third Round
- LB Junior Colston (Los Angeles Chargers) – Third Round
- RB Blake Corum (Los Angeles Rams) – Third Round
- WR Roman Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers) – Third Round
- OG Zak Zinter (Cleveland Browns) – Third Round
- TE A.J. Barner (Seattle Seahawks) – Fourth Round
This should be an exciting season for the top of the draft class, as some of the guys are expected to take on much larger roles. McCarthy is now the starting quarterback for Minnesota, Sainristil has effectively become CB1 for the Commanders, and Wilson has appeared to fully recover from an ankle injury that held him out for almost the entire 2024 season.
However, some guys have not been able to move up the depth chart going into their second season as well. Jenkins is currently still listed as DT2 behind B.J. Hill on the Bengals depth chart, while Corum saw his running mate Kyren Williams get a three-year extension worth $33 million to stay as the No. 1 back. Zinter is also listed as the second-string right guard behind Wyatt Teller, and Barner watched his team draft Elijah Arroyo in the second round, bumping him down the depth chart.
The second year is a big test for any NFL player, and for many of Michigan’s 2024 draft picks, this season could determine how long they stay in the league for.
The underdogs
It is one thing to have your roster spot secure given the equity that has been invested in you at the NFL Draft, but it’s a completely different situation when you are fighting to just stay on the roster. Along with the eight Michigan players drafted in the first four rounds, five players were taken in Rounds 5-7 while six signed as undrafted free agents.
To refresh, here are where these 11 Wolverines ended up back in April 2024:
- OL Trevor Keegan (Philadelphia Eagles) – Fifth Round
- LB Michael Barrett (Carolina Panthers) – Seventh Round
- OL LaDarius Henderson (Houston Texans) – Seventh Round
- OLB Jaylen Harrell (Tennessee Titans) – Seventh Round
- WR Cornelius Johnson (Los Angeles Chargers) – Seventh Round
- OL Drake Nugent signed with San Francisco 49ers as UDFA
- OL Trente Jones signed with the Green Bay Packers as UDFA
- CB Josh Wallace signed with the Los Angeles Rams as UDFA
- DE Braiden McGregor signed with the New York Jets as UDFA
- OL Karsen Barnhart signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as UDFA
- K James Turner signed with the Detroit Lions as UDFA
Unlike the success rate of the eight players drafted before them, it has been a struggle for these 11 guys to keep their roster spot. Only Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor and Josh Wallace are still on the 53-man roster of the team that originally took them.
As for everyone else, Keegan was just waived by the Eagles last week, but quickly found a new home on the Dallas Cowboys. Nugent made the San Francisco 49ers practice squad after being waived early last week. Barnhart stuck with his former head coach, making the Chargers practice squad as well.
Unfortunately for the others, they are currently not on an NFL roster as of today.
The 2023 Wolverines are an interesting case study — out of the 19 guys to make NFL teams, only two are listed at the top of the depth chart heading into their second season. The road to the NFL is not easy, and it does not stop on draft night. The process of making a team and staying on it for many seasons is rare, and even a season removed from winning the National Championship and being on top of the world, no one’s job is safe.
