The NFL Draft begins Thursday in Detroit, and Michigan will be right in the center of it.
The Wolverines had one of the deepest draft classes in history, led by quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Roman Wilson, and many more national title players. Two major storylines: will McCarthy be a top-five pick, and will Michigan match Georgia’s record of 15 players taken in a single draft? The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner and Austin Meek are here to talk.
Meek: Nick, the last time we did one of these, Jim Harbaugh was climbing mountains and saying he was going to beat Ohio State or die trying. Now he’s living in an RV park by the ocean and Michigan has a national championship banner hanging in Glick Field House. What a world!
we’re about to find out if Harbaugh was right about the number of draft picks on his roster. You’ve been deep in the weeds of this draft class for months now, so let me start you off with this: Of Michigan’s draft prospects, who’s your favorite in terms of the value he’ll bring to a team relative to where he’s being projected?
Baumgardner: I actually saw Harbaugh walking around in Indianapolis at the combine (literally 20 minutes after I got there, not lying) with a brand new, powder blue Chargers jacket on and one of those really bright-colored Charger hats. Jack was there, too, of course, Charger’d out. The whole vibe reminded me of when he came back to Michigan and spent the first six months globetrotting and loving life. The more things change, the more they don’t.
As far as this Michigan class goes, it’s not only the best and deepest the program’s had in decades — it’s one of the toughest, from top to bottom, in the history of the program. Some of those classes in the 1990s produced elite pro players, so we’ll see how this stacks up. But there are so many top-end guys in this group from a football character standpoint. And for me, the two at the top of the list (I’ll cheat) are Roman Wilson and Mike Sainristil.
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