“They Treated Me Like Family”
April 11th, 2024
Physical Michigan CB Mike Sainristil talks visit with Bucs.
If the Bucs were recruiting and not drafting, it appears they already would have landed a starting corner. Or a future starting corner.
As part of their 30 official visits, the Bucs brought in Michigan corner Mike Sainristil. Everything about this Sainristil Joe likes. He’s physical, he gets turnovers, he’s a ballhawk, he’s smart, he’s a winner.
Everything but the guy might be a wee short. The Massachusetts native is 5-9. Everything else about him says “baller.”
It seems the Bucs threw out the red carpet for Sainristil during his visit and he absolutely loved the vibe he felt at One Buc Palace, so he told Justin Melo of The Draft Network.
“They treated me like family. I loved everything about that visit. It kinda felt like the first time I visited the Michigan campus, to be honest with you. I interpret that in a great way.”
As Joe stated, if the Bucs were just recruiting and not drafting, he might be a lock pick.
Joe loves this Sainristil but wanted to see what Dane Brugler of The Athletic typed about the Michigan Man in his “The Beast” draft guide.
SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Michigan, Sainristil was the starting nickel in former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s 4-2-5 scheme, although he also saw 22.1 percent of his 2023 snaps at outside cornerback. After spending three years on offense for the Wolverines (when he enrolled, the coaches had internal battles as to which side of the ball he would play), Sainristil moved to defense for his final two years and was voted team MVP of the nation’s No. 1 defense. He is a fluid and alert athlete with a wide receiver background — one of just five FBS players with at least six interceptions in 2023 (ranked No. 2 in the FBS with 232 interception-return yards). Though he has some overaggressive tendencies, he trusts his instincts to anticipate and properly position himself so he can make plays, both in coverage and versus the run. Overall, Sainristil has obvious size limitations that will remove him from some team’s draft boards, but other teams will be more than happy to bet on his outstanding toughness, instincts and ball skills. He will compete for immediate starting reps as a rookie nickel.
Yeah, yeah, Joe knows the Bucs already have a nickel corner in Christian Izien. But if Todd Bowles thinks enough of Sainristil to draft him and have him compete at the other corner spots or be in a rotation, that would be fantastic.
You can’t have enough winners on a team. And Sainristil is a winner. Brugler has Sainristil going in the second round projected at No. 43 overall. The Bucs’ first pick on Day 2 is No. 57 overall.
"Mike Sainristil was one of my favorite players to cover the last couple of years…He can do everything." @joelklatt has high praise for the @UMichFootball DB 🎙: https://t.co/filgv8YY0d pic.twitter.com/q4nieSNQTi
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) April 4, 2024
April 11th, 2024 at 9:04 am
would be a great fit
April 11th, 2024 at 9:11 am
Pat Fischer (5’9″) played 16 years at corner for the Cards and Redskins. Whenever the Skins played the Eagles, he was always assigned 6’8″ Harold Carmichael lol
April 11th, 2024 at 9:22 am
Izien is a great run stopper. Not sure how this guy would do there but I’m sure Bowles would figure it out.
April 11th, 2024 at 9:25 am
He would look awesome in pewter! Can’t have too many playmakers. This kid is a baller.
April 11th, 2024 at 9:35 am
CB depth should be addressed on day 3. Need to build the trenches on days 1 and 2 (Edge, C and G). Look at WR or ILB with the extra pick.
April 11th, 2024 at 9:48 am
Mike Sainristil sounds like a good pick. Enjoyed Joel Klatt’s praise for him too. Feeling like family for a team you may play for is a win-win for all.
I agree with Bucs Guy and address it later on. Too many other needs.
April 11th, 2024 at 10:05 am
Love Mike Saniristil. Absolute play maker for the secondary and is by far the best Nickel CB in this class. Nickel’s are pratically starters in todays NFL so he’s worth an early pick. Just not sure he will be there by our 2nd round pick
April 11th, 2024 at 10:05 am
NO
5’9″ is too short to play outside in the NFL and the Bucs are already set at Nickle with Izien and Tavierre Thomas.
April 11th, 2024 at 10:34 am
Bucs Guy Says:
CB depth should be addressed on day 3. Need to build the trenches on days 1 and 2 (Edge, C and G). Look at WR or ILB with the extra pick.
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I tend to agree with what you wrote here; they need to address the trenches on days 1 & 2. But if this guy drops into the 3rd round or lower they might grab him, especially if they still have that extra 3rd round pick.
April 11th, 2024 at 10:42 am
Don’t under estimate the WR mentality for a CB. DaRon Bland of Cowboys had 9 interceptions with 5 pick 6’s in 2023. I heard him say in an interview that having that offensive experience helped him know how a QB and WR think and he is just there to make the play while it is happening.
April 11th, 2024 at 11:34 am
I don’t see the Bucs going CB in the first 4 picks. Higher priority needs elsewhere.
April 11th, 2024 at 12:16 pm
Ok, He is a little short. But what kind of speed does he have? We all know Bowles could find a way to make him fit in this defense. He’s a baller, you can never have to many of those. What about the possibility of him returning kicks as well. If he has the offensive background and can help the defense as well???? Maybe worth checking out with the new kickoff rules. I do agree we have other bigger needs IOL!!! But we need ballers!
April 11th, 2024 at 12:30 pm
Hes a 3rd rd.
April 11th, 2024 at 12:43 pm
Can he jump? Sounds like the kind of dude we like.
April 11th, 2024 at 12:46 pm
Some footballers are just natural talent. Like they were made for the sport. This guy be one of them.
April 11th, 2024 at 1:03 pm
If he falls into the third round, then sure. Otherwise we need players in OL positions more.
April 11th, 2024 at 1:05 pm
We have holes all over this roster. We better not blow our 2nd round pick on a slot corner. He even looked smaller than 5’9 on tape
April 11th, 2024 at 1:20 pm
love the guy, put pickgrin makes a very good point.
April 11th, 2024 at 1:24 pm
The guy said he’s an Ed Reed, Honey Badger-type player. I think he missed someone. He reminds me of Ronde Barber. Smart with great football instincts. I remember all the comments on this board saying Antoine Winfield Jr. was too short and too slow. This guy’s size concerns me as much as Winfield’s, not at all. Unusual but I’m going to disagree with Pickgrin on this one.
April 11th, 2024 at 2:09 pm
Sainristil would be perfect for our nickel spot, then we could move Izien to his natural position at safety
April 11th, 2024 at 3:16 pm
Well, we do have another guy on our team that’s 5’9 and it’s said that he may very well BE the best Safety, on the planet …..
Something to consider
April 11th, 2024 at 5:16 pm
It’s hilarious to me all the people saying “NO, 5′ 9″ is TOO SHORT!” etc.. I seem to remember a guy who was the Bucs best player last year, helped us win a Super Bowl as a rookie, and has been great since Day 1 ALSO being 5′ 9″ and it didn’t seem to bother him at all! Hint: He ALSO plays in the secondary.. Hint #2: His name is Antoine Winfield Jr!!
April 11th, 2024 at 5:18 pm
@Obvious, I just saw your comment. OBVIOUSLY i agree.. I just saw a few of the people’s posts and immediately had to comment
April 12th, 2024 at 1:17 am
I dont want us to draft a cb or lb too early in the draft,,would prefer iol and def edge ,line type. But I do get ronde barber vibes from this kid sannistril
April 12th, 2024 at 1:52 am
This kid would make Izien look like an UFA. Oh wait he was.
I think we got the best out of our UFA class and I think Izien sticks and improves, but he CANNOT play outside. This kid can play anywhere, even offensive in a pinch. You don’t have position flexibility like that unless you are an athlete.
I think we take CB or ILB with one of our first 4 anyway, so who cares if he gets picked in the second at 57. It’s still great value for the MVP of the National Championship team.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:05 pm
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight It’s the size of the fighting the dog. Somebody famous said that Joe and I think it might apply here.