Analysis of Mike Sainristil
June 24, 2024
by Steve Thomas
Every offseason, I make an effort to study the film of as many of Washington’s more interesting draft picks as I can. I already watched Jayden Daniels during my pre-draft quarterback analysis, and with Johnny Newton (1) down with an injury, (2) probably not going to play much even if he was healthy, and (3) being a dumb draft pick who doesn’t interest me very much, that brings me to Washington’s third round pick, Michigan corner Mike Sainristil. Let’s dive right in.
Sainristil is originally from Haiti, but attended high school in Massachusetts, where he was a two-way player at both wide receiver and corner. He spent five seasons at the University of Michigan and played in 62 games. Saintristil was a wide receiver for the Wolverines from 2019 to 2021 before switching over to corner in 2022. In those two seasons, he had 108 total tackles, including 70 solo and 10.5 for loss, 3 sacks, and 7 interceptions. In 2023, he played in 15 games, and made 44 total tackles, including 26 solo and 4 for loss, 1 sack, and 6 interceptions, and was named as a First-Team All-American. Sainristil fully participated in the NFL Combine, running the 40 yard dash in 4.47 seconds, including 1.51 seconds on the 10 yard split, and the 20 yard shuttle in 4.01 seconds, and jumping 40 inches in the vertical leap and 10’11” in the standing broad jump.
Sainristil was viewed by pre-draft analysts as an explosive athletic with great ball skills and a relentless attitude. However, most viewed his size as a limitation to his role in the NFL. Those analysts also noted, his inexperience at defensive back.
For this effort, I studied as much of Sanristil’s 2023 film as I could find. I did not go back to his 2022 film. I don’t claim to be an expert – these are just my semi-educated, semi-uneducated, mostly studious observations about this player.
First, understand that the commonly-held thought that Sainristil is a slot corner is correct. That was his primary role at Michigan, one from which he rarely strayed. He’s a player who lives in the slot. I did not observe Sainristil playing on the outside more than a handful of times, and only when the offensive formation called for it. He simply didn’t play an outside corner position at all. He can obviously learn and grow, particularly given that he’s relatively inexperienced at the position, but at this time he has little experience at anything but the slot role.
Sainristil’s role in Michigan’s defense typically kept him either in the flats or the shallow middle. He didn’t spend much time downfield – his world is within 10 – 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. Michigan appeared to play more zone the man coverage, which is good, because in my view, Sainristil is more effective in zone coverage. He has fairly quick recognition and is athletic enough to make quick, smart decisions as a result. Sainristil was rarely out of place in his coverage choices and demonstrated a high level of football intelligence. However, I don’t think his man to man coverage skills are at an elite level. Also, while his 4.47 second 40 time and his 1.51 second split time was in the upper-middle of the pack among corners, I’m not sure his downfield long speed is at that same level. His play was better in a short-field read and react situation, which was most of the time. Long, man or press-man coverage may be a different story in terms of his effectiveness if Washington asks him to fill that role for a significant amount of time.
Sainristil has an aggressive play style and has good hands. He has good burst and agility which allows him to operate effectively within the bounds of his typical role in Michigan’s defense. Sainristil does not come across as lost or inexperienced, despite the reality that he’s only played the position – or any sort of defensive position – for two seasons. Those type of skills fit well with the shallow to mid-field zone play style Sainristil played at Michigan.
Sainristil is also active in run defense. Given that his role is in the slot, he’s frequently on “corner blitz” duty, although he only had 3 sacks in two seasons. This is where the problems start to show up. First, I saw Sainristil badly miss several tackles, more than I’d like to see from someone who was a third round pick, sometimes as a result of him simply missing, and sometimes due to a lack of size and strength. The fact that he is only 5’9” and 182 pounds is a big negative in run defense. Saintristil appeared to have problems shedding blocks in both run defense and in pass coverage, mainly because he’s simply smaller and not as strong as his opponents. Also, the fact that he blitzed off the edge on a fairly regular basis, by corner standards, yet only got home 3 times in two years isn’t really a “problem”, considering that this type of skill is more of a bonus skill for a defensive back; however, what it does is show that this aspect of his game isn’t going to be a plus-level skill in the NFL.
In fact, generally, his size is going to present a problem in certain matchups. Sainristil will be able to rely on his football intelligence, natural agility, and ball skills to operate in the NFL, but there are likely going to be times when he’s simply overpowered. Also, the missed tackles need to stop. That will hopefully come with experience as a defender.
In summary: Sainristil’s strengths are his natural quickness in short space, his agility, hands, vision, and ability to read and react. He’s almost never out of place and rarely makes poor decisions. His negatives are his size, strength, tendency to miss tackles, and lack of experience, particularly in downfield zone and press-man situations. Sanristil’s role is likely going to be limited, as widely believed, to a slot role, as both his size and experience are best served in that capacity. He supposedly has outstanding character and leadership skills, which are beyond the scope of a film study, but that’s no doubt a big part of what Washington’s leadership liked about him. I don’t think he’s necessarily going to become a 10-year elite starter type of player, but he has the potential to be a quality role player on this team. Washington’s search for an outside starter will likely continue.
What’s your opinion of Mike Sainristil?