2024 Michigan Football Spring Position Breakdown Cornerback

For our Position Breakdown series, we will look at each position group for Michigan Football as we head toward spring practices.

How does the current depth chart shake out? What are the storylines or things you should watch heading into the spring and, eventually, the season? What's the X factor, whether it's a player, coach, or situation, that could change how the group looks?

Let's talk about the lockdowns and hitters.

POSITION BREAKDOWN SERIES

Quarterback
Running Back
Wide Reciever
Tight End
Offensive Line
EDGE
Defensive Tackle
Linebacker
Cornerback
Safety

This group starts and ends with Will Johnson. The junior cornerback, widely considered the best in the nation, returns to Ann Arbor.

Johnson was lights out in 2023, allowing only 17 receptions on 321 coverage snaps. He turned the ball over with four interceptions, including a pick-six, while allowing 0 touchdowns. Johnson had the lowest QB rating when targeted in the Big Ten, and the second lowest in the country.

There are no questions about CB1, but CB2 is once again up for grabs in 2024. Last season, Josh Wallace joined the team in the summer and not only one job but never gave signs of letting go. Wallace hung up with Johnson in many ways and far exceed expectations, also allowing 0 touchdowns and only 21 receptions.

Michigan got a look at the future early in the season with DJ Waller and Jyaire Hill. Hill ended up redshirting after Nebraska but looked good in limited action. The former top recruit will have to battle his fellow 2023 commit in Waller. Hill is a track star at 6'2", who can pair his speed and vertical to become a ball hawk with a threat to find the end zone any time he gets the ball.

Waller ended up playing in 10 games, a surprise contributor as a freshman. At 6'3" 205lbs is the modern corner with the size and physicality of a safety, but the agility and movement of a corner. Waller is arguably the player many hoped now Ole Miss Rebel Amorion Walker would become. To play corner at Michigan, you need to be able to tackle, and Waller showed he can be the physical compliment to Johnson.

Keshaun Harris is a veteran presence returning who got quality snaps early while Johnson recovered from an injury. He was sneaky good in coverage and even better in run defense, he's a valuable depth piece. Myles Pollard is going into his third year and will see more snaps in 2024. Whoever loses between Hill and Waller is CB3, so Pollard will need to impress in spring to take over the CB4 spot from Harris.

While Will Johnson returns, the pulse of this defense, in many ways, Mike Sainristil, is gone. You can not replace Mike Sainristil with one player.

No one played more than Sainristil's 684 snaps last season. His six interceptions led the team, his six pass breakups, and his 11 pressures from the secondary. His open-field tackles against Ohio State and Washington are legendary. He is legendary.

Michigan will likely use Rod Moore in a nickel role more often in 2024. Zeke Berry is a safety nickel hybrid that can bring some of the coverage and physicality of Sainristil. But the player to watch this spring is Ja'Den McBurrows.

McBurrows started the year out as part of the CB2 battle but eventually found a home as the backup nickel. A linebacker trapped in a corner's body, the move to the slot makes too much sense for McBurrows.

McBurrows allowed only 5 receptions for 40 yards on 13 targets last season, and had a rewarding interception against Michigan State. But physicality is what McBurrows brings to the field. He can move into the box and impact the run game, he can blitz and put pressure on the passer, and he can land momentum swinging hits.

Spring is the chance for McBurrows to show how much of Sainristil's role he can fill, to earn the trust of the coaching staff. If he can stay on the field that gives the defense depth and flexibility when it comes to safety and the other corners.

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