Jim Nagy says Jim Harbaugh might be right, lists 20 players with draft potential
At Big Ten media days, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh told Bruce Feldman that he could see 20 different Wolverines selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Sitting down with On3’s Andy Staples, former NFL executive and current Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy broke down which Michigan stars could hear their names during next year’s draft, and whether or not that could even be possible.
“It sounds like an absurd … It’s like beating the 100 meter [sprint] by a second, having five more than the record drafted,” Nagy told Staples. “It does sound crazy, but when you look at it they have seven offensive linemen with PFAs (priority free agent) grades or better. Most of those are draftable grades.
“You’ve got two running backs (Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards), a transfer tight end (AJ Barner) from Indiana. The quarterback (JJ McCarthy) comes out as a junior. You’ve got wideouts in Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson. That’s the offense.”
The offensive linemen Nagy mentioned include three returning starters in right guard Zak Zinter, left guard Trevor Keegan and right tackle Karsen Barnhart. Returner Trente Jones, Arizona State transfer LaDarius Henderson and Stanford transfers Myles Hinton and Drake Nugent round out the OL watchlist members.
The numbers don’t dwindle defensively. If anything, Michigan is just as strong without the ball in their hands, as Nagy pointed out.
“Defensively, you’ve got two EDGE players (Josaiah Stewart, Jaylen Harrell), an inside guy (Kris Jenkins), and off-ball linebacker (Junior Colson) who’s a junior. You have three or four more DBs (Will Johnson, Mike Sainristil, Rod Moore, Makari Paige),” Nagy said. “I don’t know, maybe Jim is right. We’ll see, but there’s a heck of a lot of talent on that football team.”
If you’ve been counting, Nagy has accounted for 20-21 of Michigan’s talent. That’s nearly enough to cover an entire lineup on both sides of the ball.
The 2022 Georgia Bulldogs draft class has the current record of 15 players selected in a single cycle — but if Harbaugh and company are shooting in the 20’s, it should be no problem for the Wolverines.
For Michigan, the most players that have even been selected from the program during a single NFL Draft came back in 2017 when 11 of their players were drafted. Having at least 20 would not only shatter the overall record, but it would solidify the 2023 Michigan team as one of the greatest rosters ever assembled.