Michigan at the NFL Combine, Friday live blog: Mike Sainristil, Josh Wallace, AJ Barner
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Michigan Wolverines football has taken over the NFL Combine with a record 18 participants in the event ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft. Three Wolverines will participate in testing and drills on Friday in defensive backs Mike Sainristil and Josh Wallace and tight end AJ Barner.
For Sainristil and the Wolverines, their inclusion on the scouting and interviews stage is the fulfillment of a promise made to them by former head coach Jim Harbaugh, now with the Los Angeles Chargers.
“Coach Harbaugh made a promise while I was being recruited that when my time at Michigan is done, I was gonna be prepared for the next level,” Sainristil said during his session with the media on Thursday morning. “He kept that promise true and that was through every experience on the field and off the field. Everybody in the program from the staff to the players, definitely helped me prepare for this moment. And time and time again, you hear from people who have left the program that there’s no other program that’s going to help me get ready for the NFL like Michigan would.
“So, I’m very appreciative of everything that I went through at Michigan. I’m appreciative of all the guys and all the staff that I was able to go through it with.”
Friday’s on-field coverage of the combine is televised on NFL Network from 3-8:30 p.m. ET.
More Michigan players will go through drills the rest of the week. Here’s the full schedule:
• Friday, March 1 (3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m ET): DB (Josh Wallace, Mike Sainristil), TE (AJ Barner)
• Saturday, March 2 (1 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET): QB (J.J. McCarthy), WR (Cornelius Johnson, Roman Wilson), RB (Blake Corum)
• Sunday, March 3 (1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET): OL (Karsen Barnhart, LaDarius Henderson, Trente Jones, Trevor Keegan, Drake Nugent, Zak Zinter)
This live blog will have the latest on how they all do in their on-field drills, what’s being said about them by analysts and more. Follow along below for real-time updates on Michigan players at the combine.
Live updates: Michigan at NFL Scouting Combine
9:31 p.m. – ESPN’s Jordan Reid named Sainristil as one of the top risers from the combine after Friday workouts:
The 5-foot-9, 182-pound Sainristil is at the top of that nickel cornerback group. He solidified himself as a late-Day 2 prospect on Friday, jumping 40 inches in the vertical, jumping 10-foot-11 in the broad and running a 4.47-second 40-yard dash. As a converted receiver, his ball skills and change-of-direction ability really stand out; he had six interceptions in 2023. Teams that are looking for an immediate starter at nickel have to be excited about Sainristil’s workout.
8:28 p.m. – Sainristil’s three-cone (6.99 seconds) and 20-yard shuttle (4.01) have been revealed.
8:16 p.m. – Barner’s turn in workouts came, running the gauntlet drill among other positional work during the combine workouts on Friday.
6:21 p.m. – Wallace participated in the vertical jump and broad jumps at the NFL Combine, leaping 34.5 inches in his vertical and 10 feet in the broad.
5:18 p.m. – Sainristil continued his day by acing the gauntlet drill and was one of the better players in that area.
4:30 p.m. – Wallace was also present for drillwork, dropping an interception down the field.
4:27 p.m. – Sainristil’s second attempt on the drill saw him stumble a bit, but recover and make the play down the field to a round of applause.
4:18 p.m. – Sainristil goes through a ball skill drill deep down the field and records a nearly flawless rep before dropping the interception. NFL Network’s Charles Davis said, “He’ll catch more of those than he drops.”
4:04 p.m. – Sairistil and Wallace took part in the line drill on the field with former defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale assisting. After a great rep for Sainristil, Jeremiah said, “He can do this. Not only can he catch it, he can also scoop it up off the ground.”
3:52 p.m. – Sainristil elected to not run a second 40-yard dash, standing on his 4.47 time from the first attempt. “Anything under 4.50 was golden and gravy,” said Jeremiah.
3:31 p.m. – Sainristil’s 40-yard dash comes after a few strong jumps, notably his 40-inch vertical and a 10-foot, 11-inch broad jump.
3:29 p.m. – Sainristil ran a 4.47 40-yard dash in his first attempt. “They referred to him as the CEO. He’s a leader and best,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said. “It’s his intelligence and production. He picked off six balls last year.”
Host Rich Eisen chimed in: “In terms of guys who’s leadership changed the program, I’d put him up there with McCarthy and Corum and Aidan Hutchinson, who’s balling out.”
2:20 p.m. – Mike Sainristil records a 40-inch vertical jump during his first NFL Combine workout
1:45 p.m. – Measurements are in for Michigan’s Friday participants
| Player | Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hand Size | Wingspan |
| AJ Barner | 6-6 | 251 | 33 3/8 | 9 | 82 |
| Player | Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hand Size | Wingspan |
| Josh Wallace | 5-11 1/8 | 185 | 31 3/8 | 8 7/8 | 75 5/8 |
| Player | Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hand Size | Wingspan |
| Mike Sainristil | 5-9 3/8 | 182 | 30 7/8 | 8 4/8 | 74 4/8 |
