What CB Mike Sainristil brings to the Washington Commanders
Breaking down what the Commanders are getting from their second round cornerback
The Washington Commanders landed one of the most loved draft prospects in this entire draft class when they selected Michigan cornerback Mike Sainristil with the 50th overall pick. Sainristil was a favorite of draft analysts because of his play style. He’s a feisty competitor that gets his hands on the ball to create turnovers and doesn’t shy away from contact despite standing at just 5-foot-9, 182 pounds. He is significantly undersized, which means he likely won’t play on the outside but the Commanders had a need for a true nickel corner.
What makes Sainristil so impressive is his character. Despite being undersized, Sainristil went to Michigan and played wide receiver for his first three seasons in college. It was only in 2022, when Michigan’s Dax Hill was drafted by the Bengals, that Sainristil was approached by coach Jim Harbaugh to switch to the defensive side of the ball and replace Hill as the nickel corner. Sainristil did what the team needed him to do and made that nickel spot his own. That point is worth keeping in mind throughout this article, that not only was he humble enough and willing to make the switch, but that he has only been playing defense for two years.
Now the first thing you’re probably wondering with a player that undersized is can he handle the physicality of the NFL and is he capable of actually making tackles at the next level? That was one of the strongest parts of his game.
In this clip, you’ll see a few examples of Sainristil sinking into zone coverage as the flat defender and rallying up to underneath throws to make tackles. On the first play of the clip, Sainristil aligns outside as the flat defender in a Tampa-2 coverage. He sinks back and has his eyes on the quarterback the entire time. As soon as the quarterback begins to throw the swing pass to the running back in the flat, Sainristil triggers. He shoots out of a cannon and closes incredibly quickly, landing a huge tone-setting hit at around the line of scrimmage for a minimal gain.
When you see a guy playing fast and punching above his weight like that, you can’t help but get fired up and Sainristil brings that spark to the defense. It wasn’t just a one off though. You’ll see on the second play of the clip, Sainristil again plays the flat zone of a Tampa-2 coverage. This time there’s no swing from the running back, but instead a tight end runs a shallow cross from the far side of the field. Sainristil does a good job of identifying the crosser and still keeping his eyes on the quarterback to locate the throw. Like before, once the throwing motion begins, Sainristil drives down and lands a hit that breaks up the pass.
The third play of the clip shows a third and short situation in the National Championship game against Washington, Sainristil is again the flat defender but this time in a Cover-3 zone. Like the second play, he spots a shallow cross coming from the far side of the field. He drives down towards it but doesn’t get there in time to land a big hit. He doesn’t wrap up in the most convincing fashion but he does what he needs to in order to get the receiver down on the ground short of the first down marker.
Being undersized meant that teams consistently tried to challenge him to make tackles and prevent giving up big plays after the catch. Sainristil routinely proved he was up to that challenge, even on the biggest stage.
This play comes from the National Championship game against Washington. We just saw a play from that game where Sainristil was in zone coverage and made a tackle to save a third down conversion and this is a similar situation. However, this time Sainristil is in man coverage as the slot defender over a bunch set. First and foremost, he has to sort out the releases from the bunch set and figure out which receiver is his to cover. He correctly sorts through the receivers and attaches to the correct one, who breaks out to the flat. Sainristil does give up separation on the cut to the flat, but he does protect the first down marker. The receiver gives a little ground to come back to the ball and secure the pass, which gives Sainristil the opportunity to break down and make the tackle. The receiver does his best to try and break the tackle, but Sainristil wraps him up on his own and brings him down short of the chains.
With the biggest concern about physicality and tackling addressed, we can move on to his coverage ability. In most of the clips shown so far, Sainristil played zone coverage and that’s where he looks most comfortable at this moment in time. It makes sense given that zone coverage allows a defender to drop to a spot and keep his eyes on the quarterback with everything in front of him. But Sainristil shows a great feel for coverage that many other zone defenders don’t, despite only playing defense for two years.
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