Jim Harbaugh says Michigan will set record for most picks in single draft
University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh believes this may be the most talented roster he’s had in his nine seasons as Wolverines head coach, and he may just be right.
Michigan, which was ranked No. 2 in both ESPN’s spring rankings and the NCAA’s preseason top 25 rankings, is returning many key starters from last year’s 13-1 team and is loaded with NFL talent. So much so, that Harbaugh believes the Wolverines have an excellent chance of breaking the Georgia Bulldogs’ record for most players picked by a single school in one draft.
“I think we’ll have 20 guys picked [in the 2024 NFL draft],” Harbaugh recently said, via The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman. “I bet we break that [draft] record. [Georgia] had 15 that year.”
Georgia set the current record of 15 during the 2022 draft, breaking the old record of 14 achieved by Ohio State in 2004 and LSU in 2020.
Michigan has eight players ranked inside The Draft Network’s 2024 rankings including juniors Donovan Edwards (RB), J.J. McCarthy (QB), Rod Moore (safety), seniors Josiah Stewart (edge) and Zak Zinter (OL), and fifth-year seniors Cornelius Johnson (WR), LaDarius Henderson (OL) and Drake Nugent (OL).
Harbaugh told Feldman that UM has seven offensive linemen—Henderson, Nugent, Zinter, Karsen Barnhart, Trente Jones, Trevor Keegan and Myles Hinton—that could be drafted next season.
Other potential draft hopefuls on Michigan’s roster include star senior running back Blake Corum, receiver Roman Wilson, tight end A.J. Barner, defensive linemen Kris Jenkins, Braiden McGregor and Jaylen Harrell, linebackers Junior Colson and Mike Barrett and cornerback Josh Wallace and Mike Sainristil.
Pro Football Focus, which has six Wolverines in its top 100, lists Corum and Edwards as the No. 2 and No. 3-ranked running backs, respectively, in the 2024 draft, while McCarthy is the site’s No. 10-ranked quarterback, Jenkins is the No. 4-ranked defensive lineman and Zinter is the No. 6-ranked interior offensive lineman.
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