On Friday night, the Washington Commanders drafted Mike Sainristil with the 50th overall pick, and the 18th selection in the second round.

Sainristil is a slot corner who excelled at Michigan, and helped lead the Wolverines to a national title this past season.

A local product out of Everett, Sainristil started his career at Michigan as a wide receiver. He had sporadic success there before settling in on the defensive side of the ball.

In 2022, Sainristil was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten performer. A team captain his last two years in Ann Arbor, Sainristil really blew up this past season. He was a Second Team All-Big Ten player, he made six interceptions, with two returned for scores, made 44 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, a sack, 6 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles.

Coming out of Everett, Sainristil was a top player for the Crimson Tide, helping them to two D1 state titles in 2016 and 2017. There, Sainristil made it happen both as a wide receiver and defensive back. He combined game-breaking speed with a terrific football IQ.

In his recruitment, Sainristil initially verbally committed to Virginia Tech before switching to Michigan.

Now, Sainristil gets to try to turn things around in Washington.

“I’ll say this, it was definitely a dream come true,” Sainristil said of being drafted by the Commanders. “Growing up, you know, dreaming, wish and pray to be in this position. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was not expecting it to be the Commanders. I thought I was going to the Steelers at 51. But I felt my phone vibrating, I looked down, there was a Virginia number. I’m like, ‘Man, who the heck from Virginia’s calling me right now.’ I pick up the phone and right away my heart was just , I felt at ease. I felt at peace. My mind was finally at peace.

“When I met with coach (Dan) Quinn here in Michigan, the meeting we had, everything about it was good. The vibes were great. I could just tell how every coach that was in there was speaking. They had a genuine love and appreciation for myself, and it was definitely reciprocated. I felt that that was a meeting that I felt leaving very, very comfortable. And, I appreciated the conversation that the coaches had with me. And I’m just very excited to get to Washington to get the ball rolling.”