Michigan Football Breakout Players For 2020: No. 3 — Christopher Hinton
Everyone is hoping and praying that football will start on time. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but eventually, there will be a "next" season. Whenever that is, Michigan is going to get some major contributions from some new faces.
Continuing the series of 10 breakout players from Michigan's roster, here's No. 3 as we work our way to the top.
No. 3 — Christopher Hinton
Michigan is pretty thin at defensive tackle, but Christopher Hinton spent his freshman season last year getting ready for a major role in 2020. He only started one game but it was against Alabama in Michigan's bowl appearance. In that game, with Carlo Kemp sidelined, Hinton played more snaps than any other interior defensive lineman. If he can do that against Bama, he's ready for a starting role.
He played in 12 total games in 2019 and recorded nine tackles including half of a tackle for loss. Early in the season he barely saw the field but against Ohio State and Alabama, the two best teams on Michigan's schedule, he played a total of 74 snaps out of a possible 136. That might not seem like a lot, but defensive line coach Shaun Nua tends to rotate his interior guys out quite a bit, and it was actually more than any other defensive tackle on the team.
Even though he's only going to be a sophomore, Hinton is going to be the guy at defensive tackle. The former five-star recruit is the biggest, most talented interior defensive lineman on the roster and likely won't rotate out much next season due to the numbers. Beyond Hinton, U-M will still be able to trot out fifth-year senior Carlo Kemp, who is a grinder but limited size wise, redshirt freshman Mazi Smith, who really needs to take a big leap, redshirt junior Donovan Jeter, who has struggled with injuries and redshirt junior Jess Speight, who is a former walk-on. There just isn't much experience and/or production on the roster at the position.
Hinton has the size, strength and overall talent at 6-4, 303 pounds to take a massive leap in year two. He's at No. 3 on this list but honestly could end up at No. 1 depending on how the year plays out and how productive he is.
