Michigan
Michigan looks to set new NFL draft record: Players, preview, prediction
Jim Harbaugh was thinking about this weekend’s NFL draft nearly a year ago, when he told a group of reporters last summer that Michigan had a chance to beat Georgia.
Not just on the football field (it never happened, with UGA unable to reach a third straight College Football Playoff), but when it come to the draft itself.
You see, not only were the Bulldogs the big dog in college football having won back-to-back national titles, but the program set the seven-round draft record in 2022 with 15 players taken.
Michigan hopes to top that number this year and set a new draft record. A total of 18 players were invited to the annual NFL Scouting Combine this spring (list below), making the feat a real possibility.
“Excited for their futures and what they’re going to do,” first-year Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, who took over for the departed Harbaugh, said this week. “We still got guys working. Saw Blake (Corum) this morning; I see Roman (Wilson) out here working. The guys aren’t satisfied with potentially being drafted.”
Draft weekend schedule:
■ Thursday — Round 1, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC/NFL Network)
■ Friday — Rounds 2-3, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC/NFL Network)
■ Saturday — Rounds 4-7, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC/NFL Network)
Looking to head downtown to take in the draft live? Read MLive’s A-to-Z guide.
Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil (0) celebrates a play during the Rose Bowl against Alabama in Pasadena, California on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.Neil Blake | MLive.com
A complete list Michigan’s 22 draft-eligible players:
• QB J.J. McCarthy
• RB Blake Corum
• WR Cornelius Johnson
• WR Roman Wilson
• WR Zach Peterson
• TE AJ Barner
• OL Karsen Barnhart
• OL LaDarius Henderson
• OL Trente Jones
• OL Trevor Keegan
• OL Drake Nugent
• OL Zak Zinter
• DL Jaylen Harrell
• DL Kris Jenkins
• DL Braiden McGregor
• DL Cam Goode
• LB Michael Barrett
• LB Junior Colson
• DB Mike Sainristil
• DB Josh Wallace
• DB German Green
• K James Turner
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy throws during the first quarter on Nov. 11, 2023.
Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com
HOW SOON WILL J.J. MCCARTHY GO?
That’s the No. 1 question facing the Michigan contingent, and one of the overriding storylines of Thursday’s first round. While Caleb Williams is the consensus top pick to the Chicago Bears, and Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye are expected to follow in some order with the second and third picks, J.J. McCarthy has steadily risen up draft boards in recent months. He went from a fringe first-round prospect when he declared back in January to a top-15 pick quickly. And recent mock drafts all believe McCarthy remains a priority target for the Minnesota Vikings (No. 11) to trade up and take him inside the top 10, maybe even at No. 4.
At 6-foot-2 and 219 pounds, McCarthy possesses the skillset and athletic traits of a franchise quarterback. He can make every throw, fit the football into tight windows and win, evident by his 27-1 record as a starter at Michigan. But critics say he hasn’t shown enough to warrant a high pick, with the Wolverines electing to run the football nearly 60 percent of the time. His passing volume (2,991 yards, 22 TDs) was nowhere near the top in college football, making him an unknown when it comes to having to carry an offense.
More: There’s a consensus landing spot for J.J. McCarthy in this year’s NFL draft
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates with Michigan offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson (73) after beating Alabama 27-20 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.Neil Blake | MLive.com
JIM HARBAUGH’S IMPACT ON THE DRAFT
Before, Jim Harbaugh could call up an NFL team and vouch for a player who once played on his roster. Now he’s the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, who possess the No. 5 pick, and has an opportunity to help influence where his former players wind up going. There’s plenty of speculation out there that the Chargers could look to trade out of their pick to acquire additional draft capital, potentially paving the way for a team to slide up and take McCarthy, the former Michigan quarterback.
And then there’s the real possibility that Harbaugh’s Chargers wind up drafting a Michigan player in later rounds. With a staff comprised of several former Michigan assistants, no one in the NFL has more intimate knowledge of the Wolverines. The Chargers even went out and signed former Michigan fullback Ben Mason, a reminder that if Harbaugh likes you and thinks you can help him win, he’ll go out of his way to bring you aboard.
Washington wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk (2) tries to outrun Michigan linebacker Junior Colson (25) in the national championship at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.Neil Blake | MLive.com
UNDER-THE-RADAR SURPRISES
While McCarthy is the only sure-fire first-round pick of the bunch, Michigan has several players being talked about as under-the-radar surprises. Junior Colson ranks as one of the best inside linebackers available in this draft, making him an early-Day 2 prospect, while defensive back Mike Sainristil reportedly won over NFL teams during the draft lead-up. Expect both players to hear their name called on Friday.
Day 2 could wind up being a busy one for the Michigan crew, with offensive lineman Zak Zinter, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, receiver Roman Wilson and running back Blake Corum all live to be drafted. Zinter saw his stock drop after the season-ending leg injury, Jenkins remains an intriguing case, and Wilson had a strong Senior Bowl and combine.
Corum’s large draft window (Rounds 3-5) is the product of his position, injury history and 5-foot-8, 205-pound frame. We expect him to hear his name called (perhaps by the Chargers?), but running backs remain an unfortunate afterthought in the draft process.
CAN ALL SIX O-LINEMEN GET DRAFTED?
In a rare feat, Michigan has six offensive linemen eligible for this year’s draft. Four every-down starters in guards Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan, tackle Karsen Barnhart and center Drake Nugent, and two others who rotated in as starters — LaDarius Henderson and Trente Jones.
Versatility is the name of the game when it comes to offensive line play in the NFL, and that should help boost the stock of Barnhart, Henderson and Jones. Four seem like a slam dunk. Five is a real possibility. Six seems like a stretch.
Michigan linebacker Michael Barrett (23) celebrates as he walks to the bus after debating Washington 34-13 in the national championship at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.Neil Blake | MLive.com
FINALLY, A PREDICTION …
Will Michigan break Georgia’s draft record?
Yes, but barely. I project many of the top names — J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Roman Wilson, Junior Colson, Mike Sainrisitl, Kris Jenkins — and five offensive linemen, tight end AJ Barner, receiver Cornelius Johnson, edge rushers Jaylen Harrell and Braiden McGregor, and linebacker Michael Barrett. In fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say Barrett — the program recordholder in games played (64) and wins (52) — is the final Michigan player taken in the seventh round, breaking the Georgia record.
Look for several others to sign undrafted free-agent deals as soon as the draft concludes Saturday evening, putting a bow on what should be an historic weekend for the city of Detroit and Michigan football program.
Detroit — Michigan Democrats rallied their largest group of delegates in the party’s history at a state convention Sunday, even as they attempted to mend divisions that emerged during the Israel-Gaza war.
Delegates to the Michigan Democratic Party’s endorsement on Sunday elected a slate of largely progressive candidates, picking Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II as their nominee for secretary of state, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit as the nominee for attorney general and unseating University of Michigan incumbent Regent Jordan Acker in favor of Dearborn attorney Amir Makled.
Gilchrist will face off in November against the Republican nominee, Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, while Savit will compete against the GOP nominee for attorney general, Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, as well as a handful of third-party candidates.
About 7,252 delegates participated in Sunday’s convention at Huntington Place in Detroit, a record for the party, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel said.
The state Democratic Party declined Sunday to disclose the vote totals for its nominees at the convention, which is held every four years for party activists to pick nominees for every statewide office except governor and U.S. Senate in lieu of a primary election.
The chosen nominees come as the state approaches massive midterm elections, in which every statewide seat is up for grabs in the November election, as well as the 148 seats in the state House and Senate, where Democrats hope to capture a majority.
In caucus rooms at Huntington Place, Democratic leaders urged unity behind messages of affordable health care, accessible housing, opposition to President Donald Trump’s executive actions and a commitment to sweeping statewide seats in November. There was also recognition, in some meeting rooms on Sunday, of the issues that divided the party in 2024 amid protests of the Biden administration’s support of Israel in the Israel-Gaza war, and the need to fully mend those divisions in advance of the Nov. 3 election.
During the convention program on Sunday, the Israel-Gaza conflict appeared to remain a sensitive issue among some convention-goers. Protesters shouted repeatedly for a point of order, with one holding a sign that said: “Put the Palestine human rights resolution back on the agenda.” And the loudest booing, by far, occurred when U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Acker, both pro-Israel candidates, were announced on stage in their respective U.S. Senate and Board of Regents races.
Malinda Salameh was among those booing at Huntington Place, in part to protest candidates’ support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The 31-year-old UM alumnus registered too late to be a delegate on Sunday, but attended as a guest and intends to vote in the U.S. Senate primary. Stevens has long been aligned with AIPAC, while her two Democratic primary rivals, physician Abdul El-Sayed and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, have sworn off AIPAC’s campaign cash.
“Unfortunately, they need to understand that we as people cannot stand for this anymore,” Salameh said. “We don’t want any foreign interests messing with our politics. We want money out of politics. And I think that people are sad because they’re not being heard.”
During Acker’s nomination speech, as crowds booed, Wayne County Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch warned that delegates were not learning from the party’s 2024 electoral losses.
“There’s one thing that November 2024 should have taught us, is that the enemy is not in this room,” Kinloch said.
In caucuses, Democrats reckon with a divide
Abbas Alawieh, a cofounder of the Uncommitted National Movement, active in the 2024 election, told delegates, while campaigning for a state Senate seat Sunday morning, that he remained determined to ensure Arab American and Downriver communities are represented within the party.
He told The Detroit News Sunday that the party had done a good job over the past two years in making more room for all members. The record attendance, he said, is proof the Michigan Democratic Party is “trying to be the big tent party and we’ve got to continue growing that.”
“It’s clear that anti-war voters of all stripes, including Arab Americans in Michigan, are going to be critical to our path forward as Democrats,” Alawieh said. “As Democrats, we have to be proactive about reaching out to disaffected voters and voters that we’ve lost to the Republican party.”
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, pushed delegates to ask candidates seeking their vote real questions about actions to combat neighborhood pollution or their stances on federal actions in the Middle East. Pushing for those discussions among candidates will ultimately help improve the party, she said.
“We’re not anti-Democratic Party,” Tlaib said. “We’re trying to make the Democratic Party better.”
El-Sayed, a Muslim Democrat running for U.S. Senate, told members of the party’s Jewish Caucus that he would focus on issues affecting all communities, including allying against “anti-religious bigotry.”
“A lot of folks want us to pay attention to things that we might disagree on happening 6,000 miles away rather than reminding us about the things we agree on happening right here in our state,” El-Sayed said.
Regent candidates debate ‘elephant in the room’
Earlier in the day, the state party’s Jewish Caucus also heard from candidates who expressed a commitment to maintaining a place within the party for Jewish candidates and voters.
Acker, a Jewish Democrat fighting to retain his seat on the University of Michigan Board of Regents, and his fellow incumbent Paul Brown argued Acker had been targeted in his role as regent and in the nomination race. Brown called it the “elephant in the room”
Acker and Brown were running to retain their seats against Makled, a Dearborn attorney who represented several students who faced charges after protests calling on UM to divest from weapons manufacturing and Israel.
Brown argued that Acker had borne the brunt of attacks during the campus unrest and the nomination campaign.
“There’s one difference between Jordan and I,” Brown told members of the Jewish Caucus, “and that is, Jordan is Jewish, and I am not.”
Acker, a personal injury lawyer, said he wouldn’t be cowed by efforts to oust him from the board and credited Jewish Democrats with being significant leaders in civil rights fights over the decades.
“We have a message that we can send today, that we will not be pushed out of this coalition,” Acker said.
Makled, for his part, encouraged members of the Arab American Caucus also to hold their ground within the party.
“We want to make sure this electorate, this convention is giving an image of unity to the Democratic Party, that we’re collectively trying to push the better foot forward, but we’re also not afraid to stand up and speak for our issues as Arab Americans,” Makled said.
The contest between Makled and Acker was particularly heated.
Makled was criticized for reposting, and later deleting, praise for Hezbollah and antisemitic remarks on his social media account, deleted posts.
And The Guardian on Friday reported that Acker appeared to have made obscene sexual comments about a Democratic party strategist and lewd comments about a female U-M student in Slack messages.
When asked Simday about the messages by The News, Acker said the allegations were “ridiculous” and “fake.”
Acker’s attorney, Ethan Holtz, later sent a statement to The News alleging Acker “has never been on Slack” and that the messages contained elements that appeared to be “doctored.”
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
Emergency responders navigate Black Lake looking to rescue flood victims
Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection were on Black Lake looking for flood victims April 17, 2026.
The Cheboygan River level remained elevated Sunday as forecasters continued to issue fresh warnings about flooding in the region, though measurements at the dam were trending gradually downward.
The river was 7.56 inches below the top of the dam as of 12:45 p.m. Sunday, about a quarter of an inch below the prior measurement taken at 8:30 a.m., according to Michigan State Police. Levels had fluctuated around the seven-inch range below the dam’s top late Friday and Saturday after surging substantially higher earlier in the week.
State officials alerted the public about the emergency at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex on April 10 when the river was 18 inches below the dam’s top. It then fell 2 inches to 20 inches below cresting on Saturday before starting five consecutive days of rising levels, raising concerns over the potential for a major flood disaster downstream in and around the city of Cheboygan.
Scattered snow showers are possible in Cheboygan and other parts of the northern Lower Peninsula on Sunday and into Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service. Much of the remainder of the week is expected to be sunny.
The weather agency on Sunday morning posted a flood warning for Cheboygan and Emmet counties that’s in effect until 8 p.m. Tuesday. “Expect many areas of slow moving or standing water,” it said.
People should stay away from flooded roads to avoid being swept away, the agency said, adding that “river banks and culverts can become unstable and unsafe.”
The Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Office also warned of “significant debris” flowing through local waterways and urged residents to stay away. The sheriff listed on its Facebook page more than a dozen road closures as of Sunday.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development urged residents Sunday to keep animals and farm equipment safe. It said livestock should be moved to higher ground, and utilities for lower-lying farm building should be switched off. Building doors and windows should be left partially open to “equalize pressure and help prevent buildings from shifting.”
The agency also broadly warned about the dangers of floodwater, given that it can contain harmful bacteria, sewage, toxic chemicals and debris. Pets should be kept way, the MDARD said. And all food and utensils should be kept away from it.
Michigan State Police scheduled a meeting at 6 p.m. Sunday to provide the public an update on the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex situation. It will take place at the Cheboygan Opera House, 403 North Huran St., in Cheboygan. Residents can also join remotely via Zoom, with details on the agency’s social media pages.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
Lansing — Jocelyn Benson, the front runner for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor, said she believes her work in eight years as secretary of state will help convince voters to promote her this fall.
On Sunday, during a convention in Detroit, Democrats will pick a new secretary of state nominee. And on Thursday, Benson’s campaign for governor submitted about 30,000 petition signatures to get her name on the Aug. 4 primary ballot.
Amid those key moments in the 2026 election cycle, Benson, a former law school dean, sat down Thursday afternoon for an interview with The Detroit News about her time as secretary of state.
“I think that’s what people are looking for: A government that saves them time, saves them money and makes their life easier,” Benson contended. “I’ve done that as secretary of state, and I’ll do that as governor.”
The following interview was edited for length and clarity.
Question: You just dropped off your signatures this weekend. The Democrats are going to be gathering to nominate a new person for secretary of state. I was just looking over your campaign promises from 2017, do you feel like you hit them?
Benson: I had two goals when I came into office: wait times down and voter turnout up. And we did both, and I’m really proud of that.
When I started, we did a strategic planning session every January, and during our first strategic planning session in 2019, we filled the whiteboard on every wall in the office. And in our most recent one, the final one, we had just sort of one, just one little to-do list item left, which was really gratifying. Because we have not just increased turnout, but we’ve transformed our elections, eliminated gerrymandering, implemented the state’s first-ever citizens redistricting commission, which was no easy task, and then also implemented a number of new election procedures and options, educated voters about them and took Michigan’s elections from being ranked 31st in the country to No. 2.
We also did that while reducing those wait times (in Secretary of State offices), transforming our customer service experience. … Wait times are consistently 20 minutes or less, which was my No. 1 campaign goal.
Q: What were some of the strategies you used to get the wait times down for people?
A: No. 1, we listened to our employees, and No. 2, we collected data about what wasn’t working. You can’t fix what you can’t measure. And No. 3, we actually went around the country and looked at what states that actually had low wait times were doing. There weren’t many, but there were a few. Indiana and Illinois, had some interesting things that they did, and we took best practices that were working in other states and replicated them here.
But that first piece was key, listening to our employees. Early on in the process, we brought everyone in, all the branch office directors. I was expecting a daylong retreat where we would be discussing ideas, and I sat down with the director of branch office services. He had a whole PowerPoint presentation that went through everything we needed to do, from filling 900 vacant positions that were just vacant and not filled, to creating internally this opportunity for people to schedule the visit ahead of time.
We didn’t pay someone else to build that. That was built by our employees.
Q: When you ran in 2018, one of the big things you were talking about was election security. Do you feel like you’ve achieved that: improving election security? And what do you think about more people probably having faith in the results of elections then than they do now?
A: I am really proud of the fact that in this era of misinformation, we were able to protect our elections and ensure they remained secure.
While withstanding this unprecedented scrutiny and an unprecedented level of frivolous lawsuits, sham legislative hearings and falsehoods spread about our elections in the eye of the storm, we not only met the moment, but we built a better election system through it. That’s evidenced by the fact that we now have choices on how to vote in our state, we’ve modernized how you can register to vote and have increased the registration numbers we have.
Q: If one of these current candidates for secretary of state came to you and said, “I believe that the election is secure and everything is fine, but obviously there’s a lot of voters who don’t. How do we improve that?” What would you say to them?
A: Transparency is our friend.
Q: Just continue to open the process up as much as possible?
A: Well, the facts are on our side. The process is secure. So one of the most important things we need to do first is just continue to give people the tools that they need to get their questions answered and work with folks across the aisle, like we worked with Sen. Ed McBroom in 2021 to invite them into the process as well as answer questions that they have, while also, of course, maintaining any necessary confidence or security about the information that we’re providing.
But the through line is just transparency.
Q: What do you say to some of your opponents who will say, “Yeah, you decreased wait times. But what about the campaign finance website?” It’s not functioning, as they would hope it would.
A: Well, it’s certainly better than what we’ve had in the past. I think it’s important to remember that when I first ran for office, one of the things I heard most on the trail was actually, when are you going to get rid of MERTS (the former campaign finance disclosure system)?
Q: But that’s from people who are on the back end of it?
A: Right. Yeah. So I didn’t want to leave office without taking on that behemoth, knowing that it wasn’t going to be a smooth process, but it’s a necessary one if we were actually going to have a more transparent system, which I would argue also is something that the next secretary of state really needs to lean into more: getting money out of politics. I’ll be an ally for that as governor.
But when it comes to MITN and that process, one, what it really underscores is that I’m not afraid to take on big behemoths that others, frankly, past secretaries of state, refused to do, because it was too hard. And it does invite criticism. Whenever you try to transform a massive system that’s broken, yes, there are going to be hiccups along the way.
Q: Do you think voters are interested in that message: “I’ve improved these systems. I’m in government. I’ve succeeded in government. I can make it work.” Or are they looking for someone to just change everything?
A: People see a broken system that needs fixing, and they know I have transformed and fixed a system that every single one of our residents has interacted with. The other day, I was picking up food for my son and husband, and walking out with bags of food, and this gentleman in a pickup truck pulled up next to me in the parking lot and said, “Excuse me, are you the secretary of state?”
I was like, “I am.” And he said, “You know, I’m not political or anything. But I just was driving down this road the other day and realized when I passed the secretary of state’s office that it’s been years since I’ve had to go in there. Thank you for everything you’ve done to make that possible for me.” And I said, “Yeah, now imagine if all of government worked that well.”
Q: Do you think all three of the Democratic candidates running for secretary of state would be a good secretary of state? I know you’re not endorsing.
A: I’m committed to working with whoever comes through the convention and making sure they’re prepared to build on what we’ve done and achieve even more success.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
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