Michigan football rated low CBS Sports transfer portal Big Ten ranking

One thing Michigan football fans have learned not to do is star gaze, whether it be in recruiting or via the transfer portal. While recruiting certainly requires talent, there’s usually a better idea of what a team is getting when it comes to the transfer portal, as players have already somewhat developed.

In our eyes, the Wolverines have had a solid offseason in the transfer portal, losing very little developed talent, while acquiring key pieces from other teams who do have requisite experience. However, some brain trusts don’t agree with us.

CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello ranked the Big Ten teams in terms of how they fared in the transfer portal this offseason, counting additions while subtracting departing players, and Michigan was ranked third-to-last at No. 16, ahead of only Maryland and Northwestern.

Michigan lost a lot from its second line of defense at linebacker and in the secondary, including six linebackers, with two starters leaving for the NFL Draft and All-American cornerback Mike Sainristi also landing in the pros. Nine of the 17 departures in the portal landed at power teams.

Michigan added nine players via the portal and lost 17, as Marcello noted. But let’s look more closely at each coming and going player.

Incoming players

As you can see, every player listed above will be either a starter, in contention to start, or, at the very least, heavy in rotation. The same cannot be said of those who departed.

Now let’s look at the outgoing players and what their role was a year ago.

Departing players