By the time Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil played the final game of his rookie season, he’d made a staggering 19 starts in 20 games and exceeded whatever high expectations his team may have had for him early in his career.
Sainristil also showed he could be exactly what he was during his time his national championship winning career at Michigan — a leader.
Headed into Year 2, Sainristil’s name already carries weight in NFL circles. That’s one of the reasons ESPN’s Ben Solak singled the 2024 second round pick (No. 50 overall) as the NFL’s “Most Important Second Year Defender” in 2025.
As a rookie, Sainristil was forced into playing outside cornerback but will get to go to his more natural position of slot cornerback in 2025 with 4-time Pro Bowler Marshon Lattimore and rookie Trey Amos on the outside.
“As (Sainristil) moves inside following the drafting of Trey Amos and signing of Jonathan Jones, I expect his numbers to better reflect his talent in 2025,” Solak wrote on August 6. “The fact that he has some versatility might even become handy when the Commanders want to match him on the outside with shiftier receivers against whom he aligns more naturally.”
Feast or Famine During Historical Rookie Year
Sainristi, who is only 5-foot-10 and 182 pounds, carried himself like a heavyweight as a rookie with 93 tackles, 14 pass deflections and 2 interceptions during the regular season – 10 of those pass deflections came in the second half of the season.
He also gave up 6 touchdowns, but such is the fate of a rookie playing playing against 4 of the NFL’s best wide receiver in his own division with CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Malik Nabers ruling over the NFC East.
Seeing Amos emerge so quickly could very well spell 2 of their cornerback spots set for the foreseeable future teamed up with Sainristil at an amazing rate. The 2 cornerbacks are making just $3.91 million combined in 2025. That number drops to $2.61 million in 2026.
Sainristil Called ‘Best Kept Secret’ On Roster
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder called Sainristil the “Best Kept Secret” on Washington’s roster headed into 2025, when they’re coming off the first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991 and are legitimate Super Bowl contenders for the first time in a generation.
In 3 postseason games last season, he had 11 tackles, 2 interceptions and 4 pass deflections.
“College football fans know Sainristill well since he was the MVP of the Big Ten Championship and had the game-clinching interception in the National Championship during Michigan’s 2023-2024 postseason run,” Holder wrote on May 19. “In his lone NFL season, the former Wolverine proved to be a valuable addition to the Commanders’ secondary, lining up at nickel and outside cornerback.”
Sainristil’s signature moment came with 2 interceptions in an upset win over the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional Round.
“What a player (Sainristil) turned out to be this year,” Kevin Sheehan said on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” following the win. “You know there are some Detroit Lions fans and Michigan Wolverines fans in that crowd that they love Mikey Sainristil for bringing them that national championship last year but did not like to see the night he had.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Commanders Playoff Hero Called One of NFL’s ‘Most Important Defenders’ appeared first on Heavy Sports.