Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing.

Quickly: Smart, businesslike, solid-based, right-sized DT held back by a sluggish first step.

Draft Projection: 6th round to undrafted free agent. I think he'll end up on a roster, but as deep as the tackle pool is this year, not a lot of teams are going to bother using picks for DTs when they think they can find a guy like Hinton on the practice roster or someone else's. If your team used a Day 3 pick on him, they probably like his upside, and need to fill a hole. You can do a lot worse with a 6th rounder.

NFL Comp: Damion Square, a 5-star DL who played 3-tech at Bama, went undrafted in 2013, and is still bouncing around the league as a backup DT. Like Square, Hinton has the versatility to fill in at several interior positions, and his best move is the swim, which he could further develop in the NFL. Square also struggled as a guy his size shouldn't because his feet were mostly planted on the ground. They were seldom planted in one city for very long however; Square's most notable accomplishment was managing to play for two different teams in the same postseason, the only player to ever do that.

What's his story? A lot of people were surprised that Michigan could pull a 5-star DT out of Georgia, but Michigan's been successful in multiple sports at attracting the kids of prominent pros—Chris being the son of Christopher Jerrod Hinton, the Colts offensive tackle best known as the guy traded for John Elway. Junior rose up the rankings as a DE, fell off when he looked like he'd have to move inside, then charged back to blue chip status when he moved inside as a senior. Michigan in 2019 needed DTs badly, but even 5-star freshmen almost always struggle. Hinton flashed a bit and got blown up by doubles a lot while 4-star classmate Mazi Smith redshirted.

That portended better things, but Hinton was constantly slipping out of the conversation in 2020 while vastly undersized Carlo Kemp started, and Michigan preferred to have Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye (until both were injured) dive into B gaps rather than play another DT. His coaches praised his personality and how much work he was putting into his short-area quickness and change-of-direction, which in retrospect was sort of ominous.

Like the defense, things settled down considerably in Macdonald's system in 2021. Hinton played 3-tech whether Michigan was in a nickel or 5-2. Smith was their best defensive tackle, but Hinton was always in the next breath. Pass rush from him was virtually non-existent, however, and because he had the glory DT position and Michigan's edges were consistently providing opportunities, the lack of any production in that area was quietly a prominent weakness for the defense.

It's the most college thing in the world to react to a player leaving early for the NFL, but the reaction to Hinton's departure was telling. It's not that people were caught off guard, but I can share it wasn't just the college fan-brains saying "Dude, that's a bad idea" with this one. Of course there were a lot of fans saying it when they really meant "Oh man, I really wanted to see him blow up next year!" If he's going to, there's more money in doing it for an NFL team.

Positives: The solid base. Even as a freshman, Hinton was always facing the right way with his feet under him. Doubles had to get him airborne to move him, and then his teammates were able to rally since Hinton was still in the way. Mature beyond his years, was one of the guys most often chosen to look like an adult and answer questions with platitudes as a true junior. Amazing family who will no doubt become part of the local program culture.

Negatives: No explosion, no pass rush, no stats to show for it. At a point in his development right now where he's got the fundamentals down but no pizazz, and few highlights. Body isn't going to help—he's solidly but doesn't have the long arms to erase zone plays or the feet to give NFL-caliber guards trouble (his highlights tend to over-represent bad linemen from Rutgers). If you could yell "You should have stayed in school!" at any prospect ever, it's him.

--------------------------

What others say: "What are you doing leaving college early in a DT year like this?" It's in the positive takes, like this from Ian Cummings:

Athletically, Hinton isn’t bursting with potential, but there is some upside that appears untapped. He demonstrates decent lateral mobility for his size when stunting. He can also use that lateral mobility to shade into gaps as a run defender. There’s torso flexibility present as well; he can contort to wrench down anchors, then use his momentum to surge forward. …

Hinton has some merit as an NFL Draft prospect, but he’s far from a perfect prospect by virtue of both athletic limitations and undeveloped areas. The Michigan DT is somewhat lumbering with his lower body, and he’s not exceptionally light on his feet. Additionally, he doesn’t quite have elite length, and he can sacrifice his balance by lurching to try and compensate. His middling length also may limit the amount of momentum his hands can carry. He lacks elite explosiveness, and his first-step is average at best.

Cummings notes he's built more like an interior OL, then connects the bloodlines. Tony Pauline has the same take:

Hinton is an explosive one-gap defender who showed consistent improvement in his game and comes with an upside. He still has a ways to go, but if Hinton improves his playing strength, he could eventually start in a four-man line on Sundays.

The Athletic was almost screaming "go add stats!"

He was a steady performer on the defensive line in 2021, although he managed only 4.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks in his college career. Hinton uses his length to extend, lock out and control the point of attack. However, he is heavylegged and needs to be more forceful with his shed/toss to fire off blocks and create disruption. Overall, Hinton is stout at contact with the base strength to hold his
ground, but his lack of range and explosive traits significantly limit his next level impact. He projects as an early-down NFL backup

Our Scheme/Best Scheme: Michigan switched over Hinton's career from a dedicated 4-2-5 to a sometimes 3-3-5, to a 5-2 that spent most of its time in nickel personnel. Hinton was usually the off-DT, since all of those defenses have a 3-tech. Those expecting him to get more doubles in 2021 were wrong: Michigan used a lot of split sets with Hinton in the middle of three guys and then a DE split a ways away. He would be the "T" in this look:

Also opponents made a point of doubling Michigan DTs in 2019 and 2020, not so much in '21. Hinton is probably too small for nose in the NFL but he can give you some snaps there. He's probably best used as the 3-tech, either in a 4-3 system or as the weakside DT in a 3-4. He won't give a lot of pass rush from that spot, but he would make a fine role player for a team that wants to get its edges one-on-one with a tackle, or have an explosive 1st teamer who needs a lot of spotting. He's in excellent shape too, so you can trust him to stay out there until the star is breathing again.

2021 Grading

The following numbers are based on my 2021 charting in Upon Further Review. One point is roughly equivalent to an action that affected the play by 5 yards, i.e. zero points are awarded for simply filling an assignment. Certain scores require context, e.g. defensive linemen are expected to score 2 to 1 to the positive because of their greater opportunities to make plays, and rarely get negative individual grades when pass-rushing, since those are handed out through a team metric. Team defense charting.

BY PLAY TYPE:

Versus Play Type:	+	-	Total
Inside Zone	29	11	+18
Power	23	-7	+18
Stretch	9	3	+6
Other Run	12	-1	+11
Screens	1	4	-3
Pass Deep	4	0	+4
Pass Short	12	0	+12
PA Pass	5	1	+4

The thing to know about our scoring is "Pass Deep" is where a defensive lineman is supposed to be racking up numbers. Hinton had one move that either worked or didn't: a swim with his feet planted wide that got the offensive lineman to hop out of the way. When that occurred the QB got rid of it and the play went down as a "Pass Short" in our charting. That he had time to get rid of it went back to Hinton's feet.

BY GAME:

2019 Opponent	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
MTSU	0.5	0	+0.5	10	Late only.
Army	0	0	0	5	DNC
Wisconsin	0	0	0	0	DNP
Rutgers	0	0	0	14	argh needed him to be college ready
Iowa	0	0	0	4	DNP
Illinois	0	0	0	8	DNC
Penn State	0	2	-2	8	ah so that's why
Notre Dame	1	0	+1	11	Better against double.
Maryland	2	0	+2	17	Flashing talent.
Michigan State	1.5	0	+1.5	17	Makes one short yardage play per game.
Indiana	0	1	-1	26	Offsides once.
2020 Opponent	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
Minnesota	2.5	3	-0.5	33	I'll take it?
Michigan State	1.5	2	-0.5	37	Second game hovering around zero.
Indiana	4		+4	49	Not bad.
Wisconsin	3	3.5	-0.5	57	+2 for screen PBU, was rough on ground.
Rutgers	9	2.5	+6.5	64	Two major interior rushes.
2021 Opponent	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
Western Michigan	3.5	2.5	+1	35	Thought this would be better.
Washington	14	4	+10	40	Huuunnhhh?
Northern Illinois	3.5	3	+0.5	23	Uh oh.
Rutgers	17	0	+17	53	Breakout performance vs doubles, freebies vs a very bad LG.
Wisconsin	5	3	+2	39	Quiet day as the Hutchison-side tackle they ran away from.
Nebraska	14.5	0	+14.5	49	Nebraska wanted to single him. It didn't work out for them.
Northwestern	6	0.5	+5.5	29	Lots of rotation so this was in 29 snaps.
Michigan State	6	1	+5	62	Felt like he could have been on the field more.
Indiana	7	3	+4	40	Showed some wheels, needs more wiggle.
Penn State	5.5	2	+3.5	52	Fine, not grand.
Maryland	1	2	-1	32	Half day, mostly quiet on his side of the front.
Ohio State	7.5	2.5	+5	50	Not much pass rush but OSU could get nothing inside.
Iowa	11.5	1	+10.5	43	A lot of this was against Linderbaum too.
Georgia	4	4	-	45	Caleb Houstan-esque career.

There would be games when Hinton showed up, and long stretches where he was quiet. There wasn't a common thread. Rutgers has a bad interior OL, Nebraska is badly coached and has some guard issues, and Iowa was just a magnificent performance. The game Hinton had against Linderbaum was probably part of the decision to leave early. That was some fine, fine tape. Very solid.

Video of All Varieties: (Collection)

Solid base plus swim move to step around combos is his jam:

Solid base plus kick step on slants was devastatingly effective.

Solid base and hard to move:

Chris Hinton (DT 15)

That gap belongs to him pic.twitter.com/qS6h3X5OYH

— Draft Guy Jared (@DraftGuyJared) April 20, 2022

Solid base and high awareness:

Solid base and upper body strength can win a contest his balance might be losing:

Summary and Projection: College football fans cannot help themselves from advising their players to stay in college as long as their eligibility can be stretched. Even those of us who accept that the players see college as merely a stepping stone to a life-long goal are guilty of this, and are routinely proven wrong. Chris Hinton's head was always more NFL-oriented than most—part of why he chose Michigan—but just about everyone outside of his camp seems certain he's destined to give the stay-in-school crowd ammunition for their cause. A year ago program people were nervously wondering if walk-ons were going to start because Hinton's name wasn't coming up. In the wake of his surprising decision to go pro, people are wondering if sophomore Kris Jenkins—another son of of NFL player—was about to usurp Hinton's starting job.

If he's going to prove them wrong—and it certainly wouldn't be the first time—it's hard to find it in his college tape. As with his NFL decision, Hinton's main issue as a player is his body goes forward too quickly for his feet. That upper-body has been well-coached, and most of the weight he carries is good, but this was a guy playing DE until his junior year of high school, and his strength has merely reached passable since. The DE speed didn't translate to college—Michigan's larger DTs were always more effective pass-rushers despite Hinton getting the majority of B-gap assignments—but he's still above-average for a DT in a footrace.

It may be that his potential is just an NFL backup, but the NFL does need those, and Hinton certainly has the businesslike approach that NFL teams appreciate. Another way to look at it though is his floor is passable NFL backup DT right now who's still got some considerable upside. Maybe he looks like a "stay in school" guy to us, but if anyone's going to outsmart everybody, it's a Hinton.