Though preseason rankings and predictions are often far off from the actual results, they still make for interesting reads and some great "water cooler" discussions.
In one of Rivals' most expansive preseason rankings list, the Top 100 Players Countdown, several Michigan players received some praise from the website:
Rivals' Preseason Top 100 Players:
Denard Robinson - #20
Mike Martin - #47
David Molk - #75
ESPN's Big Ten Blog has also picked several Michigan players in its Top 25 Big Ten Players. Though the full list is not out yet, Denard Robinson has not yet been listed, several have already been named.
ESPN's Top 25 Big Ten Players:
David Molk - #12
Mike Martin - #10
Another set of preseason rankings by Rivals placed Mike Martin as the #3 defensive tackle in the nation trailing only Billy Winn of Boise State and Jared Crick of Nebraska. This is a pretty significant ranking since there has been much preseason hype for players like Jerel Worthy (ranked #8) from Michigan State and John Simon of Ohio State (ranked #6).
Though Michigan would like to see more players on these lists in the coming years, it's awesome to see these types of rankings with such a young team. The Big Ten did well overall with 21 players ranked in the Top 100 overall players and 4 defensive tackles ranked in the top 15 in the nation.
Here are the full rankings:
