Michigan football leads for transfer cornerback Upton Stout, who's currently in Ann Arbor
Michigan Wolverines football is hosting Western Kentucky transfer cornerback Upton Stout, fresh off his visit to USC. The 5-9, 185-pounder has two years of eligibility remaining and is the third-ranked cornerback in the transfer portal, according to On3.
The 36th-best overall player in the transfer portal shared a photo from Ann Arbor on his Instagram account.
According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), Michigan is in the lead for Stout, with a 48.1-percent chance to land him. However, USC is close behind at 42.1 percent.
In addition to Michigan and USC, Stout has also been offered by West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Tulsa, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Washington State and Pittsburgh.
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The Houston native has played much more at outside cornerback (1,222 snaps) than nickel back (100) during his career, but he has seen time at both. It’s possible that he would be featured in the latter role at Michigan, given his stature and the Wolverines’ need for a player there with graduate Mike Sainristil out of eligibility following this season.
He’s played four seasons of college football, two at North Texas (2020-21) and a pair of campaigns with the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky (2022-23).
The former three-star recruit has played in 21 games over the last two seasons with the Hilltoppers, registering 73 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, a half-sack, 5 interceptions (including 2 pick-sixes) and 15 pass breakups. In 2023, Stout posted a 75.2 PFF coverage grade, which ranks ninth in Conference USA among cornerbacks with 250-plus coverage snaps.
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Junior Ja’Den McBurrows is another who has played nickel back this season, earning the backup role behind Sainristil. He’s in line to compete for the starting job next season. But Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has admitted multiple times in recent weeks that the Wolverines don’t have as much depth there as they’d like to.
Minter and Co. are preparing to face Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl Jan. 1. But with the transfer portal having opened up last Monday, Michigan is also looking ahead to next season at the same time.
“That’s just college football,” Minter said. “You’re always looking at roster construction and what’s the best way to build your team. Obviously, we have what we have now and we’re going to have until, hopefully, January 8th. After that, you’ve got to really have eyes towards what you want the roster to look like next year.
“As the portal opens up, similar to last year, you gotta keep your eyes on guys. We certainly have a few positions where we’re really looking knowing we may or may not have some guys back and things like that. I just think that’s part of it in college football, the timing of it. It’s different than the NFL, where you play the season and free agency opens down the road. With the portal, it’s an ongoing deal.
“As it opens up officially, that’ll take some of our time over the first couple of weeks in December to see if there’s something out there for us.”
Michigan certainly believes Stout is an option.
Watch for more Michigan football transfer portal updates in the days ahead.
