Devin Bush Jr. leads slew of Michigan players on ESPN's NFL draft board

Nick Baumgardner | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh on Karan Higdon, Devin Bush Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh speaks to the media on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, in Ann Arbor.

Devin Bush Jr. as a top-10 NFL draft pick?

At least one noted analyst believes it's a possibility.

Bush, Michigan football's junior captain linebacker, came in at No. 6 on Mel Kiper Jr.'s top prospects list for the 2019 NFL draft. Junior defensive end Rashan Gary was listed at No. 8.

"He is a playmaker, lining up all over the field and making a ton of plays. Bush caught my eye early last season as a sophomore when he had 102 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, and an interception," Kiper wrote. "He has 61 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2018. I scouted his dad, Devin Bush Sr., a first-round pick out of Florida State in 1995. He had a 41-inch vertical. His son could be one of the first linebackers off the board in 2019."

Bush and Gary were the only two players listed in Kiper's top 25, but U-M had plenty of representation on his top 10 positional chart.

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Senior Karan Higdon is Kiper's No. 5-ranked running back while junior Ben Bredeson is his No. 3-ranked offensive guard.

Defensively, Gary is the No. 2 defensive end while Bush comes in as the No. 2 inside linebacker. Junior cornerbacks David Long and Lavert Hill rank Nos. 7 and 8, respectively.

Kiper lists senior defensive end Chase Winovich as an outside linebacker prospect. Winovich is No. 5 on that list.

Bush was also named a finalist for the 2018 Nagurski Award (given to college football's best defensive player) on Wednesday while Higdon was listed as a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award (given to the country's top running back).

College players are first eligible for an NFL draft once they're three years removed from high school. So, all juniors on Michigan's roster would be eligible for next spring's draft.

No. 4 U-M (9-1, 7-0) hosts Indiana on Saturday (4 p.m., FS1).

Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.