Karsen Barnhart’s path to Michigan, outlook for 2022

Karsen Barnhart is a Michigan kid through and through. Growing up in Paw Paw, Michigan, Barnhart played his high school ball at Paw Paw High School where he was a leader on and off the field. As part of the Peer Assistant Leaders community, Paw Paw leadership conference and a freshman orientation leader, Barnhart made a big difference in his high school community.

Barnhart was named a captain for his junior and senior seasons in high school.

We’ve always seen Barnhart on the offensive line, but in high school he was actually catching passes for touchdowns. The big fella hauled in 12 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown during his junior season and had five receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns as a senior.

Still, Barnhart went into his recruitment as an offensive lineman and received a four-star ranking by 247Sports. Barnhart was ranked the 20th offensive guard in the nation and the ninth-ranked player in Michigan.

As a Michigan native, Barnhart went where the best players in Michigan go: The University of Michigan.

Barnhart has had a productive career for the Michigan Wolverines. As a freshman, he appeared in two games. During his second season in Ann Arbor, he took a big leap. It was the shortened pandemic season, but he still appeared in all six games for the Wolverines.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2021, Barnhart appeared in 10 games for Michigan and contributed to the Joe Moore Award winning offensive line. Barnhart earned Hard Hat Player of the Week after a nice showing on the road against Nebraska.

That award winning offensive line from a year ago lost a couple guys, so Barnhart has the opportunity to be a major contributor in 2022. He is battling with fellow redshirt junior Trente Jones for the starting right tackle job this offseason, so we could see a lot more of Barnhart this upcoming season.