The effects of Rod Moore’s injury on Michigan’s depth chart.
The departure is a significant blow to the Michigan secondary, which had anticipated to return three starters from one of college football’s top groups. Moore, fifth-year senior Makari Paige, and junior Will Johnson were all scheduled to start. Keon Sabb, who won the National Championship and was poised for a big season in 2024, decided to move to Alabama. Sabb would have been an excellent choice to stand in for Moore.
Instead, Michigan will have to be creative with a few different players who may see playing time. Quinten Johnson, a sixth-year defensive back, leads the list. After initially declaring for the NFL draft, Johnson stated that he would return to Michigan for his final year of eligibility. Johnson played 14 games as a defensive back last season after spending the majority of his career on special teams. He stepped up and into the secondary rotation, and he will most likely replace Moore as a starter this season. Fortunately, he’s already made some plays in fairly critical moments:
Johnson was going to get more playing time no matter what; the only question was how the Wolverines would position him. Mike Sainristil’s departure to the NFL leaves a void in the slot corner position, thus I would have expected Moore, Paige, and Johnson to rotate around the defence, including that position. Even with new defensive coordinator Wink Martindale in charge, Michigan hired LaMar Morgan as defensive backs coach. The two will most likely not attempt to mend something that was not broken with the Wolverines’ defence last season.
That implies many others could see significant playing time in order to keep players fresh. Zeke Berry is another athlete to watch out for. In 2023, the redshirt sophomore played safety and nickel in blowout wins over East Carolina and UNLV. The former four-star recruit will most likely be asked to step up in one of those positions come autumn. Don’t be surprised if another former four-star prospect, sophomore Brandyn Hillman, gets some playing time as a more typical safety. As a true freshman last season, Hillman appeared in nine games, including the season opener against East Carolina. Sabb, who is an accomplished athlete himself, had high respect for Hillman.
It was reported earlier this week that Michigan Wolverines safety Rod Moore ruptured his ACL during a drill over the weekend. Throughout his career, the senior has started 27 games and been nominated to the All-Big Ten team twice. He chose to return to Ann Arbour rather than attend the NFL Draft, which made the situation much more difficult. Moore made one of the most important plays of the 2023 season, clinching the victory over Ohio State with a late fourth-quarter interception.
“The kid is a freak athlete.” I have seen him on the court a few times. “Give him some time to get comfortable, and he’ll be a really good player,” Sabb remarked. “On the basketball court, I’ve seen him throw up some windmills, some different type of dunks that you see from some high-level players.” While Johnson and Berry may be the first names that come to mind when pondering Moore’s replacements, Hillman is definitely someone to keep an eye on as the fall season approaches.
Other players to keep an eye on include true freshman Jacob Oden and junior Kody Jones. Oden graduated from Harper Woods High School and was rated a four-star safety in the 2024 class. Jones was reportedly practicing at cornerback, safety, and nickel last spring under Jesse Minter and might get more playing time in 2024 as a former four-star prospect himself.