Something just wasn’t right for the first two-thirds of the season for the Michigan football defense in 2024. There were lapses made, big passing plays, and while the defense would stand tall for two downs, it allowed drives to be extended by the better offenses they faced.
To some degree, PFF thinks that the Wolverines have what they need to keep that from happening again in 2025.
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The reason that analyst Dalton Wasserman gave on the Michigan preview on the PFF college football podcast wasn’t just more familiarity to the college game for defensive coordinator Wink Martindale or the bevy of players expected to rotate up front. No, it’s a returning player in Rod Moore, who missed all of last season due to tearing his ACL in spring ball.
“I’m excited to see him back, too, to free safety,” Wasserman said. “I think this year (he’s) gonna be the glue that holds the secondary together. He missed last year because he tore his ACL in the spring. But the two previous years, per PFF’s wins above average metric, he was the second most valuable safety in college football six interceptions over those two years big part of their national championship-winning team in 2023. Just to see him back on the field, because I think Michigan, last year, you could see it with him out and with Keon (Sabb) transferring to Alabama, and a little more of a struggle covering over the middle of the field. On the outside, they were still great with Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill, those corners that they always have going there at Michigan, but struggled over the middle.
“I think Rod Moore is gonna be a big piece of fixing that problem. He’s got great recovery speed. He’s got good eyes back there and as long as he can run like he used to before the torn ACL, I think Wink Martindale is gonna have a lot of fun playing a lot of single-high with Rod Moore back at free safety.”
The big question for Moore is whether or not he can return fully healthy. He told The Wolverine on Monday that he’s up to 80-85% healthy at this juncture, but being healthy and capable of returning to full game speed and instinct is a completely different thing altogether.
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If Moore does take some time to get going, the Wolverines are excited about many of the options they have at safety as it is. Brandyn Hillman, Mason Curtis, TJ Metcalf, Tevis Metcalf, and Jaden Mangham are all strong options for the maize and blue in the middle of the secondary, even if Moore is healthy and ready to go.
Michigan is set to begin fall camp on July 29 with eyes on the season opener on August 30 against New Mexico at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: PFF: Rod Moore key to fixing Michigan’s secondary woes
