One of the biggest questions facing Michigan football this offseason was the secondary. Though the safety position was mostly set, Rod Moore was catastrophically injured in spring ball, indicating he’d miss much, if not all, of the forthcoming season. And there was no indication as to who would start opposite Will Johnson at cornerback.
But the Wolverines didn’t just shore up the secondary, they bolstered it, adding multiple players at both cornerback and safety. Johnson is pleased with what the group has been able to do thus far, though right now it’s just drills as fall camp doesn’t open for a few more weeks.
“All of them have been doing pretty good,” Johnson said. “Wes Walker, Aamir Hall, Ricky Johnson — all of those guys have been doing pretty well. I’m just excited.”
One of the additions is interesting as Jaden Mangham started at safety for rival MSU before coming to Ann Arbor. Johnson says that’s added some fun fodder in the locker room but he’s excited about the prospects of what Mangham brings on the field.
“There’s times where it gets brought up,” Johnson said. “He’s actually still graduating from Michigan State. So we always mess around with how he’s not getting that Michigan degree. It’s cool though. It’s kind of weird that he was able to do it. Excited to have him. He’s a very good player.
“We don’t talk about it too much but when we do talk about it, obviously it’s easy for us to talk (expletive deleted).”
Though Johnson plays alongside the defensive backs positionally, he goes up against the wide receivers. And Michigan added C.J. Charleston from Youngstown State and brought Amorion Walker back after he briefly transferred to Ole Miss.
There’s a lot of anticipation there on Johnson’s end, but he’s waiting to see how they do once fall camp arrives in a few weeks.
“I’m excited to see how it goes in camp,” Johnson said. “I haven’t really got to see much of them. I’ve seen them do drills and player-led, stuff like that. Not really when the pads are on, out there having to execute. So I can’t wait to see that. We got a lot of skill. I want to see how they fit in the system. And I’m excited to see it.”
The unofficial season start comes next week when a Michigan contingent represents the team next week at Big Ten media days. Fall camp will begin in the ensuing weeks.