Junior Rod Moore was not a highly-sought after recruit coming out of the 2021 recruiting class. The Clayton (Ohio) Northmonth product was a three-star recruit in the ’21 cycle and as his play has shown — Moore was extremely underrated.
Moore had offers from few big-named teams like Iowa, Kentucky, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin, but the major blue blood programs, like Ohio State, did not offer the 5-foot-11 safety. Then-defensive coordinator Don Brown and head coach Jim Harbaugh loved what they saw from the hard-hitting safety and Moore ultimately signed with the Michigan Wolverines.
Heading into his junior season, Moore is expected to lead the young Michigan secondary. NFL draft prognosticators believe Moore is a potential top-two-round draft selection. Max Chadwick, with PFF, put Moore on his top-10 safety watch list for the 2024 NFL draft. In the past four NFL drafts, there have been just three safeties selected in the first round, and the Michigan safety has a chance to make it four — if all goes right.
Moore is arguably the most well-rounded safety in the country heading into next season and was an honorable mention PFF All-American in 2022.
He was one of two Power Five safeties in 2022 who earned 80-plus grades both in coverage and as a run defender. The other, Alabama’s Brian Branch, was taken in the second round of the 2023 draft by the Detroit Lions. Moore’s four interceptions were tied for seventh among Power Five safeties.
Moore played in 11 games with four starts during his freshman season at Michigan. He had a career-high nine tackles against Ohio State in 2021.
Last season, as a sophomore, he appeared in all 14 games with 13 starts. He led all defensive backs with 71 tackles and led the entire team with four interceptions. Moore was also an All-Big Ten honorable mention.
Now that R.J. Moten is gone, after transferring to Florida, Moore more than likely sees an even more elevated role in 2023. Between his vision of seeing the football and his open-field tackling, Moore is in store for a monster 2023 season for the Wolverines.
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