2025 Michigan Football Spring Ball Preview: Safeties

With Rod Moore returning, TJ Metcalf transferring in from Arkansas, and Brandyn Hillman just scratching the surface of his potential, the Michigan safeties room has some excitement heading into spring football:

The Michigan safeties room will look a lot different in 2025. With fifth-year seniors Makari Paige and Quinten Johnson gone, as well as Tennessee transfer Wesley Walker, the starting rotation will be completely new this fall.

However, to Michigan fans’ rejoice, Rod Moore is back in 2025 after missing all of last season due to injury. The Wolverines also brought in Arkansas transfer TJ Metcalf , and Brandyn Hillman and Jaden Mangham are also back. The room may look different, but it has some excitement heading into spring football.

Here is our 2025 spring preview for the safeties.

Rod Moore

Moore elected to return to Ann Arbor for the 2024 season after a successful junior year where he had 38 tackles, three passes defended and two interceptions. However, Moore missed all of 2024 with a torn ACL and, once again, announced he is sticking around.

Now healthy, Moore is expected to be good to go this spring. He adds a much needed veteran presence to an otherwise young position room. He is also versatile and could get snaps at nickel, much like Paige did at the end of last season.

TJ Metcalf

Metcalf — the cousin of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf — was a three-star recruit in high school. He has only two seasons under his belt, but he has outplayed his ranking so far. Last year at Arkansas, he had 57 tackles (tied for fourth on the team), three interceptions (team leader), seven pass deflections (team leader) and one forced fumble (team leader) in 2024.

Metcalf has shown he can thrive in isolated man-to-man and when helping a corner double team a specific player. He is also a solid tackler and can attack the ball in run support, which he will be heavily relied on with the Wolverines.

Much like Paige, Johnson and Moore, Metcalf has the ability to rotate between both safety positions and even compete for depth snaps at nickel. Regardless of where he exactly plays, there will be many opportunities for him to rotate around the secondary.

Brandyn Hillman

Hillman will look to take another leap after he went from making three tackles as a freshman to making 21 tackles and securing a sack a season ago as a sophomore.

Hillman is known to be the hardest tackler on the team. When asked what Hillman’s hits felt like back in November, sophomore wide receiver Kendrick Bell described Hillman as a “headhunter,” and freshman safety Mason Curtis said Hillman’s hits sound like “Boom.”

His downhill ability is far beyond where the coaching staff expected him to be, and his increased snap count late in the season indicates he should see more playing time in 2025.

Mason Curtis

An exciting true freshman in 2024, Curtis came along as the season progressed. He logged his first stats in the loss at Illinois, but continued to put up numbers the rest of the season. He finished his first year in college with eight tackles and one interception.

At 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, the soon-to-be sophomore is a long, rangy and athletic defensive back that should continue to get better as his college career continues.

Jaden Mangham

In two seasons with the Spartans, Mangham appeared in 20 games with 12 starts at safety. He totaled 73 tackles, seven pass breakups, four interceptions and one fumble recovery.

However, Mangham dealt with an undisclosed injury for almost the entire 2024 season. He was unfortunately unable to see the field after Michigan’s first game against Fresno State, so he will be looking to bounce back and stay healthy this fall.

Final Thoughts

Although the room looks a little different than it did last season, the safety depth is still strong in Ann Arbor. With Moore returning from a season-long ailment, a great transfer addition in Metcalf, as well as expected steps forward from Hillman, Curtis and Mangham, there should be no issues in the deep secondary for Wink Martindale and company in 2025.