Michigan football targeting Michigan State transfer at safety

Michigan football has started to get aggressive with its transfer portal pursuits in the past week and now that the focus isn’t on player retention, the Wolverines can try to fill some holes.

One spot that could use another quality player is safety. That goes without saying after the injury to Rod Moore, which could cause him to miss the entire 2024 season.

Michigan football has added two wide receivers this week from the portal. They also added a kicker over the weekend. Those were key needs, but the Wolverines could add players at cornerback and safety too. I also wouldn’t mind if they added an offensive tackle, defensive tackle, and a quarterback, but there aren’t any good ones unless you think Gavin Wimsatt qualifies as an upgrade.

Michigan football targeting a former rival

It would be hard to argue that former Michigan State safety Jaden Mangham wouldn’t be an upgrade. The former Michigan football recruit had 53 tackles and four interceptions last season. He’s got two years of eligibility left.

Those kinds of players have been hard for Michigan football to add. But Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider reports that Michigan is interested. Mangham will also visit early next week. Webb also reports that Mangham will visit Ohio State.

Michigan was in the mix for him coming out of high school and there’s an opening for him to play Rod Moore’s role this season. Quentin Johnson and Makari Paige are also part of that safety room, but it would feel much better with another body.

Mangham isn’t the only target at safety but he has to be on top of the board. He’s an in-state kid and with a really good season, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound defensive back could be headed to the NFL.

At the same time, Michigan hasn’t won many recruiting battles against Alabama and Ohio State over the years and it will likely be another test of the Wolverines’ NIL prowess.

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