2022 Season Countdown: #21 R.J. Moten

Tag: 2022 season countdown


21Aug 2022
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2022 Season Countdown: #21 R.J. Moten

R.J. Moten (image via 247 Sports)

Name: R.J. Moten
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 223 lbs.
High school: Delran (NJ) Delran
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #6
Last year: I ranked Moten #52 and said he would be a backup safety (LINK). He started five games and made 34 tackles, 1 interception, and 4 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 68

Moten earned some practice buzz going into 2021, which gave me a feeling that he would come off a redshirt year and play quite a bit. That turned out to be the case, as he ended up starting for approximately a third of the season. With Michigan shifting Daxton Hill to the nickel spot, Moten started next to Brad Hawkins early in the season. But as the year went along, he started to lose some playing time to freshman Rod Moore.

Now that Hill and Hawkins are gone, Moten is likely locked in as a starting safety. Some combination of Moten, Moore, and Makari Paige should be on the field, depending on how the nickel position shakes out. Moten has added 10 pounds since last year and will probably take on Hawkins’s role, moving down in the box sometimes to take on tight ends and backs out of the backfield. Moten is a solid tackler with good range, and I think he will be a good player, though good safeties are often pretty forgettable.

Prediction: Starting safety; 65 tackles, 1 interception

21Aug 2022
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2022 Season Countdown: #22 Nikhai Hill-Green

Nikhai Hill-Green (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Nikhai Hill-Green
Height: 
6’2″
Weight: 
232 lbs.
High school: 
Baltimore (MD) St. Frances
Position: 
Linebacker
Class: 
Junior
Jersey number: 
#41
Last year: 
I ranked Hill-Green #44 and said he would be a backup linebacker (LINK). He started six games and made 50 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating:
 81

Hill-Green began the 2021 season as a starting inside linebacker next to senior captain Joshua Ross. He had improved from 2020, but there were still some bumps in the road. As the season went along, his spot was usurped by freshman Junior Colson. Hill-Green did fine against the lower level teams on Michigan’s schedule, but when competition got tougher, teams started to pick on him a little bit.

I expect him to be better in 2022. Not only have reviews been positive, but young linebackers always seem to struggle. Unless a player is elite, most guys aren’t going to be successful until their third or fourth year, once they get experience under their belts. In Hill-Green’s case, he got some experience during his freshman COVID year, but it was a shortened season with limited practice time. With Ross having graduated and moved on, I expect Hill-Green to play alongside Colson at inside linebacker, with Mike Barrett also pushing for playing time.

Prediction: Starting inside linebacker; 70 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception

19Aug 2022
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2022 Season Countdown: #23 A.J. Henning

A.J. Henning (image via Twitter)

Name: A.J. Henning
Height: 
5’10”
Weight: 
185 lbs.
High school: 
Frankfort (IL) Lincoln-Way East
Position: 
Wide receiver
Class: 
Junior
Jersey number: 
#3
Last year: 
I ranked Henning #23 and said he would be a backup wide receiver and starting kick returner with 14 catches for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 10 passes for 79 yards and ran 9 times for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating:
 86

Henning had a chance to step up in 2021 after speedy gadget guy Giles Jackson transferred to Washington prior to the season. And Henning didn’t miss a beat. While he didn’t establish himself as a versatile receiver, he became the end around guy and scored on a 74-yard touchdown run in the first game. He also added a kickoff return for a touchdown against Maryland and a touchdown run against Ohio State. Henning also stepped in to replace injured punt returner Ronnie Bell after the coaches initially tried Caden Kolesar in Bell’s stead.

I expect more of the same from Henning in 2022. There’s no reason to expect fewer end arounds or jet sweeps, and his share of the passing targets probably can’t get much smaller. There’s also a good chance that he ends up handling punt returns and/or kickoff returns. I will be interested to see if Bell takes punt return duties back or if that experiment has ended. Overall, Henning can do a little bit of everything – rushing, receiving, punt returning, and kickoff returning – but if he’s not available for some reason, I think there are other guys who can absorb his role without a huge dropoff.

Prediction: Starting kickoff and punt returner, backup wide receiver

18Aug 2022
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2022 Season Countdown: #24 Roman Wilson

Roman Wilson (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Roman Wilson
Height: 
6’0″
Weight: 
185 lbs.
High school: 
Honolulu (HI) St. Louis
Position: 
Wide receiver
Class: 
Junior
Jersey number: 
#14
Last year: 
I ranked Wilson #31 and said he would be a backup wide receiver (LINK). He caught 25 passes for 420 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 3 carries for 59 yards, in five starts.
TTB Rating:
 78

Wilson had a bit of a breakout season in 2021. He was one of four receivers to tie for the team lead with 3 touchdown catches, and he had some huge plays. He caught 2 touchdowns in a tight win over Penn State, he led the team in receiving against Ohio State, and he caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Donovan Edwards in the Big Ten Championship game. His reported 4.37 speed as a recruit started to show itself as a threat to other teams, and he established himself as a dangerous downfield threat.

I have heard some fans and analysts peg Wilson as their guess for Michigan’s leading receiver in 2022, but I can’t get there. Maybe he can do it in 2023, but Ronnie Bell returns from injury this year and Cornelius Johnson is the 6’3″ prototype who led the squad in 2021. Wilson is a key component of the passing attack, as he can take the top off the defense. But there’s only one ball and there are only so many receiving positions, so some tough decisions are going to need to be made by the coaches and the quarterback(s) on where the ball ends up going. I would expect Wilson to be Michigan’s #3 wideout, but he’ll have some big plays along the way.

Prediction: Part-time starting wide receiver; 30 catches for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns

16Aug 2022
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2022 Season Countdown: #26 Karsen Barnhart

Karsen Barnhart

Name: Karsen Barnhart
Height: 
6’5″
Weight: 
308 lbs.
High school: 
Paw Paw (MI) Paw Paw
Position: 
Offensive tackle
Class: 
Redshirt junior
Jersey number: 
#52
Last year: 
I ranked Barnhart #24a and said he would be the starting right tackle (LINK). He started two games at left guard.
TTB Rating:
 86

For the second year in a row, Barnhart served as Michigan’s extra lineman. He’s a utility man who can start at either tackle or either guard spot. When he was a redshirt freshman in 2020, he got a bunch of playing time on a bad offensive line. Last year he played left guard when Trevor Keegan couldn’t go, but he also was a backup tackle in blowouts. Barnhart has not really left an indelible mark as a beast of a player just waiting to break out of his cage, but he has been solid and has a good athletic profile to be “next.”

Last year’s pure blocking tight end, sixth lineman Trente Jones, is likely to start at right tackle now that Andrew Stueber has moved on to the NFL. I will be curious to see if Barnhart takes on Jones’s role as a blocking tight end, or if the staff will simply let the tight ends handle the tight end role, since the tight end room is so stacked with talent. Regardless of whether Barnhart is a blocking tight end or just the backup at guard/tackle, he’s going to play a lot. And when 2023 rolls around, he will probably have a starting role somewhere along the line.

Prediction: Backup offensive lineman